In 1985 the International Center of Photography (ICP) presented an exhibition of photographs by Russian photographers, The Russian War: 1941-1945. It commemorated the ending of World War ll. The work of Dimitri Baltermants was highly featured in the show and he was present at the opening. Born in 1912 to an academic family in St. Petersburg, he had a large friendly personality that filled the building on 94th Street. Some people called him the Russian Robert Capa, much to his obvious pleasure.
Also present for the opening was Oleg Troyanovsky, the Soviet Ambassador to the United Nations. He was a very elegant man, and I still remember his smile. There was a receiving line and he shook the hand of every one who entered ICP for the exhibition, each time with a smile and a friendly word. I thought how boring this must be for him, he knew no one, and would probably never see any of us again. With this thought in mind I stepped out to the front of ICP, it was a beautiful spring evening. There on the ICP bench sat Vladimir Horowitz. Oh, I thought, that would be great. I’ll get him to say hello to the Ambassador. At first I was told that no he couldn’t go into ICP, he was going to the ballet. No problem I said, this will only take a few minutes. Eventually he consented, there was no way I would accept a no from him. As we walked up the steps to the foyer he wagged his finger in front of my face and said “No photographs!” I promised. Then he asked if the Ambassador spoke Russian. Of course, I said, thinking what a silly question. Do you? “Of course!”
When they met they both exploded into enthusiastic Russian. Cornell came running over, “Get a photographer, get a photographer!” No photographs I insisted, I promised! A mute point as there was no photographer about. So there we were: Cornell and I arguing in not very dulcet tones, and the Ambassador and Vladimir Horowitz speaking in high decibel Russian. Afterwards I realized that Horowitz probably thought he was going to meet the American Ambassador to Russia, not the Russian Ambassador to the UN.
To make a long diplomatic story short, Vladimir Horowitz returned to Moscow in 1986 after a 61-year absence and gave a concert of Rachmoninoff and Scriabin, both Russian composers, on his own Steinway piano sent from his apartment on 94th Street across from ICP. At the concert people cried openly, there were six curtain calls. When he stopped playing sweat was falling down his face and people stood in the rain to see him pass by. He was 81 years old. Cornell Capa always insisted it was my intervention that brought this about. But then again, Ben Fernandez insisted it was all the doing of Lisette Model, long deceased, in 1983.
Anna Winand
Anna Winand was Cornell Capa’s assistant at The International Center of Photography in New York. The photographs by Dimitri Baltermants are courtesy of Glaz Gallery, Moscow. The photo of Vladimir Horowitz in front of ICP, 1988, by Ruth Silverman.
