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 and Claudia Muzio a spinto soprano. Of all these, Claudia Muzio was the only one to share some roles with Raisa (Leonora in "Il trovatore", Desdemona in "Otello", Aida, Santuzza, and "Tosca"). Raisa was the company's only Maliella in Wolf-Ferrari's "I gioielli della Madonna" ("Jewels of the Madonna"), "Gioconda", Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera" (always billed as "Masked Ball" in Chicago), Rachel in "La Juive" (always announced as "The Jewess" in Chicago), and of course the Mount Olympus in opera for sopranos, "Norma" in Bellini's opera. This is significant as Claudia Muzio had performed Norma with some success in