Archive for the 'News' Category

Dear fans and friends! Peace, health, prosperity and happiness to all of you in 2012! I thank you with all my soul for your love and support.

This 1987 performance of “Kiss Me, My Darling” is from the television show “Song, Romance, Waltz”. The singer is accompanied by the Osipov Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments, under the leadership of conductor Nikolay Kalinin.

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.

May 9th is celebrated every year in Russia as Victory Day to commemorate the victory in 1945 over Nazi Germany in World War II. 2011 marks the 66th anniversary.

Leonid Kharitonov sang many patriotic songs during his long career, including the one presented here, “Son of Russia”. He wishes to express his extreme gratitude to all veterans for their sacrifices, and asks all of his fans to pray for peace.

Leonid Kharitonov wishes all of his fans a Happy New Year and a lot of happiness in 2011! And, of course, that there be peace all over the world! He also thanks you for all of your love, for keeping him in your memory and for your beautiful comments! For him, you are all a great treasure! Thank you and God bless each one of you!

Please enjoy this 2004 performance of “Chrysanthemums Finished Blossoming Long Time Ago”. It is the singer’s most favorite song! 2010 was the 100th anniversary of this song, which was written by Nikolai Harito in 1910. You can read more about it here (in Russian.)

On May 9th every year, Russians celebrate Victory Day (Den Pobedi / День Победы). This is a day to commemorate the Nazi surrender in 1945. Parades, music and fireworks highlight the celebration. This year is the 65th anniversary of this day.

In this video, Leonid Kharitonov greets and thanks the World War II veterans. His 1999 performance of The Veterans don’t Grow Old in their Souls, given to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Alexandrov Ensemble, follows.

Leonid Kharitonov has been overwhelmingly pleased by the comments that he’s received on his web sites and “YouTube” channel, along with the e-mails that have been sent.

Fans from all over the world have expressed their thankfulness, admiration and best wishes. To convey his great appreciation, he has made this video as a small token of thanks to you all!

(IMPORTANT! English subtitles have been added! Be sure to turn Captions (CC) on in the YouTube player to view them! It’s the last button on the right side of the player’s tool bar.)

Responding to Leonid Kharitonov’s 2010 New Year’s greetings on his web site, which includes a video of his 1969 New Year’s Eve performance of Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl, the fans from the Japanese musical group “Polyanochka” (The Glade, photo on the right) in turn greet Leonid Kharitonov with best wishes for the 2010 New Year and perform their version of the Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl song as a gift in his honor in this video, which they recently posted on their YouTube channel.

Thanks so much to all of you for your very nice comments and your attention to our web site! Recently, Leonid Kharitonov asked us to wish a Happy New Year to all of his fans and friends and those who admire his creative work! He enjoys hearing from you very much, and we, the web site’s administrators, are interested to know your thoughts and suggestions for our web site as well.

We hope you’ll enjoy this special New Year’s performance of Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl. This song was written especially for Leonid Kharitonov in 1966. This specially made video uses a very rare 1971 audio version of the song.

We are proud to announce that as a result of the recent joint efforts of an international team of enthusiasts, an article has been published on the international, English-language free encyclopedia “Wikipedia” with information about the life and creative work of singer Leonid Kharitonov.

A few days after the article was finished, on October 14, 2009, Wikipedia administrators found this story interesting enough to post it on the Wikipedia front page under in the “Did You Know …” section; (see screenshot.) In fact, of one of the moderators of this portal commented: “The article is very worthwhile, and you’ve all done some great work on it. His voice is really magnificent too!”.