The Cambridge Russian-speaking Society (CamRuSS) are delighted to bring an evening of poetry readings and music to Cambridge in celebration of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Marina Tsvetaeva, one of the 20th century’s most important Russian poets. ‘No more passionate voice ever sounded in Russian poetry of the 20th century’ said Joseph Brodsky of Tsvetaeva.
Proceeds from this fundraising event will contribute to the CamRuSS for Ukraine Hardship Fund.
Set against the magical backdrop of Churchill College Chapel, the evening will start with a selection of music by Chopin, Rachmaninov and Medtner performed by Elena Toponogova on the piano. After the intermission, three actresses from the Xameleon Theatre, Maria Blatstein, Elena Knight and Vlada Lemeshevska, will share their personal readings of Tsvetaeva’s poems with a piano accompaniment by Maria Blatstein: three women, three destinies, three perceptions of freedom and life seen through the prism of Marina Tsvetaeva’s works from different periods, including excerpts from Insomnia directed by Dmitry Turchaninov.
This will be followed by Alice Ruffle (violin) and Peter Hewitt (piano) performing Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne and Dmitry Turchaninov’s reading of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry in a translation by Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetaeva.
