For a moment during the Cold War — in the decade between Josef Stalin’s death until the Cuban Missile Crisis — something called “Cultural Exchange” formed a warm glow in US-Soviet relations. It started with one pianist in 1955, named Emil Gilels, and led to a sudden mutual discovery of two nations’ best music and musicians. Sara Fishko talked to some of the people who helped raise the Iron Curtain, slightly and briefly, almost 50 years ago.
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