Russian
Romantics

A Moscow quartet finds life, and music,
easier in the United States.

SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

erhaps it's not quite the same as facing a
formal audience, but members of the
Moscow String Quartet still have to be
crowd-pleasers when they rehearse.
It's all part of the arrangements that
brought the Jewish women to the Unit-
ed States three years ago as artists-in-res-
idence at the University of Denver.
While preparing for their concerts,
scheduled both inside and outside the
United States, they show students how
they practice and reach agreement on se-
lections and styles.
These kinds of rehearsals will precede
their first Michigan appearance spon-
sored by the Lyric Chamber Ensemble
at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at Congre-
gation Shaarey Zedek, where they
will present the music of "Great Russian
Romantics."
The group has chosen works by Borodin,
Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, played in
a style they consider traditional Russian,
a technique they believe is best understood
when heard.
"Open rehearsal is a new experience,"
said Eugenia Alikhanova, one of two vio-
linists in the group and quartet spokesper-
son. "In Russia, all of us taught.
"At first, the most difficult problem
was speaking English, which we had to do
here to show the students how we make
a decision about musical problems. We
tried to make it clear for our students what
it is to work in a quartet."
The instrumentalists, who also conduct
master classes, have been together for 20
years, first performing in the United States
in 1990, when they were invited to differ-
ent summer festivals.
During a Denver recital, they were
heard by board members from the uni-
versity.
`They liked the concert, and they want-
ed us to come for a residency," Ms.
Alikhanova recalled. 'They sent a proposal
to Moscow, and we decided we had to try
a new experience. It became a big adven-
ture."
The quartet — which also includes vi-
olinist Valentina Alykova, violist Tatiana
Kohanovskaya and cellist Olga Ogra-
novich — met through a teacher.
"During our studies, we went to the
Leo Weiner International Quartet C-
ompetition in Budapest (1978), and we

The Moscow String Quartet.

won," Ms. Alikhanova said. "After that,
we went to the International Quartet
Competition in France (1979) and won
that as well.
"Soon we started to receive engagement
offers from different European countries
because these two competitions are very
well- known in Europe. Step by step we
started to play more and more in Europe
and so our careers grew."
The group decided to leave the Soviet
Union because opportunities were too
limited.
"People don't have enough time and
enough money to go to concerts in Russia,"
explained the violinist, who also reports
that the move to the United States
brought professional hurdles for their
husbands.
"It wasn't easy for them to find work,
although people here have helped very
much, and everybody is working now.
"Tatiana's husband was a very well-
known clarinetist in Russia, and he's
teaching privately here. Valentina's hus-
band is a computer programmer and lan-
guage translator.
"Olga's husband is a cellist also, and he
teaches and plays in an orchestra in Boul-
der. My husband is a doctor whose diplo-
ma is not valid here so he works in a
transplant bank."

The quartet, whose recordings of Russ-
ian compositions have been a joint Sovi-
et-American venture, periodically return
to Russia to perform and visit with rela-
tives.
"We want to live in the United States,"
said Ms. Alikhanova. But the group's busy
concert schedule soon will take them to
Spain, France and Italy. "We like it here.
Our public is warm, and we like playing
for them."
The group appreciates having an eas-
ier time practicing their religion. In
Moscow, they could not go to synagogue
as they do in Colorado.
"We respect each other very much, and
we hope to play a lot together," the
group's spokesperson said. "We want to
play as long as we can.
"We have a very good relationship with
each other, and that doesn't happen of-
ten with a quartet. It's like marriage be-
cause we see each other every day
through rehearsal. We know each other
very well and understand that the right
disposition makes all problems easier to
handle." ❑

Et' The Moscow String Quartet will per-
form at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at Con-
gregation Shaarey Zedek. For information,
call (810) 357- 1111.

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