Draft:Vera Lotar-Shevchenko
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Vera Lotar-Shevchenko (1901–1982) was an Italian-born pianist known for her resilience during her imprisonment in Stalin's Gulag.
Early Life
[edit]Vera Lotar-Shevchenko was born in 1901 in Turin, Italy, to academic parents. She displayed an early talent for music, joining Arturo Toscanini's orchestra at twelve. She studied under Alfred Cortot in Paris[1] and later at the Vienna Academy of Music, developing a repertoire centered on Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy.
Life in the Soviet Union
[edit]In 1938, Lotar-Shevchenko married a Soviet trade official and they moved to the USSR, where both were caught in Stalin's purges. She was sentenced to 13 years in the Gulag, during which she practiced on a keyboard carved from a plank from her bed. She gave "silent concerts" for her fellow prisoners who were impressed by her devotion to her music.
Post-Gulag Career
[edit]Following her release, Lotar-Shevchenko resumed her career, performing with the Novosibirsk State Philharmonic and earning acclaim for her Beethoven interpretations. Despite opportunities to return to France, she chose to stay in the Soviet Union, saying "It would be treachery to the memory of those russian women who helped me during that infernal term in prison."[2]
Legacy
[edit]Lotar-Shevchenko's life is celebrated through memorial concerts and piano competitions.[3] In 2021, during a concert commemorating her 120th birthday at the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, pianist Timofey Kazantsev spoke out against "the repression machinery" in modern Russia, drawing parallels to Lotar-Shevchenko's own experiences under Stalin.[4]
She is buried in Novosibirsk, with her gravestone reading: "Blessed is life with the music of Bach."
References
[edit]- ^ "Poupées russes : lignées pianistiques" Marina Chiche, et al. August 8, 2021. France Musique [1]
- ^ Vera Lotar-Shevchenko Biography [2]
- ^ Gallerix.ru Competition Results. 4 July 2016. [3]
- ^ Paula Erizanu, "Novosibirsk pianist speaks out against repression," New East Digital Archive, 19 March 2021. [4]