TALENT BOOM IN THE U.S.S.R.

Just because a pianist from Northern Ireland and a soprano from the United States captured medals--and many a Russian heart--at the recent Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow, is no signal to Westerners that the Soviet Union has slipped a bit in the cultural race. So stated Daniel Pollack, an American pianist who was a finalist at the 1958 Tchaikovsky competition and who has just returned to Los Angeles after serving as vice-chairman of the 1986 jury.

“There is a new era dawning there of extreme talent,” said Pollack. “The older generation of teachers is slowly dying out, just like in the United States. There is a new, fresher attitude about music and musical influences there.

“For instance, the Russians are showing increased interest in Rachmaninoff and in (singer Fyodor) Chaliapin.” Both left their homeland and died in the West. “They are proud that Chaliapin’s remains have been moved from Paris back to Moscow, and they want the same to happen with Rachmaninoff (who is buried in New York state). They even want to establish a Rachmaninoff competition that would happen every two years, alternating with the Tchaikovsky.”

Pollack believes this more relaxed attitude toward the West, and toward Soviets who emigrated there, is a natural outgrowth of the renewed East-West cultural ties.

“There is a wave of good feeling and interest. I’m returning to the Soviet Union in February for a tour that will include a master class at the Moscow Conservatory. No one from outside the Soviet Union has been asked to do that--ever. This sort of thing could never have happened even nine months ago.”

And what of that new crop of young players?

“I’ll give you two names, both pianists--remember them,” Pollack said. “Alexei Sultanov and Yevgeny Kissim (pronounced Kiss-EEM ) . They played at the opening ceremonies along with several others, and I was amazed. ‘They need some seasoning, some maturity,’ the officials told me. Nonsense. They were as good as any veteran professional I’ve heard lately.”

Sultanov is 16 and, Pollack said, “a pistol of a pianist. In the early rounds, he injured his hand and was unable to advance.” Kissim is 14: “Another talent. After I heard these two, my hosts told me, ‘If you like them, you should hear this girl who’s even better. She’s 10.’ ”

Pollack has been invited back to judge at the next competition in 1990. The new crop, he observed, is “being groomed for that contest.”

We have been warned.

AT THE PHILHARMONIC: Speaking of music competitions in Moscow and winners thereof, the silver medalist at the 1970 Tchaikovsky competition--Horacio Gutierrez--joins guest conductor Paavo Berglund and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Tuesday night at Hollywood Bowl. Also on the agenda: “Till Eulenspiegel” by Strauss and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2.

British pianist Stephen Hough will be soloist on Thursday. His vehicle--again with Berglund on the podium--is Brahms’ Concerto No. 1. The rest of the program lists Brahms’ “Academic Festival” Overture and Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony.

Next weekend finds Cahuenga Pass hosting two starkly contrasting vocal agendas. On Friday and Saturday, John Lanchbery leads “A Night in Old Vienna,” with soprano Roberta Peters and tenor Mark DuBois offering highlights from operettas by Strauss, Lehar and others. Next Sunday, the Philharmonic Institute Orchestra, along with the Pacific and Northridge Masterworks Chorales, will be joined by a contingent of nine solo singers in a concert version of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” Institute director Sir Charles Groves will conduct.

BACK IN THE BLACK: Both the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Pasadena Symphony report that recent deficits have been erased. Ronald Rosen, board president of LACO, noted that the 1986-87 season will begin with “a modest cash reserve of almost $50,000.” That’s an improvement from a year ago, when the ensemble found itself more than $200,000 in the hole. Rosen said that contributions totaling $120,000 from board members, a series of “major” gifts from government, foundation and corporate sources, and assistance from the City of Los Angeles--both in contributions and in the fund-raising process itself--turned the organization around.

Meanwhile, the Pasadena Symphony recently announced that more than $500,000 has been raised, reaching the fund-raising goal and thus eliminating a deficit of $77,000, according to newly elected president Edith Roberts.

PEOPLE: Move over Kiri--hear comes Arleen. It may be recalled that Kiri Te Kanawa garnered international attention when she sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. When the next Royal Wedding--that of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson--occurs on Wednesday, another soprano will be in the spotlight. Arleen Auger, born in Los Angeles, will sing Mozart’s “Exultate, Jubilate” shortly after the ceremony. English soprano Felicity Lott will sing during the ceremony.

Richard E. LeBlond, Jr. has announced his impending retirement as president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco Ballet Assn., effective at the end of next season. LeBlond, who joined the Assn. in 1975, has been invited to continue as a trustee and assist in the search for a successor.

The fifth annual Young Performers Competition at USC, sponsored by the National Association of Composers/USA, was won recently by flutist Rachel Rudich of New Jersey and by soprano Iraina Neufeld of Toronto.