POLSKAAKADEMIANAUK KOMITET SOCJOLOGII INSTYTUT STUDIÓW POLITYCZNYCH

2017, nr 3 AUTOETNOGRAFIA

MARZENNAJAMES PrincetonUniversity

DIPLOMACY, HARNESSING CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR POWER PURPOSES*

Lina and Serge by is a rare bines a popular appeal of a compulsively read- phenomenon on the publishing market: it com- able biography with a valuable scholarly contri-

Adres do korespondencji: mjames@prince *Simon Morrison, Lina and Serge: The Love and ton.edu Wars of , Houghton Mifflin Har- 242 RECENZJE, OMÓWIENIA bution on a new research frontier in the study cabarets championing Russian music, would of history and politics—understanding the so- be enough material for a riveting biography. cial, economic and political realities underpin- However, Lina’s life took on an even more ning classical music in Soviet-style regimes. In extraordinary and, unfortunately, devastating particular, it reveals the staggering dimensions turn: the Prokofievs moved to the Soviet Uni- of the abuse of state power over composers and on in 1936. their families. Lina had met Serge in 1919 after one of At the heart of the attractiveness to the his performances. The virtuoso pianist, who ar- general public lies the dramatic life story of rived from and toured the US, Europe, an amazing woman: Carolina (Lina) Prokofiev. and Japan, composed in his every spare mo- Brilliant, beautiful, and gifted with a captivating ment, including on train, ship, and during peri- sociability, she was born in 1898, to a Spanish- ods of respite afforded by periodical commis- -Russian-Polish family of excellent opera sing- sions from ballet and opera houses. The har- ers Juan Codina and Olga Nemisskaya. She grew rowing dominant drama of their lives first sur- up in the Russian émigré community in New faced in 1925 when the cultural agents of the York City: a Brooklyn and Manhattan girl. Num- Soviet government initiated what would turn bering about 500,000 prior to the Communist out to be a macabre courtship of a famous clas- Revolution, subsequently swelling to 750,000, sical music composer needed to help legitimize the Russian-American ethnic group in New the Soviet political and economic system in the York created a fertile environment for the incub- eyes of the rest of the world. The positive ef- ation of intellectuals and artists. Lina travelled fects of the cultivation of classical music on the with her parents around Europe, learned five country’s international image (today some call foreign languages before reaching adulthood, it soft power), was deeply appreciated by So- and received classical music education that was viet leaders. However, harnessing classical mu- the cement of the social circles in which she sic for power purposes had to be done delicately. moved. Her young life was filled with concerts As the example of Serge Prokofiev shows, the and opera performances, often in association Soviets had a problem: in order to grow pro- with institutions working in support of those fessionally, Russian musicians needed the inter- most needy both in America and back in Russia. action with Western artists, so they had to be Lina had the privilege of being admired, allowed some contact before being lured to go cared for, and educated by many leaders of back. Thus in 1918 Serge was allowed by Len- the émigré population in New York. Her bio- in’s culture administration to travel to the West, graphy abounds with portraits of impressive, and it was after 18 years that he went back to his larger than life personalities. Linked to the home country. equally vigorous cultural scene in Paris, the Soviet enticements ranged from lucrative Russian-Americans who treasured classical mu- commissions for compositions to the logistics sic often crossed the Atlantic, and so did Lina. of everyday life, including a secure and flexible There, she lived and performed with Serge singing career for Lina. Soviet diplomats organ- (Sergei) Prokofiev and married him in 1923. ized lavish parties in honor of the Prokofievs, in- Her participation in the excitements of artist- vited them to elegant vacation homes in , ic life in Paris, narrated by Morrison with the stage-managed glamorous welcomes on music- eye for impactful intellectual breakthroughs al tours of the , and guaranteed among composers, electrifying competition first-class housing, first-rate education for their among ambitious impresarios (including Serge two sons, Svyatoslav and Oleg (in an elite Eng- Diaghilev of ), as well as lowbrow lish-language school created in Moscow for the children of the members of the foreign trade, court, Boston–New York 2013 (also published banking, and other arms of the Soviet foreign in England, The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev, service) and, “of course,” the possibility of any Vintage Books, 2014). time return to the West. RECENZJE, OMÓWIENIA 243

The regime succeeded in many ways in from fighting the Germans, to fighting the Aus- harnessing classical music to impress interna- trians, and then, in another forced adjustment, tionally and domestically. In the case of the to fighting anti-Soviet Ukrainian nationalists. In Prokofievs, at first, Serge just praised theSo- the meantime, the English school for children viet system in interviews with Western journ- closed down. Teachers, neighbors, colleagues, alists, then accepted commissions for musical and friends were executed, secretly killed with endorsements, such as, for example, the col- the help of hired thugs, or dispatched to the Gu- laboration with Georgiy Yakulov and Diaghilev lag. Serge found himself writing musical works in 1925 on Le pas d’acier, a ballet about major lauding the Soviet political and economic sys- features of communism (expressed in symbols tem in the hope of shielding the people working such as, for example, a small street market to on these artistic projects from danger of impris- represent Lenin’s New Economic Policy) in the onment. process of building a new civilization superi- Both Serge and Lina learned the art of mak- or to the West. Once in Moscow, Serge regu- ing only positive statements about the Soviet re- larly churned out compositions whose subjects gime, even in private. Sometimes they slipped substantiated the main myths and propaganda and made an honest mistake without intending of the Soviet system, and allowed all his work to come across as critical. Serge, for instance, to be seen as part of the pursuit of the Soviet once altered, for musical reasons, a libretto that sound, the communist project of creating the contained Lenin’s speeches. As a result, he saw brave new world. his Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of October After just a few months, broken prom- [Revolution] banned, thus learning that “tamper- ises started crashing down on the Prokofievs. ing with Lenin’s words was akin to burning the Among the first was the pledge of freedom Bible—absolutely taboo” (p. 179). of international travel: the last trip, with their Morrison’s intricate knowledge of the polit- sons kept in Moscow as hostages, took place ical, social, and economic realities at the time al- in 1938. Serge had to report on himself during lowed him to discern many telltale things that the trip, observe curfews specifying the length the Prokofievs did not do. For example, Serge of stay in the places he visited, and continue did not volunteer for political committee work to work on “Soviet topics,” such as, for ex- in the Union of Soviet Composers, instead, “he ample, popular songs in honor of Soviet lead- turned up at the meetings only when his mu- ers (among them, as it later turned out, mass sic was under discussion, acting incredulous at murderers). Requests for further travel were any suggestion that his melodies and harmonies turned down and so Serge stopped petitioning evinced anti-Soviet tendencies” (p. 178). Lina for fear of overstepping the clear but unspoken did not register to obtain a medal For the De- decision made somewhere in the corridors of fense of Moscow distributed to civilians en- power. Corrupt bureaucrats suffocated Lina’s gaged at the home front in the capital, and did singing. Serge received engagements, but un- not give up friendships with diplomats at West- predictably and dependent on the political ap- ern embassies. Given the context, these were proval, which caused him endless frustrations. unmistakable signs of inner resistance to the For example, Prokofiev’s opera political system. which had originally been composed to be anti- Starting in the summer of 1937, Serge re- -German, featuring a sarcastic parody of a Ger- ceived a summer vacation in a spa in Kislov- man march, had to be reconfigured at the ur- odsk in North Caucasus, but Lina did not. Even ging of the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav when Lina came for a short visit, she could only Molotov after the USSR signed the Ribbentrop- stay in the Intourist hotel. In contrast, Mira -Molotov Pact with Nazi Germany in August Mendelson, a devoted admirer, 23 years Serge’s 1939, ushering extensive cooperation, includ- junior, whose family belonged to the elite in ing between the two secret services in dividing charge of economic central planning, received up Poland. The main hero of the opera switched the same spa allocation — with the common 244 RECENZJE, OMÓWIENIA dining room, and opportunities to try to sneak unique historical material. Its novelty should to Serge’s room. By the time Serge finished the appeal equally to scholars and the general audi- third summer in Kislovodsk with Mira in the ence. spa, and Lina in Moscow, the family was broken. Although important links between state Serge moved out with a Soviet mistress very power and art and artists in Soviet-style com- much unlike Lina. Mira had a positive attitude munist regimes have been established,² gaining to the Soviet system, and instead of making in-depth insight into any single case of polit- Serge feel that he should fight it, she was happy ical interference with artists and their famil- to help him navigate its opaque patronage sys- ies in the Soviet Union is exceedingly rare. tem. The reasons for the difficulties in assembling Lina remained faithful to her husband for such a comprehensive study are numerous, to her entire life. She categorically rejected any re- mention a few: scarcity of official documenta- quest for divorce (the judicial system quickly tion, limited nature of the information gained found a way around it). With the victory in from interviews, and relative absence of gov- World War II came increased security apparat- ernment assistance. Soviet-style regimes pro- us activism and Lina was imprisoned on fabric- duced little in terms of paper trail concerning ated charges in 1948. During the nine month political coercion. Instead, the system produced long investigation before the trial, she endured mountains of figures and analyses that painted horrifying tortures, then fought for survival in a positive picture, while suppressing and dis- nightmarish conditions serving an 8 year sen- torting information that could give rise to cri- tence in the . ticism (beyond the acceptable official self-cri- Morrison is exceptionally well qualified to ticism).³ Memoirs and interviews with victims chronicle the life of Lina Prokofiev. Professor of political violence can provide important evid- of music history at , he ence, but it has to be checked and complemen- is gifted with a wonderful writing style, and ted with a wider context: victims differ in their has published both on Russian classical music capacity for perception and self-reflection re- and Russian émigré cultural life. His books in- quired to chronicle their ordeals with thorough- clude Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement ness, and their recollections are often filtered by and The People’s Artist: Prokofiev’s Soviet Years.¹ two powerful inhibitors: fear and shame. Cit- Prior expertise in unmasking the use of art as izens lived in fear of a plethora of punishments a propaganda vehicle, shrewd historical judg- for speaking openly;⁴ while prisoners were even ment, and hands-on research style, including required to sign a pledge of silence upon being extensive contacts with two generations of the released, making it illegal for them to talk about Prokofiev family and stays in Russia exploring their experiences. The problem of shame has to many sources of information, enabled Morrison do with the structure of the political system that to dig deeply. forced people into collaboration, which they In the first half of the biography, he gives deep inside detested, but preferred to avoid dis- a mesmerizing account of Lina’s youth, at the cussing because of guilt. It is particularly acute same time using it to instruct the reader about among those who spent time in prisons and Russian-American and Russian-French history, labor camps. In order to survive, prisoners had as well as 20th century classical music. The to suspend moral judgment and wholeheartedly second half of the book about the Prokofievs’ fulfill the expectations created by the politic- interaction with the Soviet regime contains al system. Compliance could earn privileges of additional food, a desperately needed medical ¹Simon Morrison, Russian Opera and the Sym- treatment, or a periodic release from work. In bolist Movement, University of California Press contrast, visible signs of resistance were pun- Berkeley and Los Angeles 2002; The People’s ished brutally, often with what was in effect Artist: Prokofiev’s Soviet Years, Oxford University a death sentence: exposure to the unbearable Press, Oxford and New York 2008. cold in the north, heat in the south, starvation, RECENZJE, OMÓWIENIA 245 overwork, and untreated illness. Auschwitz sur- country-wide network of Committees for the vivor Primo Levi observed the same dynamic study of Crimes against the Nation, the Insti- in Nazi death camps: the necessity of becom- tute has led to an outpouring of publications ing “privileged” in order to survive, followed by (of documents and analyses) that grew on the tormenting feelings of guilt. In his discussion of fertile ground of improved collection and ac- the problem of shame, Levi quoted the author cessibility of data in archives, in print, and on of Gulag memoirs Alexander Solzhenitsyn: “Al- the internet.⁷ In contrast, in Russia, the oppos- most all those who served a long sentence and ite process seems to take place. The data col- whom you congratulate because they are sur- lection citizen initiative Memorial has been har- vivors are unquestionably “pridurki” [who gain assed by the government and subject to the cur- privileged position by being compliant] or were rent political intrigue to close it altogether. Me- such during the greater part of their imprison- morial is in a catch-22 situation: starved of gov- ment.”⁵ ernment funding, it stands accused on being Government coordination is needed to cre- a foreign agent on account of accepting foreign ate a large and easily accessible documentary donations. Irina Sherbakova, a historian and co- and oral history base that can lead to the emer- -founder pointed out that if only the Russian gence of a broad and precise scholarly picture government were prepared to support Memori- of the enormous apparatus of political coercion al’s work, the organization wouldn’t need fund- of society under communism. It has been de- ing from abroad. The head of Memorial Alex- signed and implemented most extensively in ander Tscherkassov speaks of a fallback to the Germany⁶ and in Poland. The Polish govern- Soviet times.⁸ Until more openness, improved ment encouraged the work of scholars and vic- data collection, and analysis of the abuses of tims of communism through the creation of state power are allowed and encouraged in Rus- the Institute of National Remembrance (Instu- sia, Morrison’s book is a model of gaining pen- tut Pamięci Narodowej—IPN): with its growing etrating insight into the history of artists in the Soviet Union. The book unearths unpreceden- ted amounts of new data that had been care- ²See, for example, Anne Applebaum’s book, fully scrutinized by the author for distortions Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944– and falsifications. –1956, Allen Lane, London and New York 2012. One hopes that Morrison will produce more ³For secret police methods to control schol- biographies in the future. In the course of Lina’s ars that avoided written directives and public biography he clearly found new information channels see, for example, Zbigniew Romek, about Igor Stravinsky. Perhaps a full length bio- ed., Cenzura a nauka historyczna w Polsce 1944– graphy of Stravinsky might, in turn, lead him to –1970, Wydawnictwo Neriton-Instytut Historii a case study of ? It would PAN, Warszawa 2010. be a tremendous gain for scholars working in ⁴See Orlando Figes, The Whisperers, Picador, many areas in politics, sociology, history, as well New York 2007. as music. ⁵Alexander Solzhenitsyn quoted in Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved, Vintage Inter- national, New York 1989, p. 84. ⁷See, for example, the IPN portal: ipn.gov.pl/ ⁶In terms of publications, Germany has the publikacje most productive network of centers for data col- ⁸For example, see the controversies sur- lection and research dealing with dark periods round the exhibit, owned by Memorial, that was in its history: national socialism and commun- on show in Berlin in June–September 2013. ism. New projects are constantly added, for ex- www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-03/putin- ample, in the heart of Munich, a major new cen- threatens-gulag-campaigners-as-berlin-shows- ter for the collection of documentary evidence terror.html; Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, and remembrance of victims of national social- www.srf.ch/news/international/memorial-geg ism. en-putin 246 RECENZJE, OMÓWIENIA

In sum, anyone looking for an enjoyable policies aimed at the Prokofievs: an intriguing time would do well to read this book. F rom mixture of the geopolitical, the comparative and the point of view of the human and historic- the personal, discovered by Morrison through al interest, it is wholly educating and enrich- patient and painstaking peeling off layers of so- ing. It also brings to light new data aboutSoviet cial deception.