Alexander Siloti

[Marianne]

Have you seen this site:

http://www*siloti*com/

They say there is a book about Siloti!

[opus23#10]

Marianne,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It is a challenge for me to come up with really new and interesting material for our music teachers' newsletter. The book and web site you recommend should catch the attention of the busiest music teacher. I will immediately start the search for the Siloti book, and will also view the web site. *****
One thing I like to use in my column is human interest material. I hope to include a little piece on famous musicians and their animal friends. A picture on your Russian web site shows SVR and a noble looking St. Bernard. There are at least two references in his letters about this breed. (A big dog for a big man!) Maybe members can acquaint me with other composers' pets.
Opus23#10

[Marianne]

One more dog)


I wish I knew is it really Chopin who composed the famous "Dog valse", we call it this way, may be you call it some other way - the easiest thing everybody knows who to play it even people that never had any piano lessons...

[opus23#10]

Marianne, it has been years since I heard about one of Chopin's waltzes being inspired by a little dog. I am not sure which waltz that was. I thought it was either Op.34 No.3 in F Major, or Op. 64, No.1 in D flat Major -- the one we call the "Minute Waltz".
I remember your saying that teachers in Russia want to teach The Seasons only to serious, accomplished students (because they don't want to hear the pieces badly played). Well, it is time for teachers to do that to some of Chopin's works. Even though I adored Chopin, I got to a point where I simply couldn't listen to his music, because people played it badly, and with such egotism. I never thought I could stand to hear Op.64, No.1 in D flat (the Minute Waltz) again, but I listened to SVR play in on the Red Seal recording and it was amazing. He used mathematically precise, split-second timing in that piece. I had never even imagined the possibilities until I heard his interpretation.
The little dog that Rachmaninoff is holding in the picture looks like a poodle, but I never read of him having a poodle. They must have had several dogs at Ivanovka.
Opus23#10

[Marianne]

One thing I like to use in my column is human interest material. I hope to include a little piece on famous musicians and their animal friends.
Maybe members can acquaint me with other composers' pets.
Opus23#10

Specially for you, dear opus23#10!

[Marianne]

And one more:


Fedor Chaliapin, singer, 1937 with his favourite dog

[Marianne]

St. Petersburg 26-1-908
Meu bom amigo
Hontem cheguei a St Petersburg. Viagem esplendida, tempo e cidade maravilhosos e grande successo nos concertos Siloti. Sigo no dia 31 para Moscou.
Já estou completamente restabelecida da minha operação. 17 toco com a orchestra Lamoureux.
Agradeço-lhe muito as suas cartas.
Não lhe pude responder logo porque ao mesmo momento partia para a Russia.
Em Bruxellas tocamos eu e o Casals o double concerto de Moór com Isaye. Um encanto; grande sucesso. Ysaye estava maravilhado. Em chegando a Paris lhe escreverei os detalhes de tudo isto.
Saudades
Cuilhermina
(Cedido por Prof Elisa Lamas)

I wish I had a translation of this text, it seems that it is about Siloti's concert.
On the picture one can see the embankment of Neva river in Saint-Petersburg.

[Marianne]

As for the previous postcard - my friends did a translation and I will post them later...

Just came to post one more picture:

[Marianne]

Look what they say in a review of the book "Lost in the Stars":
At the old Julliard school before moving to the current location, there was a Siloti's statue...

www*amazon*com/review/RYTNKQ3PMHBF2

and also:
Barber arranged with Carl Fischer to simultaneously publish a collection of Siloti's forty surviving scores as "The Alexander Siloti Collection."

www*amazon*com/review/R3VUZT96T8R47A