Rasputin=?windows-1252?Q?=92s_?=musical entertainment

[Jules Levin]

Currently reading Harrison Salisbury’snow 40-year-old ‘Black Night White 
Snow’, a history of the 2 Russian revolutions—1905 and 1917.As usual, I 
have an esoteric interest in one minor topic—in this caseRasputin’s 
taste in music.Apparently he was a fan of cabaret and pop (‘estradnaya 
muzika’), and was a regular at Villa Rode (last vowel is ‘e-oborotnaya’ 
if you google it).As reported by Salisbury, Prince Felix Yusupov was 
playing such music on his ‘phonograph’ to entertain Rasputin when he was 
invited to the mansion on his final evening.I have the impression that 
Yusupov calls it a Victrola in his thrilling memoir ‘Ubiystvo 
Rasputina’.As reported, the tune playing was ‘Yankee Doodle’.This was 
hardly the old 18^th Century tune; it was probably ‘The Yankee Doodle 
Boy’, sung by George M. Cohan in a Broadway show in 1904, and recorded 
by Billy Murray on the Edison label in 1905.It was a hit, whatever that 
meant in sales in 1905.One of the conspirators—not Yusupov—claimed the 
tune stuck in his head because it played continuously.I don’t know if 
that was a feature of Victrolas and Edison records in 1917, or if 
Yusupov had a servant replaying it through the evening.

This brings me to my real topic—the music of Daniel Dolsky (Danielius 
Dolskis).Dolsky was a regular performer at Villa Rode, and according to 
the liner notes in a tape I purchased in Vilnius in 1991, entertained at 
Rasputin’s private parties.In 1917 Villa Rode was shut down, and Dolsky 
emigrated to Berlin and Riga.At some point in the late 20’s he recorded 
some songs and comic monologues in Russian.He moved back to Kaunas (born 
in Vilna in 1891) , where he quickly learned Lithuanian, and became the 
celebrated father of Lithuanian pop music—there is a statue in the 
Kaunas Jewish Cemetery.Google his Lithuanian name and you can hear many 
songs in Lithuanian.I also found there one song in Russian.Here is the 
link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXcs6GcbWp4&feature=related 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXcs6GcbWp4&feature=related>One can 
imagine Rasputin listening to this song in the Villa Rode.What I can’t 
find is the tape I bought 20 years ago that includes comedy standup 
routines in Yiddish-accented Russian.I also could not find these 
routines on line anywhere.If someone can locate them, it should be of 
interest to SEELANGers.(Incidently, Dolskis/Dolski is unknown to the 
Jewish cultural world outside of Lithuania, which comments in Lithuanian 
on his song web pages attribute to the fact that he was a “Lithuanian 
patriot”.Since he had the good fortune to die in 1931, there was no 
reason for him not to be a Lithuanian patriot.)

Jules Levin
Los Angeles


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