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EESTI ELU reedel, 12. märtsil 2021 — Friday, March 12, 2021
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Soviet nostalgia and Stalin’s lingering presence The Moscow city government, on February 19 announced an online, week-long vote for Moscow residents, on whether to restore the statue of Soviet secret police chief Felix Dzerzhinsky onto Lubyanka Square or place a new statue there of 13th century Russian Prince Alexander Nevsky. Russian’s are deeply divided as to whose memory should be rekindled and to whom honour bestowed. The post-Revolution years witnessed the horrific Red Terror. Dzerzhinsky, a Polishborn Communist revolutionary was a central figure in this massacre before dying in 1926. Nevsky’s importance is tied to his historic reputation as a hero of anti-Western Russian patriotic resistance, a reputation that has significant resonance in Putin’s Russia. As a prince of the historic city of Novgorod, then a major trading centre between St. Petersburg and Moscow, he is memorialized for repelling an invasion of German Teutonic Knights in 1242. His memory is blessed with Russian Orthodox Church sainthood. Dzerzhinsky’s statue’s resto ration from where it now re sides since 1991 – in Muzeon, a central park that hosts many Soviet era statues, relocated there with the USSR’s collapse – is fully backed by leftists and nationalists, including the Communist party. It’s natural that Dzerzhinzky is revered by that KGB’s succes sor, the FSB, whose headquarters are located on Lub yanka Square, the statue’s original domain. The KGB is, of course, a direct descendant of Dzerzhinzky’s original Bol shevik Cheka. Thus ‘Iron Felix’ is seen by the FSB as its found ing father. One would expect the Kremlin to have a clear opinion about the return of the historic monument, especially of being cognizant of the fact that dozens of Dzerzhinsky statues remain undisturbed throughout the country, that some 1300 streets honour his memory and a city of 240,000 carries his name. This all to a man far less eminent than Lenin or Stalin.
Vladimir Putin has evidently avoided alienating anti-commu nists as well as progressive liberals by being at least partial ly non-committal in supporting or rejecting the restoration of the statue. This fits well with the Kremlin’s careful ‘non-reevaluation’ of the Soviet era, by staying on the sidelines while new Stalin statues are erected and limiting praise of Stalin to the man’s successes. The Kremlin has reminded the pub lic of his management of the USSR’s industrialization (avoid ing any description of it being ruthless in execution) and gain ing WWII victory through his leadership (devoid of any prior unease of the inevitable massive military losses). It seems that a total rehabili tation of Dzerzhinsky is not forthcoming. The Russian Or thodox Church, of which Putin is a devoted member, was one of the institutions repressed by the secret police chief and is on public record opposing its res toration. Russian public opinion on Dzerzhinsky, the Soviet past and Stalin has differed in ap proval ratings. While a 2013 VTsTOM poll found only 46% of Russians view Dzerzhinsky favourably, in a 2019 survey, fully 70% viewed Stalin posi tively. The Levada Centre in 2015 found Russians to be evenly split on whether to re store Dzerzhinsky to its original location on Lubyanka Square. Russian observers suggest that supporters of either Nevsky or Dzerzhinsky would both be endorsing Putin’s brand of con servatism. This is now bolstered by constitutional amendments of July 2020, which enshrined special status to ethnic Rus sians, holding Russian law as having precedents over inter national law etc. Thus installing an appropriate figure on Mos cow’s largest square would confirm his flavour of Russian nationalism. It’s also been suggested that removing and keeping Dzer zhin sky’s statue off Russia’s most visible location might symbolize a clear and perma nent break with Russia’s repres sive past. But a rise in Soviet nostalgia and finding redeeming qualities in an otherwise mur derous Stalin keeps the legacy of authoritarian rule still deeply rooted in Russian society. (to be continued) LAAS LEIVAT
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Two sides of one tune: Latvian and Estonian musicians perform some shared Folk songs in the next Estonian Music Week Online Concert Vincent Teetsov An evergreen musical artist or band is one who can inha bit a diverse range of moods in their songs. They make the kind of music that you can leave playing for hours because the sentiments they communicate flow rapidly like our own. They show many states of mind. Musicians like these are even more timeless when the music they play speaks to people across linguistic or geographical boundaries. On the 25th of March at 8:00 PM (EST), savour some ever green music with the latest Estonian Music Week Memories of Home online concert, featur ing performances by Linda Maruta Kronbergs, Roland Campbell, and Helmi and Merike Hess. You can access the concert on Estonian Music Week’s Facebook page (https:// www.facebook.com/Estonian MusicWeek) and VEMU’s YouTube channel (http://you tube.com/channel/UCT0mLjjf m8yceOr13rl-siw). The evening will include a retrospective video and photo montage of Linda’s career and a conversation about some of the most memorable moments of her life as a musician. And I can confirm that she has many interesting anecdotes and concepts to share! The music she has written, recorded, and performed as a solo artist, in bands, and in stage productions has connected to audiences all over. Her music and voice have made their way around Canada and the United States, but also to Latvia, where she periodically performs. Being Latvian-Canadian, there has always been a line running between her music and her ancestral home. One occurrence early on that established that line was being recruited into the beloved Latvian folk band Čikāgas piecīšī (“Chicago Five”) in 1984, at the end of high school. For the second half of the group’s lifetime, she brought her skills as a sporadic session singer and instrumentalist to the studio for an album, and to the stage of Latvian festivals and events across North America. When she joined, the band had been around for a while, having debuted at the 1961 Latvian Youth Days. In their shows, they stood in a line and filled venues with bold and sometimes jocose acoustic songs with guitar, banjo, har monizing and alternating vo cals, and rustling tambourine
Poster created by Laani Heinar, using photos from Linda Maruta Kronbergs’ photo collection.
percussion. Čikāgas piecīšī was a band that cracked jokes with their lyrics and stage banter, just as much as they sang songs of na tional pride (“Made in Latvia”) and soft ballads like Līgo dziesma (“Midsummer Song”). In any of these instances, their music had a fresh angle because it was written from the diaspora perspective, of being away from home. However, they were about to uncover something unexpected about their musical legacy. Though Linda wasn’t personally there at the time, during their 1989 tour of Latvia, Čikāgas piecīšī became aware that their songs were hugely popular in Latvia. Even though they hadn’t ever played there before. Sometime between their be ginning in 1961 until their 1989 tour, clandestine recordings of the band’s music were distribu ted around homes and listened to secretly. During the tour, they noticed how the crowds knew the lyrics to their songs and sang along. Imagine writing and playing songs for 28 years to a select audience, and then cross ing an ocean to find, un beknownst to you, that a totally new audience loved your music. For Čikāgas piecīšī, this hap pened before any online music streaming platforms or viral video phenomena. As Linda continued to play in the group, including two tours in Latvia, the music she had been playing with them took on extra mean ing. In 2011, Čikāgas piecīšī came to an end after 50 years, bringing to rest a veritable cultural force in the lives of Latvians. At the 2019 edition of the Canadian Latvian Song and Dance Festival, four members of the band – Linda, Janīna Ankipāns, Armands Birkens, and Alnis Cers – were awarded Three Star Order medals from the ambassador of Latvia in Canada, for the accomplish ments of Čikāgas piecīšī.
But this is just part of her career. As a solo artist, she released the pop rock album “Buttercup” in 2000, which she sang in English. As part of a larger collaboration with Lat vian singer Igo, she played the songs through several Latvian tours. Her song “Crazy Feelin’” was included on Igo’s 2008 album Spēle (“The Game”), where her voice blends soul fully with his in a duet. She performed in the musical Tas vakars piektdienā (“It’s Friday Night”). From 2004 to 2005, she played the lead role in the musical Eslingena, about Latvians in a displaced persons camp, which ran for a series of dates at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga. She has a powerful voice, hitting notes with clarity and flourishes that establish a song’s strong hooks like robust steel. It will be interesting, then, to hear these qualities applied to the kind of music that ignited her musical path. For this upcoming concert, Linda will be perform ing traditional Latvian folk songs. Some songs are common between Latvia and Estonia. Roland Campbell will sing two songs. Helmi and Merike Hess will bring their finely tuned harmonies to three songs. As part of her performance, Linda will sing three shared songs. The Estonian Music Week team would like to thank Estonian-Latvian translator Rūta Karma, in Riga, for assembling a list of songs known to both Estonians and Latvians for this concert. For all of the above, you’ll really want to hear for yourself the voices of these musicians on the night of the 25th! It’ll be a great event to connect once more with our fellow Baltic friends.
