Talks with Tolstoi

This audio diary opens a window onto a fifteen‑year friendship between a young Russian pianist and the legendary writer Leo Tolstoy. The narrator, A. Goldenveizer, records their first hesitant meeting, his shy performances, and Tolstoy’s probing questions about music that reveal the author’s own modest tastes and deep convictions. Their conversations, punctuated by Tolstoy’s gentle yet incisive remarks on Beethoven, Chopin, and the dangers of virtuosity, feel immediate and unvarnished.

The selections span from Goldenveizer’s first visit in 1896 through the final months of Tolstoy’s life, offering an intimate portrait of the writer’s daily routine, his affection for the Gospels, and his candid philosophical musings. By avoiding literary embellishment, the diary presents a documentary voice that lets listeners hear Tolstoy as a thoughtful, often humble presence rather than a distant icon. The result is a rare, conversational glimpse into the mind of one of literature’s greatest figures.