The Red Army Choir #1 – Paul Robeson, Fidel Castro and a concert tour to Cuba, 1961

“The Red Army Choir #1 – Paul Robeson, Fidel Castro and a concert tour to Cuba, 1961” – is the next episode from the “Talking with my father” series (with English Subtitles). A Russian famous singer Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov will talk about the times when he used to work in the Red Army Choir (The Alexandrov Ensemble) in early 60-s. He will tell about the historic Ensemble’s octet performance together with Paul Robeson and Arthur Eizen for the leader of the Soviet Union (USSR) Nikita Khruschev. They performed “The Song About Motherland” then.

In the second part Leonid Mikhailovich will tell about the Alexandrov Ensemble’s historic concert tour to Cuba in 1961. The Red Army Choir and Boris Alexandrov were invited there personally by Fidel Castro. The Alexandrov Ensemble was in Cuba in Havana and they gave several concerts for Fidel and his comrade Che Guevara.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

This episode is a part of the documentary series named “Talking with my father”. I decided to record the conversation with my father, the Russian singer (bass), the People’s Artist of Russia – Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov. He also used to work in the legendary Twice Red Bannered Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army under A.V. Alexandrov (also known as the Red Army Choir or the Alexandrov Ensemble). We want to tell all his admirers about some interesting facts of the famous artist’s life.

In this series, Leonid Mikhailovich will share his memories about his work, his friends and interesting cases from his busy creative life. He will talk about some famous people of the Soviet era, whom he happened to meet on his way: composers, musicians, actors, cosmonauts, country leaders, military commanders and many others. And, of course, special attention will be paid to the “old school” soloists of his mostly beloved Alexandrov Ensemble.

This series devoted to my beloved father.