Leningrad

MOSCOW -- Fifty years ago today, the valiant people of Leningrad emerged, transformed, from 900 days of darkness and death. They were ordinary people made heroic by their simple refusal to give up.By Jan. 27, 1944, when the German blockade of Leningrad was lifted, 1 1/2 million people had died from starvation and illness, ravaged by cold, disease and nearly constant bombardment. Two and a half million somehow survived.There were more Russian deaths in the siege of Leningrad than American deaths in all the wars the United States has ever fought.

Alexey Titarenko's black-and-white photographs conjure up gray areas between motion and inertia, living and getting by, past and present. The images haunt, and are haunted. For the third time since 2003, Baltimore's C. Grimaldis Gallery is presenting a Titarenko exhibit. This one focuses on the place where the 50-year-old Russian photographer was born — known then as Leningrad and, since the fall of the Soviet government, as St. Petersburg. The photographer, whose works have been exhibited widely and are now in museums in Europe and the U.S., started taking pictures in the 1970s but stayed largely underground until perestroika allowed for freer artistic expression.

'Masquerade' When: Beginning Sept. 11, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 matinees Sundays at 3 p.m. Through Sept. 29.Where: Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.Tickets: $10-$15.Call: 752-8558.The Russians have come!When the attempted coup occurred in the Soviet Union a few weeks ago, the Theatre Project feared that Theatre Buff of Leningrad might not make it out of the country in time to open the Project season on Wednesday. But Isaak Shtockbant, the company's founder, producer and director, says he was never worried.

Roman Lebedev, a concert pianist and teacher, died of a heart attack July 8 at Sinai Hospital. The Mount Washington resident was 62. Born in what is now St. Petersburg, Russia, he began his piano studies at the age of 6. At 14, he entered the Leningrad Music School for Talented Youth, and he received a master's degree and doctorate from the Leningrad Conservatory. At the age of 25, he began to teach at the conservatory - remaining for 37 years as professor of solo piano. He came to Baltimore in 1989 as a guest artist at what is now Towson University and settled here in 1992.

MOSCOW -- Fifty years ago today, the valiant people of Leningrad emerged, transformed, from 900 days of darkness and death. They were ordinary people made heroic by their simple refusal to give up.By Jan. 27, 1944, when the German blockade of Leningrad was lifted, one and a half million people had died from starvation and illness, ravaged by cold, disease and nearly constant bombardment. Two and a half million somehow survived.There were more Russian deaths in the siege of Leningrad than American deaths in all the wars the United States has ever fought.

MOSCOW - They walked stiffly from the subway several blocks away, then climbed with effort to a second-floor auditorium, gathering together yesterday to remind the world once more of what they had learned from the hunger and terror of a 900-day siege that ended 57 years ago. "First of all, the lesson of courage," said Vladimir Yurchik, 74, "the ability of the human spirit to resist, the ability of people to survive in such unbearable, hard conditions....

WESTMINSTER - The artwork of more than 30 children from Leningrad will be displayed at the Carroll County Public Library during October.The young Russian artists, ranging in age from 6 to 17, display works that include interpretations of fairy tales, pencil drawings, watercolors and block prints.School teacher Ruth Aukerman is coordinating the display. She got the art from Yuri Reshkin, a painter who spent 30 years as art education supervisor in Leningrad.Information: 848-4250.

Igor K. Klioutchnikov has a vision of what the future should be for Soviet businesses.He wants them owned not by the state but by stockholders. He wants not socialism but "socialization."Klioutchnikov is the head of the newly formed Leningrad Stock Exchange. He was with a delegation of 12 Soviet officials who visited Baltimore during the past several days as part of an exchange program with the Friendship Force, an organization designed to promote peace and understanding of world cultures.

THE SOVIET troupe Theatre Buff from St. Petersburg/Leningrad will be able to fulfill its upcoming engagement at Baltimore's Theatre Project as planned.Due to the recent upheaval in the Soviet Union, there was some doubt that Theatre Buff would be in Baltimore to perform its new show "Masquerade" Sept. 11 through Sept. 29.Philip Arnoult, artistic director and founder of Theatre Project, said that he had received a fax saying that Theatre Buff's visa had been approved, allowing the troupe to leave St. Petersburg in time for its American booking.

LENINGRAD, U.S.S.R. -- In the public memory of this magical city, the great Russian poets and legendary czars who strolled the elegant boulevards of St. Petersburg compete with the Soviet workers and soldiers of World War II who held out heroically against the Nazis' siege of Leningrad.And now the people have to choose. By decision of the year-old, radical City Council, voters will be asked Wednesday to decide whether Leningrad will remain Leningrad or return to its original name, bestowed by Peter the Great when he built a magnificent capital in a subarctic swamp.

In the middle of the first movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's "Leningrad" Symphony, a barely audible, insipid tune - the "invasion theme" - starts worming its way into the picture to the persistent, steady tap of a snare drum. Ever so slowly, the volume and intensity increase, until the tune devours orchestra and audience alike, providing a musical metaphor for both the Nazi menace at the door of Leningrad and the Stalinist plague inside. There are few passages in music so striking and indelible.

Instead of being fought primarily on the History Channel, World War II has suddenly broken out everywhere - on the big screen, books, newspaper and magazine think pieces. It has even triggered a new battle, the one over the design and placement of a memorial on the Mall in Washington to the participants in that war. Most of this wave of remembrance by Americans concerns Americans affected by the war. Starting tonight at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, audiences will be asked to think about other victims and heroes of that conflict.

MOSCOW - They walked stiffly from the subway several blocks away, then climbed with effort to a second-floor auditorium, gathering together yesterday to remind the world once more of what they had learned from the hunger and terror of a 900-day siege that ended 57 years ago. "First of all, the lesson of courage," said Vladimir Yurchik, 74, "the ability of the human spirit to resist, the ability of people to survive in such unbearable, hard conditions....

MY BEST SHOT Carvings grace Indian temples By Ruth Di Stefano, Randallstown During the 10th and 14th centuries, Khajuraho was the religious capital of the Chandela dynasty in central India. Where once there had been 85 temples, today only 22 remain, the sides of which are carved with thousands of robust figures, virile men and voluptuous women, scantily clad and immortalized in stone. A MEMORABLE PLACE Russia in the Catskills Mary Medland, SPECIAL TO THE SUN In January 1972, I spent a month traveling in what was then the Soviet Union.

MOSCOW -- Fifty years ago today, the valiant people of Leningrad emerged, transformed, from 900 days of darkness and death. They were ordinary people made heroic by their simple refusal to give up.By Jan. 27, 1944, when the German blockade of Leningrad was lifted, one and a half million people had died from starvation and illness, ravaged by cold, disease and nearly constant bombardment. Two and a half million somehow survived.There were more Russian deaths in the siege of Leningrad than American deaths in all the wars the United States has ever fought.

MOSCOW -- Fifty years ago today, the valiant people of Leningrad emerged, transformed, from 900 days of darkness and death. They were ordinary people made heroic by their simple refusal to give up.By Jan. 27, 1944, when the German blockade of Leningrad was lifted, 1 1/2 million people had died from starvation and illness, ravaged by cold, disease and nearly constant bombardment. Two and a half million somehow survived.There were more Russian deaths in the siege of Leningrad than American deaths in all the wars the United States has ever fought.

Roman Lebedev, a concert pianist and teacher, died of a heart attack July 8 at Sinai Hospital. The Mount Washington resident was 62. Born in what is now St. Petersburg, Russia, he began his piano studies at the age of 6. At 14, he entered the Leningrad Music School for Talented Youth, and he received a master's degree and doctorate from the Leningrad Conservatory. At the age of 25, he began to teach at the conservatory - remaining for 37 years as professor of solo piano. He came to Baltimore in 1989 as a guest artist at what is now Towson University and settled here in 1992.

MOSCOW -- In the latest blow to the frayed nerves of the Soviet public, an anti-Communist Leningrad journalist whose television exposes have made him a national cult figure was shot and seriously wounded Wednesday night.Alexander Nevzorov, 32, the leather-jacketed host of the nightly news show "600 Seconds," was shot in the chest by a mysterious caller who lured him to a wooded area in Leningrad with a promise of secret documents.The gunman fled, and Mr. Nevzorov was taken to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.

'Masquerade' When: Beginning Sept. 11, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 matinees Sundays at 3 p.m. Through Sept. 29.Where: Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.Tickets: $10-$15.Call: 752-8558.The Russians have come!When the attempted coup occurred in the Soviet Union a few weeks ago, the Theatre Project feared that Theatre Buff of Leningrad might not make it out of the country in time to open the Project season on Wednesday. But Isaak Shtockbant, the company's founder, producer and director, says he was never worried.

THE SOVIET troupe Theatre Buff from St. Petersburg/Leningrad will be able to fulfill its upcoming engagement at Baltimore's Theatre Project as planned.Due to the recent upheaval in the Soviet Union, there was some doubt that Theatre Buff would be in Baltimore to perform its new show "Masquerade" Sept. 11 through Sept. 29.Philip Arnoult, artistic director and founder of Theatre Project, said that he had received a fax saying that Theatre Buff's visa had been approved, allowing the troupe to leave St. Petersburg in time for its American booking.