During the War he played the organ in the Great Hall of the Conservatory; mainly Bach. I really wanted to get to know the real organ music of Bach. "Ritochka, come to me, you will help me pulling out the stops”. I lived at that time in the vicinity of the Dynamo Stadium, in a wooden house, near to the Petrovsky Park. Winter - about 6 am, totally dark, because of the War it was necessary to cover all the windows. Military patrols were walking all around, aircraft were circling, and total darkness. I was in valenki (felt boots), wrapped in a shawl, and went on foot to the Great Hall of the Conservatory. In these difficult war years the Conservatory students – and I was among them - were sent to a military hospital to render assistance to wounded soldiers. And amidst the horrors and cruelty of war, I had a strong desire to listen to music.
Alexander Fyodorovich was an old man, he had a beard and whiskers. He lived with his wife on the third or second floor - not where the small hall was, but on the other side, where there was a white hall. Alexander Fyodorovich lived there in a flat - in the same place for years untill he died. And so I went to Alexander Fyodorovich’s place. He had cats, dogs - he and his wife picked up abandoned pets; they felt sorry for them. And then the bowl of soup on the floor – a familiar sight for all his students. Then, on the walls, portraits: "Well, Ritochka, look at this portrait, it's – Kolya Medtner, my brother." Nikolai Medtner was his cousin. "And this is Sergei Rachmaninoff, and this is Fyodor Chaliapin. Alexander Fyodorovich had a slight accent; he was a German. When I came home I told my mother: "Mamma, I have been in a museum!" Once I told Alexander Fyodorovich that in my childhood I went with my mother to the Orthodox Church, at Christmas, and with my father I also went to the Lutheran church of St. Peter and Paul - and what a powerful impression the sound of the organ had made upon me. Alexander Fyodorovich replied: "Ritochka, you know it I who was playing ".
When Alexander Fyododrovich left the house the sparrows- there were about twenty of them on the roof- who knew exactly at what time he used to leave to go and play the organ, would fly down from the roof and line up around the door with open beaks. Alexander Fyodorovich would take out of his pocket millet, some bread crumbs and would throw handfuls for the birds. We used to say: "Look! Now Alexander Fyodorovich will feed sparrows". When he played the organ he wore gloves, with cut-out fingers like conductresses(on the trams). That's how he performed Bach. They had a French organ there. And I helped him to pull out the stops. "This is a quintaton, a favorite of Scriabin’s", he would say. His concerts were a relief during the years of war. Mariya Veniaminovna Yudina sometimes came from Leningrad to give concerts. She played the Beethoven sonatas amongst other works. The concerts of Alexander Fyodorovich and Mariya Veniaminovna were advertised as being in support of the war efforts, with posters announcing: “In support of tank columns”. The audience sat in coats in the hall, as it was not heated.
And what teachers we had! Neuhaus was one of them, and was worth so valuable! I was lucky to have known Goldenweiser and Feinberg. Oborin was wonderful too, he was a student of Igumnov. Borya Tchaikovsky was a student of Oborin at the time of his graduating from the Conservatory. All of them were followers of the old school, and were outstanding teachers too. Shostakovich, Myaskovsky and Shebalin were masters in composition, and of course they were remarkable teachers too. The music theory department had a very strong teaching staff: for example Lev Abramovich Mazel and Victor Abramovich Zuckerman, and Sposobin was witty, bright and highly gifted. During the War, Henrikh Ilyich Litinsky also was evacuated with the Conservatory. He taught polyphony there. He also invited us to leave, but my mother did not want to leave Moscow in any circumstances. She was sick and father had already been exiled because he was a German. He was sent to Ryazan, and his sister Monica to Karaganda. And Henrikh Gustavovich Neuhaus was put on a nine-month period in Butyrka, as a prisoner. Yes, that’s the way it was. Really awful!
When the Conservatory finally started up again after the evacuation, Igor Vladimirovich Sposobin came to find me and Volik, taking us straight into a cold unheated classroom to show our works to Vissarion Yakovlevich, who had already become Director. He took us to his group and so it was that we became his students. The Conservatory gradually filled with students and life became more active again. The German troops had begun to retreat. Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich moved to Moscow and began to enroll students. We were all under the great influence of his genius. Volik, Shurik and Borya went to study with him. Shebalin himself sent them to Dmitri Dmitriyevich: he saw that they were already under Shostakovich’s influence. Of course at the same time this was difficult for him, as the best of his talented students would be leaving him. But he was a friend of Dmitri Dmitrievich, and he understood that it was necessary to give his colleague some good students. Shurik knew Shostakovich’s music rather well, and could quote and play much of it. Volik later became his assistant at the Leningrad Conservatory.
Dmitri Dmitrievich often came when we studied with Shebalin. We usually came at about 10 am, at which point Shostakovich would knock at the door. I remember him coming to the Great Hall to see Mravinsky and to attend rehearsals of his work. The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra sometimes arrived in Moscow to perform new compositions, in particular, the Eighth - the great symphony. It was in 1945 or 1946 and the War was over. Vissarion Yakovlevich asked Shostakovich to take us to a rehearsal, although Mravinsky strongly disapproved whenever, during his rehearsals, ‘unauthorized persons’ were in the hall. He was strict with regard to such things. But in this case Shostakovich brought us himself; and so Shurik, Borya and I piled into the hall with great pleasure. These were hungry, war and post-war years, and my father was still in exile, my aunt too. But these were also the best days of my life - the people around me were wonderful. And what kind of concerts we attended! We listened to chamber ensembles, when the Small Hall of the Conservatory was opened, including a new quartet by Dmitri Dmitriyevich. And the Great Hall of the Conservatory was opened with his new symphony. Those were great events!
It was in 1948. They came from the Central Committee, gathered us in a hall, and tried to teach us a lesson. All of us worried. Shostakovich was slated, Shebalin was also slated, as well as Prokofiev, who did not teach. All this was far-fetched. No formalism was present in their music. And what it happened to writers; to Akhmatova in Leningrad ... It was all invented ... Someone called this resolution not “historical”, but “hysterical”. Exams were postponed. Shostakovich left the Conservatory, and he was not present at the state examination. And his students, in particular Borya had been already with Myaskovsky. But it was not possible to force either Shurik or Borya to compose some other kind of music they continued to compose the same type of music they were used to doing. When Shurik and Borya as well as me had new, more consequential compositions we usually rang up Dmitri Dmitriyevich and asked him to receive us at his home, in Mozhaisk Highway, where he lived. We went to see him in his enormous study-room, and we auditioned our woks. At the same time he played his new compositions to us. It was so with Jewish songs, his Preludes and Fugues. His playing was splendid.
When the first performance of Shurik’s Violin Concerto was about to take place, Dmitri Dmitriyevich became very interested as he had not heard his new compositions for a long time. As it happened, he had to leave for Leningrad and therefore could not attend the concert; he therefore asked about the time of rehearsal. And so he came and sat alone in an empty hall to listen to this composition. Nelli Shkolnikova was soloist under Kirill Kondrashin in the Tchaikovsky Hall. This was the dress rehearsal the day before the concert, and Nellechka played very well. Kirill Petrovich conducted his orchestra, and Nelia played. What a great concert it was!
Metek Weinberg praised Shurik’s music highly. Metek also was an unusual man of rare talent. And he was also very fond of Shostakovich. Dmitri Dmitriyevich was also fond of him.
Metek lived in Warsaw. When Rakhmaninoff came from the USA, he listened to his concerts as a boy. Metek was an amazing pianist. His father was Jewish, and his mother was Polish. And Mieczyslaw seems to be a Polish name, Slavonic. During the war his sister survived, she left at the right time, and his mother and father perished when Warsaw was captured. The fascists murdered them in a gas chamber. Metek was quite young, he was born in 1919. He left Warsaw, captured by fascists, walking through the forest toward the border to the Soviet Union to seek political asylum. In a catholic church nuns fed him with porridge.
Then on his way he saw a border tower with dogs. In the commandant's office they began to question him: "Who are you? - "Weinberg. Mieczyslaw”. - "How can you call youself Mieczyslaw? You are a Jew. You will be Moses ". He left a vivid legacy in his music, he was a bright person. His Quintet - this is a unique and rare work. He was an incredibly gifted person. And his fate was very hard on him. Metek was later sent to the Butyrskaya prison but Dmitri Dmitriyevich helped to liberate him.
I remember very well how Shurik was composing a trio in the Composers House for Creative Work in Ivanovo. He lived in the second cottage, then in the sixth. "Come to us” - he says – “I’ll play". He began to compose his trio in the second cottage. I came and listened to his playing. And I understood that we were about to hear something special. Especially when he played the bass ostinato – here I was simply stunned. He composed quickly, he was in a hurry, and very much envolved. The weather was good, and Zhenya, his wife, tried not to be in the cottage so he could work quietly. She chose the time to play the violin so as not to disturb him. They had a dog Lassie, who, when Zhenya with Shurik played Beethoven sonatas - in one particular place - lifted the head and began to sing!
Once Yuri Isayevich Yankelevich arrived there: Zhenya Chugaeva was his assistant at the Conservatory. I knew him rather well. Yuri Isayevich was one of those teachers of violin, for whom it was nigh impossible to find equal at that time. Many winners of international contests were his students: V. Tretyakov, V. Lantsman, V. Spivakov, N. Shkolnikova , I. Bochkova, V. Ivanov and others.