Pyotr Leshchenko where he is buried. Leshchenko, Pyotr Konstantinovich: biography. From the church choir to the war

But before the meeting with him, which so changed the fate of Leshchenko, it was still so far away! At first, Petr Leshchenko performs with his wife in cafes and cinemas, and, more likely, as a partner for Zakis in dancing. While his wife is changing clothes for the new number, he sings to the audience with a guitar, sings, like all dancers, "in a short breath." The voice is weak, the rooms are large and often with poor acoustics, the audience is inattentive - everyone understands that this singing is so simple while the dancer changes her stage appearance.
Much later Leshchenko's reputation as a "record singer" was established, which was really revealed in the studio. Or it needed some kind of intimate atmosphere and an attentive audience.
In the end, Leshchenko was lucky. He was invited to sing at the house of the famous doctor Solomir. The famous otolaryngologist saved many singers for the stage; among his grateful patients were Sobinov and Chaliapin. In Solomir's cozy living room, Leshchenko made his debut as a singer in front of a select audience. Among his listeners was the famous Oscar Borisovich Strok.
A fruitful collaboration between the singer and the composer began.
In 1932, two Englishmen were captivated by Leshchenko's singing, and he recorded his songs in London.

Prosperity

In a short period of time, Petr Leshchenko sang more than sixty records. And he returned to Bucharest in 1933 with his wife, son and considerable fortune.
In the fall of 1936, the Leshchenko restaurant opened on the main street of Bucharest, decorated with a truly Russian scale. It was in the full sense of the word a family business: Peter sang and was in charge of the general management of the business, Katya and Valya danced, and mother and stepfather were in charge of the wardrobe. Among the artistic forces that Leshchenko attracted to performances in his restaurant was the young Alla Bayanova.
The main concert program - a performance by Leshchenko himself - began at midnight. Champagne flowed like a river, all the nobility of Bucharest danced to his singing and had fun in the restaurant until six in the morning. True, there is information that during the performances of Peter Konstantinovich himself, they not only did not dance, but even stopped drinking and chewing.
Petr Leshchenko was the star of bohemia and light of the Romanian capital. More than once an armored car took him to the villa to King Karol, a great admirer of his talent.
Not only in the palace of the Romanian monarch, but also in the houses of ordinary Soviet citizens, they endlessly "chased" the cheerful and languid songs and tangos of Leshchenko. But few of our citizens were privy to the fact that not the voice of Leshchenko himself sounds from the records (his records were confiscated by the Soviet customs), but the voice of the singer Nikolai Markov, the soloist of the Jazz Tabachnikov ensemble. The famous composer Boris Fomin also worked in this collective at one time. The income of the creators of this counterfeit product was measured by suitcases of money!
However, the recognition of the Romanian king and the Soviet people did not at all make Leshchenko a "serious" singer in the eyes of aesthetes. A. Vertinsky called him a "restaurant singer" and treated Leshchenko's work extremely dismissively.
And is Vertinsky alone? Once Fedor Ivanovich Chaliapin himself dropped in to Leshchenko's restaurant in Bucharest. The owner sang all night for the eminent guest, and then asked how he found his singing. "Yes, you sing silly songs well!" - Chaliapin replied imposingly.
Leshchenko was terribly offended at first. But his friends assured him that the great singer had praised him: the songs were often really stupid

"Sleep, my poor heart ..."

More and more often German officers became guests of the restaurant. They behaved themselves very correctly, they applauded the singer with pleasure. It is unlikely that Pyotr Leshchenko, who was far from politics, immediately saw in the rapprochement of Romania and Nazi Germany a threat to himself personally. More than once, the singer ignored the summons that ordered him to appear for military training.
In 1941, Romania, together with Germany, entered the war with the USSR. The question of calling Leshchenko into the Romanian army has not been raised yet, but it was about giving a series of concerts in the occupied Soviet territory. Pyotr Konstantinovich agreed, not guessing what this would be fraught with for him both in the very near and in the more distant future.
In May 1942 he gave several concerts in occupied Odessa. The concerts had to start with a repertoire in Romanian, because Petr Leshchenko was a subject of the Romanian king. But then came the turn of the Russian repertoire, and then the audience burst into applause. For several hours, the listeners forgot both about the war and about the occupation.
At one of the concerts, he saw a dazzlingly beautiful girl in the front row. After the concert, they got to talking. The girl's name was Vera Belousova, she studied at the Odessa Conservatory.
Their romance developed rapidly. It seemed that between him and her there was no age gap in a quarter of a century!

The life path of the Soviet singer and dancer Pyotr Leshchenko turned out to be bright, eventful, but not too long. Avaricious fate measured him only 56 years, a significant part of which fell on both world wars and 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 Targu-Okna. Fans of Pyotr Leshchenko's creativity would hardly recognize in this beaten, exhausted by torture and hunger man their idol, whom Europe applauded for the unique performance of the songs "Black Eyes", "My Marusechka", "Curly Chubchik" and others.

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

Whether from Odessa, or a Moldovan

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

He did it out of annoyance with the priest, who did not give out to the guilty Petya another meager "salary" 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 church. For a daring trick, Leshchenko is kicked out of 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 lessons of playing the guitar - and gypsy romances will firmly enter the life and work of the famous chansonnier. He performed them in a special virtuoso, passionate and inspirational way.

A dancer is no worse than a singer

Participation in the First World War cost the 19-year-old ensign Leshchenko a serious injury. The long recovery in the Chisinau hospital ended after the October Revolution, so Peter returned home as a citizen of Romania.

He earned his living in different ways. He was a turner, sang in the church and the cemetery choir, and was a soloist 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 Vera Trefilova's ballet school. Here he met his first wife, Zinaida Zakitt. Their dancing couple performed with success in restaurants in Europe and the Middle East until Zina became pregnant. The only son will be named Igor, but that will be later. Now Peter needs to decide what to do next. And he decides to sing again.

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. Shlyagers in Russian, Romanian, English and French. Huge circulation of records. It was an overwhelming success and rapid wealth.

At his own expense, the "king of romances" opened his own restaurant "U Leshchenko", where he performed and where, without regret, he invested a lot of money. Even the Romanian royal couple admires the singing of the "sweet-voiced nightingale", but in the USSR they know little about him. Newspapers don't write about a successful emigrant, and after World War II, the popularization of his work will become a criminal offense.

Despite this, already at the end of the 1930s, the performer's romances were secretly listened to in many Soviet apartments. Leshchenko dreamed of going home, and in 1942 he went on tour to Odessa occupied by the Nazis. There he will meet his last love and second wife Vera Belousova, a conservatory student 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 occupiers 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 to return to the USSR will only aggravate the situation of Peter Konstantinovich and ensure close attention to his person. The thought of visiting the Soviet Union turns into a fix 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.

The popular singer has been taken to different prisons for 3 years, from where he never returns. Not underground, but official records with songs by 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.

Many even today, more than half a century after the death of the great artist, are interested in the biography of Pyotr Leshchenko. This man left his mark on the hearts of many people of the former USSR. The biography of Peter Leshchenko is known to the older generation. However, young people are usually unfamiliar with this artist. We invite you to learn about his life and work by reading this article.

Parents of the future artist

Peter Konstantinovich was born in 1898, on July 3. Petr Leshchenko's small homeland is the village of Isaevo, located near Odessa. Maria Konstantinovna, the boy's mother, was an illiterate poor peasant woman. The father, who died when the future artist was only 3 years old, was replaced by Aleksey Vasilyevich Alfimov, who became Peter's stepfather. He was a kind, simple person who knew how and loved to play the guitar and harmonica.

Childhood

When the boy was 9 months old, he moved with his mother and her parents to a new place of residence - to Chisinau. Peter was brought up at home until 1906, and then, as he had an ability in music and dancing, he was taken to the soldier's church choir. Kogan, his regent, then assigned the boy to the 7th parish public school of the city of Chisinau. Berezovsky at the same time appointed him to the bishop's choir (Berezovsky was his choir director). So by 1915, Peter received a musical and general education. Due to the change in voice this year he could not participate in the choir and was left without funds. And Peter decided to go to the front. He got a job in the 7th Don Cossack regiment as a volunteer and served in it until November 1916. The biography of Peter Leshchenko continued with the fact that he was sent to Kiev, to the infantry school of warrant officers, which he graduated in March 1917.

Peter goes to the army and is wounded

Romania, which fought for the Entente, began to suffer defeat. To help her army, among the mobilized, Peter went ahead of schedule to the front line. Leshchenko was hospitalized after being seriously wounded. Here he met the October Revolution. The political situation in Romania has now changed: the country has unilaterally resolved a long-standing territorial dispute by annexing new lands. In 1918 (January), she occupied Bessarabia, which had previously belonged to Russia.

The first years after the revolution

Thus, Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko turns out to be an emigrant, unexpectedly for himself. He works as a singer, carpenter, dishwasher, and moonlights in cafes and cinemas. In 1918-19, for example, Leshchenko performed as an artist between screenings at the Suzanna and Orpheum cinemas.

After leaving the hospital, Peter lived for some time with his relatives. Until 1919, Leshchenko worked as a turner for a private trader, after which he served as a psalmist in the church built at the Olginsky orphanage, and was also a subregent of the church choir in the cemetery and Chuflinsky churches. At the same time, he participated in a vocal quartet, and also sang at the Chisinau Opera. As part of a dance group called "Elizarov" (Antonina Kanziger, Tovbis and Danila Zeltser) from the fall of 1919, Peter performed for 4 months at the "Alagambra" theater in Bucharest. Then he wanted to feel more confident in the dance, as he felt the lack of his professional training. Peter decided to enter the Trefilova ballet school in Paris. This school was among the best in France. In 1923 Leshchenko left for Paris.

Meeting with Zinaida Zakis

Leshchenko met in the capital of France with the charming Zinaida Zakis, a 19-year-old dancer. She came with a choreographic ensemble from Riga to this city. They got married 2 years later. After that, several joint song and dance numbers were prepared by Zinaida and Petr Leshchenko. His wife was a wonderful classical ballerina. She also performed solo numbers.

Tours abroad and the beginning of a solo career

In the summer of 1926, the duo of the couple toured the countries of the Middle East and Europe and gained fame. Peter and Zinaida arrived in Chisinau in 1928, where Leshchenko introduced his wife to her stepfather, mother and sisters.

After Zinaida became pregnant, she had to temporarily leave the stage, and Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko began to perform independently with concert programs. In 1931, in January, Peter had a son, Igor Leshchenko. Petr Konstantinovich began his solo career at the age of 32 - far from a young age. Nevertheless, overwhelming success awaited him. Posters all over Chisinau soon filled with posters announcing the concerts of this artist. And flowers, confessions, applause poured from all sides.

Collaboration with renowned composers

The singer became friends with Oskar Strok, a renowned composer who was the creator of the most popular foxtrots, romances, tangos and songs. It was he who managed to combine the intonations of the Argentine tango with the sincerity and melody of the Russian romance. The best works of this famous composer were performed and recorded by Leshchenko: "Blue Rhapsody", "Black Eyes", "Tell Why" and other romances and tango maestro. He also worked with other composers, for example, with Mark Maryanovsky, who was the author of "Nastya Berry", "Miranda" and "Tatiana".

Moving to Bucharest and opening of "Our House"

Leshchenko in the first half of the 30s moved to Bucharest for permanent residence. Here he sang for a while in a cafe called Galeries Lafayette.

Then Leshchenko, Kavura and Gerutsky opened a small restaurant in Bucharest in 1933 and named it "Our House". Gerutsky invested and welcomed the guests. Kavura, an experienced chef, ran the kitchen, and Leshchenko created the mood in the establishment by playing the guitar. Leshchenko's mother and stepfather received the visitors' wardrobe. Things went well in Our House: there was no shortage of visitors, due to their large number, we even had to think about changing the premises.

Restaurant "Leshchenko"

So on Victoria Street, the main street of Bucharest, in the fall of 1936 a new restaurant called "Leshchenko" was opened. Since Peter Konstantinovich was very popular in the city, this place was visited by exquisite Romanian and Russian society. A magnificent orchestra played for the guests. Zinaida made good dancers out of Peter's sisters - Katya and Vali. All performed together, but Leshchenko was the highlight of the program. Alla Bayanova, who later became a famous singer, also began her career in the restaurant.

Growing popularity

Petr Leshchenko, whose life story interests us, in 1935-40 collaborated with such record companies as Columbia and Bellacord. During this period, he released over 100 songs, different in genre. The songs of this singer sounded on the radio, in restaurants, and at parties. Leshchenko's records even made it to the USSR. There were especially many of them in the black markets and bazaars of the Baltic States and Bessarabia, which were included in the Soviet Union in 1940. However, they did not sound on Soviet radio. Leshchenko was still an emigrant.

Petr Leshchenko's life in Romania

Peter Konstantinovich was very respected, living among the Romanians, although he did not feel much love for them. Leshchenko often admired the musicality of this people. Peter did not smoke, but he loved to drink. His weakness was good wines and champagne, which were extremely abundant at that time in Romania. Often the singer and owner of the most fashionable restaurant in Bucharest was greeted a little drunk, which was almost imperceptible in the atmosphere of the restaurant frenzy. Peter enjoyed great success with women and was not indifferent to them. One interesting fact speaks about the popularity of Leshchenko at this time. The father of Mihai, the leader of the ruling dynasty in Romania, King Charles often brought him to his country mansion in an armored car. He liked the romances of Peter Leshchenko.

Occupation of Odessa and a visit to this city Leshchenko

In 1940, the last concerts of this artist took place in Paris. In 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Romania occupied Odessa. Peter Leshchenko was summoned to the regiment, but he refused to fight against his people. Then he was tried by an official court, but Leshchenko was released as a popular singer.

Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In May 1942, the singer Pyotr Leshchenko arrived in Odessa. He arrived in this city, occupied by the Romanian troops, on May 19 and stayed at the local hotel "Bristol". On June 5, 7 and 9, Peter held recitals at the Russian Drama Theater. The real excitement began in the city: from the early morning queues for tickets were lined up. All concerts, at the request of the Romanian command, had to begin with a song sung in Romanian. And only then the famous "Two Guitars", "My Marusichka", "Tatiana" sounded. The concerts ended with "Chubchik".

Acquaintance with Vera Belousova

At the same time, Leshchenko first met Vera Belousova, who later became the singer's wife. A slender beautiful girl with an accordion won the heart of Peter. They soon began performing together.

Service in Crimea and registration of a new marriage

Peter Konstantinovich was drafted into the army in October 1943. He worked in the Crimea as the head of an officer's canteen and returned to Romania with the approach of Soviet troops.

Peter Konstantinovich in May 1944 officially divorced his wife Zinaida Zakis and registered a relationship with Vera Belousova. He gave concerts after the arrival of the Red Army, playing in hospitals, officers' clubs, military garrisons. Also, Petr Leshchenko sang patriotic songs dedicated to Russian girls, which he composed himself - "Nadya-Nadechka", "Natasha", sang the song "Dark Night" by Bogoslovsky, as well as popular Russian songs at that time. His new wife performed with him.

Repertoire change

Since the summer of 1948, the couple performed in various cinemas and cafes in Bucharest. Then they found work at the Variety Theater, just created. At this time Leshchenko was already more than 50 years old. His repertoire has also changed with age. The songs performed by Pyotr Leshchenko have become more sentimental. Tempo hits such as "Nastenka" and "My Marusichka" gradually disappeared from the programs, a taste for romances and lyrics, colored with sadness and longing, appeared. Even in the plate recordings made in 1944-45, a gloomy tone dominates: "Bell", "Tramp", "Don't go away", "Evening bells", "Mother's heart", etc.

Arrest and death in prison

At the beginning of 1951, Leshchenko began another petition for his return to his homeland, to the USSR. He was arrested in March by the Romanian security forces for being an officer in the army, in which the future Soviet order bearer was the commander-in-chief. By this time, Romania had turned from an "anti-people monarchy" into a People's Republic. Leshchenko, a Russian singer, died in 1954 in a prison hospital in Bucharest, either from poisoning or from a stomach ulcer. This is the end of the biography of Pyotr Leshchenko, but his memory is still alive.

The fate of Peter's relatives

Belousova Vera Georgievna was arrested a year later. She received 25 years for treason to the Motherland. The Supreme Court of the USSR in June 1954 ruled to release the former Komsomol member in the absence of corpus delicti. It is known that Belousova in 1941 sang to the defenders of Odessa. Vera Georgievna is a native of Odessa. During the defense of this city, she went to the front with concerts and was even wounded during the next trip. Now Vera Georgievna is completely rehabilitated. Leshchenko Vera Georgievna performed as a singer, pianist and accordionist on many stages of the country, sang in the "Hermitage" in Moscow. In the mid-80s, she went on a well-deserved retirement. Vera Georgievna died in 2009 in Moscow.

Valentina, Peter's sister, once saw her brother when he was led down the street by a convoy to dig ditches. Pyotr Leshchenko noticed his sister and cried.

The children of this singer and their fate are also of interest to many. Therefore, one cannot fail to mention that his son Igor was an excellent choreographer who worked at the Bucharest Theater. He died at the age of 47.

The biography of Petr Leshchenko, one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, known today, consists of scattered facts that are often not documented. During the singer's life, no one thought about how important it is to record the facts and details of his biography, moreover, there was no time to do this, and there was no one to do it.

Little is known for certain. In the village of Isaevo, not far from Odessa, a boy was born into a poor peasant family in 1898. And three years later, his father died. The mother got married again and moved the children to Chisinau. Petya was lucky with his stepfather, Alexey Vasilyevich knew how to play musical instruments and instilled a love for this occupation in his stepson.

In Chisinau, Petr Leshchenko sang in the church chapel and helped (as much as he could) his parents. With the outbreak of the war, he enrolled in the school of ensigns and soon became an officer in the Russian army. Then participation in military events, injury, hospital. Still not fully recovered, the future artist learned that now he is a subject of the Romanian crown. The fact is that Romania treacherously annexed the territory of Bessarabia to its lands, although it was a Russian ally.

The former front-line officer was forced to earn a living by all means available to him. However, he perceived the career of a carpenter or dishwasher as a forced occupation. The young man dreamed of singing from the stage. Performances in cinemas "Susanna" and "Orpheum" are the first steps towards his goal. Almost two years of this stage practice contributed to the professional development and the emergence of faith in future success.

The biography of Peter Leshchenko is associated not only with Chisinau, but also with Riga, Paris and Odessa. At the age of twenty-five, the young artist strove to improve his professional skills. He wanted to study, and therefore left for this to the Eternal City, where there was a famous ballet school, in which mainly Russian emigrant dancers taught. Here Peter met the Latvian Zinaida Zakis, who, despite her young age (she was 19 years old), had already achieved success in They perform together, go on tour, performing joint choreographic numbers, sometimes Leshchenko sings. Professional cooperation could not but develop into a closer relationship, they got married.

In 1930, the biography of Pyotr Leshchenko makes a sharp turn. If until now he was a dancer and partner of his wife, now he is becoming a professional singer. He is 32 years old, he has a not very strong, but pleasant voice, but this is not so important. He is popular, his vocals are wonderful for recording, and his repertoire deserves special attention. Leshchenko succeeded in something that no one had been able to do before him. He combined two of the most beloved genres by the public: romance and tango. The result exceeded all expectations.

In the pre-war years, the biography of the singer Pyotr Leshchenko is fully illustrated by the gramophone recordings he made at Columbia and Bellacord. He works closely with these companies, records are sold in millions of copies everywhere: from Buenos Aires to Tokyo. There is no time for everything that does not concern music.

Leshchenko was not interested in politics. In 1942, having arrived in Odessa, occupied by the Romanians, he gives concerts at the Russian Theater, and then opens his cabaret in Teatralny Lane. The biography of Peter Leshchenko is associated with the sunny Black Sea city, not only in connection with creativity, but also personally. It is to Odessa that he owes a new deep feeling that has gripped a far from young artist. He met Vera Belousova, who became the main love of his life. But his wife Zinaida did not want to give in, she wrote a letter (in fact, a denunciation) to the military command, in which she reminded that her husband was a Romanian citizen, and besides, he was liable for military service. The world famous singer is dressed in a bright green overcoat, an angular Romanian army cap and sent to the Crimea, where he is entrusted with the management of the officer's canteen and the organization of soldiers' leisure. This harsh measure turned out to be ineffective, in 1944 the couple divorced.

After Romania's surrender, Leshchenko performed for eight years in front of a wide variety of audiences. He was very fond of singing for the Soviet military, these concerts were held with great success. And in 1952, an employee of the Romanian counterintelligence, already communist, printed on the cover of a cardboard folder in Latin letters the name known to the whole world: "Petr Leshchenko". The artist's biography was replenished with another event: he was arrested.

The singer died in 1954. The circumstances of his death are unknown. Was he beaten? Apparently not. Leshchenko, most likely, was tortured by overwork and poor nutrition. He ended up in a dungeon, probably at the request of the "Soviet comrades." What was he accused of? This also remained unclear. But gramophone records with the recording of his voice have survived, which still gives inexplicable pleasure to lovers and connoisseurs of popular music.