It wasn't too long ago, during Clinton's farewell address as U.S. president to the Russian parliament, that the London Times reported Clinton's power of persuasion fell far short of charming the State Duma.
In fact, Russian deputies who bothered to show up (there were many empty seats) for the embattled president's 2000 address in Moscow calmly read newspapers or stared at their watches, the newspaper reported.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy speaker of the Duma, acknowledged that apart from the deputies, the audience was packed with "cleaners and security guards" who were instructed to clap when Clinton arrived and departed.
But the real action was in the corridors, the Times reported, when Clinton was ambushed by a woman shouting: "Bill, drop your trousers and show us what a sex boss you are."
Now we learn that the Russians have tapped Clinton to be featured narrator of the latest CD from the Russian National Orchestra, or RNO. The former president narrates a brand-new composition entitled "Wolf Tracks," engagingly delivering its modern environmental message to cherish and protect natural resources.
The RNO commissioned French composer Jean-Pascal Beintus to write the score, and selected American writer Walt Kraemer to create the accompanying text.
Clinton says he is donating royalties from his narration role to the International Aids Trust, which he co-chairs.
The CD's two additional narrators are former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and screen legend Sophia Loren, the latter narrating Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf."
Asked about Clinton's narration of "Wolf Tracks," Gorbachev says: "In Prokofiev's classic, man dominates. But 'Wolf Tracks' expresses quite different values of balance and tolerance. All of us hope for a future where these values are lived every day."