ABSTRACT
Many more were regular concertgoers, theater buffs, movie addicts, and museum regulars. Many blamed the theaters' timidity in the selection of repertory: Plays that were at all controversial were rarely staged in Odessa. A lektoriya was intended to enhance the impact of music with the power of the spoken word. The magician performed in Palaces of Culture, at the Philharmonic and in trade union clubs. Some of the halls seated as many as thirteen hundred people. Every day the musician would come to the Philharmonic to obtain a schedule of his appearances several days in advance. Analogous comments about the repertory of the city's cinemas emphasized that the more controversial fare was accessible only to restricted audiences. The ceramic sculptor described painting and sculpture in Odessa of the mid-1970s: The buildings for art exhibits were impressive and their collections of prerevolutionary art were generally good.
