Photo in Voronezh with Victora, Alexander, Anastasia and Natalya B.
A book of my Russian poetry was published two decades ago. And, unbeknownst to me, my very busy husband, Maestro Alexander Goldstein, has been secretly dreaming of composing a cycle of Russian Romances, a very beautiful romantic genre of songs, to some of my lyrical poems.
The sequestration of the covid months has shifted his schedule and allowed him to compose and rehearse with a singer, who coincidentally, shares his last name. They did it long distance, without me ever catching them in that act – lol – even as Alex and I work together and are in each other’s space all the time.
The result was a cycle of five romances, three of which were performed in the very special summer concert, featuring Victoria Goldshteyn-Dmitrieva (Spoiler: Goldstein and Goldshteyn is the same last name if spelled in Russian but she is not related to Alexander)
The premiere concert was in Moscow, on July 15, 2021, and with all the travel restrictions and challenges of this trying time, my husband made certain I received a Russian visa to attend the premiere, while holding on to the secrecy of it, until he could no longer.
42 years after I left the USSR and I promise to blog about it after the 3 videos are released, so please stay tuned, i was back in Moscow, a much improved and mau I say, relaxed, city.
The premiere was at the home-museum of Leo Tolstoy on Prechistenka, one of the famous streets in the center of Moscow. LEO TOLSTOY as in War and Peace! Imagine my excitement? Me, a girl from school 187 in Kiev USSR ends up at the premiere of her romances at Leo Tolstoy’s home! Does it get any better? Yes! They let me sit at his desk! Yes, Victoria was singing divinely! Yes, Alex wrote gorgeous music that made my poetry – and even if I knew every word of it, as you can imagine – it made my poetry move me and many in the audience to tears.
After the premiere, we went down the street to have dinner at the rooftop of one of the premiere restaurants in Moscow, Voronezh. At 9:30 it was still light enough to see the nearby Kremlin and the magnificent Church of Christ The Savior, which was not there during my living in the USSR (details later, I promise).
All three romances are now edited and are residing on my YouTube Channel as well as my author page on Facebook.