September 18th was the birthday of Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov. In this regard, the news agency “Sputnik News International” (the part of “Russia Today”) published an article on its website today in which Mikhail, the youngest son of Leonid Kharitonov, answer the agency’s questions and tell them about his father’s legacy on the day of his memory. We hope that you’ll enjoy it!
The article was written by Demond Cureton, a journalist for Sputnik News UK –
“Leonid Kharitonov, Famed Soloist To Alexandrov Ensemble, An Unheralded Gem Of Russian Culture – Son”
“The Red Army Choir #2 – Concert tour to France: Mireille Mathieu and Felix Yusupov, 1967” – is the next episode from the “Talking with my father” series (with English Subtitles). A Russian famous singer Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov will talk about the times when he used to work in the Red Army Choir (The Alexandrov Ensemble) in 60-s. He will tell about his meeting with Russian Prince Felix Yusupov in Paris (France) during their concert tour. The Prince Felix Yusupov was also known as the killer of Gregory Rasputin.
“The Red Army Choir #1 – Paul Robeson, Fidel Castro and a concert tour to Cuba, 1961” – is the next episode from the “Talking with my father” series (with English Subtitles). A Russian famous singer Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov will talk about the times when he used to work in the Red Army Choir (The Alexandrov Ensemble) in early 60-s. He will tell about the historic Ensemble’s octet performance together with Paul Robeson and Arthur Eizen for the leader of the Soviet Union (USSR) Nikita Khruschev. They performed “The Song About Motherland” then.
The 3d episode (with English subtitles) is dedicated to the one of the most famous Soviet composers – Matvey Blanter. Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov will talk about his creative collaboration with this composer and will tell about the history of the Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl song and its premier with the Alexandrov Red Army Choir in the Albert Hall in London on the March of 1967.
“Soviet composers #2 – Ostrovsky, Tulikov, Ekimyan” – is the second episode of the series (with English subtitles) and is dedicated to another three famous Soviet composers. Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov will talk about his creative collaboration with the composers of Soviet patriotic songs – Arkady Ostrovsky, Serafim Tulikov (such songs as “Motherland”, “Son of Russia”, “The Veterans Do Not Grow Old in Their Souls”) and Alexey Ekimyan (such songs as “Soviet country”, “Grey Hair”).
“Soviet composers #1 – Anatoly Novikov and Vano Muradeli” – This episode (with English subtitles) is dedicated to some famous Soviet composers. Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov will talk about his creative collaboration with the composers of Soviet patriotic songs – Anatoly Novikov (such songs as “Vasya-Vasilek”, “John Reed walks along Petrograd”, “The Ballad About Russian Boys”) and Vano Muradeli (such songs as “The War Is Not Over Yet”, “The Alarm Bells of Buchenwald”).
This video represents an interview of Leonid Kharitonov (the famous Russian opera singer) for the BBC Radio 3 channel. This conversation took place in December 2011 via international telephone connection.
Leonid Kharitonov told about his first experience of the Cliff song solo performance with the Alexandrov Red Army Choir at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses in Moscow in 1965.
This private footage was made personally by the Russian singer Leonid Kharitonov during his tour with some Soviet performers to Canada. The video shows how the artist saw this country in the far 1978 year.
Leonid Kharitonov gives an interview in a TV show entitled “Secrets of the Kremlin Concerts” (March 5, 2014.) He tells about his first solo performance in 1965, which he gave at a concert for Leonid Brezhnev and the Soviet leadership on the occasion of Lenin’s 95th anniversary. We’ve added English subtitles to the video.
It might seem a kitsch throwback to the days when music was an essential weapon in the Soviet armoury, but the Red Army Choir still sets the benchmark for military music-making some 80 odd years since it was founded. Now known as the Alexandrov Ensemble, the company of singers, players and dancers still tours the world as a cultural envoy of the Russian state. Aled Jones uncovers the history of the group, from its first glory years when it performed a vital role in promoting culture amongst the members of the Soviet military. He follows it through the Second World War when it gave an astounding 1500 concerts to motivate the troups, and then the post-war years when it had to re-invent itself as a vehicle for national pride across the world despite political resistance to its concerts in the West.
September 18th was the birthday of Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov. In this regard, the news agency “Sputnik News International” (the part of “Russia Today”) published an article on its website today in which Mikhail, the youngest son of Leonid Kharitonov, answer the agency’s questions and tell them about his father’s legacy on the day of his memory. We hope that you’ll enjoy it!
This video represents an interview of Leonid Kharitonov (the famous Russian opera singer) for the BBC Radio 3 channel. This conversation took place in December 2011 via international telephone connection.
