On February 2nd, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" covered the Soviet pianist's first victory, the end of the Stalingrad battle, "Scarlet Sails" as a teen escape, serious leisure, and a century-old secret.

1927: THE MODERN YOUTH PLAYS CHOPIN

In 1927, the 1st international piano competition named after Frédéric Chopin was held in Warsaw. The Soviet Union sent four young performers to participate. All four reached the finals: Lev Oborin won the competition, Grigory Ginzburg took fourth place, and Dmitry Shostakovich and Yuri Bryushkov received honorary diplomas.

Describing the competition, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" in its February 2, 1927 issue wrote: "Oborin's victory is a triumph for all the talents that modern Soviet youth has to offer." At that time, Lev Oborin had just turned 20, but he had already graduated from the Gnessin School of Music and the Moscow State Conservatory, preparing to take a professorship in the composition department. By this time, he had already composed several piano concertos and other orchestral works.

Our newspaper's attention to the fate of young pianists became a tradition. In one of the pre-war issues, the newspaper reported on a talented young composer from Stalingrad, Alla Pakhmutova. In 1958, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" published a lengthy interview with the winner of the First International Tchaikovsky Competition, Van Cliburn, and since then has annually reported on the laureates of this competition. One of the well-known journalists of the 1970s and 1980s, former correspondent in Novosibirsk, later editor of the education and science departments, and later deputy editor-in-chief of "KP," Yuri Danilin, organized an international competition for young pianists in memory of Vera Lotar-Shevchenko in 2005. Vera Augustovna was discovered by "Komsomolskaya Pravda" at the end of 1965 by the special correspondent of the newspaper, Simon Soloveichik. In the essay "The Pianist," he described the amazing fate of the outstanding French pianist who came to the USSR with her Russian husband and subsequently ended up in the Gulag, where throughout her imprisonment she continued to practice daily on drawn keyboard keys.

Danilin met her in the Novosibirsk academic town, where she lived after her rehabilitation, and he maintained a friendship with her until her death. In memory of this friendship, he has been organizing a piano music festival named after the French pianist for 20 years. The festival participants—young pianists from the Urals and Siberia—have gained recognition in many countries, just like their predecessors from the 1920s.

1

1927

1943: THE FINAL DEFEAT OF PAULUS'S ARMY

On January 31, 1943, the commander of the German troops near Stalingrad, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, was captured along with his headquarters and two surrounded armies. The defeat of the fascist occupation forces was complete. In the city itself, the last battles were underway. "Komsomolskaya Pravda" in its February 2, 1943 issue reported on the heroic storming by Lieutenant Ivan Popov's platoon of the enemy's last refuge—the city hospital. Nearby was a report from the Soviet Information Bureau announcing the complete liberation of Stalingrad and the conclusion of the historic battle on the Volga, which lasted exactly 200 days and nights. The newspaper also published a poem by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach with the same victorious word in the title - "Defeat."

And to the whole tormented universe

The good news flies like a spring thunder

- Unprecedented in military history

Brilliant, classic defeat!

This was the first step towards a great Victory.

2

1943

1966: HOW THE STREET SUCKED IN THE ARTIST

How would you feel about a person if you found out he was a thief, a hooligan, and a "menace to the neighborhood"? At best, you would probably avoid him. However, "Scarlet Sails" correspondent from "Komsomolskaya Pravda," Alexey Ivkin, managed to engage this person in conversation and discovered a thoughtful and talented young man who had fallen out of a prosperous environment and found himself among street kids. And the street, as he expressed it, "sucked him in." All that remained from a good start in life were faded watercolors on the walls of his room. Ivkin recounted this story in a small essay "Sashka-Hussar" in the special issue of "AP" dated February 2, 1966.

It is worth mentioning that "Scarlet Sails" was conceived three years prior by a team from the school department under the guidance of future children's writer Ivan Zyuzukin specifically for Alexey Ivkin. The editorial office received school wall newspapers that he had published. The journalists looked at them and were amazed: this ninth grader wrote and drew unusually, wittily, accurately, and "against the grain" of the conventional. The idea was born—to create a platform in the newspaper for such non-standard teenagers, providing them a space to express their "bottled-up" thoughts.

Ivkin was invited as a "tuner," testing all the issues of the new column on him. And they were not mistaken. "Scarlet Sails" became an outstanding phenomenon in journalism, capturing all youth newspapers in the Soviet Union and the entire teenage readership. Let us remember that there was no Internet or gadgets at that time. Over the 30 years of "Scarlet Sails'" existence (1963-1993), several youth generations passed through it—from boys to lovers. Being among the authors of "AP" was considered an honor by famous poets, philosophers, ministers, and military leaders. After finishing school, Alexey Ivkin was accepted into the editorial office and became the first captain of "Scarlet Sails."

Ivkin, of course, had his own writing style. Here’s how he began his essay: "At the dark log house where Sashka lived, a group of boys stood. The collars of all were at brow level. Despite the frost, caps were perched on their red ears. 'Where can I see Hussar?' I addressed a slender back that was tapping a rhythm. And to leave no doubt, I showed my press credentials. The back responded: 'Wow! Sania, buddy, the press is interested in you!' And nudged a stocky boy with a cigarette stub in his teeth." But much more importantly, the journalist in Ivkin was ready to see in each of these boys a person, an individual. In the 1960s, such a perspective was characteristic and defining for "Komsomolskaya Pravda." It provided a sense of freedom and freshness in social attitudes. And undoubtedly, it favorably distinguished our newspaper among the general array of party publications locked in the confines of official propaganda. "Komsomolskaya Pravda" reached out to the reader even if he had been "sucked in" by the street, hoping to awaken the best within him. The essay "Sashka-Hussar" ends with an appeal to the hero: "Come on, get a job at the factory and don’t give up painting. Your watercolors are quite good..."

3

1966

1986: NEW RECIPES FOR PERESTROIKA

"Perestroika" in the Soviet Union began not only with glasnost and the "dry" law but also with a certain bewilderment among citizens who found themselves outside the familiar patterns of Soviet leisure. How to live anew? This was not a trivial question in the changed circumstances. "Komsomolskaya Pravda" announced a contest "One Hundred Weekend Recipes" and started collecting readers' suggestions on this topic. Attractive prizes were promised to the winners: books like "Flowers in the Room and on the Balcony," "Dishes and Culinary Products from Potatoes," and a collection of riddles "Guess What!" Who does not remember or know: books in those years were real treasures, especially such useful ones for everyday life.

What selected recipes for perestroika leisure did "Komsomolskaya Pravda" publish in its February 2 issue? Family knitting and embroidery with children at the "home sciences" club; the sporting fun of "tennis on skates"; the mass event "Sunday Recreation for Five Rubles"; a homemade "luxury" bath, with multifunctional showers and hot and cold pools.

Indeed, there was leisure back then, collective, fun, and beneficial pastimes. Today, free time is filled with life hacks, flash mobs