RUSSIA AND HER PEOPLE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2523, 31 July 1915, Page 10

RUSSIA AND HER PEOPLE

FROM 'A RUSSIAN .VISITOR; It is only within recent years that English-speaking peoplo (on the whole) have been gaining a. clearer conception and understanding- of the Russian people" than was the case formerly, and without doubt when this terrible war in which Russia has been playing so heroic a-part is'over', the two peoples will have found out that there is very much which eacli can give the other with advantage in every aspect and pliaso of life. At the present time there are two investing visitors to Wellington in M. Ivanoif, a Russian violinist, who is appearing in "The Butterflies," and Madame Ivanoif, who is travelling with her husband. M. IvanofE is a cousin of tlio Cherniavsky Brothers, mid ho has been not only leader of the Tsar's Orchestra," but was a soldier in the Guards. When war broke out lie was touring in England -vvitti his brother, a 'cellist, and the latter left for the Russian front, leaving 51. Ivanoff and his father, who is a professor at Canterbury, behind him. During tho summer M. Gregory Ivanoff conducted the Adelaide Orchestra in the Austral Gardens for Mr. L. Waller, and afterwards he was Bent abroad on tour.

In talking to Madanio Ivanoff, one gathered much in tho course of conversation that made ono realise what a great future tho Russian people should have before them. : With."such an attitude as theirs ,to "art, music, literature, aud,the system pursued in their schools and . colleges and universities, a highlygifted peopled would be .the. natural result,other tilings, being equal. • In' Russia, so 'Madame Ivanoff told one, no musical prodigy, no singer, need ever be tortured, by the fact that opportunities for tuition are. beyond their reach.'. The fees at the Conservatoriums and colleges are very little, and in tho pase of a boy or a girl who shows marked'ability; liut who may'be too poor oveli to .pay what is . necessary, the fees are waived, and their .expenses in other directions are paid for them. In such cases as these'tlie'y must, however, bo of talent/. Then again not • only 'are these pupils trained in their own particular gift, but they must learn tlio other forms of art—painting, dancing, etc. —so that the whole of their artistic abilities are, drawn upon and matured.'

A thing that marks the different attitude to music of the English public compared to that of the Russian is that whereas in the former country the public cannot hear too much of an air or a song tliat has • caught its fancy, even if it be performed indifferently, the latter after the first perfect performance by the artist who introduced it to them ivill not tolerate bearing it anyhow and anywhere performed. The people wish. to pass on to something fresh and to keep in their minds the thing as they first lieard it. As a matter of fact the' absolutely modern composers are not very well known in England, and if they should be played by artists tho critics . nometimes complain that they do not know them and wish for something more or less familiar.

In Russia, Madame Ivanoff explained, there, were broadly speaking only two classes—the peasant, who can neither read nor write, and the educated class, in 'whicliMs included the nobly born. Education it is,' however, that makes them equal, and in this the girls have the same advantages as boys. There is no sap in tho system which is followed in Russia —there are first of all the preparatory schools, then the intermediate schools or colleges, and then the univer-sity,-all fitting into one another. Three languages at least nAist be learnedRussian, French, and German. Mathematics in all its branches'a girl goes through, and all the sciences,-literature, tho history of' every . countiy, from mythological .times up to the present, including.her'own, and music, painting, singing,- and dancing. Tho latter arts must be learned whether she has any ability for them or no, and the domestic sciences are not forgotten either. _ If she wishes to lead an independent life, practically every calling is open to her, and sharing tho same studies as tho men students there has grown, a wonderful understanding between the sexes. Separate men's and women's clubs are not a. Russian institution, possibly for' that very reason. Like the Germans, the Russians are well acquainted with our literature, and every writer of note, every poet, every novelist who has become popular in England is translated and finds -his way to the bookshelves of the Russian home. (And yet we have only_ lately begun to find out what. Dostoievsky, Gogol, T'achekov, apart from Tolstoy and Turgeneiff, to name some of the Russian writers, can teach us.l . Tho Russian dancing all have lieard about.- It-lias more or less taken the worlcTat Homo by storm, and has put a flood of vitality into an art that had become lifeless, stereotyped, and absolutely conventionalised 1 . "After the war many barriers will be broken down, and the nation s* will have a greater' Understanding and sympathy —but at such a cost!" said Madame Ivanoff with great sadness.