Erich Mückenberger's speech on "Auf gutem Weg Mit Guten Freunden" record 1988

Erich Mückenberger makes an introductory speech on the East German "Auf gutem Weg Mit Guten Freunden" record in 1988. This is the unpublished friendship record, given free in 1988 by the German-Soviet Friendship Society to visiting ambassadors.

The speech introduces recordings of two songs sung by Victor Nikitin at the peace concert at the Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin in August 1948.

Other songs by Nikitin are on the Nikitin playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CEEC6C9EC9CE8F0C

ABOUT THE PEACE CONCERT, BERLIN 1948

In an interview at the end of his life, Boris Alexandrov described this concert as dominant in the history of the Alexandrov Ensemble (known as the Red Army Choir in the West). Most of the story of this concert is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandrov_Ensemble#The_1948_Berlin_Peace_Concert

However Boris was reprimanded for permitting Nikitin to sing in German at this concert, so soon after the war. It has been said by Anatoly Kompaniets that Nikitin was in big trouble, and was shunned by the authorities, but those who knew him say that is not true. He cannot have been more than 30 years old at this 1948 concert, and his recording career ended in about 1952.

Nikitin was very popular and sang three encores of Kalinka; from that point he was the first to be named Mr Kalinka, though he was not the first to sing it in the grand manner which became a signature style of the Alexandrov Ensemble. After this he was affectionately known in East Berlin as "Ambassador Kalinka".

There is a clip of Nikitin (singing Kalinka) at the 1948 peace concert in the playlist (see link above). The voiceover refers to Nikitin as "Mr Kalinka". There was such a big crowd that hundreds of people had climbed all over the ruined cathedrals to get close to the concert.

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