Peter Rhodes on spies, calories and the eternal mystery of the balalaika
Farewell, the balalaika. We have been having a spring clean-out, transferring all sorts of long-stored tat to the local tip and charity shops.
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Yes, even the balalaika. I bought it in 1976 on a trip to what is now St Petersburg but was then Leningrad, a fine city in which a young KGB trainee by the name of Vladimir Putin was studying advanced interrogation techniques and the rewriting of history.
The balalaika is an unusual instrument, having only three strings. Two are tuned to the same note and the third is a perfect fourth higher. This makes it easy for beginners to play Bye-Bye Blackbird but almost impossible to play anything else.
