Международная конференция "ВСЕЛЕННАЯ ТОЛСТОГО"

My favourite genre in music is piano improvisations on the themes given by the audience.

I find it interesting to penetrate into other people's image and respond to their expectations - of course I have to delve deep into myself where something starts bursting out by itself as Pushkin said," My hand demands a pen; the pen - a sheet of paper. Another minute - and my verse will freely flow... But whither do we sail?..." (M. Eastman transl. 1924)

Similarly, having been asked to paint a series of pictures based on Lermontov's poems (idea by Tatiana Feoktistova, curator of the exhibition projects and director of the Exhibition Centre of the Library for Foreign Literature), I worked with enjoyment, it later resulted in the exhibition "Unveiling Lermontov", in the same way I enjoyed working at Tolstoy's novel (also T. Feoktistova’s art project) and surprisingly, the process of working enabled me to better understand both of the authors.

 Lermontov proved to be remarkably unique and rose level with Pushkin, and Tolstoy, who I had been more critical about, appeared to be closer to Pushkin as an honest examiner of human nature, not as the person who had been against building a monument to the great poet, he was not in the least a skin-deep naturalist as I had seen him before, but a thoughtful researcher, so I was glad to place him next to Pushkin whom he  had once carelessly criticized in his article, the fact that I obviously couldn't like.

Not only did he portray himself in the character of Levin honestly, deeply, ironically and lyrically, but he also depicted the Russian peasants and expressed his doubts about the need of capitalism for the Russian soul.

Levin is respectful of his peasants who are reluctant to become boundlessly rich and who instead are willing to live a slow habitual life customary to the life of their ancestors - a healthy natural phenomenon.

No less prominent component of the novel "Anna Karenina" is an extremely important subject of family breakup that Tolstoy scrutinized almost like a scientist and as a great poet and researcher (like Pushkin).

Anna cannot move from the world of her former family with Karenin and her beloved son with whom she is restricted to communicate. She cannot move to the other world of Alexey Vronsky, even though they have a hone y moon in Venice!  And she bears the man she loves a child!

It is surprising that they both try hard to mould their life but it gets ruined by the previous invisible bonds that bring about  the feeling of disaster in the souls of both of them and they both unconsciously start escaping from each other which finds its reflection in quarrels... reproaches ... in the sense of affliction - this is the sensation of the way being wrong!!! (unlike joyfulness and gaiety - the symptoms of the right way).

No...the wrong way comes along with  anxiety and catastrophe - Tolstoy-artist deserves a Doctor Degree for the research he did into  psychology of relationships and biology of  marriage.

I am glad that I abandoned the way of literal translation of this tragedy into the image of a train, railways and wheels but instead I took on picturing the absence of any base and ground under her feet and only a flimsy rope  over emptiness (the birth of a new child), which is hopeless because crossing from one psychological environment into the  other is painful (due to the complexity of breaking the old bonds invisible to a man's eye).

In conclusion, I would like to say that my acquaintance with the novel was quite unusual. It was read aloud by portions every day by Tatiana Li, as a result  I seem to have captured more than if I had read it by myself ravenously and hastily swallowing up some parts and episodes - it was selfless of her to read  such a huge book aloud...

I will surely get this recorded audio-book together with our comments ready and publish it on the  Internet  for public use... which I always do with whatever I make.