Virtuosi Abroad: Soviet Music and Imperial Competition during the Early Cold War, 1945–1958 by Kiril Tomoff

Abstract

Reviewed by: Virtuosi Abroad: Soviet Music and Imperial Competition during the Early Cold War, 1945–1958 by Kiril Tomoff Michael Paulauskas (bio) Kiril Tomoff. Virtuosi Abroad: Soviet Music and Imperial Competition during the Early Cold War, 1945–1958. xi + 262 pp. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015. ISBN 9780801453120. In Virtuosi Abroad, Kiril Tomoff makes a significant contribution to the historiography of the cultural dimensions of the Cold War by examining the world of classical music. He argues that Soviet domination of international music competitions and successful tours of Soviet musicians in the West gave Soviet officials confidence in the inevitable victory of their system over American-style democracy and capitalism. By participating in this system, however, Soviet leaders integrated their country into the legal and economic framework of an increasingly globalized world that had been shaped primarily by the United States. This contributed to the eventual collapse of the USSR since, in the long run, the Soviet Union proved less adept than the US at navigating this system. Tomoff’s book is organized thematically into five chapters. He starts by discussing the Soviet government’s fight against William Wellman’s The Iron Curtain, perhaps the first American anti-Soviet feature film of the postwar era. Soviet legal opposition to the movie’s release crystallized around the soundtrack’s unauthorized appropriation of music by Soviet composers such as Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and Miaskovsky. Surprisingly, the fight against the film was not led by Soviet officials, but rather by Western partners who were sympathetic to the Soviet Union. American leftist Helen Black, for example, led the initial fight to suppress the film in the United States and, when it failed, authored a memo that resulted in a reshaping of Soviet policy. Following Black’s advice, Soviet leaders decided to complete agreements with Western firms for the publication and distribution rights for Soviet music. This embrace of Western copyright law allowed Soviet officials to challenge The Iron Curtain in court and block its release in France, but it also meant integrating into the legal framework of American global capitalism. Tomoff then discusses Soviet participation in international music competitions after World War II. He outlines the ideological dimensions of competition with the West, the relationship between Soviet musicians and performers from satellite states, and Soviet authorities’ development of conservatory programs in Moscow to prepare musicians for competition. One of the key themes of this section is the fragmented nature of Soviet bureaucracy, with different ministries and committees colliding as they attempted to shape Soviet cultural policy, take credit for Soviet victories, and shift the blame for failures away from themselves. Tomoff also addresses the 1958 First International Tchaikovsky [End Page 257] Competition in Moscow, when American Van Cliburn took home the top prize in piano. He argues that while Americans traditionally have viewed this as a major Soviet defeat in the cultural Cold War, Soviet officials were pleased with the result, as they felt the festival was “a full-fledged demonstration that Moscow was a, perhaps the, center of a global musical culture” (112). In the eyes of Soviet leaders, people around the world would look to the USSR as the natural heir of Western musical traditions. The final chapters of the book focus on Soviet musicians’ tours of the West, particularly the United States. Tomoff centers his analysis on Soviet integration into global norms that had been set by the United States. He argues that Soviet-American musical exchanges had the effect of creating a standardized orchestral sound, with Soviet technical prowess assimilated into an American system that stressed expressiveness. Additionally, Tomoff notes that Soviet cultural authorities chose to arrange tours through Western impresarios such as Sol Hurok, rather than developing their own system, perhaps through the friendship societies that continued to operate in the West after World War II. Although this approach permitted Soviet authorities to exploit the financial resources of Western elites, it highlighted Soviet integration into the American-dominated capitalist economy of cultural production. Furthermore, it exposed Soviet artists to the “contrast between gracious American abundance and corrupt Soviet concentration of wealth” (139), as American impresarios wined and dined their Soviet guests. Soviet authorities were aware of the allure...