Nancy Reagan maid returned to work at the White House. In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet leader to visit Washington, D.C. since Nikita Khrushchev made the trip in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. Nancy was in charge of planning and hosting the important and highly anticipated state dinner, with the goal to impress both the Soviet leader and especially his wife Raisa Gorbacheva. After the meal, she recruited pianist Van Cliburn to play a rendition of "Moscow Nights" for the Soviet delegation, to which Mikhail and Raisa broke out into song. Secretary of State George P. Shultz
Rosa Raisa the end, with duets. The most frequent duets they sang were "Là ci darem la mano" from "Don Giovanni" where they could be outwardly playful and sexy. The Act IV duet from "Il Trovatore" was often given at the end of the printed program. It is fascinating that they often sang after the first half of a concert a duet from Verdi's "Luisa Miller," giving Raisa an opportunity to do some flashy coloratura and ending on a high C. She often closed her recitals with the Yiddish song "Eili, Eili". "Eili Eili" is a Yiddish song starting with the Hebrew