Music is one of the most beautiful inventions of mankind. She has an amazing ability to awaken the most secret feelings, change the mood of the listener in the blink of an eye. In past centuries, composers who wrote beautiful melodies enjoyed great respect and love from listeners. Today, however, those who compose music are less remembered, and all the success more often goes to the performers.
Composer Alexander Kolker, who gave the world a lot of beautiful melodies, fortunately is not one of the underestimated composers. In addition to the extraordinary talent of Alexander Naumovich, this is also the merit of his wife, Maria Parkhomenko, who was the performer of most of his wonderful songs.
Alexander Kolker: biography of early years
About his childhood, the famous composer was not very fond of spreading. It is known that he was born in Leningrad in 1933. Young Alexander's musical abilities showed up quite early, and his parents sent him to a specialized school to learn to play the violin. When a guyAt the age of 17, he successfully completed his studies. However, he did not dare to connect his future with music, so he went to study the profession of engineer at the Electrotechnical Institute.
The beginning of the creative path
Despite the quite successful studies at one of the most prestigious universities in Leningrad, Alexander Kolker did not leave the desire to study music. Therefore, in his free time, he attended the composer courses of Joseph Pustylnik at the Leningrad Union of Composers. The talented young man had to use the knowledge gained in practice quite soon. He began writing music for student theatrical productions at his native university. In addition, the guy was one of the initiators of the creation of the Youth Variety Ensemble in Leningrad. In 1956 Alexander Naumovich Kolker graduated from the institute and was sent to work as an engineer in a laboratory at one of the factories in Leningrad. However, he did not stay there long. Soon the man became a professional composer.
Alexander Kolker and his muse and wife Maria Pakhomenko
By the beginning of the sixties, Alexander Naumovich was already a fairly well-known composer, popular among the Leningrad intelligentsia. That's just all-Union, and later worldwide fame came to him thanks to his wife - Maria Leonidovna Pakhomenko. Having met this modest girl with an amazing voice and absolute pitch, the composer fell in love with her at first sight. Despite the fact that the aspiring singer had many suitors, she responded to the feelings of Alexander Kolker, who, by the way, hadnot very expressive appearance. Soon the young people got married. So a musical union arose, which gave rise to many beautiful and soulful songs.
Despite the fact that Kolker's creations were later performed by such stars of the musical sky as Lydia Clement ("Day and Night"), Iosif Kobzon ("Is there no envy - white") and Muslim Magomayev ("Please, don’t cry”), it was Maria Pakhomenko who sang most of Alexander Naumovich’s hits. In 1964, Kolker's first songs performed by his wife were recorded on the record of the Krugozor magazine. Among them is such a famous hit as "Shakes, shakes …". He instantly glorified the spouses throughout the USSR.
Two years later, Maria Pakhomenko's first solo disc was released under the title "A. Kolker's Songs". Here, the singer performed the works of her husband, most beloved by the audience, including the composition “Girls are standing, standing on the sidelines”, adored by millions. The most famous songs of Alexander Kolker, which his wife sang: “If there were no lovers in the world”, “Beautiful words”, “Rowan”, “The power of love”, “Satisfy my sorrows”.
Cooperation with Kim Ryzhov
Besides Maria Pakhomenko, there was another important person in the creative life of Alexander Naumovich. This is the author of the texts for most of the composer's songs - Kim Ivanovich Ryzhov. Cooperation began in the late fifties and lasted a lifetime. In addition, these men had a strong friendship that did not fade over the years. It was Ryzhov who wrote the lyrics to most of the hitsKolker. The most popular joint works of the creative tandem are the songs " Crane in the Sky", "Beautiful words", "I got lucky", "Girls are standing, standing on the sidelines", "Do not rush", "Do not make a mistake", "Night tram", " Farewell to the sea "and of course the hit" Hey, let's go. In addition, Kim Ivanovich wrote the words for many of his friend's musicals.
Kolker Musicals
Besides writing melodies for individual songs, Alexander Naumovich always gravitated toward creating larger-scale works - operettas, which today it is fashionable to call musicals. Many of these works, the music for which was written by this composer, are still successfully staged not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria and other countries. The most popular are "Truffaldino from Bergamo", "Three in a boat, not counting the dog", "Gadfly", "Viper". And also the ever-relevant trilogy: "Krechinsky's Wedding", "The Case" and "Tarelkin's Death".
The most popular films composed by Alexander Kolker
Based on some of the composer's musicals, films of the same name were made. These are Truffaldino from Bergamo with Konstantin Raikin (voiced by Mikhail Boyarsky); "Three in a boat, not counting the dog" with Andrei Mironov, Alexander Shirvindt and Mikhail Derzhavin; "The Wedding of Krechinsky" and "Death of Tarelkin". In addition to the above films, Alexander Kolker also wrote songs for other popular films. His music has been featured in over thirty feature films.
The first film project, in which Alexander Naumovich participated, isfilm-play "Let's get acquainted: the month of May". Two years later, the composer wrote music for the film by Ilya Averbakh and Igor Maslennikov "The Personal Life of Valentin Kuzyaev." Later, Alexander Kolker worked with Maslennikov on another project - "Tomorrow, the third of April …". Among the most famous films for which the composer wrote music are The Chronicle of a Dive Bomber, The Last Days of Pompeii, Melody for Two Voices and The Idealist. Also, Kolker is the author of music for a documentary about his wife.
Alexander Kolker: family
Alexander Naumovich and Maria Leonidovna were able to maintain their union for many years. Unpleasant gossip often circulated about the spouses, to which they soon got used, denying nothing and not proving their case. By the way, the couple had only one child - daughter Natalia. Unfortunately, in the last years of Maria Pakhomenko's life (died in 2013), not everything was well in the Kolker family. The singer suffered from a severe form of Alzheimer's disease. In this regard, many articles were published in the press in which Alexander Kolker was accused of beating his wife. At the same time, none of the people who know this couple closely confirmed this fact.
As for daughter Natalia, she has a very cool relationship with her father. She even took her mother's last name. After the death of Maria Pakhomenko, Natasha actively slings mud at her father in the press and tries to sue him for some property. Although the same publications simultaneously trumpet the whole world that Natalya herself handed over her sick mother toalmshouse. Who in this situation is right and who is not is unknown. And fans of the work of Kolker and Pakhomenko just have to enjoy their works and try to read less about the personal lives of the stars.
Fun Facts
There is also very interesting information about the life of the composer, which you may have never heard of:
- For a long time in the USSR, Alexander Naumovich was not allowed on tour with his wife, as they were afraid that they would flee the country. But later this ban was lifted.
- The composer called Vasily Solovyov-Sedogo his spiritual teacher.
- Kolker is the author of the autobiographical book The Elevator Doesn't Lift Down!.
- One of the first songs of the composer, to the words of Ryzhov, which was sung by Maria Pakhomenko, was "Karelia". For her, he was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen" by the Republic of Karelia.
- Despite the apparent ease of sounding of the composer's melodies, playing them is not as easy as it seems, which can only be judged by looking at the notes.
Alexander Kolker, by the way, recently celebrated his 83rd birthday. And despite all his he alth problems and the rumors that go around about him, he tries to keep a positive attitude.
