Courtesy of a generous reader who sent me a gift copy, I have been reading

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s _Stalin – The Court of the Red Tsar_, which is

about the personal realtionships among the Soviet leaders during Stalin’s

time. It’s a fascinating book, but the following item from Chapter 46

really got my attention.

Like Hitler, Stalin used to enjoy giving dinners for his colleagues, at

which he would try to get them drunk so they might say indiscreet things.

These dinner parties often included sessions of singing and dancing, with

Politburo members expected to perform.

“When Zhdanov moved to the piano they sang religious hymns, White anthems

and Georgian folk songs… Stalin loved singing and was very good at it.

The two choirboys, Stalin and Voroshilov, joined Miloyan, Beria and Zhdanov

at the piano.”

There is a footnote to this passage. The footnote reads as follows.

“They were so pleased with these sessions that they made a record of this

murderous boy band with Voroshilov on lead vocals, backed up by Zhdanov on

piano. There one can actually hear the fine voices and tinkling piano of a

night at Kuntsevo. This remarkable recording is in the possession of the

Zhdanov family.”

I never knew this. I’d very much like to hear that recording. Does anyone

familiar with Russian affairs know if it has been released into the public

domain in any form?