“THE NOTE. Life of Rudolf Barshai as told by himself in the film by Oleg Dorman”.
Russia, 2012. Documentary, 90 min.
Producers: Felix Dektor and Oleg Dorman
Awards: Bestenliste 4/2013; Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (DVD release) Germany.

“If, while taking advantage of equal rights, ignorance and bad taste reduce art to a pleasing trifle, then to what purpose did our predecessors work and suffer? What value does each of us have if we give up our personal duties to merge with the crowd?”  – Rudolph Barshai.

WHERE: Keynes Hall, King’s College, King’s Parade, Cambridge CB2 1ST.
LANGUAGE: Film in Russian with English subtitles. Q&As in English and Russian.
ENTRANCE: CamRuSS members free, others £5. Registration / booking is strongly recommended.

The conductor Rudolf Barshai was one of the greatest musicians of the XXth century. The Moscow Chamber Orchestra founded by Barshai in the late 1950s took the world by storm. Among the orchestra’s collaborators were Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Emil Gilels, Yehudi Menuhin. In 1977, at the peak of his career, Barshai emigrated to the West to perform works banned in the USSR. He led orchestras in Israel, Britain, Canada, France, Switzerland, and Japan. A master of orchestration, whom Shostakovich – his mentor and friend – trusted to arrange his quartets into chamber symphonies. Barshai considered his greatest achievements in life the ending to Bach’s Art of Fugue and a version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony.

* 1988 Gramophone Awards – Concerto: Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 2, Rudolf Barshai conducting Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; solo: Donohoe (EMI)
* 2003 Cannes Classical Music Award: Orchestral 20 Century: Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies; Barshai conducting WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (Brilliant Classics)
* 2003 Editor’s Award (ClassicsToday.com): Record of the Year: Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies; Barshai (Brilliant Classics).

The film, shot in Switzerland in 2010, is the maestro’s confessional monologue, recorded a month before his death.

Oleg Dorman is a film director, translator and author of countless memorable films, books and theatre productions. As a film director, Mr Dorman’s most renowned works are the documentaries The Note and Podstrochnik. The 15 episode, multi-award winning Podstrochnik, when finally released after nearly 10 years of rejections and dead-ends, became an instant sensation over 4 nights on Russian television in 2009. A book version of the film was published in 2010 and has since been translated into 10 languages. As a translator, Mr Dorman has single-handedly brought Woody Allen’s canon of books, short stories and plays to Russian readers and theatre audiences. His translation of Mr. Allen’s Central Park West is currently being presented on stage at the Moscow Art Theatre. Works in progress include an extensive book on the films of Polish cinema director Krzysztof Kieślowski, as well as mentoring prospective screenwriters and film directors at major Moscow and St. Petersburg Film Schools.