I will now tell a tale , a true story, about the power of music...
Stalin killed probably most people in the earth history with Mao...
He treated his family the same way he treated stanger and kill them or abandon them...
In this "beast" humanity is there too, but so deep down, no event could awake it...
But through history we know of one event which awake him to "meaning" ...To the presence of "meaning"...
Maria Yudina played a Mozart concerto one time for the radio when Stalin was listening... Stalin loved it so much he ordered to have the vinyl album right now...Now one dare to say no to Stalin ... The concert was not recorded but a live one only ... Then in the night Yudina played it a second time for the engineers to record it at fearful speed, changing even of maestro, because the first one was sick by fear... And guess what? After listening in ectasy the album so speedily made in urgency , Stalin offered big amount of money to Yudina... One of the greatest pianist of all time, and a completely fearless woman because of his absolute faith, she declined the money for herself but accept it for his church ONLY, knowing that Stalin emprisonned popes and destructed as many hundred of churches as possible in all Russia... Think about that : she then refuse the money for himself, and adding to the insult said why : to give it to the church, even if she lived in abject poverty and said to the dictator that she will pray God for his crimes instead... Wow!
Textually i quote from a video : "Thank you for your aid. I will pray day and night and ask the Great Lord to forgive you your great sins. The Lord is merciful and He will forgive you".
Extraordinarily, Stalin did not put her on execution or on Solovki island in the artic circle, as he did for EVERYONE else who dare to accuse him even all those who do not go with him without any reserve ... No one ever say anything about God being in command over him... Even Shostakovitch was sleeping waiting death with a suitcase ready each night, and never dare to say a negative word against Stalin till Stalin death, as Yudina the fearless pianist said it loud to Stalin in his face on telephone line...
Guess what ? Some 10 years after Stalin was discovered after 2 days alone in his room dying alone from a long agonising illness, because everybody feared him too much to dare to open the door without permission to see if everything was all right , especially uninvited doctors...On his table near his bed some vinyl album was found turning for hours or all day making the recognizing noise "click" without had been stop by no one for hours and hours after Stalin death : it was the Mozart same album, a unique album with only one copy the concerto no 23 especially recorded in one night for him by Yudina who played it two times in a row one in the evening and one in the night......
Stalin the beast knowing that his death was near listened to one of the rare meaningful experience in his life, pure emotion driven by light, the Mozart adagio is no more a sound experience here, but only meaning, than the question of "interpretation value" about Yudina playing lost all meaning... Yudina cannot be faulted because she forgot long ago how to play "well" ti impress people, she always played as if she pray, dying to go to the light...
Imagine the unmovable bravery of this woman... And in Russian pianist school she is beside, not under, Neuhaus, Sofronitsky, Scriabin, and the others giants ...
