New book out today

Another huge project this summer and autumn has been, while wearing my other hat as translator/editor, helping to shepherd to publication Book 1 of my father’s memoirs of his years in the West, Between Two Millstones: Sketches of Exile. It first appeared in Russian in 1998, but it has taken until now for an English publication to materialize. It is well worth the wait, however, beautifully translated by Peter Constantine, and appearing in a gorgeous hardback edition from the University of Notre Dame Press, to which I supplied endnotes and an Index of Selected Names.

More details here.

LISTEN: "One Day" opera at the Bolshoi

One of my big projects this autumn is the preparation, together with the renowned director Georgi Isaakian, of a new production of Aleksandr Tchaikovsky’s opera “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” for the Bolshoi Theatre. Rehearsals have not yet begun, but there is of course a huge amount of work behind the scenes, as I study the score, decide on any necessary cuts, correct typos, etc. One of many wonderful aspects of this opera is the sheer beauty of the choral writing. Hear an excerpt if you wish:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Aleksandr Tchaikovsky