ALEX ANDER R ASK ATOV
ANIMAL FARM
TIMELINE
ANIMAL FARM AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
1883 THE DEATH OF KARL MARX Karl Marx, one of the principal thinkers behind socialism, dies on 14 March. His ideas had a great influence on the socialist and communist movements of the second half of the nineteenth century and beyond.
1924–1927 STALIN SEIZES POWER Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Soviet Union, dies in 1924. Joseph Stalin gradually gains power and neutralises his rivals one by one, including Leon Trotsky. By 1927, Stalin has absolute power.
1917–1925 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR When Tsar Nicholas II abdicates in March 1917, after constant protests by the starving masses, a chaotic period follows in Russia. In October 1917, the Bolsheviks (radical communists) seize power. This is followed by a civil war that is ultimately won by the Bolsheviks in 1923.
6
ANIMAL FARM AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
KARL MARX, around 1848
Beginning of the RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, 1917
7
ALEXANDER SODDY
WHEN THE PLAY COMES TO LIFE The particular attraction of performing a work by a living composer, involving them in the development of the interpretation, engaging them in a fertile artistic dialogue is obvious, and is one of the finest experiences in being an interpreter. Which is why I was so happy to be collaborating in this way with Alexander Raskatov in the Wiener Staatsoper première of his Animal Farm. The numerous discussions lasting for hours in which we read and anal ysed the score together started very early on, while my colleague was conducting the world première and subsequent performances in Amsterdam. I had questions, suggestions, proposals – interpretation of a musical work is ultimately a creative, living process, a carbon copy of the Amsterdam performances wouldn’t have been enough for me. And Raskatov was very open and interested in these discussions and adopted many ideas, so that ultimately we had a sort of Viennese version of Animal Farm. Most of the changes had ISABEL SIGNORET as MURIEL
less to do with structural aspects than expressive ones, the interpretative approach. But they included the occasional general pause, a changed tempo and a few minor cuts which helped focus the action. There was also the significant issue that voices were electronically amplified in Amsterdam, which naturally won’t be the case at Wiener Staatsoper. Something that’s important in Raskatov’s work is his involvement with earlier great composers and Russian folklore. This is why when working on Animal Farm and even listening to it, you’re struck by reminiscences of Shostakovitch or Prokofiev. Like Richard Strauss in his day, virtually all significant contemporary composers have a nearly encyclopaedic knowledge of earlier styles and musical languages, influences and contexts. This knowledge is part of their craft, a tool in the creative process. As a result, there are certain deliberate parallels between Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Minsk and Animal
27
42
43