He (and I) is soon to publish blog posts on symphony concerts, and in late October he/I will overwhelm you with posts on his imminent journey to Germany, France and Switzerland. Can't wait, can you?
Meanwhile, I have been pondering my relationship with Dottore Gianni. It's an extremely close one, but difficult to describe. I suppose the German word Doppelgänger addresses it well. I don't mean it in its sense as a ghostly double, who if spotted with the human version will cause his death, but more as an alter ego. Perhaps the most famous of these is the strange case of another good doctor, Jekyll by name, and his double/nemesis, Hyde.
My doppelgänger of course was created by myself, and is a much more friendly fellow than the notorious Mr Hyde. Why did I do it? a whim I suppose - but as I write that, I cause Dottore Gianni to wince. He doesn't consider himself a whim, a trifle. He is much happier with the version of why he was invented that follows.
One of my very favorite artists is Vsevolod Meyerhold. Do you know him? If you don't you should. An extraordinarily talented and pioneering performer/director, he began as one
of Stanislavsky's finest students, originating the role of Kostya in Chekhov's great play The Seagull. He tired of Chekhovian and Stanislavskian realism quickly, and began in the early years of the twentieth century some of the first Russian experiments in symbolism while directing for Vera Kommissarjevskaya (an easy name for me to write - a bit trickier to say!) in St Petersburg. He constantly experimented in theatrical form and was at the same time thrilled with the new soviet state. He was one of the earliest artists to become a member of the communist party, and he offered the soviets a new theatre for the new world that was being created. That's the way it should be, right? Oh, those optimistic early days! He continued brilliant explorations onstage utilizing constructivism and biomechanics in performance, directing plays in the new style by the poet Mayakovsky as well as daring interpretations of Russian classics, most notably Gogol's Inspector General.
Unfortunately for its artists, the soviet regime began to favor simple, realistic theatre that any Russian peasant could understand. Then Stalin came to power and insisted upon a simple soviet realism in the arts. Mayakovsky killed himself under this pressure, and others were "disappeared" - taken away and killed by Stalin's frighteningly efficient secret police. Stalin imposed this "simplicity" ("sancta simplicitas" as Shaw put it ironically in Saint Joan) in music as well, and he proved a nightmare for Prokoviev and Shostakovich, among others.
Meyerhold refused to tow Stalin's party line, but it's not nice to disagree with "Uncle Joe." Meyerhold and his wife were murdered, she first, brutally in their apartment where she was found with 17 stab wounds, none close to the heart so that she would slowly bleed to death. He was arrested and tortured until he was forced to confess that he was a British spy (!) - any excuse would do. He was executed by firing squad in 1940.
My doppelgänger of course was created by myself, and is a much more friendly fellow than the notorious Mr Hyde. Why did I do it? a whim I suppose - but as I write that, I cause Dottore Gianni to wince. He doesn't consider himself a whim, a trifle. He is much happier with the version of why he was invented that follows.
One of my very favorite artists is Vsevolod Meyerhold. Do you know him? If you don't you should. An extraordinarily talented and pioneering performer/director, he began as one
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| Meyerhold reading The Seagull |
Unfortunately for its artists, the soviet regime began to favor simple, realistic theatre that any Russian peasant could understand. Then Stalin came to power and insisted upon a simple soviet realism in the arts. Mayakovsky killed himself under this pressure, and others were "disappeared" - taken away and killed by Stalin's frighteningly efficient secret police. Stalin imposed this "simplicity" ("sancta simplicitas" as Shaw put it ironically in Saint Joan) in music as well, and he proved a nightmare for Prokoviev and Shostakovich, among others.
Meyerhold refused to tow Stalin's party line, but it's not nice to disagree with "Uncle Joe." Meyerhold and his wife were murdered, she first, brutally in their apartment where she was found with 17 stab wounds, none close to the heart so that she would slowly bleed to death. He was arrested and tortured until he was forced to confess that he was a British spy (!) - any excuse would do. He was executed by firing squad in 1940.
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| Meyerhold with his wife, Zinaida Raikh |
Sorry to be gruesome. It was hard to be an artist under Stalin. Hell, it was hard to be just about anyone under Uncle Joe!
WHY did I/Dottore Gianni tell you this story? Early in his career, during pre-revolutionary Russia, Meyerhold, living in St Petersburg, was appointed director of imperial theatres. At
this time he was performing really radical experiments at a cabaret of sorts called the House of Interludes. The powers-that-were saw this activity as potentially subversive and insisted that if Meyerhold wanted to continue his clownish efforts in the style of commedia dell'arte at that lowly cabaret he must perform under a pseudonym. So he did! He chose the name Dr Dappertutto (Dr Everywhere) based on a subversive character created by ETA Hoffman.
It was this relationship, I think/have come to believe, that inspired me to invent/be introduced to Dottore Gianni. So I did! Though I fear with nowhere near the genius of Meyerhold and Dr Dappertutto. But aren't we all happy Dottore Gianni exists (more or less)? Of course we are!
WHY did I/Dottore Gianni tell you this story? Early in his career, during pre-revolutionary Russia, Meyerhold, living in St Petersburg, was appointed director of imperial theatres. At
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| Meyerhold as Dr Dappertutto |
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| Dr Jack |
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| Dottore Gianni |
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