How the KGB recruited Vysotsky in Kazakhstan
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The photos were taken for a report, but became rarities
The famous Soviet bard, poet and actor Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky would have turned 86 years old on January 25. Sergei KUTUZOV, a researcher of his work, spoke about Vysotsky’s connections with Kazakhstan in an exclusive interview with MK.
— Well-known fact: Vysotsky came to Kazakhstan. When did it happen?
— Vladimir Semenovich was in the republic three times. The first was in January and February 1963, on the set of the feature film “Penalty Kick”. The second – three months later, and the third – in September and October 1973, with a tour of the Taganka Theater.
— Have any photographs of that period survived?
— There are very interesting photos, some of which are completely unknown. One of these was made after Vysotsky and the film crew moved into the Kazakhstan Hotel on Kommunistichesky Avenue on January 8, 1963 (now Abylai Khan – Ed.). In 1977 it was renamed “Zhetysu”. Filming took place on January 9, right next to the main entrance, on the visor of which the filmmakers wrote a new name: “Youth.” This was necessary for filming.
— How did you surprise the guests of Almaty?
— The film crew was very cold. The guys did not expect that such frosts would greet them in the capital of the Kazakh SSR. In addition, the cold was aggravated by high humidity. Vysotsky himself reported this in letters.
-What role did he play?
— A crippled man who fell from a horse. But everyone who saw him in makeup thought that the actor had been severely beaten.
— Did you take the film crew on excursions?
– Yes, to Medeo. Union speed skating competitions were held there, so, alas, they were not allowed there. But later they attended the republican competitions.
— You mentioned that Vysotsky came to Alma-Ata for the second time in May 1963.
— Yes, when they filmed the film “Don’t Walk on Lawns.” But the film project ended in failure.
– And for the third time?
– In 1973. With the Taganka Theater he arrived in Alma-Ata on tour from Uzbekistan. Vysotsky wanted to go to Medeo to see what had changed there in 10 years. But due to the threat of a mudflow, the road was blocked. And he was helped by a man who called himself a journalist. However, the new acquaintance did not name the publication where he worked. However, just like he didn’t show his articles. But his photos with Vysotsky remained. Everything is of excellent quality, made with excellent equipment. This man organized an hour-long excursion for Vladimir Semenovich and showed how blasting work was carried out.
It is interesting that Vysotsky and his escort easily, as if by magic, passed all the cordons and barriers. By the way, when the bard asked the “journalist” to get a bottle of Scotch whiskey as a gift for the birthday of the artistic director of the Taganka Theater Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov, he immediately fulfilled the request. What kind of all-powerful escort it was is still a mystery.
On the way back, he asked Vladimir Semenovich to sign the guitar, which, as it turned out, was lying in the trunk of their official GAZ-24. Vysotsky asked to slow down, got out of the car and performed several of his new songs to his companions right on the side of the road and signed his guitar.
— A certain “journalist” may have been a KGB employee?
– More likely. Perhaps he prepared a photographic report of the work he did. But here’s what’s curious: 30 years later, some woman came to one agency and asked to retouch and digitize the negatives. She said that the photographs of Vysotsky were taken by her father, an employee of the KGB of the USSR.
Newspaper headline:
How Vysotsky was almost recruited by the KGB in Kazakhstan
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