CMS Russia, partner of the « Lenin, Stalin and the music » exhibition catalogue organized at the Cité de la musique from the 12 October 2010 until 16 January 2011.

Continuing the theme of the relationship between music and power, begun back in 2004 with the “Third Reich and music” exhibition, the Cité de la musique is presenting a chronicle of musical life during the first thirty years of Soviet Russia. This exhibition places musical creation within the context of Russia’s artistic movements and history, from the 1917 October Revolution to Stalin’s death in 1953.
It examines the role of art and artists in revolutionary impulse, and how these slowly became exploited by Soviet totalitarianism. Looking beyond this regime, the exhibition addresses the independence of artistic creation in the face of political power.

Designed in two main parts that oppose revolutionary utopias with Stalinian domination, “Lenin, Stalin and music” unites over 400 works related to music (autographed and printed music scores, musical instruments, models and costumes from ballets and operas), visual art (paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures), photography and photomontage, film (film excerpts and posters) and audiovisual archives (propaganda, filmed concerts, etc.)

Organized for the France-Russia Year 2010, the exhibition requires exceptional loans from the Moscow’s main museums (Tretyakov Gallery, Glinka Museum, State Historical Museum, A.A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, the Gorky Museum and more) and from St. Petersburg (Russian Museum, Museum of Theatre and Music, St. Petersburg City History Museum, National Library, and more).

The exhibition is organized for the France-Russia Year 2010

For more information :

• France-Russia Year 2010
• The exhibition on the Cité de la musique website
• CMS Russia