Maya Plisetskaya
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088571
- eISBN:
- 9780300130713
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088571.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Maya Plisetskaya, one of the world's foremost dancers, rose to become a prima ballerina of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet after an early life filled with tragedy and loss. In this memoir, Plisetskaya ...
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Maya Plisetskaya, one of the world's foremost dancers, rose to become a prima ballerina of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet after an early life filled with tragedy and loss. In this memoir, Plisetskaya reflects on her personal and professional odyssey, presenting a unique view of the life of a Soviet artist during the troubled period from the late 1930s to the 1990s. Plisetskaya recounts the execution of her father in the Great Terror and her mother's exile to the Gulag. She describes her admission to the Bolshoi in 1943, the roles she performed there, and the endless petty harassments she endured, from both envious colleagues and Party officials. Refused permission for six years to tour with the company, Plisetskaya eventually performed all over the world, working with such noted choreographers as Roland Petit and Maurice Béjart. She recounts the tumultuous events she lived through and the fascinating people she met—among them the legendary ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova, George Balanchine, Frank Sinatra, Rudolf Nureyev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. She also provides fascinating details about testy cocktail-party encounters with Nikita Khrushchev, tours abroad when her meager per diem allowance brought her close to starvation, and KGB plots to capitalize on her friendship with Robert Kennedy.Less
Maya Plisetskaya, one of the world's foremost dancers, rose to become a prima ballerina of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet after an early life filled with tragedy and loss. In this memoir, Plisetskaya reflects on her personal and professional odyssey, presenting a unique view of the life of a Soviet artist during the troubled period from the late 1930s to the 1990s. Plisetskaya recounts the execution of her father in the Great Terror and her mother's exile to the Gulag. She describes her admission to the Bolshoi in 1943, the roles she performed there, and the endless petty harassments she endured, from both envious colleagues and Party officials. Refused permission for six years to tour with the company, Plisetskaya eventually performed all over the world, working with such noted choreographers as Roland Petit and Maurice Béjart. She recounts the tumultuous events she lived through and the fascinating people she met—among them the legendary ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova, George Balanchine, Frank Sinatra, Rudolf Nureyev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. She also provides fascinating details about testy cocktail-party encounters with Nikita Khrushchev, tours abroad when her meager per diem allowance brought her close to starvation, and KGB plots to capitalize on her friendship with Robert Kennedy.
Kiril Tomoff
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453120
- eISBN:
- 9781501701825
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453120.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Russian and Former Soviet Union History
This chapter contrasts the successful international mobility of the violinist David Oistrakh with the distressing immobility of the pianist Stanislav Richter. In trailing Oistrakh around the world up ...
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This chapter contrasts the successful international mobility of the violinist David Oistrakh with the distressing immobility of the pianist Stanislav Richter. In trailing Oistrakh around the world up through his first triumphant tour of the United States, the chapter shows that sending their superstars abroad allowed the Soviets to demonstrate one of the most compelling strengths of their system. However, the potential benefits of displaying that excellence were undermined by a perpetual obsession with control. Continuous secret police opposition derailed attempts by the Ministry of Culture to send Richter to the West—a clear proof of the notorious KGB security control over international tours. Exploring the relationship between touring and making collaborative recordings also suggests that the transimperial tours further facilitated the global standardization of orchestral sound.Less
This chapter contrasts the successful international mobility of the violinist David Oistrakh with the distressing immobility of the pianist Stanislav Richter. In trailing Oistrakh around the world up through his first triumphant tour of the United States, the chapter shows that sending their superstars abroad allowed the Soviets to demonstrate one of the most compelling strengths of their system. However, the potential benefits of displaying that excellence were undermined by a perpetual obsession with control. Continuous secret police opposition derailed attempts by the Ministry of Culture to send Richter to the West—a clear proof of the notorious KGB security control over international tours. Exploring the relationship between touring and making collaborative recordings also suggests that the transimperial tours further facilitated the global standardization of orchestral sound.
Jeanne Guillemin
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520222045
- eISBN:
- 9780520927100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520222045.003.0015
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the KGB list of the outbreak victims, which was given to the research team by Larissa Mishustina, who first wrote a letter to Russian President Yeltsin in order to appeal to ...
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This chapter focuses on the KGB list of the outbreak victims, which was given to the research team by Larissa Mishustina, who first wrote a letter to Russian President Yeltsin in order to appeal to his conscience on the 1979 anthrax outbreak. Mishustina also recommended that he read two articles on anthrax, which were written by a native of Yekaterinburg. The chapter examines the list of the victims of the 1979 anthrax epidemic and notes Mishustina's assurances that the deaths were “the consequence of bacteriological weapons.” It considers the fact that questions were still open on military involvement in the outbreak, before finally examining the interviews that were conducted in Chkalovskiy, and which reveal links to the military.Less
This chapter focuses on the KGB list of the outbreak victims, which was given to the research team by Larissa Mishustina, who first wrote a letter to Russian President Yeltsin in order to appeal to his conscience on the 1979 anthrax outbreak. Mishustina also recommended that he read two articles on anthrax, which were written by a native of Yekaterinburg. The chapter examines the list of the victims of the 1979 anthrax epidemic and notes Mishustina's assurances that the deaths were “the consequence of bacteriological weapons.” It considers the fact that questions were still open on military involvement in the outbreak, before finally examining the interviews that were conducted in Chkalovskiy, and which reveal links to the military.
Paul R. Gregory
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300134254
- eISBN:
- 9780300152784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300134254.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this book, which is about the history of state security in the Soviet Union from Vladimir Lenin to Joseph Stalin. The book examines the role of state ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this book, which is about the history of state security in the Soviet Union from Vladimir Lenin to Joseph Stalin. The book examines the role of state security in a communist or Stalinist state, and the manner in which the state organized and motivated state security to carry out its tasks in an effective manner. It analyzes how the state dealt with its enemies and describes the state security agencies from the VChK (Cheka) to the Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (KGB).Less
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this book, which is about the history of state security in the Soviet Union from Vladimir Lenin to Joseph Stalin. The book examines the role of state security in a communist or Stalinist state, and the manner in which the state organized and motivated state security to carry out its tasks in an effective manner. It analyzes how the state dealt with its enemies and describes the state security agencies from the VChK (Cheka) to the Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (KGB).
Steven T. Usdin
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300108743
- eISBN:
- 9780300127959
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300108743.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter discusses the time spent by Barr in Prague. When Barr reached Prague, the Russian KGB officers greeted him like a relative returning from an extended absence. They took him to the ...
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This chapter discusses the time spent by Barr in Prague. When Barr reached Prague, the Russian KGB officers greeted him like a relative returning from an extended absence. They took him to the Regina, a mid-level hotel near the center of Prague, two tram stops from the main railroad station. The Russians warned Barr that contacting family or friends in the United States would endanger both his safety and theirs. The KGB continued to run Barr as an agent while he was in Prague, communicating with him covertly. Notes in Barr's address book from his early days there document classic tradecraft. To arrange a meeting, he was to telephone someone who spoke only Czech and Russian and to speak in German.Less
This chapter discusses the time spent by Barr in Prague. When Barr reached Prague, the Russian KGB officers greeted him like a relative returning from an extended absence. They took him to the Regina, a mid-level hotel near the center of Prague, two tram stops from the main railroad station. The Russians warned Barr that contacting family or friends in the United States would endanger both his safety and theirs. The KGB continued to run Barr as an agent while he was in Prague, communicating with him covertly. Notes in Barr's address book from his early days there document classic tradecraft. To arrange a meeting, he was to telephone someone who spoke only Czech and Russian and to speak in German.
Maya Plisetskaya
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088571
- eISBN:
- 9780300130713
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088571.003.0025
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya talks about how she met John Morgan, second secretary of the British Embassy, and the KGB's spying on them. Morgan was fluent in Russian and knowledgeable in ballet, ...
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In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya talks about how she met John Morgan, second secretary of the British Embassy, and the KGB's spying on them. Morgan was fluent in Russian and knowledgeable in ballet, especially English ballet. He asked Maya why she was not going to London and told her that Britain wanted her to come, insisting that the English public must see her Swan Lake. Since their meeting, a KGB car had been following Maya twenty-four hours a day.Less
In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya talks about how she met John Morgan, second secretary of the British Embassy, and the KGB's spying on them. Morgan was fluent in Russian and knowledgeable in ballet, especially English ballet. He asked Maya why she was not going to London and told her that Britain wanted her to come, insisting that the English public must see her Swan Lake. Since their meeting, a KGB car had been following Maya twenty-four hours a day.
Maya Plisetskaya
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088571
- eISBN:
- 9780300130713
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088571.003.0031
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya reflects on her impending tour to America in April 1959. Her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, received a phone call from the KGB and went to Dzerzhinsky Square for a talk ...
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In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya reflects on her impending tour to America in April 1959. Her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, received a phone call from the KGB and went to Dzerzhinsky Square for a talk with deputy chairman Yevgeny Petrovich Pitovranov. Pitovranov, who previously had headed counterespionage in the Soviet Union. He advised Maya to write another letter to Nikita Khrushchev.Less
In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya reflects on her impending tour to America in April 1959. Her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, received a phone call from the KGB and went to Dzerzhinsky Square for a talk with deputy chairman Yevgeny Petrovich Pitovranov. Pitovranov, who previously had headed counterespionage in the Soviet Union. He advised Maya to write another letter to Nikita Khrushchev.
Joel Lobenthal
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190253707
- eISBN:
- 9780190253745
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190253707.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
In 1956 Krushchev made his epochal denunciation of Stalin, and the Krushchev “thaw” officially began. Later that year Osipenko became the first of her generation of Kirov stars to win acclaim in the ...
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In 1956 Krushchev made his epochal denunciation of Stalin, and the Krushchev “thaw” officially began. Later that year Osipenko became the first of her generation of Kirov stars to win acclaim in the West, when she made her Western debut dancing in Paris as a guest with Moscow’s Stanislavsky-Nemirovich Danchenko Ballet. The highlight of the month’s season at the Théâtre du Châtelet is was a production of Swan Lake by Vladimir Bourmeister that proved so popular that the Paris Opera Ballet incorporated it into its repertory in 1960. This chapter tracks Osipenko’s efforts to escape the surveillance of the KGB and her experience of nightlife in Paris, where everything taboo in the Soviet Union is permitted.Less
In 1956 Krushchev made his epochal denunciation of Stalin, and the Krushchev “thaw” officially began. Later that year Osipenko became the first of her generation of Kirov stars to win acclaim in the West, when she made her Western debut dancing in Paris as a guest with Moscow’s Stanislavsky-Nemirovich Danchenko Ballet. The highlight of the month’s season at the Théâtre du Châtelet is was a production of Swan Lake by Vladimir Bourmeister that proved so popular that the Paris Opera Ballet incorporated it into its repertory in 1960. This chapter tracks Osipenko’s efforts to escape the surveillance of the KGB and her experience of nightlife in Paris, where everything taboo in the Soviet Union is permitted.
James Harris
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199695768
- eISBN:
- 9780191778971
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695768.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Political History
The final chapter recapitulates and summarizes the core argument that structural insecurities, Bolshevik ideology, and a flawed information gathering system combined to make foreign and domestic ...
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The final chapter recapitulates and summarizes the core argument that structural insecurities, Bolshevik ideology, and a flawed information gathering system combined to make foreign and domestic threats to the revolution look much graver than they actually were. The epilogue then explores the legacy of Stalin’s fears. Neither Stalin nor his successors ever worked out the flaws in the information-gathering systems. Indeed, the Cold War and the growing dissident movement sustained their conspiratorial worldview and it seems likely that the contemporary Russian leadership, led by a career-political policeman is for that similarly inclined to exaggerate the threat posed by the ‘west’ and its ‘agents’.Less
The final chapter recapitulates and summarizes the core argument that structural insecurities, Bolshevik ideology, and a flawed information gathering system combined to make foreign and domestic threats to the revolution look much graver than they actually were. The epilogue then explores the legacy of Stalin’s fears. Neither Stalin nor his successors ever worked out the flaws in the information-gathering systems. Indeed, the Cold War and the growing dissident movement sustained their conspiratorial worldview and it seems likely that the contemporary Russian leadership, led by a career-political policeman is for that similarly inclined to exaggerate the threat posed by the ‘west’ and its ‘agents’.
