Lermontov as the "Russian Mozart"?

[David Powelstock]

There is no solid evidence that Pushkin had ever heard of Lermontov. I vaguely recall some dubious source (an anekdot, perhaps?) of Pushkin speaking of Lermontov, but to the best of my knowledge this is folklore, not fact. 

Cheers,

David Powelstock
Asst. Prof. of Russian & East European Literatures
Chair, Program in Russian & East European Studies
Brandeis University
GREA, MS 024
Waltham, MA  02454-9110
781.736.3347 (Office)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu] On Behalf Of Peter Scotto
> Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 2:49 PM
> To: SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Lermontov as the "Russian Mozart"?
> 
> >From the program notes to yestersday's performance of "Mozart and
> Salieri"  by
> the American Symphony Orchestra in New York:
> 
> "Pushkin himself, not unlike many of the greatest artists and writers, was
> profoundly self-critical. In Mozart and Salieri, the tension between the
> two
> figures has an autobiographical dimension. One might assume that Pushkin
> represented the Mozart of Russian letters. -->But Pushkin thought his
> contemporary, the romantic poet Mihail Yurievich Lermontov (1814-1841;
> author of
> the seminal novel A Hero of Our Times) was actually the true Mozart of
> poetry.<-- It was Salieri, the hardworking, politic also-ran, deprived of
> the
> spontaneous genius of a Mozart, with whom Pushkin identified."
> 
> Anyone know where Pushkin expressed the opinion attributed to him above?
> 
> Peter Scotto
> Mount Holyoke College
> pscotto at mtholyoke.edu
> 
> 
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