Pavel Ivanovich Necheporenko ( – 27 March 2009) was a
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
musician, highly recognized as a virtuoso performer of the
balalaika
The balalaika (, ) is a Russian string instrument, stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perf ...
.
Biography
Necheporenko was born on , the son of a mariner. Necheporenko first learned the balalaika from his father. By the time of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Necheporenko was already a distinguished balalaikist. Serving in the Soviet navy, he spent the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
moving from ship to ship giving morale-boosting solo concerts, earning himself a medal for bravery.
After the war, Necheporenko graduated as a conductor from the
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...
in 1949. He became the chief conductor of the , a post he held till 1955. However, this post was eclipsed by the fact that he was a virtuoso balalaikist in his own right, and was giving solo performances. During the Soviet period he was the winner of an all-union contest of folk instrument performers. He was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1952, awarded Honored Artist of the USSR in 1959 and given the title of
People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...
in 1969.
Of distinguished appearance with wavy grey hair, an inclination to be as formally dressed as possible when photographed with his instrument, and a transcriber of classical pieces for balalaika; Necheporenko, following in the footsteps of
, presents the balalaika as a musical instrument with the same status as any "serious" instrument used in classical music. Among his most famous transcriptions is his Variations on Paganini's 24th Caprice, which Necheporenko played on balalaika without accompaniment. He also wrote original arrangements for balalaika and piano: "Hour by Hour" and "From Village to Village" were pieces most sought out by other balalaika players.
Necheporenko worked as a professor at the Gnessin State Musical College for many years. He was considered to be the best teacher in the country by his contemporaries. Many of his students won competitions and found teaching positions at other institutions. Necheporenko would quite often spend a lot of time preparing lessons for his students. New students were usually required to forget everything they knew about balalaika playing and learn Necheporenko's method from scratch. Necheporenko utilized "tough love" to motivate his students to perform at a high level. In 2006, a concert in Moscow was given to celebrate his 90th birthday. Several of his former students performed at this concert and a few expressed to the audience their heartfelt gratitude for all that Necheporenko had given to them as students.
Necheporenko died on 27 March 2009.