Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich - pop singer (baritone), was born on June 2, 1898 in the village of Isaevo, Kherson province. Baptized on July 3, 1898, godparents - nobleman Alexander Ivanovich Krivosheev and noblewoman Katerina Yakovlevna Orlova. Mother - Leshchenkova Maria Kalinovna (according to other documents Leshchenko Maria Konstantinovna). There is no information about the father. Grandfather was a soldier, grandmother was a cook in a rich house. They abandoned their daughter (Peter's mother) upon learning of her pregnancy.

Peter was not yet a year old when the family moved to Chisinau. He sang in the soldiers' church choir (1906). Subsequently, the regent of this choir, Kogan, assigned the boy to the 7th parish school in Chisinau. Here, the regent of the bishops' choir, Berezovsky, drew attention to him and invited him to be a chorister. Peter studied music and at the same time served in the choir - he sang in the cathedral. These were the most peaceful and prosperous years of my life. Peter lived on full board in the dormitory of the Metropolis.

In 1909, his mother married a dental technician Alexei Vasilievich Alfimov, with whom Pyotr did not work out and the boy left home and lived with relatives.

Peter bought his first guitar at his own expense. He was a chorister and assistant to the cathedral regent and worked as a carpenter, dishwasher in a restaurant, performed song and dance numbers in cinemas and cafes.

Later, Peter got a job as a volunteer in the Don Cossack Regiment and served there until the autumn of 1916. From there he was sent to Kyiv to ensign infantry school. In 1917 he graduated from the ensign infantry school in Kyiv, was sent to the Romanian front, where he was enrolled in the Podolsky regiment of an infantry division as a platoon commander. In August of the same year, he was seriously wounded in Romania, and after leaving the hospital, he served as a psalmist in the Chisinau church for a short time. In the autumn of 1919, he performed as part of a dance group at the Alagambra Theater (Bucharest). In 1920 he began work in the Romanian theater society "Stage", acting in tandem with the ballerina Rozika under the pseudonym "Martynovych". From 1923 to 1925 he studied at the Parisian ballet school, after which, together with his first wife, the ballerina Zhenya-Johanne Zakit, he prepared several song and dance numbers and went on tour in the countries of the Middle East.

The debut performance as a performer of gypsy romances took place in 1929 at the Londra restaurant (Chisinau). In 1930 he sang in Belgrade at the family celebration of King Alexander Karageorgievich. In the same year, in the Riga cafe "A.T.", accompanied by an orchestra conducted by G. Schmidt, he presented a large solo program, which included songs written specifically for Leshchenko by Oscar Strok: "Black Eyes", "Katya", " Dear Musenka" and others. Works of various genres appear in the singer's repertoire: tango, foxtrot, gypsy and everyday romances, as well as songs by unknown authors, among which the song Chubchik was the most popular. Performs the songs of Mark Maryanovsky: "Tatiana", "Vanka, sing", "Marfusha" and several songs of his own composition - "You have returned again", "Horses". He writes arrangements for many songs. In the early 30s, he signed a contract with the Romanian branch of the English recording company "Columbia" (about 80 songs were recorded). In addition, the singer's records are published by "Parlophon" (Germany), "Electrecord>" (Romania), "Bellacord" (Latvia).

Having moved to Bucharest in 1933, Leshchenko became a co-owner of the Our House restaurant, and in 1935 he opened the Leshchenko restaurant, in which he performed together with the Leshchenko Trio ensemble (the singer's wife and his younger sisters, Valya and Katya) and an aspiring pop singer Alla Bayanova.

The announcement of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War finds the singer in Romania. Being a Romanian citizen, Leshchenko evaded service in the ranks of the Romanian army and continued his concert activity. In the summer of 1942, accompanied by an opera orchestra, the singer performed in Nazi-occupied Odessa. In September 1944, after the liberation of Bucharest, he gives a big concert for the officers of the Soviet Army, performing his own songs: "I miss my Motherland", "Natasha", "Nadya-Nadechka", as well as songs by Soviet composers, including "Dark Night" N. Bogoslovsky.

In the concert programs of the post-war years, songs are heard: "Tell me why", "Don't leave", "Sleep, my poor heart" by O. Strok, "Everything that was" by D. Pokrass, "Petrushka" by A. Albin, "Autumn Mirage " A. Sukhanova and others. On March 26, 1951, Pyotr Leshchenko was arrested by the state security authorities of Romania during the intermission after the first part of the concert. This was followed in July 1952 by the arrest of his wife, Vera Belousova, who, like Leshchenko, was accused of treason (performances in occupied Odessa). On August 5, 1952, Belousova was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but was released in 1953 for lack of corpus delicti. Pyotr Leshchenko died in 1954 in a prison hospital.

During his creative life, the singer recorded over 180 gramophone discs, but until the end of the 80s, none of these recordings was reissued in the USSR.

The first disc from the series "Pyotr Leshchenko Sings" was released by the Melodiya company on the 90th anniversary of the singer's birth in 1988 and in the same year took first place in the TASS hit parade.

In 1999, on the centenary of the birth of Petru Leshchenko in Chisinau, a street and lane were named after the great singer - Petru Lescenco.

Leshchenko Petr Konstantinovich
Born: 2 (14) June 1898
Died: July 16, 1954 (aged 56)

Biography

Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko - Russian Romanian pop singer, performer of folk and character dances, restaurateur.

Birth, study, participation in the First World War (1898-1918)

Leshchenko was born in the village of Isaevo, Kherson province (now the Nikolaevsky district, Odessa region). His mother gave birth to him out of wedlock. In the metric book of the district archive there is an entry: "Maria Kalinovna Leshchenkova, the daughter of a retired soldier, gave birth to a son, Peter, on 06/02/1898." Peter was baptized on 07/03/1898, later in the documents of Peter Leshchenko it was the date of baptism - July 3, 1898. In the column "father" the entry: "illegitimate". Godparents: nobleman Alexander Ivanovich Krivosheev and noblewoman Katerina Yakovlevna Orlova. Peter's mother had an absolute ear for music, knew many folk songs and sang well, which had a due influence on the formation of the personality of Peter, who from early childhood also showed outstanding musical abilities. The mother's family, together with 9-month-old Peter, moved to Chisinau, where, approximately nine years later, the mother married a dental technician Alexei Vasilievich Alfimov. Pyotr Leshchenko spoke Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and German.

Pyotr Leshchenko wrote about himself:

At the age of 9 months, together with her mother, as well as with her parents, they moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was brought up at home, and then, as having the ability to dance and music, I was taken into the soldiers' church choir. The regent of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th National Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the regent of the bishops' choir, Berezovsky, drew attention to me and assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915 I received a general and musical education. In 1915, due to a change in voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. He got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the infantry ensign school in the city of Kyiv, which I graduated in March 1917, and I was awarded the rank of ensign. After graduating from the aforementioned school, through the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa, he was sent to the Romanian front and enrolled in the 55th Podolsk infantry regiment of the 14th infantry division as a platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked - and sent to the hospital, first to the field, and then to the city of Chisinau.

The revolutionary events of October 1917 found me in the same hospital. Even after the revolution, I continued to be treated until January 1918, that is, until the capture of Bessarabia by the Romanian troops.

Bessarabia was declared a Romanian territory in 1918, and Pyotr Leshchenko was officially discharged from the hospital as a Romanian citizen.

Chisinau, Paris, marriage (1918-1926)

After leaving the hospital, he lived with his relatives. Until 1919, Leshchenko worked as a turner for a private trader, then he served as a psalmist in the church at the Olginsky shelter, as a sub-director of the church choir in the Chuflinskaya and cemetery churches. In addition, he participated in a vocal quartet and sang at the Chisinau Opera, whose director was a certain Belousova.

From the autumn of 1919, as part of the Elizarov dance group (Danila Zeltser, Tovbis, Antonina Kangizer), he performed in Bucharest at the Alagambra Theater for four months, then with them throughout 1920 - in the cinemas of Bucharest.

Until 1925 he toured Romania as a dancer and singer as part of various artistic groups. In 1925, with Nikolai Trifanidis, he left for Paris, where he met with Antonina Kangizer. With her, her 9-year-old brother and mother, with Trifanidis, she performs in Parisian cinemas for three months. Leshchenko performed with a guitar duet in the Guslyar balalaika ensemble with a number in which he played the balalaika, and then, dressed in a Caucasian costume, went on stage with “Arab steps” with daggers in his teeth, dancing squatting and accompanying all this by throwing daggers at floor. The number was a success with the public: 168.

Wanting to improve his dance technique, Leshchenko entered Trefilova's ballet school, which was considered one of the best in France. At school, he met the artist Zhenya (Zinaida) Zakitt from Riga, a Latvian. Peter and Zinaida learned several dance numbers and began to perform as a duet in Parisian restaurants, with great success. Soon the dance duet became a married couple:168.

In February 1926, in Paris, Leshchenko accidentally met a friend from Bucharest, Yakov Voronovsky. He was about to leave for Sweden - and offered Leshchenko his place as a dancer at the Normandy restaurant. Until the end of April 1926, Leshchenko performed at this restaurant.

Tour. Release of records. First success (1926-1933)

Poles-musicians, who previously worked in a restaurant in Chernivtsi and had a contract with a Turkish theater in the city of Adana, invite Petr Leshchenko and Zakitt to go on tour with them. From May 1926 to August 1928, the family duet made a tour of Europe and the Middle East - Constantinople, Adana, Smyrna (here Leshchenko married Zakitt in July 1926), Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Athens, Thessaloniki.

In 1928, the Leshchenko couple returned to Romania, entered the Bucharest Theater "Teatrul Nostra". Then they leave for Riga, on the occasion of the death of the wife's father. They stayed in Riga for two weeks and moved to Chernivtsi, where they worked for three months at the Olgaber restaurant. Then - moving to Chisinau. Until the winter of 1929, the Leshchenkos performed at the London restaurant, at the Summer Theater and cinemas. Then - Riga, where until December 1930 Pyotr Leshchenko worked alone in the A.T. cafe. Only for a month he left at the invitation of the dancers Smaltsovs to Belgrade.

When Zinaida became pregnant, their dance duet broke up. Looking for an alternative way to earn money, Leshchenko turned to his vocal abilities:170. In January 1931, a son was born to Peter and Zhenya - Igor (Ikki) Leshchenko (Igor Petrovich Leshchenko (1931-1978), son of Peter Leshchenko from his first marriage, choreographer of the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bucharest).

The theatrical agent Duganov arranged for Leshchenko to go to concerts in Libau for a month. At the same time, Leshchenko signs a contract with the Jurmala summer restaurant. He spends the whole summer of 1931 with his family in Libau. Upon returning to Riga, he again works in the cafe "A.T." At this time, the singer met the composer Oscar Strok - the creator of tango, romances, foxtrots and songs. Leshchenko performed and recorded the composer's songs: "Black Eyes", "Blue Rhapsody", "Tell me why" and other tangos and romances. He also worked with other composers, in particular with Mark Maryanovsky - the author of Tatyana, Miranda, Nastya-berries.

The owner of a music store in Riga, by the name of Yunosha, in the fall of 1931, suggested that Leshchenko go to Berlin for ten days to record songs at the Parlophon company. Leshchenko also signed a contract with the Romanian branch of the English recording company Columbia (about 80 songs were recorded). The singer's records are published by Parlophone Records (Germany), Electrorecord (Romania), Bellaccord (Latvia).

Since the spring of 1932, he again works together with Zakitt in Chernivtsi, in Chisinau. In 1933, Leshchenko and his family decided to settle permanently in Bucharest and went to work at the Rus pavilion. In addition - a tour of Bessarabia, a trip to Vienna to record at the Columbia company. In 1935, with Kavura and Gerutsky, he opened the Leshchenko restaurant along Kalya Victoria Street 2, which lasted until 1942. Leshchenko in his restaurant performs with the ensemble "Trio Leshchenko" (the singer's wife and his younger sisters - Valya and Katya).

In 1935, Leshchenko traveled to London twice: he performed on the radio, recorded at a recording studio, and, at the invitation of the famous impresario Golt Leshchenko, gave two concerts. In 1937 and 1938 he traveled to Riga with his family for the summer season. The rest of the time before the start of the war he spends in Bucharest, speaking in a restaurant.

During his creative life, the singer recorded over 180 gramophone discs.

Tour in occupied Odessa, second marriage (1941-1951)

In October 1941, Leshchenko received a notice from the 16th Infantry Regiment, to which he was assigned. But under various pretexts, Leshchenko tries to evade the service and continues his concert activity. Only on the third call did Leshchenko arrive at the regiment in Falticheni. Here he was tried by an officer's court, warned that he had to appear on calls, and released.

In December 1941, Leshchenko received an invitation from the director of the Odessa Opera House, Selyavin, with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. He refused due to a possible re-call to the regiment. In January 1942, Selyavin announced that the date of the concerts had been postponed indefinitely, but, nevertheless, all tickets had been sold. In March 1942, Leshchenko received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate, signed by Russu, to enter Odessa.

He left for Odessa occupied by Romanian troops on May 19, 1942, and stayed at the Bristol Hotel. In Odessa, on June 5, 7 and 9, Leshchenko held solo concerts.

At one of his rehearsals, he meets nineteen-year-old Vera Belousova, a student at the Odessa Conservatory, a musician, and a singer. Makes Belousova an offer and leaves for Bucharest to file a divorce from Zakitt. Scandals, showdowns with his ex-wife ended with the receipt of regular notices from the 16th Infantry Regiment. Leshchenko managed to obtain a document on mobilization for work on the spot, thus temporarily avoiding being sent to the army. But in February 1943, he received an order to hand over this document and immediately report to the 16th Infantry Regiment to continue military service.

A familiar garrison doctor offered Petr Leshchenko treatment in a military hospital. Ten days did not solve the problem: a new notice arrives to appear in the regiment. Leshchenko decides to remove the appendix, although this was not necessary. After the operation and 25 days of the required vacation, he is not in the service. Leshchenko manages to get a job in the military artistic group of the 6th division. Until June 1943, he performed in Romanian military units.

In October 1943, a new order from the Romanian command: send Leshchenko to the front in the Crimea. In the Crimea, until mid-March 1944, he was at the headquarters, and then the head of the officer's canteen. Then he gets a vacation, but instead of Bucharest he comes to Odessa. He learns that the Belousov family should be sent to Germany. Pyotr Leshchenko takes his future wife, her mother and two brothers to Bucharest.

In May 1944, Leshchenko registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. In September 1944, after the Red Army entered Bucharest, Leshchenko gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, officer clubs for Soviet soldiers. Vera Leshchenko also performed with him.

Arrest, prison and death (1951-1954)

On March 26, 1951, Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security authorities during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.

From Romanian sources: Pyotr Leshchenko was in Zhilava from March 1951, then in July 1952 he was transferred to a distributor in Capul Midia, from there on August 29, 1953 to Borgeshti. On May 21 or 25, 1954, he was transferred to the Tirgu Okna prison hospital. He underwent surgery for an open stomach ulcer.

There is a record of the interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, from which it is clear that in July 1952, Pyotr Leshchenko was transferred to Constanta (near Capul Midia) and interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, who was accused of treason. According to the memoirs of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko (voiced in the documentary film "Film of Memory. Pyotr Leshchenko"), she was allowed only one date with her husband. Peter showed his black hands to his wife and said: “Vera! I am not to blame for anything!!!” They never met again.

P.K. Leshchenko died in the Romanian prison hospital Tirgu-Okna on July 16, 1954. The place of his burial is unknown. The materials on the Leshchenko case are still closed.

In July 1952, the arrest of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko followed. She was accused of marrying a foreign national, which qualified as treason (Article 58-1 "A" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, criminal case No. 15641-p). Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was sentenced to death on August 5, 1952, which was commuted to 25 years in prison, but was released in 1954: “Prisoner Belousova-Leshchenko should be released with the removal of her criminal record and with departure to Odessa on July 12, 1954,” an order with reference to the decision Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR, the first reference is to reduce the term to 5 years in accordance with the Resolution of the Supreme Court of June 1954, and the second - "to release from custody."

Leshchenko's widow managed to get the only information from Romania: LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. A MURIT ON TIMPUL DETENIEI, LA. PENITENCIARUL TÂRGU OCNA. (LESHCHENKO, PYOTR. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED WHILE STAYING IN TYRGU-OKNA PRISON). (From the Book of the Repressed, published in Bucharest)

Vera Leshchenko died in Moscow in 2009.

The biography was compiled according to the protocols of the interrogation of Peter Leshchenko and archival documents provided by the widow of Peter Leshchenko - Vera Leshchenko.

Memory

In the USSR, Pyotr Leshchenko was under an unspoken ban. His name was not mentioned in the Soviet media. However, many remembered him. One of the evidence of the posthumous fame of the singer is contained in the memoirs of journalist Mikhail Devletkamov:

... In the spring of 1980, I was traveling to the capital in a crowded train "Dubna - Moscow". A shaven-headed, strongly built old man in a black quilted jacket who sat down in Dmitrov was loudly talking about something to an elderly married couple. The badge of the III Ukrainian Front flaunted on a worn padded jacket ... “But for such words you can please Siberia!” - his interlocutor suddenly said to the veteran ... The train was approaching Yakhroma. Outside the window floated the majestic ruins of the Church of the Intercession, built in 1803 (by now the church has been restored) ... “But I'm not afraid of Siberia! exclaimed the old man. “Here, remember how Leshchenko sang: “But I am not afraid of Siberia, Siberia is also a Russian land! ..”” An old but peppy veteran of the Second World War quoted a song from the repertoire of Pyotr Leshchenko “Chubchik”, dedicated to the tragedy of dispossessed peasants ...

Newspaper "Dignity", No. 12 / 2000

In the post-war years in Moscow, on the wave of Pyotr Leshchenko's popularity, a whole underground company successfully flourished for the production and distribution of records “under Leshchenko”. The backbone of the company was the so-called “Jazz of Tabaknikov” (composer Boris Fomin also worked there at one time) and its soloist Nikolai Markov, whose voice was almost identical to the voice of the famous singer. In a short time, forty works from Leshchenko's repertoire were recorded, including Cranes that had nothing to do with him. Records were distributed mainly in Ukraine, in Moldova ... One musician from the "Jazz of Tobacco" said this about this: "We bring a suitcase of records there, back - a suitcase of money..."

Officially, the records of Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko were not sold in stores, because they were not released, and the singer's voice sounded in almost every home. Authentic or fake - go guess.

B. A. Savchenko. Stage retro. - M.: Art, 1996, p. 220.

Resurgence in popularity in 1988

There was no official permission for the appearance of the voice of Peter Konstantinovich on the air in the late 80s of the 20th century, they simply stopped prohibiting it. Recordings of songs performed by Leshchenko began to sound on Soviet radio. Then there were programs and articles about him. In 1988, the Melodiya company released the disc Pyotr Leshchenko Sings, which was called the sensation of the month. In May, the disc took 73rd place in the all-Union hit parade, and in a couple of weeks it took first place in popularity among giant discs. For the first time, Pyotr Leshchenko was legally named the best.

“The sensation began to mature when from many cities of the country our correspondents began to receive information about the great interest of music lovers in the record of Pyotr Leshchenko, the famous chansonnier of the 1930s. Few people could have imagined that the disc, which took 73rd place in May, would rapidly move up in June to the top of popularity, and eventually come out on top in the all-Union hit parade ...

In cinema

Biographical films

2013 - “Pyotr Leshchenko. Everything that was ... ”, an eight-episode biographical film (director - Vladimir Kott, scriptwriter Eduard Volodarsky, the role of Leshchenko was performed by Konstantin Khabensky and Ivan Stebunov).

Using songs

1996 - Animated film Funny Pictures. Fantasy in retro style (director R. Kobzarev, scriptwriter R. Kobzarev) - song "Gypsy".

1997 - Animated film Pink Doll (director V. Olshvang, scriptwriter N. Kozhushanaya) - song "Lola".

In toponymy

There is a street in Chisinau, as well as an alley, bearing his name.

Discography

Gramophone records (78 rpm)

Columbia (UK - France)

For guitar picking (romance, folk music) / Sing, gypsies (romance) (Columbia Orchestra)

Confess to me (tango, music. Arthur Gold) / Sleep, my poor heart (tango, O. Strok and J. Altschuler) (Columbia orchestra)

Stay (tango, music by E. Hoenigsberg) / Miranda (tango, music by M. Maryanovsky) (Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra)

Anikusha (tango, Claude Romano) / Grace (“I forgive everything for love”, waltz, N. Wars) (Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra)

Don't go away (tango, E. Sklyarov) / Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm) (Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra)

I would like to love so much (tango, E. Sklyarov - N. Mikhailova) / Misha (foxtrot, G. Vilnov) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Boy (folk) / In the circus (domestic, N. Mirsky - Kolumbova - P. Leshchenko) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Near the forest (gypsy waltz, Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra) / Chastushki (harmonica accompaniment - brothers Ernst and Max Hoenigsberg)

Andryusha (foxtrot, Z. Byalostotsky) / Troshka (domestic) (Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra)

Who are you (slow-fox, M. Maryanovsky) / Alyosha (foxtrot, J. Korologos) (J. Korologos orchestra)

My Friend (English Waltz, M. Halm) / Serenade (C. Sierra Leone) (Columbia Orchestra)

Heart (tango, I. O. Dunaevsky, arranged by F. Salabert - Ostrowsky) / March from the movie "Merry Fellows" (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky) (orchestra)

Horses (foxtrot) / Ha-cha-cha (foxtrot, Werner Richard Heymann) (orchestra J. Korologos)

Tatyana (tango, M. Maryanovsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / Nastenka (foxtrot, Trajan Kornia, J. Korologos orchestra)

Cry, gypsy (romance) / You're driving drunk (romance) (Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Mother's Heart (tango, music by Z. Karasiński and S. Katashek, Hoenigsberg Orchestra) / Caucasus (orient foxtrot, music by M. Maryanovsky, orchestra by J. Korologos)

Musenka (tango, words and music by Oskar Strok, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / Dunya (Pancakes, foxtrot, music by M. Maryanovsky, orchestra by J. Korologos)

Forget you (tango, S. Shapirov) / Let's say goodbye (tango-romance) (Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Capricious, stubborn (romance, Alexander Koshevsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Vilnov, J. Korologos orchestra and Baikal balalaika quartet)

Gloomy Sunday (Hungarian song, Résző Šeres) / Blue Rhapsody (slow fox, Oskar Strok) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra)

Komarik (Ukrainian folk song) / Karії ochі (Ukrainian song) - in Ukrainian. lang., guitar, with accomp. Hoenigsberg Orchestra, CHR 663/664]

Foggy in the soul (E. Sklyarov, Nadya Kushnir) / March from the movie "Circus" (I. O. Dunaevsky, V. I. Lebedev-Kumach) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshni)

Do not leave (tango, O. Strok) / Vanya (foxtrot, Shapirov - Leshchenko - Fedotov) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshnya)

Ancient waltz (words and music by N. Listov) / Glasses (lyrics by G. Gridov, music by B. Prozorovsky) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshnya)

Captain / Sing to us, wind (songs from the film "Children of Captain Grant", I. O. Dunaevsky - V. I. Lebedev-Kumach, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshnya)

How good / Kolechko (romances, Olga Frank - Sergey Frank, arr. J. Azbukin, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshnya)

Dear Vanka / Nastya sells berries (foxtrots, music and lyrics by M. Maryanovsky, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshnya)

Blue Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok) / Wine of Love (tango, lyrics and music by Mark Maryanovsky) (Frank Fox Orchestra)

Black Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok) / Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by Boris Prozorovsky) (Frank Fox orchestra)

What is grief to me (gypsy romance) / Gypsy life (tabornaya, music by D. Pokrass) (Frank Fox orchestra)

A glass of vodka (foxtrot to a Russian motif, words and music by M. Maryanovsky) / A song is pouring (Gypsy nomadic, lyrics by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Chubchik (folk) / Farewell, my camp (Frank Fox orchestra)
Bessarabian (folk motif) / Buran (tabor) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Marfusha (foxtrot, Mark Maryanovsky) / You came back again (tango) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra - Albahari)

At the Samovar (Foxtrot, N. Gordonoi) / My Last Tango (Oscar Strok) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra - Albahari)

You and this guitar (tango, music by E. Petersburgsky, Russian text by Rotinovsky) / Boring (tango, Sasa Vlady) (Hoenigsberg orchestra - Albahari)

Columbia (USA)

Farewell, my camp (Russian gypsy song) / Chubchik (Russian folk song) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Buran (tabornaya) / Bessarabian woman (folk motif) (Frank Fox orchestra)
Gypsy life (tabornaya, music by D. Pokrass) / What is woe to me (gypsy romance)

The song is flowing (gypsy nomadic, lyrics by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin) / Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by B. Prozorovsky) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Boring (tango) / You and this guitar (tango) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra - Albahari)
My last tango / At the samovar (foxtrot) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra - Albahari)
Marfusha (foxtrot) / You came back again (tango) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra - Albahari)
Near the forest / Black eyes
My Friend (Waltz, Max Halm) / Serenade (C. Sierra Leone)
Don't go away (tango, E. Sklyarov) / Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm) (Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra)

My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Villnow, with accompaniment orchestra and balalaika quartet) / Let's say goodbye (tango, Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Ring / How good (romances, Olga Frank - Sergey Frank, arr. J. Azbukin, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshnya)

Confess to Me (tango, Arthur Gold, Columbia orchestra) / You're driving drunk (romance, Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Heart (tango, I. O. Dunaevsky, arranged by F. Salabert - Ostrowsky) / March of the Merry Children (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky) (Hoenigsberg Orchestra)

Wine of Love (tango, M. Maryanovsky) / Blue Eyes (tango, Oscar Strok) (Frank Fox Orchestra)

Dear Musenka (tango, Oskar Strok, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / Dunya (Pancakes, foxtrot, M. Maryanovsky, Korologos orchestra)

Caucasus (foxtrot, M. Maryanovsky) / Tatyana (tango, M. Maryanovsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Vanya (foxtrot, Shapirov - Leshchenko - Fedotov) / Don't leave (tango, Oscar Strok) (N. Chereshnya's orchestra)

Miranda (tango, M. Maryanovsky) / Stay (tango, E. Hoenigsberg) (Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra)

Columbia (Australia)

Komarik (Ukrainian folk song) / Karії ochі (Ukrainian song) - in Ukrainian. lang., guitar, with accomp. orchestra

Bellaccord (Latvia)

Hey guitar friend! / ????
Moody / Hazy at heart
Andryusha / Bellochka
All that was / The song is pouring
Barcelona / Nastya (the last record recorded at the Bellaccord factory)
Marfusha \ Come back (1934)
Near the forest, by the river / Song of the guitar (1934)

Electrorecord (Romania)

Blue handkerchief (sung by Vera Leshchenko). Dark night
Mom (Vera Leshchenko sings). Natasha
Nadya-Nadechka. Favorite (duet with Vera Leshchenko)
My Marusechka. Heart
Tramp. Black braids
Black eyes. Andryusha
Kate. Student
Parsley. Mom's heart
Horses, Sasha
A glass of vodka, don't go
Marfusha, listen to what I say.
Evening ringing, the bell rattles monotonously

The life path of the Soviet singer and dancer Pyotr Leshchenko turned out to be bright, rich, but not too long. Miserly fate measured him only 56 years, a significant part of which fell on both world wars and the difficult post-war years. Despite this, Petr Leshchenko managed to become famous for his rich creative heritage and many legends about himself.

More questions than answers

In July 1954, a man died in the prison hospital in Târgu-Okna. Fans of Petr Leshchenko's work would hardly have recognized in this beaten man, exhausted by torture and hunger, their idol, whom Europe applauded for the unique performance of the songs "Black Eyes", "My Marusechka", "Curly Forelock" and others.

The exact place where the "sweet-voiced nightingale" is buried is still unknown. Also, no one knows for sure what the popular performer of the pre-war period died from: from an open stomach ulcer, poisoning or beatings. Together with Peter Konstantinovich, other secrets also disappeared into oblivion.

Either Odessa, or Moldavian

Biographers even find it difficult to name the exact birthplace of the future pop star. It is only known for sure that Peter's childhood passed in Chisinau. The family lived modestly, if not poorly. Petya and his half-sisters were raised by their mother and stepfather. But the main teacher of the boy was the street. Here he sang for the first time for the crowd, collecting money in a dusty hat.

He did this out of annoyance at the priest, who did not give another miserable “salary” to Petya, who was guilty of something, for singing in the church choir. Thanks to his soulful voice, the boy earned almost as much in a day as in a month in the church. For a daring trick, Leshchenko is expelled from the choir, but this does not bother him.

Peter already understands that his singing touches the souls and hearts of people. Friendship with gypsies, gatherings by the fire on the river bank, the first guitar lessons - and gypsy romances will firmly enter the life and work of the famous chansonnier. He performed them in a special virtuoso, passionately, with inspiration.

A dancer is no worse than a singer

Participation in the First World War cost the 19-year-old warrant officer Leshchenko a severe wound. A long recovery in the hospital in Chisinau ended after the October Revolution, so Peter returned home as a citizen of Romania.

I made a living in different ways. He was a turner, sang in the church and the cemetery choir, soloed in a vocal quartet and opera. As part of various pop groups, Leshchenko went on tour.

Once in Paris, he did not miss the opportunity to graduate from the ballet school of Vera Trefilova. Here he met his first wife, Zinaida Zakitt. Their dancing couple successfully performed in restaurants in Europe and the Middle East until Zina became pregnant. The only son will be called Igor, but that will be later. Now Peter needs to decide what to do next. And he decides to sing again.

The triumph of the new idol of Europe

Leshchenko gives his first solo concert in Chisinau. Soon, in addition to his own, unpretentious, but charming songs, compositions from venerable authors of that time appeared in his repertoire. Tours in Paris, Berlin, London, Riga, Belgrade. Hits in Russian, Romanian, English and French. Huge circulation records. It was a resounding success and rapid wealth.

At his own expense, the "king of romances" opened his own restaurant "At Leshchenko", where he performed and where, without regret, he invested a lot of money. The singing of the “sweet-voiced nightingale” is admired even by the Romanian royal couple, but in the USSR little is known about it. Newspapers do not write about a successful emigrant, and after the Second World War, the popularization of his work will become completely punishable.

Despite this, already at the end of the 1930s, the performer's romances were secretly listened to in many Soviet apartments. Leshchenko dreams of going home, and in 1942 he goes on tour to Odessa occupied by the Nazis. There he will meet his last love and second wife, Vera Belousova, a student at the conservatory, who is 25 years younger than the famous singer.

traitor or spy

In Odessa, the enterprising singer not only gives concerts, but also opens another restaurant of his own. At the height of the war, only the German invaders can afford gourmet food and entertainment, so Leshchenko quickly earns a negative reputation among Soviet citizens and state security agencies. Almost 10 years later, for some reason, he will be called a foreign spy.

An appeal to Joseph Stalin about returning to the USSR will only aggravate the position of Pyotr Konstantinovich and ensure close attention to his person. The thought of visiting the Soviet Union becomes a fixed idea.

In the early 1950s, Leshchenko receives approval, but does not have time to make the trip. During the next concert, the Romanian police take him away for interrogation by representatives of the Soviet special services.

A popular singer has been taken to different prisons for 3 years, from where he never returns. Not underground, but official records with the songs of Pyotr Leshchenko began to appear in the USSR only in the era of perestroika. The voice of the "king of romances" sounded again in the homeland, as the talented performer once dreamed of.

Another famous person of that time is.

Page 2 of 2

Biography of Peter Konstantinovich Leshchenko

Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko was born on June 14, 1898 near Odessa in the village of Isaevo. The father was a small employee. Mother, Maria Konstantinovna, an illiterate woman, had an absolute ear for music, sang well, knew many Ukrainian folk songs - which, of course, had a proper influence on her son.

From early childhood, Peter showed extraordinary musical abilities. They say that already at the age of seven he spoke to the Cossacks in his village, for which he received a pot of porridge and a loaf of bread ...

At the age of three, Petya lost his father, and a few years later, in 1909, his mother remarried, and the family moved to Bessarabia, to Chisinau. Petya is placed in a parochial school, where a good voice is noticed in the boy and he is enrolled in the bishops' choir. In passing, we add that not only literacy was taught at the school, but also artistic and gymnastic dances, music, singing ...

Despite the fact that Petya went through only four years of study, he gained a lot. At the age of 17, Petya was drafted into the ensign school. A year later, he was already in the army (the First World War was going on) with the rank of ensign. In one of the battles, Peter was wounded and sent to a hospital in Chisinau. Meanwhile, Romanian troops captured Bessarabia. Leshchenko, like thousands of others, found himself cut off from his homeland, becoming "an emigrant without emigration."

It was necessary to work somewhere, earn a living: the young Leshchenko entered the Romanian theater society "Scena", performs in Chisinau, presenting dances that were fashionable at that time (among them - lezginka) between sessions at the Orpheum cinema.

In 1917, her mother, Maria Konstantinovna, gave birth to a daughter, they named her Valentina (in 1920 another sister, Ekaterina, was born) - and Peter was already performing in the Chisinau restaurant "Suzanna" ...

Later, Leshchenko toured Bessarabia, then, in 1925, came to Paris, where he performed in a guitar duet and in the Guslyar balalaika ensemble: Peter sang, played the balalaika, then appeared in a Caucasian costume with daggers in his teeth, he stuck daggers with lightning speed and deftly to the floor, then - dashing "squats" and "Arab steps". Has amazing success. Soon, wanting to improve his dance technique, he enters the best ballet school (where the famous Vera Alexandrovna Trefilova, nee Ivanova, who recently shone on the Mariinsky stage and won fame both in London and Paris) teaches.

In this school, Leshchenko meets a student from Riga, Zinaida Zakit. Having learned several original numbers, they perform in Parisian restaurants, and everywhere they are successful ... Soon the dancing couple becomes a married couple. The newlyweds make a big tour of Europe, performing in restaurants, cabarets, theater stages. Everywhere the audience enthusiastically accepts the artists.

And here is 1929. The city of Chisinau, the city of youth. They are provided with the stage of the most fashionable restaurant. The posters read: "The famous ballet dancers Zinaida Zakit and Pyotr Leshchenko, who came from Paris, perform every evening at the London restaurant."

In the evenings, Mikhail Vainshtein's jazz orchestra sounded in the restaurant, and at night he went out singing gypsy songs to the accompaniment of a guitar (given by his stepfather), Petr Leshchenko, in a gypsy shirt with wide sleeves. After that, the beautiful Zinaida appeared. The dance numbers began. All evenings were a great success.

“In the spring of 1930,” recalls Konstantin Tarasovich Sokolsky, “posters appeared in Riga announcing the concert of the dance duet Zinaida Zakit and Petr Leshchenko, in the premises of the Dailes Theater on Romanovskaya Street N37. I was not at this concert, but after a while I saw their performance in the divertissement program at the Palladium cinema They and the singer Lilian Ferne filled out the entire divertissement program - 35-40 minutes.

Zakit shone with perfection of movements and characteristic performance of Russian dance figures. And Leshchenko - with dashing "squats" and Arab steps, making shifts without touching the floor with his hands. Then there was a lezginka, in which Leshchenko temperamentally threw daggers ... But Zakit left a special impression in solo characteristic and comic dances, some of which she danced on pointe shoes. And here, in order to give his partner the opportunity to change clothes for the next solo number, Leshchenko went out in a gypsy costume, with a guitar and sang songs.

His voice had a small range, a light timbre, without "metal", on a short breath (like a dancer's) and therefore he was not able to cover the huge cinema room with his voice (there were no microphones at that time). But in this case it was not decisive, because the audience looked at him not as a singer, but as a dancer. But in general, his performance left a good impression ... The program ended with a couple more dances.
In general, I liked their performance as a dance couple - I felt the professionalism of the performance, the special working out of each movement, I also liked their colorful costumes.

The partner was especially impressed with her charme and feminine charm - such were her temperament, some kind of bewitching inner burning. Leshchenko also left the impression of a wonderful gentleman ...

Soon we had the opportunity to perform in the same program and get to know each other. They turned out to be pleasant, sociable people. Zina turned out to be our Rigan, a Latvian, as she said, "the daughter of the landlord at 27 Gertrudes Street." And Peter is from Bessarabia, from Chisinau, where his whole family lived: mother, stepfather and two younger sisters - Valya and Katya.

Here it must be said that after the First World War, Bessarabia went to Romania, and thus the entire Leshchenko family mechanically turned into Romanian subjects.

Soon the dance duet was out of work. Zina was pregnant, and Peter, left to some extent without work, began to look for opportunities to use his voice data and therefore came to the directorate of the Riga musical house "Youth and Feyerabend" (these are the names of the directors of the company), which represented the interests of the German gramophone company "Parlofon" and offered his services as a singer...

Subsequently, I think in 1933, the Youth and Feyerabend firm in Riga founded their own recording studio called Bonofon, on which, in 1934, after my first return from abroad, I sang for the first time "Heart", "Ha- cha-cha", "Charaban-apple", and a comic song "Antoshka on the harmonica".

The management took Leshchenko's visit indifferently, saying that they did not know such a singer. After repeated visits by Peter to this company, they agreed that Leshchenko would go to Germany at his own expense and sing ten trial songs at Parlofon, which Peter did. In Germany, the company "Parlofon" released five discs of ten works, three of which - on the words and music of Leshchenko himself: "From Bessarabia to Riga", "Have fun, soul", "Boy".

Our patrons in Riga sometimes arranged parties to which popular artists were invited. On one of these evenings at the “doctor of the ear, throat and nose” Solomir (I don’t remember his name, I just called him “doctor”), where I had repeatedly visited with the composer Oscar Davydovich Strok, we took Petr Leshchenko with us. He came with a guitar...

By the way, at Solomir's office walls were hung with photographs of our opera and concert singers and even guest performers, such as Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Lev Sibiryakov, Dmitry Smirnov, Leonid Sobinov and Fyodor Chaliapin, with touching autographs: "Thank you for saving the concert", "The Miracle Worker who returned my voice in time "... Solomir himself had a pleasant tenor timbre. We always sang duets at such evenings with him. So it was that evening.

Then Oskar Strok called Peter over, agreed on something with him and sat down at the piano, and Petya took the guitar. The first thing he sang (as I remember) was the song "Hey guitar friend". He carried himself boldly, confidently, his voice flowed calmly. Then he sang a couple more romances, for which he was awarded a friendly applause. Petya himself was delighted, went up to O. Strok and kissed him ...

To be honest, I really liked him that evening. There was nothing like when he sang in cinemas. There were huge halls, but here, in a small drawing room, everything was different; and, of course, the great musician Oscar Strok played a huge role. The music enriched the vocals. And one more thing, which I consider one of the main points: for singers, the basis-basics - to sing only on diaphragmatic, deep breathing. If in performances in a dance duet Leshchenko sang on a short breath, agitated after dancing, now one could feel some support of the sound, and hence the characteristic softness of the timbre of the voice ...
At some similar family evening we met again. Everyone liked Peter's singing again. Oskar Strok became interested in Peter and included him in the concert program, with which we went to the city of Liepaja, on the coast of the Baltic Sea. But here again the history of acting in the cinema was repeated. The large hall of the Marine Club, where we performed, did not give Peter the opportunity to show himself.

The same thing happened in Riga, in the cafe "Barberina", where other conditions were unfavorable for the singer, and it was not clear to me why Peter agreed to perform there. I was invited there repeatedly, offered a good fee, but, cherishing my prestige as a singer, I always refused.

In old Riga, on Izmailovskaya street, there was a small cozy cafe called "A.T." What those two letters meant I don't know, probably they were the owner's initials. A small orchestra was playing in the cafe, conducted by the excellent violinist Herbert Schmidt. Sometimes there was a small program, singers performed, and especially often - a brilliant, witty storyteller-entertainer, artist of the Russian Drama Theater, Vsevolod Orlov, brother of the world famous pianist Nikolai Orlov.
Once we were sitting at a table in this cafe: Dr. Solomir, lawyer Elyashev, Oscar Strok, Vsevolod Orlov and our local impresario Isaac Teitlbaum. Someone suggested: "What if Leshchenko performs in this cafe? After all, he could be successful here - the room is small, and the acoustics, apparently, are not bad here."

During the break, when the orchestra paused, Herbert Schmidt came up to our table. Oskar Strok, Elyashev and Solomir started talking to him about something - we, who were sitting at the other end of the table, did not pay attention at first. Then, at the request of Teitlbaum, the cafe manager approached, and it all ended with Solomir and Elyashev "interesting" Herbert Schmidt to work with Leshchenko, and Oscar undertook to help him with the repertoire. Peter, when he found out about this, was very happy. Rehearsals have begun. Oskar Strok and Herbert Schmidt did their job and two weeks later the first performance took place.

Already the first two songs were successful, but when it was announced that "My Last Tango" would be performed, the audience, seeing that the author himself, Oscar Strok, was in the hall, began to applaud, turning to him. Strok went up to the stage, sat down at the piano - this inspired Peter and after the performance of the tango the hall erupted into a storm of applause. In general, the first performance was a triumph. After that, I repeatedly listened to the singer - and everywhere the audience accepted his introductions well.
It was at the end of 1930, which can be considered the year when Petr Leshchenko's singing career began. Zina, Peter's wife, gave birth to a son, who, at the request of his father, was named Igor (although Zina's relatives, Latvians, assumed a different, Latvian name).

In the spring of 1931, I was with the troupe of the Bonzo Theater of Miniatures, directed by the comedian A.N. Werner went abroad. Peter stayed in Riga, performing at the cafe "A.T." At this time, in the same place, in Riga, the owner of the large book publishing house "Gramatu Drauge" Helmars Rudzitis opens the company "Bellacord Electro". In this company, Leshchenko records several records: "My last tango", "Tell me why" and others ...

The directorate really liked the first recordings, the voice turned out to be very phonogenic, and this was the beginning of Petr Leshchenko's career as a recording singer. During his stay in Riga, Peter also sang on "Bellacord" in addition to the songs of O. Strok and the songs of our other, also from Riga, composer Mark Iosifovich Maryanovsky "Tatiana", "Marfush", "Caucasus", "Pancakes" and others. [In 1944, Maryanovsky died in Buchenwald]. The company paid a good fee for singing, i.e. Leshchenko finally got the opportunity to have a good income ...

Approximately in 1932 in Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, in the Russian Family cabaret, owned by Serb Mark Ivanovich Garapich, our Riga dance quartet Four Smaltsevs, which had European fame, performed with great success. The leader of this number, Ivan Smaltsev, heard P. Leshchenko's performance in Riga, in the A.T. cafe, he liked his singing, and therefore he suggested Garapich to engage Peter. The contract was drawn up on brilliant terms for Leshchenko - $ 15 for an evening in two performances (for example, I will say that in Riga you could buy a good suit for fifteen dollars).

But fate again did not smile at Peter. The hall turned out to be narrow, large, and even before his arrival, a singer from Estonia Voskresenskaya, the owner of an extensive, beautiful timbre of a dramatic soprano, performed there. Petya did not justify the hopes of the management, he got lost - and although the contract was concluded with him for a month, but twelve days later (of course, having paid in full according to the contract), they parted with him. I think that Peter drew a conclusion from this.

In 1932 or 33, the company of Gerutsky, Cavura and Leshchenko opened in Bucharest, on Brezolyanu Street, 7 a small cafe-restaurant called "Casuta nostra" ("our house"). The capital was invested by the imposing-looking Gerutsky, who met the guests-visitors, the experienced chef Kavura was in charge of the kitchen, and Petya with a guitar created the mood in the hall. Petya’s stepfather and mother took the visitors’ clothes into the wardrobe (it was at this time that the entire Leshchenko family from Chisinau moved to Bucharest, and their son Igor continued to live and be brought up in Riga, with Zina’s relatives, and therefore the first language he began to speak - Latvian).

At the end of 1933 I arrived in Riga. He sang in the Russian Drama Theater all musical reviews, traveled to neighboring Lithuania and Estonia. Petya repeatedly came to Riga to visit his son. When they went for a walk, I always acted as an interpreter, because Petya did not know the Latvian language. Soon Peter took Igor to Bucharest. Things went well at the Casutsa Nostra, tables were taken, as they said, with a fight, and it became necessary to change the premises. When in the fall of 1936, under a contract, I again arrived in Bucharest, there was already a new, large restaurant on the main street of Calea Victoria (N1), which was called Leshchenko.

In general, Peter was very popular in Bucharest. He was fluent in Romanian and sang in two languages. The restaurant was visited by an exquisite Russian and Romanian society. A wonderful orchestra played. Zina turned the sisters Peter, Valya and Katya, into good dancers, they performed together, but, of course, Peter himself was already the highlight of the program.

Having comprehended all the secrets of singing on records in Riga, Petya agreed with the branch of the American Columbia company in Bucharest and sang many records there ... His voice in those recordings has a wonderful timbre, expressive in performance. After all, this is the truth: the less metal in the timbre of the voice of the performer of intimate songs, the better he will sound on gramophone records (some called Peter a "record singer": Peter did not have voice material corresponding to the scene, while performing intimate songs on gramophone records, tango , foxtrot, etc. I consider him one of the best Russian singers that I have ever heard, when I sang songs in the rhythm of tango, or foxtrot, requiring softness and sincerity of the voice timbre, I always tried, singing records, also to sing with a light sound, completely removing metal from the timbre of the voice, which, on the contrary, is necessary on the big stage).

In 1936 I was in Bucharest. My impresario, S.Ya. Bisker somehow tells me: soon here, in Bucharest, there will be a concert by F.I. Chaliapin, and after the concert, the Bucharest public arranges a banquet in honor of his arrival at the Continental restaurant (where the Romanian virtuoso violinist Grigorash Nicu played).
Chaliapin's concert was arranged by S. Ya. Bisker, and of course a place for the concert and for the banquet was provided for me ...

But soon Peter came to my hotel and said: "I invite you to a banquet in honor of Chaliapin, which will be held in my restaurant!" Indeed, the banquet took place in his restaurant. It turned out that Peter managed to negotiate with Chaliapin's administrator, managed to "interest" him, and the banquet from the "Continental" was transferred to the "Lescenco" restaurant.

I sat fourth from F. I. Chaliapin: Chaliapin, Bisker, critic Zolotorev and myself. I was all the attention, all the time listening to what Chaliapin was saying to those sitting next to him.

Speaking in the program of the evening, Peter was in a good mood, while singing he tried to turn to the table at which Chaliapin was sitting. After Peter's performances, Bisker asked Chaliapin: "What do you think, Fedor (they were on you), Leshchenko sings well?" Chaliapin smiled, looked in the direction of Peter and said: "Yes, stupid songs, he sings well."

Petya at first, when he found out about these words of Chaliapin, was offended, and then I hardly explained to him:

"You can only be proud of such a remark. After all, what you and I sing, various trendy hits, romances and tangos, are really stupid songs compared to the classical repertoire. But you were praised, they said that you sing these songs well. And who said it - Chaliapin himself! This is the biggest compliment from the mouth of a great actor. "

Fedor Ivanovich was in a great mood that evening, he did not skimp on autographs.

In 1932, the Leshchenkos returned from Riga to Chisinau. Leshchenko gives two concerts in the Diocesan Hall, which had exceptional acoustics, the building of which was the most beautiful in the city.

The newspaper wrote: "On January 16 and 17, the famous performer of gypsy songs and romances, Pyotr Leshchenko, who enjoys tremendous success in the capitals of Europe, will perform in the Diocesan Hall." After the performances, the following messages appeared: "Pyotr Leshchenko's concert was an exceptional success. Sincere performance and a successful selection of romances delighted the audience."

Then Leshchenko and Zinaida Zakit perform at the Syuzanna restaurant, after which they again travel to different cities and countries.

In 1933 Leshchenko is in Austria. In Vienna, at the company "Columbia" he recorded on records. Unfortunately, this best and largest company in the world (whose branches were in almost all countries) recorded far from all the works that Petr Leshchenko performed: the owners of the companies in those years needed works in rhythms that were fashionable at that time: tango, foxtrot and they paid for them several times more than for romances or folk songs.

Thanks to the records released in millions of copies, Leshchenko is gaining extraordinary popularity, the most famous composers of that time willingly work with Peter: Boris Fomin, Oscar Strok, Mark Maryanovsky, Claude Romano, Efim Sklyarov, Hera Vilnov, Sasha Vladi, Arthur Gold, Ernst Nonigsberg and others. He was accompanied by the best European orchestras: the Genigsberg brothers, the Albin brothers, Herbert Schmidt, Nikolai Chereshnya (who toured Moscow and other cities of the USSR in 1962), Frank Fox's Columbia, and Bellacord-Electro. About half of the works of Petr Leshchenko's repertoire belong to him and almost all of them to his musical arrangement.

It is interesting that if Leshchenko experienced difficulties when his voice “disappeared” in large halls, then his voice was recorded perfectly on the records (Chaliapin even once called Leshchenko a “record singer”), while such stage masters as Chaliapin and Morfessi, who sang freely in large theater and concert halls, were always dissatisfied with their records, according to K. Sokolsky, which transmitted only a fraction of their voices ...

In 1935 Leshchenko came to England, performed in restaurants, he was invited to the radio. In 1938 Leshchenko with Zinaida in Riga. An evening was held in the Kemeri Kurhaus, at which Leshchenko, with the orchestra of the famous violinist and conductor Herbert Schmidt, gave his last concert in Latvia.

And in 1940 there were last concerts in Paris: and in 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Romania occupied Odessa. Leshchenko receives a call to the regiment to which he is assigned. He refuses to go to war against his people, he is judged by an officer's court, but he, as a popular singer, is released. In May 1942 he performed at the Odessa Russian Drama Theatre. At the request of the Romanian command, all concerts had to begin with a song in Romanian. And only then the famous "My Marusichka", "Two Guitars", "Tatiana" sounded. The concerts ended with "Chubchik".

Vera Georgievna Belousova (Leshchenko) says: “I lived then in Odessa. I graduated from a music school, I was then 19 years old. I performed in concerts, played the accordion, sang ... Somehow I see a poster: “The famous, inimitable Russian performer is performing and gypsy songs Petr Leshchenko." And at the rehearsal of one of the concerts (where I was supposed to perform), a man of short stature comes up to me, introduces himself: Petr Leshchenko, invites me to his concert.

I sit in the hall, listen, and he looks at me and sings:

You are nineteen years old, you have your own way.
You can laugh and joke.
And I have no return, I've been through so much...

So we met and soon got married. We arrived in Bucharest, Zinaida agreed to a divorce only when Peter left a restaurant and an apartment for her ...
We settled with his mother. In August 1944 Russian troops entered the city. Leshchenko began to offer his performances. The first concerts were received very coldly, Peter was very worried, it turned out that an order was given: "Leshchenko should not be applauded." Only when he gave a concert in front of the commanding staff, everything immediately changed. We both began to perform in hospitals, in units, in halls. The command gave us an apartment...

So ten years flew by like one day. Peter kept trying to get permission to return to his homeland, and one day he received this permission. He gives the last concert - the first part passed with triumph, the second begins ... but he does not come out. I went into the dressing room: there was a suit, a guitar, two people in civilian clothes approached me and said that Pyotr Konstantinovich was taken away for a conversation, "clarifications are needed."

Nine months later, they gave me a meeting address and a list of things I needed. I arrived there. They measured six meters from the barbed wire, ordered not to approach. They brought Peter: neither speak nor touch. Parting, he folded his hands, raised them to the sky and said: "God knows, I have no guilt before anyone."
Soon I was also arrested, "for treason", for marrying a foreign citizen. Brought to Dnepropetrovsk. Sentenced to death, then replaced with twenty-five years - sent to a camp. Released in 1954. I learned that Peter Konstantinovich was no longer among the living.

I began to perform, to travel around the country. In Moscow, she met with Kolya Chereshnya (he was a violinist in the Leshchenko orchestra). Kolya said that in 1954 Leshchenko died in prison, allegedly poisoned by canned food. They also say that they imprisoned him because, having gathered his friends for a farewell dinner, he raised his glass and said: “Friends! I am happy that I am returning to my homeland! My dream has come true. I am leaving, but my heart remains with you. "

The last words are ruined. In March 1951, Leshchenko was arrested ... The voice of "the favorite of the European public, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko," ceased to sound.

Vera Georgievna Leshchenko performed on many stages of the country as a singer, as an accordionist and pianist, she sang in Moscow, in the Hermitage. In the mid-eighties she went on a well-deserved rest, just before our meeting (in October 1985) she returned with her husband, pianist Eduard Vilgelmovich, to Moscow from the city where her best years had passed - from the beautiful Odessa. Our meetings took place in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere...

Pyotr Leshchenko's sister, Valentna, once saw her brother when the convoy was leading him down the street to dig ditches. Peter also saw his sister and cried... Valentina still lives in Bucharest.

Another sister, Catherine, lives in Italy. The son, Igor, was a magnificent choreographer of the Bucharest theater, died at the age of forty-seven...

Yuri Sosudin

(1898-1954) Russian singer

For many years, the name of Peter Konstantinovich Leshchenko remained banned, which, however, did not affect the popularity of his songs. Sometimes it came to incidents. For example, Leshchenko's foxtrot "Andryusha" performed by K. Shulzhenko became an undoubted hit of the late thirties. Newspapers wrote that this song was "suitable for educating Soviet youth," and at the same time, official propaganda called the singer himself nothing more than a "bourgeois belch."

Petr Leshchenko was born in the small village of Isaevo on the very border of Russia and Bessarabia. When Peter was three years old, his father died unexpectedly, and his mother had to move to Chisinau. There she soon remarried A. Alfimov, who became a real father for Peter.

The stepfather was the first to notice the boy's musical talent and gave him initial music lessons. A little later, again at the initiative of Alfimov, Leshchenko was accepted into the choir of the Chisinau Orthodox Church. In 1905, a seven-year-old boy was already earning money on his own, receiving bread for speaking to soldiers.

For several years, Petr Leshchenko studied at the Chisinau Seminary, where there was an excellent choir. In the late 1910s, to help his family, he began performing in the Orpheum illusion: he danced the lezginka between sessions and threw daggers at the target. True, he did not dare to sing on his own at that time.

In July 1914, when the First World War began, Petr Leshchenko was drafted into the army and sent to ensign school. After a short study, he ended up at the front, but less than a month later he was wounded and ended up in the hospital. There Leshchenko met the October Revolution and, unexpectedly for himself, turned out to be an emigrant, since Romanian troops captured Bessarbia.

In search of work, he moved with his parents and two younger sisters to Bucharest, where the family bought a small restaurant. Everyone had to work: Leshchenko performed with separate dance numbers and in a duet with his mother, who sang well. Feeling that he lacks skill, he begins to intensively engage in vocals and choreography.

In the mid-twenties, on the advice of his stepfather, he went to Paris, where he performed in Russian restaurants, and also played in the Guslyar balalaika orchestra.

At the beginning of 1926, Petr Leshchenko met the dancer 3. Zakis, who at that time had just graduated from ballet school. Soon they got married and went on a tour of Europe as a duet "Petrushka and Rositta". Now Leshchenko not only dances, but also sings, and when he realized that the public liked his singing, he left dancing and began to perform popular songs.

In the summer of 1928, together with his wife, they come to Romania and begin performing at the famous Bucharest restaurant "Visoy". Here they spent two years, and then went to Latvia to Zakis' parents.

In Riga, Leshchenko performs at the Dailes Theatre, at the Palladium cinema and at a cafe owned by his father-in-law. There he was heard by the famous violinist G. Schmidt and introduced him to the composer Oskar Strok. The acquaintance soon turned into a close friendship, and over time, Strok became the permanent author of all the songs of Pyotr Leshchenko.

In addition, Strok helped him conclude a contract with the Junger and Fayerabend company, which represented the well-known German gramophone company Parlofon in Latvia. After listening, the company's management suggested that Leshchenko go to Germany to record songs on records.

Leaving his wife in Riga with his newly born son, Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko went to Berlin, where he recorded several songs, which were soon released on record. After that, fame came to him, but he continued to perform in cinemas and small restaurants, because he did not have the strong voice necessary for performances in large halls.

The singer's popularity continued to grow, Leshchenko was invited to record records in the studios of the most famous companies - Columbia, Electrocord. Usually the singer spent the winter in Bucharest, and for the summer months he came to Riga, where he performed in restaurants located on the seaside. There, in 1933, he was heard by two English entrepreneurs, who invited the singer to London. The concert of Pyotr Leshchenko was such a success that he soon repeated it on the BBC, where the disc was also recorded. It is curious that among those who enthusiastically spoke about Leshchenko's speech was the Russian prince Felix Yusupov.

A year later, the singer received a new invitation to England. He performed in the most prestigious restaurants of the capital: Trocadero, Savoy, Palladium. Recordings of his songs were sold throughout Europe. Sometimes they ended up in Russia. The songs of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko on the melody of O. The line “Tell me why”, “Let's say goodbye”, “Don't go away” were included in the repertoire of the leading Russian pop artists - V. Kozin, L. Utesov, I. Yuryeva. One of the reviews stated that these songs reflect the mood of the "Soviet youth aspiring to the future."

At the same time, Leshchenko himself did not cease to be branded and criticized in the official Soviet press. And the name of one of his songs "Black Eyes" was even used as the title of one of the headings in the satirical magazine "Crocodile" as a symbol of bourgeois culture.

Although Petr Leshchenko did not have a large vocal range, he attracted attention with his emotionality, immediacy of feelings, and the ability to present even a primitive text. Together with A. Vertinsky, he can be considered the founder of the song theater on the national stage.

It is significant that at the end of the thirties, when it was officially forbidden to perform in Russian in Romania, Leshchenko continued to sing only in Russian. In Belgrade, he recorded a program of Soviet songs on a disc, which opened with the song "Broad is my native country" to the music of Dunayevsky.

The singer's repertoire was varied: he performed Russian and Ukrainian melodies, inserted novelties of the Soviet stage, in particular, works by the Pokrass brothers.

In the late thirties, Petr Leshchenko opened his own restaurant in Bucharest. An orchestra begins to perform there under the direction of the composer J. Ypsilanti, whose wife, A. Bayanova, sang along with Leshchenko. Interestingly, during the singer's performances, visitors were strictly forbidden to eat and drink.

It seemed that in the life of the artist, the time had finally come for quiet work. But with the outbreak of World War II, everything changed. When Romania declared war on the USSR, Petr Leshchenko was drafted into the army, but he refused to fight against his people. The authorities were afraid to bring him to justice and preferred to leave him alone. As soon as the Romanian troops occupied Odessa, Leshchenko began to seek permission to come to the city with concerts.

In the spring of 1942, the German authorities allowed Leshchenko's concert in the hall of the Russian Drama Theater. The singer performed accompanied by the Odessa Opera Orchestra. This day was truly triumphant in his career. At the request of the public, Petr Leshchenko had to repeat the concert the next day, and then several more times.

In Odessa, he met V. Belousova, who became his accompanist for the duration of the concerts. Soon Leshchenko took her to Bucharest, divorced his first wife and married Belousova.

During the war, he often came to Odessa and performed in a variety of halls: the stock exchange building, restaurants, and private homes. Immediately after the Soviet troops entered the city, he offered his services to the new authorities.

His proposal was accepted, and Petr Leshchenko again began to give concerts. Moreover, the singer began efforts to return to the USSR. But in March 1951, he was suddenly arrested on charges of collaborating with the Nazis and placed in a prisoner of war camp near the Romanian city of Brasov.

Only nine months later, Leshchenko's wife was able to get a date. Belousova tried to help her husband, but soon she herself was arrested and sent to the USSR. In 1954, Belousova was released and allowed to return to Moscow. There she learned that Leshchenko died in the camp.

Only in 1990, the first disc with the recordings of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko was released in the USSR, and in 1998 a memorial plate was laid on the "star alley".