Igor Kornelyuk- Russian composer, musician, singer, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. He is best known as the author of the composition “The City That Is Not There,” heard in the TV series “Gangster Petersburg,” and other film hits.
Biography of Igor Kornelyuk
Igor Kornelyuk was born into a family that had nothing to do with music. Only his grandmother Maria Demyanovna, sang romances, accompanying herself on the guitar, and also all her relatives, gathering at the table, sang during the holidays. As he says Kornelyuk, this family singing became for him primary school vocals: since the boy had a sonorous voice, he was constantly asked to sing, and little Igor performed everything he knew all evening to the accordion.
“I remember one day discovering that if you press C, E and G at the same time, it produces a wonderfully harmonious chord. This was a discovery for me no less than the theory of relativity.”
Parents of Igor Kornelyuk - Nina Afanasyevna and Evgeny Kasyanovich- were engineers, and at first they did not welcome their son’s desire to study music professionally. However, a professor at the Belarusian State Conservatory was able to convince them that the boy definitely needed to study music, and at the age of six, Igor was sent to a music school to study piano. However, in music school Igor studied, in his own words, disgustingly, he had a “stake” in solfeggio. That, however, did not stop Igor from playing in the ensemble at dances. He came home from school, took off his pioneer tie and went to perform.
At the age of 9, Igor had already written his first song “Russia, dear Russia, slender trunks of birch trees...”.
In 5th grade Igor started working: on weekends he played the ionic in an ensemble at dances in the city Palace of Culture, receiving a little more than 29 rubles a month. And then the first love came, but the girl left Igor. For him, this became a great tragedy and the need to pour out in sounds what was overwhelming him.
“I am forever grateful to anyone, she made me a composer! Naive songs about love appeared. I took words from everyone - Yesenin, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, I even got to Pasternak, hardly understanding then what he was writing about.”
Igor played at the music school at VIA “Smile”, and also fulfilled requests to record the notes of the melody and the elementary accompaniment of his favorite song.
In 1977, after the 8th grade, he entered the Brest Music College in the theoretical and composition department. At the same time, he played in rock ensembles. It was this year that the teacher told Igor that he needed to go to study in Leningrad, since there was the strongest composing school there.
Since the trip to St. Petersburg was spontaneous, Kornelyuk arrived without documents for admission to the music school. About the transfer from Brest music school There was no question - Igor had to re-enroll as a first-year student. There was only a week before the entrance exams - during this time Igor composed a series of pieces for piano, which he brought to the exam. Was invited to take an exam at the school Vladlen Pavlovich Chistyakov, teaching instrumentation and composition at the Leningrad Conservatory. Having passed the exam, Igor went out into the corridor, completely confident of failure. But after some time the door opened, Vladlen Pavlovich appeared, approached Igor and said: “Congratulations, young man! I will have the honor to teach you." They spent all four years together and their relationship was very warm.
According to Igor, his years of study at the Music School at the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov were the most fruitful for him from an educational point of view. It was at the school that Igor took up composition in earnest and for the first time seriously approached the study of the orchestra.
There, at the music school, in 1979, Igor met Regina Lisits, in the future - his constant co-author. Their first joint song, “Who Said: It Will Pass?” they wrote to the student skit.
At the end of the 4th year of music school, Igor received his first order in his life to write music. At that time in Academic Theater drama named after Pushkin, the premiere performance was being prepared “ Trumpeter in the square", in which main role played by the then young debutant actor Nikolai Fomenko. Igor was commissioned to write music for this performance. He took the order very seriously. Having written the score, he invited musicians from the V.P. Orchestra to record the phonogram. Solovyov-Sedov Leningrad Radio and Television.
The next step in education for Igor Kornelyuk became a conservatory. While studying at the conservatory (composition class), Igor wrote music for a popular science film about the needs of collective farms, and music for the play “ Tic Tac Toe"(Comedy Theater named after N.P. Akimov, 1985), a symphony, four pieces for piano, several piano cycles, a cycle of romances (8) based on poetry Pasternak, a cycle of romances based on poetry Akhmatova, a cycle of romances based on poetry Mustaya Karima, choral cycle based on poetry Pushkin, string quartet. All his works were performed by students of the conservatory.
The development of Igor Kornelyuk as a composer, according to him, was influenced by a variety of music: in his youth - QUEEN, at a music school - jazz, at the conservatory - the work of musicians of the “Mighty Handful” (N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.P. Mussorgsky, A.P. Borodin). Igor even wrote a rock suite using the intonations and musical structure of great composers.
Hitmaker Igor Kornelyuk started arguing. According to Igor, Alexander Morozov, a classmate and by that time already a venerable composer, once told him in a confidential conversation: “Old man, do you know what the difference is between me and you? You are a well-trained person, and I am talented. Here you write complex music for a trained listener, and I write simple songs, and he sings them Soviet people. You can’t do that.” Igor was touched by a nerve, and they bet two bottles of cognac that Igor would write a song that the entire Soviet people would sing.
Kornelyuk wrote several songs at once. Song " Cute"came to almost every home in our country... The artists of the Leningrad theater were the first to perform this song" Buff» Lena Spiridonova and Zhenya Alexandrov(later Igor performed this song with Elena Spiridonova for the album " Ballet ticket"(1989), and subsequently also recorded in a duet with Alena Ivantsova. Another song - the composer's first phonographic debut - was released by Melodiya: minion " Boy and girl were friends» performed Alberta Asadullina. A wave of success swept across the country.
According to a survey conducted in 1985 by the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda", "A boy and a girl were friends" entered the top ten songs.
In 1985, Igor wrote his first professional songs based on the poems of Regina Lisits, his main poet and co-author, which were performed by famous Soviet pop stars. With the song " Find out"Anna Veski performs in Sopot and becomes a laureate of the festival. Svetlana Medyanik, performing the song " Not with me", takes second place in the television competition " Jurmala-86».
Subsequently Anne Vesky appeared whole program composed of songs Igor Kornelyuk, among which: “Monkey”, “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me”, “Horoscope”, “Not with me” and others.
When Igor defended his diploma in 1987, he presented the first computer symphony in the history of the conservatory “ Symphonic fantasy for computer" After graduating from the conservatory, Igor no longer worked on symphonies, although the dream of creating a work that was serious in form and academic in content remains.
Professional career of Igor Kornelyuk
From 1985 to 1988, Igor Kornelyuk worked as musical director of the Leningrad Theater " Buff", wrote music for his productions, accompanied and sang.
At the same time, he wrote songs, offering them to performers. Among them was Edita Piekha. Igor wrote two songs for her - “ White evening" And " Listen" Popularity came unexpectedly: after leaving the theater in 1988, the composer Victor Reznikov invites Igor to participate with him in the program of Leningrad Television “ Musical ring».
August 1, 1988. At the “Ring” Reznikov has a huge team of chanting fans and famous performers, Igor only has an old friend who came from Brest. Unexpectedly for himself, Igor wins the “Ring” and the next day wakes up famous.
In 1988, Kornelyuk’s song “Ticket to the Ballet” became a laureate of the “Song of the Year” television festival.
Thus began the fruitful solo career of pop composer-performer Igor Kornelyuk.
Its first art director was Sergey Danilov, to whose poems Igor later wrote the songs “ If I knew the purchase, I would live in Sochi”, “Walking around Paris”, “Lunatics”, “Well, let it be”, “Listen", sung together with Edita Piekha, " Mother", performed Ilona Bronevitskaya.
In 1988, Igor Kornelyuk presented his first solo program at the Druzhba hall in Luzhniki in Moscow and at the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg. In the same year - a solo concert at the Dynamo stadium.
1989 - concert at the Olimpiysky. 1991 - Moscow again, Luzhniki Sports Palace. A year later - a new solo program “ Let them talk", the premiere of which takes place in the St. Petersburg Concert Hall "Oktyabrsky".
In 1995, Igor Kornelyuk opened his own studio.
In 1996, he performed in Moscow at the Rossiya State Central Concert Hall with his old and new hits.
In 1997, Igor turned 35 years old. He celebrated his anniversary while working on the music for the play “ Passion by Moliere", directed by a young talented director Victor Kramer at the Akimov Comedy Theater. The premiere was successful on December 12, 1997.
On March 4, 1998, the second in Kornelyuk’s life took place. Musical ring" Exactly 10 years passed between the rings. This time Igor competed with the composer-performer Viktor Chaika. And again Igor Kornelyuk won.
Over the years creative work Igor Kornelyuk has written over 100 songs and is the author of several musical performances, children's opera Pull-push, or Aibolit from Zverinskaya street", which has been running at the Music Hall since 1989 until now.
Igor Kornelyuk's work in film and TV
Igor made his first film work back in 1990, writing excellent music for a television film Akima Salbiev « Short game ", however, he returned to cinema only 10 years later, in 2000, in order to create his brilliant " The city that doesn't exist" to the series " Gangster Petersburg» Vladimir Bortko. After such success, Igor becomes one of the most sought-after film composers in Russian cinema.
"Idiot", " I have the honor», « Russian translation", "The Master and Margarita", "Justice of Wolves" and "Taras Bulba" - this is not the entire list of musical film novels created by Igor Kornelyuk.
Igor was the host of the TV show " Mom, dad and I are a sports family"(RTR), wrote the motto song " About family", starred in episodes, playing himself in the TV series "Cops" and "Secrets of the Investigation", took part in various show programs (" Bluff club», « White parrot», « SV-Show"), was a member of the jury music competitions(young performers " Jurmala», « Yalta», « Slavic Bazaar ") and the host of beauty contests (" Miss Ekaterinburg", "Mrs. Lesnichanka»).
By Presidential Decree No. 648 of May 21, 2007, Igor Evgenievich Kornelyuk was awarded the title “Honored Artist Russian Federation" On March 30, 2007, at the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg, the Couple of the City Ceremony was held with the support of the Committee for Culture of the Government of St. Petersburg, among the nominees of which were Igor and Marina Kornelyuk.
Igor Kornelyuk, in addition to his solo and group concerts, performs a lot in charity events and concerts, and since the 90s of the twentieth century he has been the founder of the St. Petersburg public charitable foundation support for education and creativity.
Igor repeatedly took part in the “Golden Pelican” OBD and “Soul of a Child” CTR programs, and donated some of the equipment from his studio to a recording studio for blind and visually impaired people. And for several years now she has been patronizing the social hotel “Dream”, providing children with material and humanitarian assistance.
October 22, 2010 at concert hall“Giant Hall” in St. Petersburg hosted a large concert-presentation dedicated to the opening of Igor’s new official website, as well as the release of three CDs with music: “Songs from the cinema”, “Music for the film “The Master and Margarita””, “Music for the film “Taras Bulba”.
In 2012, Igor celebrated three anniversaries at once: the 25th anniversary of stage activity, the 30th wedding anniversary and his 50th anniversary.
“As for the stage, I can say the following: now, when everyone writes songs - who can and who can’t - it’s becoming uninteresting to me. That’s why I do symphonic music.”
Personal life of Igor Kornelyuk
Igor Kornelyuk and his chosen one Marina signed when the young composer took his final exams at the school and the entrance exams to the conservatory. The newlyweds celebrated their wedding with the proceeds of 600 rubles for writing for the play “The Trumpeter on the Square,” although the groom did not need a celebration at all, but he knew that his beloved wanted it.
Early years life together were the most difficult - for Igor, his wife and little son I had to live in a one-room apartment with my wife’s mother. And the mother-in-law, according to tradition, did not immediately accept her son-in-law.
Igor and Marina have been married for more than 30 years.
When asked how they managed to save the family, because everyone knows impermanence creative people, Igor Kornelyuk answers that only thanks to the wisdom and understanding of his wife Marina, who had the intelligence and tact “to behave correctly at certain moments.”
Igor Kornelyuk - Soviet and Russian musician and composer, singer, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2007).
Igor Kornelyuk was born on November 16, 1962 in Brest.At the age of six, Igor Kornelyuk began studying at a music school. He studied in Brest in High school No. 4, and on weekends from the age of 12 he played in an ensemble on ionics at dances at the Brest Palace of Culture. After eight classes, he entered the Brest Music College in the class of composer and musician Mark Rusin, who wrote music for the Brest Drama Theater.In 1978 he moved from Brest to Leningrad to live with relatives. 1978-1982 graduated from the music school at the Leningrad Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, graduated with honors and entered the conservatory without effort.1982-1987 Leningrad Conservatory, composition class.He was influenced as a composer by the work of Queen, jazz, " Mighty bunch».
From 1985 to 1988, Igor Kornelyuk worked as the musical director of the Leningrad Buff Theater and composed music for it.In 1985, he recorded his first record: the Melodiya company released the EP “A Boy Was Friends with a Girl” performed by Albert Asadullin.In 1988, Kornelyuk began solo career in the TV program “Musical Ring”, for the first time reaches the finals of the “Song of the Year” festival.
He wrote music for the plays: “Trumpeter on the Square” (Leningrad Pushkin Theater 1982), “Tic Tac Toe” (Comedy Theater 1985), an opera for children “Pull-Push or Aibolit from Zverinskaya Street” (Music Hall 1988), music for film "Musical Games" (Lenfilm 1988).His songs were performed by Mikhail Boyarsky “Walking in Paris”, Anna Veski “Horoscope”, “Find out”, “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me”, “Monkey”, E. Alexandrov and E. Spiridonova “Darling”, Edita Piekha “White” evening", cabaret duet "Academy" "I was offended", Philip Kirkorov "Sign", "Let's make peace."In 1990 he starred in the film “Kud-kud-kuda, or provincial stories with interludes and a divertissement in the finale,” and in 1992 the film “Let Them Talk” was made about his work.Igor Kornelyuk is the author of music for the films “Gangster Petersburg”, “The Master and Margarita”, “Heaven and Earth”, “The Legend of Tampuk”, “The Idiot”, “Russian Translation”, “Taras Bulba”.Igor is the author of more than 200 popular songs. As a composer and singer-songwriter, Igor wrote music and performed the following songs: “Ticket to the Ballet”, “We Will Dance”, “Come Back”, “The City That Doesn’t Exist”, “Rains”, “Smoke”, “Cool”, “Little ...”, “The Month of May”, “Darling”, “It’s time to go home”, “Walking around Paris”, etc.On the official website of Vipartist you can get acquainted with the work of Igor Kornelyuk, watch photos and new video clips of the artist, and use the indicated contact numbers to invite Igor Kornelyuk with a concert to your event. You can order a concert performance by Igor Kornelyuk for a celebration or invite you to a corporate event, as well as order a performance by Igor Kornelyuk for a wedding.In order to find out the conditions for inviting Igor Kornelyuk to your event: fee and rider, fill out the artist order form. The manager will contact you to clarify the details of the order, or call us. Check and book available performance dates in advance.
Igor Evgenievich Kornelyuk(Belorussian: Igar Yaugenavich Karnyaluk; November 16, 1962, Brest, Belarusian SSR) - Soviet and Russian composer and singer. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2007).
Origin
- Grandfather - Kasyan Grigorievich Kornelyuk - lived in the village of Zakazanka on the banks of the Bug in the Brest region, owned land before the advent of Soviet power in 1939, gave his lands to the state, went to work at the railway depot, grandfather avoided dispossession.
- Father - Evgeny Kasyanovich Kornelyuk (1933-2012) - worked as a shunting dispatcher in the western park of the central district of Brest-Vostochny station from 1959 to 1988, his father loved to sing and had good voice, but after 3 strokes and two heart attacks, he could not speak for 18 years and died of a heart attack.
- Mother - Nina Afanasyevna Kornelyuk (1938 - 11/16/2014) - engineer by training, loved to sew and sing
- The elder sister - Natalya Evgenievna Kornelyuk (1959) - graduated from the music school in violin class and the choral conducting department of the Brest Music College with a specialty: music teacher, solfeggio, stage artist and choir director, works at a school in Brest, directs several ensembles, the song “I Believe” "Igor dedicated it to his sister.
Igor Kornelyuk’s parents took part in the program “Let Them Talk” with Andrei Malakhov, the program was dedicated to their son’s 49th birthday.
Biography
At the age of six, Igor Kornelyuk began studying at a music school. He studied in Brest at Secondary School No. 4, and on weekends from the age of 12 he played in an ensemble on the ionic at dances at the Brest Palace of Culture.
After eight classes, in September 1977, he entered the Brest Music College in the class of composer and musician Mark Rusin, who wrote music for the Brest Drama Theater. In 1978 he moved from Brest to Leningrad to live with relatives.
From 1978 to 1982 he studied at the music school at the Leningrad Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov at the faculty of theory and composition. He graduated with honors and effortlessly entered the conservatory.
From 1982 to 1987 he studied at the Leningrad Conservatory in the composition class (Professor V. Uspensky).
He got married when he was a student at the conservatory; his son Anton was born during his first year of study; after the birth of his son, I. Kornelyuk earned money by performing songs at weddings.
As a composer, he was influenced by the work of Queen, jazz, and The Mighty Handful. As a composer, he began with music for theatrical performances (“Trumpeter on the Square” at the Academic Drama Theater, 1982. “Tic Tac Toe”, Comedy Theater, 1985, etc.).
From 1985 (according to other sources - 1986) to 1988, Igor Kornelyuk worked as the musical director of the Leningrad Buff Theater and composed music for it.
In 1985, he recorded his first record: the Melodiya company released the EP “A Boy Was Friends with a Girl” performed by Albert Asadullin. With Kornelyuk’s song “Find out,” Anne Veski became a laureate of the festival in Sopot, the song “Not with me” brought the young singer Svetlana Medyanik her second place in the TV competition “Jurmala-86”.
In 1988, Kornelyuk began his solo career in the television program “Musical Ring”, for the first time he reached the finals of the festival “Song of the Year - 1988”. The most famous songs are “Rains”, “Ticket to the Ballet”, “Come Back”, “You never know”, “Dien”, “Darling”, etc.
He wrote an opera for children “Pull-Push, or Aibolit from Zverinskaya Street” (Music Hall 1988), music for the film “Musical Games” (Lenfilm 1988).
His songs were performed by Mikhail Boyarsky - “Walking in Paris” (words by Sergei Danilov), “Meeting” (words by Regina Lisits); Anne Veski - “Horoscope”, “Find out”, “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me”, “Monkey”, “Star House”, “It’s time to go home”; E. Alexandrov and E. Spiridonova - “Darling”; Edita Piekha - “White Evening”; cabaret duet “Academy” - “I was offended”; Philip Kirkorov - “Sign”, “Let’s make peace”.
The talented Igor Kornelyuk presented his listeners with many amazing hits. He gained enormous popularity in the 80-90s. Today the artist is engaged in writing music for films and TV series.
Family
Igor was born on November 16th in 1962. His hometown— Brest. His father made money on the railroad tracks, his mother was an engineer. His parents never studied music. The singer's older sister studied piano at a music school. The composer’s grandmother, Maria Demyanovna, at one time knew how to play the guitar and loved to sing romances.
The family often gathered at the common table, where Igor was constantly asked to perform something. And then he took the button accordion and sang all the songs he knew. At first, his parents did not welcome his desire to devote his life to music. But their opinion changed in the future.
Education
In 1968 he entered a music school. From the age of 12 he began performing with an ensemble at the Palace of Culture. Then he began studying at the city music school.
Soon Igor decided to move to Leningrad to undergo training at composer school. This decision was unexpected for the parents, and the departure itself was hasty. Arriving in Leningrad, he began composing plays for the exam, which was one week away.
After the exam, Igor was confident of failure. But what a surprise he was when the conservatory teacher approached him, praised him and congratulated him on entering the school. It was Vladlen Chistyakov, who in the future treated the singer like a son.
Time within the walls of the school was not in vain. Kornelyuk considers it the most fruitful and at the same time very difficult in terms of workload. The singer began to seriously study the work of the orchestra and took up composition.
He was even given the opportunity to write musical accompaniment for the play “The Trumpeter on the Square”, which was staged in drama theater them. Pushkin. The artist graduated from college with excellent marks in 1982.
Then he entered the State Conservatory without much difficulty. By this time, Kornelyuk was already married, and he and his wife had a hard time. He tried to support his family on a scholarship and worked part-time wherever possible.
During his studies, Igor composed a symphony, many romances, music for films, theater performances. Here he became more familiar with the synthesizer and music processing on a computer. As thesis he presented the teachers with a computer symphony.
Even then, Professor A.S. Leman noted the guy’s enormous talent. After brilliantly graduating from university, the composer no longer composed symphonies, although this desire did not let him go for a long time.
First songs
According to the musician, his work was influenced by different music. He listened to QUEEN and loved jazz. Kornelyuk wrote his first song at the age of 9 years. His work was greatly influenced by his first unrequited love. Igor worried and suffered for a long time because his girl Lyuba abandoned him.
That's when the first love songs appeared. The musician believes that it was this event that made him a composer.
One day he bet with a classmate that he would write a hit that the entire Soviet Union would sing. This is what the song “Darling” turned out to be. Later Kornelyuk performed it himself together with E. Spiridonova and A. Ivantsova. The composition “A boy and a girl were friends,” sung by A. Asadullin, became even more successful.
The artist composed many popular songs with Regina Lisits, whom he met in his youth. In 1985, they wrote many hits, performed by famous stars stage. These were the compositions “Find out” by Anna Veski, “Not with me” by Svetlana Medyanik.
Subsequently, Anna Veski released an entire album with Kornelyuk’s songs. In 1987, the Smena newspaper named the singer best author and performer of his songs, he became one of the 10 best melodists of the USSR.
Kornelyuk's successful career as a solo singer began in 1988. He left the Buff Theater, where he worked artistic director, and suddenly popularity came to him. Victor Reznikov invited him to take part in the “Music Ring”.
Despite Reznik’s serious team, consisting of fans and famous artists, Kornelyuk won and woke up famous after the program. He began to sing his own songs. His composition “Ticket to the Ballet” received the “Song of the Year” prize at the concert.
In 1988, the singer performed at Luzhniki with his solo concert. His touring activities began to gain momentum. In 1989, a concert was held at the Olimpiysky, in 1991 - again at the Luzhniki, in 1992 - at the Oktyabrsky concert hall, in 1996 - at the State Central Concert Hall "Russia".
In 1998, the singer’s second “Musical Ring” took place, but this time with Viktor Chaika. And again he won. During my musical career Kornelyuk created a music studio and wrote more than a hundred songs.
Igor became one of the popular composers of Russian cinema. Just look at one hit, “The City That Doesn’t Exist,” written for the TV series “Gangster Petersburg.” The artist composed music for such films as “The Master and Margarita”, “Justice of Wolves”, “Russian Translation”, “Number 43”, “Taras Bulba”, “The Idiot” and others.
Music career
The composer tried himself in various fields: he hosted television programs and beauty contests, acted in TV series, and participated in television shows. At the age of 45, he received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and in 2010, Honorary Resident of the Petrograd District.
Besides concert activities Igor Kornelyuk participates in charity projects, is one of the founders of the fund for supporting education and creativity.
Igor's parents were incredibly proud of him. Unfortunately, they are no longer alive. In 2012, Kornelyuk buried his father, who suffered three strokes. His mother died in 2014. The musician had a hard time with the death of his parents. His only salvation was his job and his beloved family.
Personal life
The musician's chosen one studied at the department choral singing. Igor and Marina had been together for about two years when they decided to get married. At this time, the singer was just entering the conservatory. Their parents dissuaded them and asked them to wait, because the young people were nineteen years old.
But Igor did not listen to them and considers this decision one of the most correct in fate. He earned money for the wedding himself and didn’t ask anyone for help. The celebration took place in a restaurant, where relatives and friends were invited.
In 1983, the couple had a son, Anton. He did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps and now his hobby is computer technology. Igor dreams of having grandchildren as soon as possible, but Anton has not yet introduced his girlfriend to his parents.
Igor, it is believed that a man is supposed to plant a tree, give birth to a son and build a house. You have accomplished all this: the garden is full of trees, your son is grown, the house is magnificent. Do you think this is enough or is there something missing?
It seems to me that a person must certainly create something: sew, invent, make films, compose books or music - it doesn’t matter. And also to love: life, people, nature, homeland, finally. And the most important thing, perhaps, is to want. In my opinion, when desires die away, it is worse than illness, worse than loneliness. Life loses its meaning. I am sure that old age comes not when a person cannot, but when he does not want to. And if he has the desire, he will be young and in good shape even at 90 years old.
- Where did your “wants” begin to take shape?
In Brest - I was born and raised there. He lived with his parents and older sister Natasha on the edge of the city in a private house. It was located three kilometers from the border post - the state border Soviet Union. This was specific. Not only were fashionable items smuggled through Poland, including American jeans - everyone’s ultimate dream Soviet man, so we also listened to Polish radio, watched Polish television, so we were very advanced. Naturally, the music was recorded on tape recorders.
On my father's side, my ancestors were quite wealthy landowners. When Soviet power came, my grandfather was smart enough to voluntarily give everything up and get a job in a depot. Thus, he saved his family. It was only in 1988 that dad first told me about this and showed me our lands. I remember we were driving along the road with him, and he said: “Igor, our land begins behind this river.” And he pointed out the place where it ended about twenty minutes later. Moreover, we were driving at a speed of 80 km/h. But, as you might guess, the wealth of our forefathers did not fall to us. We lived very modestly, from paycheck to paycheck, and there was always not enough money. Well, everything.
Dad, Evgeny Kasyanovich, was incredibly artistic. In his youth he entered theater institute in Minsk, but was not accepted. Returning home, he said: “ Soviet art has lost an outstanding representative.” Perhaps this is true. On holidays, many guests gathered at our house, and the feasts were always very cheerful, because dad turned everyone on and constantly joked around. Everyone laughed at his stories, so much so that they forgot to eat and drink. Moreover, this was not a worked-out repertoire - it was never repeated.
Dad worked as a dispatcher at railway station: sent trains abroad. He spoke fluent Polish and Belarusian. Every year for Christmas, his Polish colleagues sent my sister and me a box of sweets and chewing gum. At that time it was beyond a dream. We stretched out these wonderful Christmas delicacies right up to the summer - my mother somehow distributed them.
Mom, Nina Afanasyevna, worked at a garment factory - first as a seamstress, then as an engineer, oversaw the activities of VOIR (All-Union Society of Inventors and Innovators) - she had huge amount rationalization proposals and inventions. Subsequently, she worked in the regional council of trade unions. But I sewed at home all the time: when I came home from work, I used the sewing machine. It’s a pity that my sister and I rarely got something sewn by her hands: mostly my mother’s clients were ladies of her own age.
I remember my pioneer childhood with great pleasure. We swam in the river with the boys, played football, climbed over fences to steal apples from other people's orchards, played war and wandered through labyrinths Brest Fortress with weapons carved from wood... And also me with early years studied music. It happened by chance. At the wedding of my father's friend (the head teacher of the music school), the conservatory professors gathered. At some point, they put me, a five-year-old boy, on a chair and asked me to sing. And to the accompaniment of the button accordion, I recited all the Soviet pop hits I knew. After which the musicians present told my parents that they should send me to study music. So, following my sister, I ended up in a music school. Natasha is now a teacher - choir conductor, teaching at a music school.
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
- In terms of the strength of sensations, for me nothing can compare with what is called “the joy of creativity” - no other joy in the world, including material. Photo: Andrey Fedechko
- Did your peers from the yard company tease you?
Well, of course! They immediately gave him a nickname - Composer. At first with the desire to insult, but gradually the mocking intonations gave way to respectful ones. Because already from the 5th grade I began to perform as part of the school VIA at all our evenings: I played and sang, then I began to write my own songs. I remember this episode. I was a maximalist, stubborn and a fighter - I almost started to fight for my truth. And then one day we started a big fight, dangerous. I'm in the forefront. Suddenly our guys run towards me shouting: “Hold Igor! Don't let him in! I was dumbfounded: “Why is that?” It turned out that they wanted to protect me, they were afraid that I would hurt my hands. This moved me to tears... And our ensemble began to enjoy popularity; on weekends we were invited to play at dances in the city House of Culture. They paid for it - I received 30 rubles a month and proudly brought it home.
But my parents were very skeptical about my passion for music. They said: “Igor, go to our Civil Engineering Institute, get a normal profession, after that play as much as you want.” Dad even laughed. Guests will come, he will pour vodka into a glass and foolishly hand it to me: “Why don’t you take it, son? Drink, you’re a musician - get used to it!” I thought that all musicians were alcoholics.
He also made fun of me when I first fell in love - in the 6th grade. On New Year My sister and I invited our friends and girlfriends to our place, and I invited a girl whom we had already met. When the parents realized that the girl had come not to Natasha, but to me, a mood suddenly reigned at the table. awkward silence. Say, isn't it too early to bring girls? And I was a bespectacled person, but I was embarrassed to wear glasses, especially in front of this girl. I wanted to look courageous, so I took off my eyepieces. And so, feeling that I needed to somehow defuse the situation, I couldn’t find anything better than to turn to this girl: “Lyuba, would you like a beer?” She was a little older than me - a seventh grader. (Laughing.) I have always liked older women: my wife is like that, six months older. That's why from March to November I call her old woman.
In short, Lyuba, frightened to death, says: “I want.” I take the bottle and try to pour it, but it doesn’t work - it doesn’t flow. Dad, gloomily watching the process, says: “Son, the bottle is closed. There are your glasses on the piano, put them on and stop showing off.” Soon the boys and I went to play and have fun, and in the morning I went to accompany Lyubochka home. And dad had an inexhaustible topic for teasing. I come home from school one day, he is sitting at his desk and is writing something in concentration. I ask what exactly. “I am writing,” he says, “a letter to Podgorny, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.” I was surprised: “About what?” - “So that he allows my little son to get married.” So he teased me.
And then this Lyuba left me: she found another guy, a military school cadet. For me it was terrible tragedy. I really got sick due to nervousness. I lay around for a couple of weeks, and for some time I was in complete oblivion. And when I came to my senses, the first thing I saw was my mother’s bowed face. And I said, “Mom, I want a peach.” For some reason I really wanted to. For Soviet times, in Brest, in March, this was some kind of fantastic desire. But my mother brought me a peach - maybe it was canned, but it didn’t matter. I can't imagine how she managed to get it. I tried it, but it seemed bitter to me. However, it was from that moment that I began to improve.
And most importantly, a frantic need to write songs suddenly appeared. I poured out my longing for unrequited love in sounds. He took poetry from everyone: Yesenin, Pasternak, Yaroslav Smelyakov. Everything I liked was warm and catchy... He brought new songs into our ensemble. We learned it, rehearsed it and then performed it at dances. And the girls gave us flowers. But that's not what impressed me. I was selflessly passionate about music, I literally lived it. This was the case in Brest - both at school and at the music school, where I entered after the 8th grade; This continued in Leningrad, where he studied at the conservatory. I couldn’t imagine myself outside of music, and I often caught myself thinking: “God, how lucky I am! How do people live without playing?
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
Wedding with Marina (1982). Photo: From the personal archive of Igor Kornelyuk
- Have your parents changed their attitude towards the profession of a musician?
I'll tell you one illustrative story. In 1969, dad bought a car - a Zaporozhets. One of the very first, with the body number, it seems, 0000000006. “Soapbox”, of course, but still it drove. Then Lada cars appeared, and dad was delighted with these “eights” and “nines” and began to dream about them. And then, in order to buy a car, you had to join a queue and wait in the wings for years. Dad waited 10 years. By this time, I managed to graduate not only from college, but also from the conservatory, moreover, I became a well-known artist. And finally it was dad’s turn. He took the money he had saved up with him and went to work, knowing that upon completion he would go to register the car. But wow, it was on this day that he had his first heart attack! Extensive. Apparently he was very worried. I left the hospital with a disability and had to say goodbye to my job. When he asked how things were going with his car, he received the answer: “You’re disabled, what kind of car do you want!” Dad was very offended. He devoted 35 years to this super-intense, wildly nervous, stressful work. I visited his control room: a huge room, surrounded by a board with maps of all the tracks, train routes, arrows on the tracks are indicated by light bulbs, they light up, flash, and dad manages it all, controls the process. In front of him are a dozen telephones that are constantly ringing. In the end, he was “thanked.”
And then - amazingly - just at that moment they called me from Togliatti and invited me to give concerts at the Sports Palace for a week. I told them: “Guys, I beg you, can you somehow arrange for me to buy a car from you right at the factory?” This was the practice then: all the artists basically bought cars that way. Of course, everything was organized for me, and that’s how I bought my first car. After the tour, I drove it to Brest, washed it thoroughly before entering the city and drove it into our yard. It was summer, dad was sitting on the porch at the back of the house and peeling potatoes. Noticing me, he was delighted: “Oh, Igor, where did you come from?” I take him around the corner, he sees the car, I say: “Dad, this is for you!” - and give him the keys. He began to cry. For the first time in my life I saw my father cry. Then I said: “Dad, well, you have to admit, he’s also a musician after all.” good profession. And not everyone is an alcoholic.” He laughed through his tears.
Dad suffered two heart attacks and three strokes, after the last one his motor functions were restored, but his speech was not - he could not speak for 18 years. He died suddenly, at the moment a blood clot came off. And my mother passed away three years later - in 2014, on my birthday. I returned from tour the night before and, as usual, wanted to call her right away. And then I thought: “Why? After all, early tomorrow morning my mother will still congratulate me.” But the call did not ring - a heart attack occurred at night.
Since then there has been an irreparable void. And pain. And the feeling that you didn’t say something, didn’t complete it, didn’t like it, and thousands more “not enough.” When your parents are alive, they are a kind of intermediate link between you and eternity: with them you feel protected. And after they leave, you begin to realize that you are left alone with this very eternity. It is impossible to reconcile with this. I miss my mom and dad terribly. At times it’s so strong that I don’t think I can handle it. This makes me depressed. And from overwork, by the way, too - I’m an emotional person. Let's say I recently realized that I have reached the edge, because for a long time I have been doing a huge job - writing an opera. In my opinion, opera is the highest level musical creativity. But, if I had known how difficult it is to work in this genre, honestly, I’m not sure I would have taken it on.
With son Anton (early 1990s). Photo: From the personal archive of Igor Kornelyuk
- How did you experience the euphoria of popularity?
Star sickness is a real disease, and those who jump into the orbit of fame certainly fall ill with it - all without exception. Only for some artists this exacerbation passes easily and quickly, while for others it can last for years, sometimes even for a lifetime.
I was probably lucky: my period of “illness” was short. And I was twisted after the “Musical Ring”, which was shown on All-Union Television in April 1988. I took part in it with the composer Vitya Reznikov, May the Kingdom of Heaven be his, and I happened to become the winner. That's when I actually woke up famous. At that time I lived near the Gorkovskaya metro station, and the next day after the Ring I had to go to Nevsky Prospekt - one metro station - and then walk a block to the right place. During this trip, I realized that something had changed radically in my life. You know, in Amsterdam there is a Red Light District where prostitutes sit in shop windows and passers-by look at them. I felt the same way. Of course, the recognition was pleasant; I was just bursting. But this did not last long - two or three weeks.
Major changes have occurred in the profession. Soon my song “Ballet Ticket” became a laureate of the “Song of the Year” television festival. Pugacheva called me and offered to meet me, I came to visit her, we talked for a long time, then we started collaborating, I worked for several months at her theater. I was very proud of this. And then my singing career began. With his first solo album he went to Vitebsk and performed in a new concert hall. Before the start I was terribly worried. And then my director at the time called me over, pulled back the curtain slightly and said: “Look through the crack.” I looked there and saw: the hall was crowded. Five thousand people paid four rubles each to listen to my songs! And I burst into tears: I began to go hysterical, tears flowed. I couldn’t even imagine such a thing. There was no way they could calm me down. The concert had to be delayed for about forty minutes. Then, nevertheless, I managed to pull myself together, went on stage, sat down at the piano and sang: “I forgot how to fly, I forgot how to dream, alas... And you?” That's how it all started. We wandered from city to city, working only in large halls - in Sports Palaces and stadiums. Of course, I reveled in it all.
Igor, it is known that you got married very early. Thanks to this, did you manage to avoid touring binges? Or did they occur in parallel with family life?
Logically, I must say: thank God that I tied the knot early and this gave me the opportunity to avoid dubious adventures! But this will not be true. I am a living person, and, of course, after the wedding there came times when... Yes, everything happened. Long tours, hotel life, drinking, groupies - all this tempts and greatly distances the righteous from the life. But you know, I think that in family relationships everything depends on the woman, on her wisdom. It is no coincidence that women are called homemakers. Marinka and I could have run away hundreds of times, but she had enough intelligence, tact, understanding, foresight and everything else to save the family, and I am immensely grateful to her.
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
- Marinka and I could have run away hundreds of times, but she had enough intelligence, tact, understanding and foresight to save the family. With his wife and Labrador Bonya. Photo: Andrey Fedechko
How was this expressed: did your wife not reproach you, did she accept everything as it was, or did she diplomatically try to reconfigure you?
Let's start with the fact that I never behaved like a pig towards her, did not get into trouble, did not advertise my affairs. If something like that happened, I tried to prevent the information from reaching her. But still, news flew from here and there. And when Marina started blaming me, I said that these were all rumors, evil tongues distribute. Not a bad excuse, but I think she understood everything correctly, although she pretended to be satisfied with this explanation. Yes, I have had affairs, or even fallen in love, and, accordingly, doubts arose about the correctness of my life, and a desire arose to change something. But how happy I am that the Lord kept me from this! My dad also told me: “Son, don’t do rash things. Then you will understand: there is no point in changing one for another.” And my teacher instructed: “A family is like a jug. If you break it, of course, you can glue it back together, but it will be a jug with cracks - not the same. So try to carry it through life intact.”
When Marinka and I decided to get married, everyone was surprised. She and I studied together at a music school in St. Petersburg: she - in the conducting and choral department, I - in the composition department. Once I wrote a cantata for choir and orchestra based on ancient ritual songs. And Marina, in addition to her very pretty appearance, had beautiful voice, and I invited her to the choir. Word by word, they started dating. We had an affair for a couple of years and I proposed.
Parents on both sides were dumbfounded. Marina’s mother, who raised her daughter alone, was categorically against it. Mine even cried and lamented: “My God, you’re only 19 years old, what are you doing, what’s your hurry, you still have a million.” different girls will!" In general, I listened to everything that is usually said to children in such cases. But we didn’t listen to anyone, and... I think I was lucky. I hope my wife does too.
- What kind of decoy was in Marina and how did you manage to magnetize her?
She was so sweet - I immediately felt like a kindred spirit, she was incredibly easy to talk to. And besides... As Mark Evgenievich Taimanov, a grandmaster and our good friend, joked, “the newlyweds loved each other so much that their child was born six months after the wedding...” Simultaneously with all the wedding events, in June 1982, I took my final exams at school and entrance to the conservatory. And we got married immediately after the premiere of my first commissioned work in my life - the play “Trumpeter on the Square,” for which I wrote the music and where Kolya Fomenko made his debut. We used the fee we received to celebrate our celebration - in a restaurant, with family, friends and teachers. It was fun.
- Were you ready for the birth of a child?
Of course not. But since this happened, I tried to behave like a man, I understood that my family had to be fed. In addition to studying in my first year at the conservatory, I began working as an arranger - writing scores. Just imagine: 30-line score paper, a magnifying glass, a sharpened pencil, an eraser, a ruler; I line the sheet and write notes for all the musicians - who should play what. By beat. One tick cost 40 kopecks. Most of all I loved waltzes. Do you know why? I'll explain now. (Plays a short passage on the piano.) That’s already sixty rubles! And if a song has several verses and, let’s say, in the second verse the orchestra plays the same thing as in the first, I simply marked out empty bars and gave these sheets to Marinka: “Rewrite from here to now!” Copy that is. And he wrote further. My record was 500 ticks per day! I sat down at the table at six in the morning and got up at two in the morning. Once I took a break to eat - I ate very quickly, almost standing. But he received real money.
Over time, I realized that by making arrangements, I was simply giving away my ideas to strangers, and I found another way to make money. I started going to Brest on weekends: I played there and sang at weddings. As a rule, he traveled together with a drummer, taking with him rented instruments - synthesizers, accordion. My music playing was like an attraction: I managed to play and sing for a whole orchestra, it turned out great. They loved me very much, they invited me everywhere, and although it was wildly exhausting, I liked it. Great - I went for a couple of days and earned 200-300 rubles.
I played at weddings until at one of them a man came up to me and said: “Hey, bespectacled man, do you know this song “Darling, I was very sad”? I say: “Actually, I know.” - “Well, can you play?” And that same evening they asked me to sing “Ticket to the Ballet.” That is, they didn’t know me by sight yet, but my songs were already being played, and people liked them. Then I realized: that’s it, I can’t play at weddings anymore, I need to move to the next level. I haven't played since then.
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
- A person must certainly create something: sew, invent, make films, compose books or music. And also to love: life, people, nature, homeland, finally. Photo: Andrey Fedechko
- How did you settle in your everyday life?
For the first four years, we lived with Marina’s mother (she was a school teacher) and grandmother in a two-room apartment in a Khrushchev-era building. They reproached Marina: they say, who did you marry - no stake, no yard, some kind of lowlife, with a scholarship of 40 rubles. But gradually everything began to improve. Now my mother-in-law, of course, respects me and loves me, but in the past, things happened, even scandals. And I’m a hot-tempered, emotional guy, and I didn’t stay in debt. Ultimately, everything poured out on Marina, it was not easy for her. So we moved to a rented apartment. We lived like this for several years. But one day the landlady suddenly called and told us to get out in two weeks. For the first time in my life I went to some kind of housing committee. And then my records were already coming out in millions of copies. I donated my CDs, outlined the situation and asked for at least a temporary apartment. And they allocated it to me - in Petrogradka, in a non-residential building, in a resettled communal apartment. We settled there first for a while, and then permanently - we managed to convert it into housing and buy it. Of course, this was a great joy.
But to be honest, for me, in terms of the intensity of sensations, nothing can compare with what is called “the joy of creativity.” Is it true. There is no other joy in the world, including material joy. Even love yields. This is the highest emotion that a person can experience. It happens that you are looking for a melody, looking, looking, and suddenly - oops! - got hooked. It’s impossible to explain - a second flash, a spark! Where? Not clear. But you seized this moment. And then the torment inevitably comes...
The spark is clearly captured in many of your works. Not only songs - just remember the music for films and TV series. The melody from “Gangster Petersburg” generally received the highest popular recognition: it sounded from almost every mobile phone...
I was amazed when I realized that this soundtrack had become so popular. Of course, such success is very pleasant. Moreover, if you consider that at that time I was not at all familiar with the specifics of film music, where main criterion one: the music in the frame should work. After all, she is almost the only thing that creates emotion in the film. When we look at the actor’s face, listen to a heartfelt monologue and swallow tears, we don’t even realize that this mood arises thanks to the music. There are many emotional components in it, and their balance must be absolutely precise. But I repeat: it is impossible to understand how this accuracy is calculated.
When Bortko called me to “Gangster Petersburg,” they dissuaded him: “Volodya, you’re crazy! Kornelyuk is pop, after all: “Rains, Rains,” “Ticket to the Ballet,” but we have a serious movie, a saga.” But for some reason the director believed in me and said: “Guys, either this composer writes the music, or let someone else shoot the film.” Then the producers fell behind. I must pay tribute, then these people called me, apologized and thanked me. And with “The Idiot” it arose new series mistrust. This time they told Bortko: “Volodya, what does Kornelyuk have to do with it?!” He writes for gangster films, but we have a classic, Dostoevsky! And the director told me: “If you can handle it, there will never be such conversations again.” For a very long time, nothing worked out for me, I suffered, fell into despair, saw Fyodor Mikhailovich in my dreams almost every night, tried hundreds of musical themes and felt that it was not right again. And yet I found it. I hope I managed it, since the conversations stopped.
However, he did not immediately decide to work on The Master and Margarita. Tormented, tortured by Dostoevsky, I was afraid that I would not defeat Bulgakov. Moreover, I did not believe at all in the possibility of filming this Bulgakov novel, much less in my own success. But Bortko managed to convince me in a quarter of an hour, and I finally took it on. You know, my mother said more than once: “Never think about what will happen tomorrow. When starting any work, do not try to look into its ending - so as not to be scared. It’s better to clearly plan today and strictly follow this plan. Then everything will work out, even what seemed impossible.” And so it happened. Even though this job was even harder for me than the previous one, and when it was all over, I really fell into depression, but in the end I was satisfied with the result.
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
- I am an emotional person, I can get depressed from overwork. I recently realized that I have reached the edge, because I am doing a huge job - writing an opera.. Photo: Andrey Fedechko
- There was no desire to introduce your son to the world of music?
When I was studying at a music school, there were guys who practiced next to me who didn’t really need it - their parents forced them. I saw how hard it was for them. And I promised myself: I will never condemn my children to such torment. When Antosha was little, I asked: “Do you want to study music?” He answered firmly: “No.” I suggested: “Come, sit with me, just listen, see how a melody appears out of nothing, maybe you will be interested.” He sat for five minutes, after which he said: “Dad, shall I go?” Then I gave him a test test: “Antosha, sing: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do...” He began: “Do-o-o...” At this point the experiment was stopped: everything is clear - free . I don’t know if I was right when I let go of the situation, maybe I should have been more persistent. In any case, the train has long left. The son graduated from St. Petersburg state university information technology, mechanics and optics, became a computer scientist and programmer. At the same time, his interests are varied, he is well versed in art, music, and cinema.
- Are you satisfied with his life?
An eternal philosophical question. The problem of fathers and children always remains. It seems to us that in our time the sun was higher, the grass was greener, the girls were more beautiful and in general everything was better. And we lived correctly, but they live incorrectly. We want to pass on to them the experience we have accumulated - we know how to do it. But they don’t want to adopt it and do everything their own way. Apparently, this is the law of life: everyone must go their own way, experience everything for themselves, fill their bumps. C'est la vie.
- But do you and your son have an understanding or are you picking fights?
Sometimes this way, sometimes that way. As far as I understand, in some matters he treats me like a walking anachronism - they say, what can I get from him, Dad?
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
- I am incredibly jealous of my friends and peers who have grandchildren! If I could live my life again, I know for sure: I would certainly have many children. Photo: Andrey Fedechko
- Did your popularity somehow affect him?
Were negative reactions. I remember when Antoshka went to 1st grade, high school students began to tease him. At one time they simply mocked and mocked: “Come on, Kornelyuchok, sing for us!” Come on, dance lively! For fright - a slash” - and so on. But the son did not say anything, was silent, and kept everything to himself. I accidentally found out about this, after which I immediately took him out of this school and transferred him to another, to a gymnasium.
- Don’t you think about your grandchildren?
You can’t imagine how jealous I am of my peer friends who have grandchildren! If I could live my life again, I know for sure: I would certainly have many children. Yes, in our youth Marina and I lived a very difficult life, but all the same, I would have “set” about 17 of them. The shooters would be running around, and I would remember: “Lord, what’s this guy’s name?” But what a continuation it would be! How much joy and happiness! There used to be large families. The concept of a pension did not exist, and children were a guarantee that you would be taken care of in old age. Nowadays people have few children and rely on the state. But that way of life, in my opinion, was more correct, more humane, or something.
Andrey_Fedechko.jpg)
Family: wife - Marina, musician, director of Igor; son - Anton (33 years old), programmer
Education: Graduated from the theoretical and composition department of the music school at the Leningrad State Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov, and then the Leningrad State Conservatory in composition class
Career: pop composer-performer (among the songs are “A boy and a girl were friends”, “Darling”, “Rains”, “Ticket to the ballet”, “Walking in Paris”), musical director Leningrad Theater "Buff", author of music for plays and films (in particular, for the films "Gangster Petersburg", "Idiot", "The Master and Margarita", "Taras Bulba")