Biography of Sergei Zakharov
Sergei Zakharov is a Soviet and then Russian pop singer, whose peak of popularity occurred in the 70s, remembered by listeners for the piercing romances “Apple Trees in Blossom”, “I Love You, I’m Thinking of You”, “Melt Water”, and the aria of Mr. X from the operetta “Circus Princess”. In his life he was both a prisoner and a winner, but he always remained a noble man who sought to teach his listeners to love art and Russian culture. The artist passed away in 2020, but his legacy – we have no doubt about it – will continue to live on and find its audience.
Sergei Georgievich Zakharov
Childhood and youth of Sergei Zakharov
The future “Mr. X” of the Soviet stage was born on May Day 1950 in the coastal Ukrainian city of Nikolaev.
Since the father, Georgy Mikhailovich Zakharov, was a military serviceman, the family did not live long in Ukraine. The family’s next place of residence was Kazakhstan, the city of Baikonur. One day, a 5-year-old child had a chance to hear Mr. X’s aria from Imre Kalman’s operetta “The Circus Princess.” It was sung by the magnificent Georg Ots. Serezha's musical talent responded to the performer's beautiful voice. Thus, the future artistic path was determined from early childhood.
It must be said that the grandfather of the famous singer was among the first trumpeters of the orchestra that played at the Odessa Opera House. He served there for 30 years.
Sergei Zakharov in his youth
After graduating from school, from which the hooligan young man was expelled after the 8th grade, he continued his studies at a radio engineering college. Then there was service in the ranks of the Soviet Army, where Sergei’s abilities clearly manifested themselves. He became a soloist of the song and dance ensemble “Friendship” of the House of the Soviet Army of the Central Asian Military District.
After early demobilization in 1971, Sergei Zakharov received a musical education in Moscow. At the Gnessin Music School, Margarita Iosifovna Landa became his mentor. The young man worked part-time as a restaurant singer. Leonid Utesov heard one of his performances, instantly recognized his talent, and invited the guy to join his ensemble.
Family
- Father - Georgy Mikhailovich Zakharov (1926-2012), military man.
- Mother - Zinaida Evgenievna Zakharova (Marinina) (1923), telephone operator.
- Brother - Valentin (1946).
- Wife - Alla Narimanovna Zakharova (nee Saligulina) (1948).
- Daughter - Natalya (1969), graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Culture.
- Granddaughter - Stanislava (1992), graduated from the university with a degree in psychologist and linguist.
- Grandson - Jan (1996).
Back in the late 1990s, Zakharov and his family moved from St. Petersburg outside the city - to their own house in a pine forest near Zelenogorsk, on the Karelian Isthmus, on the shores of Lake Beauty, 50 km from St. Petersburg, where there are no roads or neighbors nearby. The house is decorated by the hands of Sergei Georgievich himself.
Sergey Zakharov is a music lover. He has collected a unique collection - a music library of the best vocalists of opera, from the end of the 19th century to the present day. His favorite performers are Tito Gobbi, Titta Ruffo, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti. Sergei Zakharov's collection also includes about 400 discs of jazz and symphonic music. He especially likes the music performed by the orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. The most valuable specimens are the first Chaliapin “coal” plates from 1903.
Sergei Zakharov: songs and filmography
In 1973, Zakharov transferred to the Leningrad Rimsky-Korsakov Music School and began working at the Leningrad Music Hall.
The first concert performances as part of the Music Hall in Moscow attracted full houses. The audience enthusiastically applauded the young singer with bottomless eyes the color of black velvet, lush curls and a dazzling smile. Sergei Zakharov conquered not only with his charm. A strong and unique baritone left neither the public nor music critics indifferent. In 1974, the International Golden Orpheus Competition took place in Bulgaria. Zakharov was its participant and winner.
Sergei Zakharov - Mister X's Aria Well-known then in the Soviet Union, a month after the brilliant victory in Bulgaria, she invited Sergei Zakharov to perform in another international competition "Sopot-74", which was held in Poland. The singer again became a laureate, which predetermined the success of “Melody” on the international market. The company received an order from other participating companies for 7,000 titles of records.
Then there were swift and confident victories at competitions in Zielona Gora, Dresden, the Bratislava Lyre, as well as at a competition in Buenos Aires called the Golden Nightingale. World celebrities spoke about the magnificent Mister X. For example, Mario Gonzales, who received the title of “golden voice of Peru,” assessed Zakharov as a mega star shining on the planet’s pop horizon. The popular Polish singer Jerzy Polonski called the singer's work the most extraordinary and unique phenomenon in the musical world.
Sergei Zakharov in the film “Sky Swallows”
Sergei Zakharov's extraordinary acting talent manifested itself in the film “Sky Swallows” (1975), where he played with the incomparable Lyudmila Gurchenko and Andrei Mironov. Working on the role surrounded by such venerable celebrities was a great achievement for the young actor.
Music
The artist himself dates the beginning of his career to 1973. It was accepted by the Leningrad Music Hall, which was considered the best in the Union and even Europe. At the same time, he honed his skills at the school named after. Rimsky-Korsakov.
Singer Sergei Zakharov
While performing as part of the Music Hall, Zakharov experienced audience love for the first time. The concerts attracted full houses. Sergei’s appearance and talent did their job - the young man quickly began to acquire fans. The public and critics were fascinated by the singer’s inimitable baritone, bottomless dark eyes, white-toothed smile and large curls of black hair.
In 1974, Sergei Zakharov decided to try his hand at the international Golden Orpheus competition, from which he emerged victorious. And soon he added the prize from the Sopot competition to his piggy bank. He finally and irrevocably became the favorite of Soviet music lovers when he appeared on TV screens in the “Artloto” program.
Sergei Zakharov and Lyudmila Senchina
The artist’s songs began to be played on the radio, and she began recording albums one after another.
Even world stars admired his unique, strong baritone. The “golden voice” of Peru, Mario Gonzales, prophesied a great future for the young talent, and Pole Jerzy Polonski said that the artist’s work is a unique phenomenon in the world of music. Since the mid-70s, Sergei Zakharov began performing with Lyudmila Senchina, who became his good friend. The singer noted:
“We are both snub-nosed and quickly sang.”
The man recorded several videos with the clear-voiced pop diva, including the tender song “Birds Conversation.”
Creative biography was interrupted in 1977. Zakharov went to prison for a year for a group fight with the administrator of the Music Hall. Sergei Georgievich does not hide the reasons and tells the press in detail. According to the artist, the brawl was set up on the initiative of the secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU Grigory Romanov, who courted Senchina.
Sergei Zakharov performs the song “Three White Horses”
It would seem that after imprisonment the path to the big stage was closed, provincial scenes awaited again. However, after his release, the man was called to the Odessa Philharmonic, and then, at the call of Lev Zaikov, a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, Zakharov returned to Leningrad. Here the artist was provided with housing, given a place in the Music Hall and cleared the way to television. In addition, the singer soon went with concerts to Yugoslavia, the GDR and even Greece.
Since the mid-80s, the artist began working alone. Sergei Zakharov's first solo concert took place in 1986 in Moscow. It was in the prestigious Rossiya concert hall that the man subsequently shone in his charming images - Don Quixote, Mister X, Don Juan.
In the 90s, the artist’s popularity did not decrease. In this decade, Zakharov received the title of People's Artist, the Order of Friendship and the Star of Glory of the Fatherland, worked with pianist Alexander Kogan, and continued to release records.
The singer's repertoire includes not only pop songs. Sergei Georgievich paid a lot of attention to opera, singing to works by Rachmaninov, Glinka, and Tchaikovsky.
Cinematography also found a place in Zakharov’s work. The role of Fernand Champlatreau in the musical film “Sky Swallows” (1976) added to his popularity. In the film, the singer plays with movie stars Lyudmila Gurchenko, Andrei Mironov, Alexander Shirvindt. And the voice of the character during the dubbing of the film was given by Oleg Basilashvili.
Sergei Zakharov in the film “Sky Swallows”
In 2020, fans received news that the singer was seriously ill. However, the information turned out to be speculation of the yellow press. Relatives are tired of assuring that the singer is alive, healthy and working. Moreover, at the end of the same year, Sergei Zakharov held a solo concert in the capital of Russia, and then traveled to the cities of the Far East.
Sergei Georgievich was still in the ranks, performed in his homeland and often went abroad with concerts. The artist’s repertoire was dominated by lyrical romances; fans note the undying sincerity of the performances.
Film about Sergei Zakharov “I don’t regret anything”
In January 2020, Zakharov was received at the House of Officers, where he presented the program “I Sing about Love,” filled with classic romances, songs from his early work and compositions borrowed from the repertoire of Muslim Magomayev.
In March, the TVC channel showed a documentary about the life of the people’s artist “I don’t regret anything.” Ilya Reznik, Mikhail Boyarsky, Igor Kornelyuk, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, his wife and even his granddaughter took part in the film.
Further career
The artist made himself known again in the second half of the 80s.
In Moscow, in the most prestigious concert hall "Russia" in 1986, Sergei Zakharov gave his first solo concert. The stunning voice and stage image of the singer, who invariably appeared before the public in an elegant black or white tailcoat, fascinated his fans. In 1991, pianist Alexei Kogan joined Sergei. Sergey Zakharov. Romance of the romance He captivated with the sincere confession of Mr. X, the passion of Don Juan, the lyrics and depth of the Russian romance. His multifaceted, brilliant talent brought him victory in numerous competitions, the title of People's Artist of Russia (1996), the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1998), as well as two more orders - Friendship and Star of Glory of the Fatherland. In 1996, a man suffered clinical death due to a heart attack - he gave about 60 concerts in support of Boris Yeltsin and overexerted himself.
Achievements and public awards
- 1974 - I international competition in Bulgaria “Golden Orpheus”, was awarded 1st prize.
- 1974 - competition in Dresden (Germany) - 1st prize
- 1975 - International Pop Song Competition in Sopot (Poland) - 1st prize
- 1976 - “Bratislava Lyre” (Czechoslovakia) - 1st prize
- 1988 - honorary title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR
- 1996 - honorary title of People's Artist of Russia[1]
- 1998 — Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the International Prize Foundation “For increasing goodness on Earth”
- 2000 - Order of Friendship - for services to the state, many years of fruitful activity in the field of culture and art, great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples
[6] - 2013 - Order "Star of Glory of the Fatherland"
- 2014 - awarded the RMA (Russian Municipal Academy) prize for highly artistic performance of vocal works by Soviet and Russian composers.
Personal life of Sergei Zakharov
Sergei Zakharov married very young. His wife was 16 years old, Sergei was 17 (in the Kazakh SSR, marriages were allowed from the age of 16). For more than half a century, he and his wife Alla walked through life together, ate more than a pound of salt and crossed more than one field. Life's ups and downs only strengthened their union.
Sergei Zakharov with his wife Alla
Sergei Georgievich has a wonderful daughter Natalya (1969) and two wonderful grandchildren - Yan (1996) and Stanislava (1992). Children and grandchildren did not follow in their father's footsteps. However, this never upset the artist, who believed that everyone should mind their own business.
At work
In the house of Sergei Zakharov, skillfully decorated by the hands of the singer himself and located 60 km from St. Petersburg in a pine forest, the whole family often gathered. Then a real holiday began, a holiday of a happy husband, father, grandfather and beloved singer of thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, Poles and residents of many countries, applauding the unique Mr. X.
With grandchildren
Sergei Zakharov died: he was in prison, experienced clinical death
He, like no one else, suited both white and black tailcoats. There was no more handsome man on the Soviet stage in the 80s! His records were released in huge numbers. It was impossible to get an extra ticket for his concerts. He had many fans. And just as many envious people. He knew both triumph and complete oblivion. He built a house with his own hands on the Karelian Isthmus.
His friends and associates told MK about the sex symbol of the Soviet stage, the unique velvety “baritone” and actor.
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Friends now say bitterly: “Seryozha was born on May 1, a holiday, and left on February 14, Valentine’s Day. That’s how he was in life – a bright, sentimental, cheerful person.”
Sergei Georgievich lived a difficult life. In his youth he could become a famous football player. The data was excellent. He was invited to play for the Ukrainian youth team. But due to injury I had to forget about sports.
In the army he was a company singer. When he was in his second year at Gnesinka, Leonid Utesov took him under his wing. Sergei Zakharov became the soloist of his pop orchestra. And soon the darling of fate won several prizes at prestigious international song competitions.
The peak of Sergei Zakharov's popularity occurred in the 80s.
He was remembered by the audience as the author-performer of the hit “Three White Horses.” Friends admit that after the singer’s death, the lines from the song “and carry me away, and carry me away into the ringing snowy distance...” they see in a different light. They say: “Sergei always sang this song with such enthusiasm. And he passed away just in the winter, in the last winter month..."
photo: Still from video
Sergei Zakharov had only one film role, but what a role! In 1976, director Leonid Kvinikhidze invited him to play the role of an impressive lieutenant in his musical, dynamic film “Sky Swallows”. Millions of fans from all over the country sighed about the black-moustached, curly brown-haired man.
“He was the most intelligent, decent person,” says Iya Ninidze, who played the role of Denise de Florigny in the film, about her co-star in the film. “I just found out about Sergei’s death. I am now unbearably sad and in great pain. We have lost the kindest, most sincere person. This person has endured and survived so much! I have admired his talent all my life.”
In 1977, a turning point occurred in the life of Sergei Zakharov. He got involved in a massive brawl. For refusing to hand over counterfeit stamps, he and his friends beat up the elderly administrator. The singer spent six months in the Kresty detention center. Many considered this process to be indicative. Using the example of Sergei Zakharov, the authorities allegedly decided to fight “star fever.” Having received a year in a penal colony, he went to serve his sentence in the Slantsevsky district, Leningrad region. He worked at a construction site, mastered the specialty of a 3rd category bricklayer-concrete worker.
After his release, his way to the stage was barred. Oblivion lasted 10 years. All these years, the singer did odd jobs and performed in provincial halls.
He returned to the big stage only after perestroika. In 1999 he could have died altogether. In support of Boris Yeltsin's election campaign, he gave more than 60 concerts. After one of his performances, Sergei Zakharov experienced clinical death from overwork. The doctors miraculously pumped him out.
During the same period, in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, he began to build a country house. With my own hands I installed a sauna on the site and arranged ponds. I became interested in floriculture. From all my tours I brought back flower bulbs. He could talk for hours about new varieties of lilies and dahlias. He considered himself a self-sufficient person, not fussy, with a “burrowing instinct.” It was good for him to live outside the city, away from people. But he always willingly received guests. He was proud that he was able to create his own “country,” which he called “Zechariah.”
Sergei Georgievich had many hobbies in life. But what he never betrayed was music. Until the end of his days he continued to give concerts and release CDs. And he remained faithful to one - the only woman, Alla, his wife, whom he married at the age of 17, when he lived in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
