Vladimir Deshevov. Franz Liszt from Tsarskoye Selo

02.09.2021

Vladimir Deshevov

Russian composer Vladimir Mikhailovich Deshevov is one of the authors of constructive realism and creators of the first Soviet operas and ballets. He was born in St. Petersburg on February 11, 1889, and left this world in Leningrad on October 27, 1955.

His contemporaries often called him "Franz Liszt from Tsarskoye Selo" and "A fragile Elf with the Face of Chopin." Both statements perfectly met the character of an elegant, nervous, impetuous prodigy and virtuoso Vladimir Deshevov. He was a friend of Anna Akhmatova and Nikolai Gumilyov. He was also an officer in the army of Ferdinand Wrangel during the Russian Civil War, fought in Sevastopol and got a serious wound. Deshevov is a composer with a hard fate and rich musical heritage.

Deshevov's music is a vivid example of the radical avant-garde of the so-called "first wave." It is permeated with the energy of big cities, construction of industrial ''giants'', sharp rhythm and uncompromising desire to create something new. In the end of the '20s, Deshevov was stigmatized and cut off from the history of Russian music. Deshevov spent the siege in Leningrad. He wrote music for the radio, worked in fire brigades, was wounded during shelling, was ill and starved.

A lot of research was done to restore the composer's legacy as part of the project "Russian Composers' Heritage Revival." The Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra recorded Deshevov's symphonic poem "Russian Fairy Tale" (1947) and his suite to "Bela" ballet (1941). The Orchestra will perform both compositions for the first time at the II International Music Festival "Energy of Discoveries", which was founded by Unipro PJSC and Orpheus Radio.

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