Вера Дулова. Воспоминания. Статьи. Документы - стр. 27

Anatoly Lunacharsky, the Minister of Education, also played a very important role in Vera Dulova’s musical career. He organized the “Fund to Help Gifted Young People,” and this fund subsidized young Vera’s study in Germany with Professor Max Saal. In Germany, she not only studied but also listened to vast amounts of music and worked at music libraries. At the Berlin Library she found manuscripts written for harpsichord by composers of the 17th-18th centuries, which she later transcribed for harp and published in Russia. As an outstanding young harpist in Germany, she was invited to the home of Albert Einstein; she performed Mozart’s Concerto for flute and harp with Bruno Walter; and she was formally presented to Otto Klemperer.

In 1929, Vera Dulova returned to Russia, and in 1935, she was awarded a shared first prize of the All-Union Competition of Musicians with D. Oistrakh and Y. Flier. It was from the 1930 that her active concert life began, and she became a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. Soon after that she also began teaching.

It is difficult to enumerate all the towns and regions of the former Soviet Union where Vera gave concerts. Her harp sounded from the most southern town in Russia – Kushka – to the North Pole. At a drifting station called North Pole-4, Vera was awarded the title “Honored Polar Explorer” on 12 April 1955.

Vera Dulova gave many concerts with her husband, the famous bass-baritone, People’s Artist of Russia, Alexander Baturin. Vera also enjoyed a great popularity in Russia, and her portraits were painted by many outstanding Russian artists.

One of the most distinctive features of her concerts were the first performances in Russia of many works she had brought from abroad. She was the first harpist in Russia to perform harp pieces by P. Hindemith, B. Britten, A. Jolivet, G. Tailleferre, A. Casella, C. Pascal, J. M. Damase, H. Villa-Lobos, A. Zecchi and others.

Inspired by her art performance, many Russian composers wrote for her and dedicated their compositions to her. Among these composers are A. Mosolov, L. Knipper, S. Vasilenko, E. Golubev, A. Khachaturian, E. Denisov, A. Baltin and V. Kikta.

Dulova also made some perfect harp transcriptions of clavecin [harpsichord] music by L. Daquin, J.-B. Lully, E Couperin, and J.-F. Rameau, as well as her very popular transcriptions of Ravel’s “Laideronnette, Empresse des Pagodes” from Mother Goose Suite and “Morning Serenade” from Prokofiev’s ballet, Romeo and Juliette.

It is natural that such an outstanding artistic personality belonged not only to Russia but also to the whole world. Her appearances were highlighted occasions in every country – Great Britain, The Netherlands, USA, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Australia, to name a few. In 1968, the Berlin Radio asked its listeners to name the concert artist they would most want to hear in its final concert. Vera Dulova’s name was the unanimous first choice. Vera Dulova was made an “Honored Citizen of Gargilesse (France),” awarded a golden medal by the American Harp Society and given such titles by newspaper critics as “Queen of the Harp,” “The Harpist No. 1,” and “The Harpist of the World.” Her recordings, CDs and radio recordings are an anthology of the vast performing art of this great harpist.