Download STALIN`S PIANO BARBARA BLACKMAN`S FESTIVAL BLESSING

SUNDAY 30 APRIL
In association with the NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA
CONCERT 5
STALIN'S PIANO
BARBARA BLACKMAN'S FESTIVAL BLESSING
Robert Davidson b. 1965
Stalin's Piano WP – a multimedia performance
O
n March 5 1953, Joseph Stalin died in his bed. Spinning on his
record player was Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, performed
by his pianist of choice, the formidable Maria Yudina. An outspoken
champion of new music and artistic freedom, Yudina was banned,
suspended or exiled time after time. Yet, whilst so many of her
fellow artists 'disappeared' or were purged by the KGB, Yudina
outlasted Stalin and lived to tell her story. Robert Davidson's new
work, conceived for the Ukranian-born and equally fearless Sonya
Lifschitz, takes us into the heart of the ever-simmering conflict
between state and individual, with contributions from people as
diverse as Goebbels, Ai Wei Wei, Jackson Pollock, Whitlam and
Yudina herself.
Fairfax Theatre,
National Gallery of
Australia
2.00pm | c. 90 mins
SONYA LIFSCHITZ piano
This performance will be followed by a forum on the theme:
"Art and Politics"
Dr Deborah Hart Head of Australian Art, NGA
Dr Robert Davidson composer
Andrew Ford OAM composer/writer
Dr Chen Yi 2017 CIMF Composer–in–residence
moderated by Vincent Plush writer/composer
Durations: 50' – c. 40'
THIS CONCERT is supported by GAIL FORD
WP – WORLD PREMIERE
Barbara Blackman AO
A
uthor, music-lover, essayist, librettist, letter writer
and patron of the arts, Barbara was born in Brisbane
in 1928. Her father died when she was three years old,
and mother and daughter lived together in a series of
homes and boarding houses in Brisbane. At Brisbane
State High School, Barbara was introduced to the music
of Shostakovich by fellow students Donald Munro, Roger
Covell and Charles Osborne, and began a love affair with
contemporary music that continues today. In 1950 she was diagnosed with optic atrophy; her
vision declined rapidly until she became completely blind.
By 1952 Barbara was married to aspiring artist Charles Blackman, a marriage that produced
three children and lasted nearly thirty years. The two lived a meagre but happy existence in
Melbourne until 1960, when Charles was awarded the prestigious Helena Rubinstein Travelling
Scholarship, and the family moved to London. In later life, Barbara married Frenchman Marcel
Veldhoven. The pair spent twelve years together before Veldhoven travelled to India to live
and study Tibetan Buddhism. Though Barbara was raised in the Christian tradition, she broke
away from the Church in her early twenties and today follows the teachings of Sufism.
In 2004, Barbara pledged $1 million to music in Australia, to Pro Musica and the ANU School of
Music among other groups. Her generosity to Pro Musica enabled the Canberra International
Music Festival to develop in directions that would not otherwise have been possible.