Alexander Gradsky
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Alexander Borisovich Gradsky (; born Alexander Borisovich Fradkin, 3 November 1949 – 28 November 2021) was a Russian
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
singer,
bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...
,
multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...
and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of
rock music in Russia Russian rock music originated in the Soviet Union in the 1960s based on the influence of Western culture, Western rock music and Bard (Soviet Union), bard songs, and was developed by both amateur bands and official VIA (music), VIA. The "gol ...
. His diverse repertoire included
rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
, traditional
folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
performed with a rock twist, and
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
tic
aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
s. He composed two rock operas and numerous songs including soundtrack music for several films and cartoons.


Early life and musical beginnings

Alexander Gradsky was born on 3 November 1949 in the Russian city of Kopeysk, into a family of mixed
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
origin. His father Boris Fradkin was an engineer working in a factory, and his mother Tamara was an actress. His mother encouraged him to learn to play the violin as a child, and her brother, Boris Gradsky, Alexander Gradsky's uncle, was a dancer who toured abroad with the famous Moiseev dance group and brought home records of Western music artists including
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
,
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
and
Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...
. Such music was not ordinarily available in Soviet Russia at that time. By the age of 12, Gradsky was singing Elvis Presley songs and accompanying himself on guitar. In 1963, at the age of 13, he sang with a Polish student band called Tarakany (Тараканы – The Cockroaches) in a concert at the International Club of Moscow State University. This is believed to have been the first public performance of rock 'n' roll by any Russian musician.


Other bands

In the mid-1960s, Gradsky joined the band Slaviane (Славяне – The Slavs) as lead singer. The band's repertoire consisted almost entirely of
Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
covers. In 1966–1967, he was working with three bands: Slaviane, Los Panchos and Skify (Скифы – The Scythians). However, he found himself disagreeing with his Slaviane bandmates over the direction the band should take. Gradsky wanted to perform original rock songs in his native
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
, whereas the other band members did not think that such endeavours could be successful and wanted to continue performing imported songs. Gradsky consequently decided to form his own band, Skomorokhi (Скоморохи – The Jesters or The Buffoons) in 1967. His band became popular playing original Russian songs, as Gradsky blended elements of Western rock music with the lyric-centred, folk-influenced Russian bard music which was popular around that time. He enrolled in Gnesins Academy of Music in 1969, and continued to perform with Skomorokhi while a student. A successful performance at the Soviet pop-rock festival Silver Strings was followed with airplay and record deals.


Solo career

In 1971,
David Tukhmanov David Fyodorovich Tukhmanov PAR (, was born July 20, 1940) is a Soviet and Russian composer. People's Artist of Russia (2000), State Prize of Russian Federation (2003, 2019). Biography Tukhmanov is a son of an Armenian engineer Fyodor David ...
invited Gradsky to record some vocal parts for his debut LP ''Kak prekrasen mir'' (Как прекрасен мир – How Beautiful is the World). Gradsky performed two songs, one of which, "Zhil-byl Ya" (Жил-был я – Once upon a time I was), got critical acclaim. In 1973, film director
Andrei Konchalovsky Andrei Sergeyevich Konchalovsky (; né Mikhalkov; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian film and theatre director, screenwriter, and producer. His filmmaking career spans over 60 years in Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet, Cinema of the United St ...
asked Alexander Gradsky to compose and perform music for the film " A Lover's Romance", which was released in 1974, the same year in which Gradsky graduated with a master's degree in vocal performance. Gradsky performed all the male vocal parts in the film soundtrack, which brought him fame as a solo artist. His many records released during his long career encompass a variety of genres. His first rock opera, ''Stadion'' (Стадион – Stadium), dedicated to the memory of
Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and PCCh, Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a bro ...
, was released as a double LP in 1985. He also composed a rock ballet ''Chelovek'' (Человек – The Man), released in 1988. Gradsky was a
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
who is reported to have a three-and-a-half
octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...
, and also played 12 instruments. He performed the demanding role of the Astrologer in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera '' The Golden Cockerel'' (Золотой Петушок – Zolotoy Petushok) in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
's
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...
in 1988. In the 80s, Gradsky returned to the writing a poetry and creating social-themed songs. He formed a concert program in the "singer-songwriter" style. He participated in the organization of a number of Soviet rock festivals such as Rock-panorama. He also worked as a host of "Alexander Gradsky's hit-parade" show on radio "Yunost" showing near 107 artists from different genres (artists like Alexander Bashlachev,
Yuri Shevchuk Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk (; born 16 May 1957) is a Soviet and Russian rock musician and singer/songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, which he founded with Vladimir Sigachyov in 1980. He is best known for his distinctive gravelly voice. His ...
, Victor Tsoy, Konstantin Kinchev, Dmitriy Malikov, Vladimir Presnyakov Jr. got their first radio broadcast). Gradsky took part in a charity concert for the liquidators of
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
. Since the late '80s, Gradsky taught vocals at the Gnesin Music Academy and performed there. In 1987, he became a member of Union of Russian Composers. His collaboration with
John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...
, with whom he performed the 1986 song ''Let us Begin...'', brought him to wider international attention. On 16 July 1988 Gradsky performed at the
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, California Golden Gate Park Bandshell as part of the American Soviet Peace Walk Concert. Later that evening he also played acoustic guitar and sang during the intermission (set break) at the Grateful Dead Rex Foundation Charity concert at U.C. Berkeley's Greek Theater. In 1990, he got a contract with
Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...
and released two albums containing songs in Russian and English as well as Japanese romances. In 1999, he performed a recital at
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
. In late 2009, Alexander Gradsky released a 4-CD opera adaptation of
Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...
's novel ''
The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...
'' (Ма́стер и Маргари́та), starring Gradsky himself as Master, Woland, Yeshua and Behemoth. The opera also stars
Nikolai Fomenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (, born 30 April 1962) is a Russian musician, comic actor, professional motor racer, former president of Marussia Motors and former engineering director of Marussia F1. Biography Born in Leningrad on April 30, ...
as Koroviev, Mikhail Seryshev (formerly of Master) as Ivan, and Elena Minina as Margarita, in addition to many renowned Russian singers and actors in episodic roles, including (but not limited to) Iosif Kobzon, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya,
Andrey Makarevich Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich (; born 11 December 1953) is an Israeli and Soviet-Russian rock musician and the founder of Russia's oldest still active rock band Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine). Personal life Makarevich was born in Moscow to m ...
,
Alexander Rosenbaum Alexander Yakovlevich Rosenbaum People's Artist of Russia, PAR (, ''Aleksandr Jakovlevič Rozenbaum'') (born September 13, 1951) is a Russian Bard (Soviet Union), bard from Saint Petersburg. Among his most famous songs are the ones about Saint ...
, Arkady Arkanov, and the late Georgi Millyar (voice footage from one of his movies was used). In his later years Gradsky positioned himself as a marginal; he was demanding of his colleagues as well as journalists.


''The Voice''

In 2012-2014, he took part in the TV project " The Voice" as a coach along with Dima Bilan, Pelageya and Leonid Agutin. In the first three seasons, the artists from his team won — Dina Garipova, Sergey Volchkov and Alexandra Vorobyova. He also took part in 2015; his participant, Mikhail Ozerov, took the second place. In 2017 and 2021 Gradsky, Pelageya, Bilan and Agutin (often described in mass media as a "golden composition") returned into the show once again. In 2017, a participant from Gradsky's team, Selim Alahyarov, has won the competition. In 2021, Alisher Usmanov took the second place. A significant part of Gradsky's team made up the troupe of the " Gradsky Hall", opened in 2015.


Personal life

Alexander Gradsky was married four times. His first marriage was when he was in his early twenties but it didn't last long and they divorced within months. He was married for the second time in 1970 to actress Anastasia Vertinskaya. His third marriage was with a then 20 year old Lomonosov Moscow University economics student Olga Fartysheva. They were married for 23 years and had two children together Daniel (March 1981) and Maria (January 1986). Alexander was in a relationship with Ukrainian fashion model Marina Kotashenko in his late years, they had two sons together: Alexander (2014) and Ivan (2018).


Death

After contracting
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
in September 2021, amid the
COVID-19 pandemic in Russia The COVID-19 pandemic in Russia was a part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Russia on 31 January 2020, when two Chinese citi ...
, Gradsky's health steadily deteriorated. On 26 November 2021, he did not feel well at home, and was urgently hospitalized at a Moscow hospital for a suspected stroke. On 28 November 2021, he died at the age of 72. On 1 December 2021, he was buried at the
Vagankovo Cemetery Vagankovo Cemetery () is located in the Presnensky District of Moscow, Russia. It was established in 1771, in an effort to curb 1770–1772 Russian plague, an outbreak of bubonic plague in Central Russia. The cemetery was one of those created ou ...
.


Discography


Rock operas


Other albums and EPs


DVDs


Awards

*
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also known as Honored Artist of Russia, is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is awarded to actors, directors, filmmakers, writers, d ...
(1997) *
State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...
(1999) *
People's Artist of Russia People's Artist of the Russian Federation (, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an honorary and the highest title awarded to citizens of the Russian Federation ...
(1999) * People 's Artist of the
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a landlocked breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. It controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dni ...
(2014) *
Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (25 January 193825 July 1980) was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which ...
's "Own Track" Award (2019) In Russian


References


External links

*
Gradsky's biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gradsky 1949 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Russian male singers 21st-century Russian male singers Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia Gnessin State Musical College alumni People's Artists of Russia People from Kopeysk Russian bards Russian people of Jewish descent Russian rock singers Soviet male singers Soviet rock music Melodiya artists Honored Workers of the Arts Industry of the Russian Federation