Легенды музыки - Season 2 / Year 2016

One of the best producers of the USSR, a successful musician, and simply a happy person. He is the one who created the most popular vocal-instrumental ensemble in the Soviet Union. He devised a way of performing Soviet songs that made them beloved and truly folk. The permanent leader of VIA "Samotsvety," Yuri Malikov, became famous not only as a trendsetter of the genre but also as the founder of a musical dynasty. Today, he continues to engage in creative work: he is writing his second book of memoirs and meeting with fans.

His first song, "How great that we are all gathered here today," immediately became an anthem of the bard movement. Unexpectedly for the author himself, it spread across the country like lightning. It was composed by then-unknown first-year student Oleg Mityaev during a lecture on the history of navigation. Today, he has written over 260 songs, many of which have become hits: "The Frenchwoman," "Good Morning, My Love," "Summer is a Little Life." However, in those distant student years, Mityaev did not yet connect his future with the author's song.

A singer with an astonishing voice. She lived in Poland, but performed her most popular songs in Russian. The Poles adored Anna German and to this day are jealous of her incredible success in the USSR. Her first record was released in the Soviet Union. However, having endowed German with a unique talent, fate prepared trials that not everyone would have the strength to endure. After a terrible accident, she had to learn to walk and sing all over again. For the first time, we will visit the legendary recording studio of the Melodiya company, which in Anna German's time was located in a former church. It was here that she recorded all her hits and met with the most famous composers. And Anna's fans would secretly come to the balcony here to hear her angelic voice.

For the Soviet era, it wasn't a rock opera but an ideological subversion. Not only did the main character find happiness in America, but he also talks to the Our Lady of Kazan! But by some miracle, "Juno and Avos" was approved. Mark Zakharov still attributes this to divine intervention, and Alexey Rybnikov to the favor of Suslov himself, who was given the opera to listen to, and he liked it. After that, it made no sense for lower-ranking officials to turn the premiere at the Lenkom Theatre into a farce on the theme of "anti-Soviet sentiment." Although, in the theater program, they wrote not "Mother of God" but "a woman with a child." The Ministry of Culture had no doubt: this show would not last longer than one season. Yet "Juno and Avos" has been on stage for 35 years now! Still alive, but already a classic! A phenomenon that largely defined both the tastes of the audience and the understanding of "what Soviet art could be like."

From an awkward provincial girl, she transformed into a great actress! She carried her love for music and singing throughout her entire life, even during times when she felt like howling rather than singing. Her mother used to say: "Lusya, you learned to sing before you learned to speak." During the war, Lusya Gurchenko sang "Katyusha" for her neighbors, to keep their spirits up, and "O Tannenbaum" for German soldiers, so they would toss her a coin. After the resounding success of "Carnival Night," a decade of creative oblivion followed instead of recognition. But she did not give up; she wrote songs herself and performed concerts across the country. This is the story of an actress who, thanks to her innate musicality, incredible work ethic, talent, and willpower, achieved recognition both on the stage and in cinema.

She would have been a star even if she had only sung "The Blue Kerchief." But besides this main wartime song of the country, Klavdiya Shulzhenko's repertoire included many others. And each of them immediately became, as they say now, a hit. For over forty years, Klavdiya Shulzhenko remained the premier singer of the Soviet Union. She was adored by the public and idolized by the veterans of the Great Patriotic War; she was admired and imitated. Yet, she never changed who she was. And she always sang about love, of which there was plenty in the life of the legendary singer.

Young poet Yuri Entin accidentally came across a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm and wanted to make an animated film based on it. Actor and aspiring director Vasily Livanov came up with several new characters and wrote a completely original script. Their contemporary, director Inessa Kovalevskaya, entrusted the then little-known composer Gennady Gladkov with writing energetic rock-and-roll music. Actor Oleg Anofriev, not yet known to the general public, took the risk of singing for the majority of the characters. As a result, in 1969, the cartoon "The Bremen Town Musicians" was released. No one expected that its songs would become instant hits, and the soundtrack record would sell 28 million copies in just a couple of years. If the musical film had a secret to its success, it was the youthful zeal, energy, and talent of its creators

Valentina Tolkunova's "voice through tears" is impossible to confuse with anyone else's. Her repertoire included numerous lyrical songs and songs for children – she lived through each one, and each sounded uniquely sincere. That's why there were never any empty seats at the concerts of this outstanding singer. Even elderly people would bow at her feet, saying, "What a happiness it is to see you!". Valentina Tolkunova always walked her own path. A waist-length braid and an invariable string of pearls – her image was feminine even when it became unfashionable. She performed for veterans of the Chechen and Afghan wars, for orphans and the disabled – free of charge. A fragile woman, she was a daredevil behind the wheel, managed her household herself, and practically raised her son alone. So where did the smiling and always polite artist draw her remarkable strength from?

The film is based on a candid interview with Alexey Rybnikov, in which he tells incredible stories about his, at first glance, so prosperous life. About everything that remained "behind the scenes" for many years. The author of the fantastic music for more than 130 films and the creator of the cult works "Juno and Avos" and "The Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta" received a state prize only in 2002, after the release of Nikolai Lebedev's film "The Star"... And at the time when the whole of Moscow was going crazy for "Juno," with people lining up overnight at the Lenkom box office, Rybnikov's name was listed somewhere between the makeup artist and the costume designer. Rybnikov himself believes that it was "Juno" and the events surrounding it that changed the course of his life.