Alexander Gradsky – famous person, who has versatile talents in the fields of poetry, music and vocals.
The founder of rock in Russia, People's Artist of the Russian Federation and winner of a number of state awards that were awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of theatrical, musical and pop arts.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Borisovich Gradsky was born on November 3, 1949 in the city of Kopeisk, Chelyabinsk region. He was the only child of his parents - mechanical engineer Boris Abramovich Fradkin and actress Tamara Pavlovna Gradskaya. The future artist spent his childhood beyond the Urals, but in 1957 his family moved to Moscow, where he entered a music school at the age of 9.
Young Gradsky experienced studying at a music school through force - he was exhausted and oppressed by daily classes, but they did not discourage young Sasha’s passion for music. Alexander Borisovich was not distinguished by his achievements in secondary school. IN to a greater extent As a child, he was interested in the humanities and literature, which allowed Gradsky to write his first poem at the age of 14. At the same age, the future artist became interested in Western music - his favorites were the musicians of the group.
At the age of 16, Alexander Borisovich had already firmly decided that he would become a singer and musician. Then he took his mother’s surname, under which the artist’s first performances took place as part of the Polish student group “Cockroaches”. The first song of Alexander Gradsky " Best city of the Earth” was then performed at many regional concerts.
In 1969, Alexander entered the faculty academic singing V Russian Academy music named after Gnesins. In 1974, he graduated from the university, during which he received his first experience of solo performances. Gradsky later attended the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Soviet composer.
Music
After graduating from GMPI, Alexander Gradsky’s musical career began to rapidly gain momentum. He became one of the first musicians in the country who boldly experimented with Russian-language lyrics in rock. Back in student years created the group “Skomorokhi”, whose repertoire consisted of Gradsky’s songs.
With “Skomorokhs” Alexander Gradsky toured the country, gathering full houses of fans. His popularity at that time simply went off scale - the musician gave several solo concerts lasting 2 hours. In 1971, the group also took part in the prestigious All-Union Festival “Silver Strings”, where in 20 minutes of performance they created a sensation and received 6 out of 8 prizes.
During the same period, Alexander Gradsky created the legendary songs “How beautiful this world is” and “How young we were,” which the musician did not perform at any of his concerts until 1990, despite the expectations of the audience.
Alexander Gradsky's solo songs were not his only direction in his work - the musician simultaneously worked on creating musical accompaniment for a number of films. "Romance of Lovers", written and performed personally by Alexander Borisovich in the film of the same name, became a breakthrough in creative biography Gradsky.
Alexander Gradsky - "Romance of Lovers"For this composition in 1974 he was recognized as “Star of the Year” according to music magazine Billboard, which experts rated creative activity Alexander Borisovich as “an outstanding contribution to world music.”
According to the musician, at that time he earned more than others famous people who could be seen on TV. He jokingly called his relationships with other music stars “neutrality.”
Alexander Borisovich wrote musical accompaniment to almost fifty feature films, as well as several dozen cartoons and documentaries. He also participated in some films as an actor.
In 1972, Alexander Gradsky played in “A Courtesy Visit”, in 1979 he made a cameo in the 2-part film “Tuning Fork”, and in 1991 in the film “Genius”. The musician performed vocal parts in another 20 films. Also appeared in 5 documentaries and 2 video clips.
Alexander Gradsky also proved himself in the fundamental format of stage productions. In 1967-1969 he participated in the work on the rock opera “The Fly-Tsokotukha”.
His next creation, also a rock opera, “Stadium” (1973-1985), became much more famous. The plot of this production was based on real events: the military coup in Chile in 1973. The general who came to power began massive repressions that led to thousands of deaths. One of the victims of this regime was singer Victor Jara, whose fate formed the basis of the rock opera.
Alexander Gradsky - rock opera "Stadium"The work does not mention the name of the hero or the place of action, but the entire outline of the narrative ambiguously points to Chilean events. The role of the Singer was performed by Gradsky himself. The main characters were presented by popular Soviet artists -, and.
At the end of the 70s, Alexander Gradsky released several records and began teaching activities at his native institute. Gnesins and at GITIS, where he headed the vocal department.
Since 1985, Alexander Borisovich has been working on the music for the first Russian rock ballet “Man,” based on the novel.
Ballet by Alexander Gradsky "Rasputin"Afterwards, the musician works on two more ballets: “Rasputin” and “Jewish Ballad”. As a performer, Gradsky performs in 1988 Bolshoi Theater with the part of the Astrologer in the production of the opera “The Golden Cockerel” under the direction of conductor Evgeny Svetlanov.
In the early 90s, when Gradsky had the opportunity to perform abroad, he decided to reduce his touring activities, becoming carried away by the development of the Theater of Contemporary Music. However, even with a “shortened” concert program, he managed to gain popularity abroad - he participated in joint musical projects with John Denver, Diana Warwick, Kris Kristofferson and others worldwide famous artists.
Alexander Gradsky - "How young we were"For musical activity Alexander Gradsky was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia in 1997, and in 2000 received the highest honorary title People's Artist Russia. The President of the Russian Federation personally congratulated the rock musician on this award.
Alexander Gradsky continues to be active in music until today. 15 discs were released under his authorship. Among latest works One cannot fail to note the opera “The Master and Margarita” with a unique cast of participants, on which Alexander Borisovich worked for more than 13 years.
The composer began working on the rock musical “The Master and Margarita” back in the 90s. The libretto, written by Pavel Grushko, lay idle for several years, Gradsky worked on the musical for another 7 years, and by 2009 the production was ready - but was never shown on stage.
"The Master and Margarita" exists only in the form of a recording, where the roles are played by star friends Alexander Borisovich, and he himself performed 4 parts of the central characters. Other parts went to musicians such as Joseph Kobzon and others.
Alexander Gradsky - opera "The Master and Margarita"As Alexander Borisovich later claimed, he manages to finish works on time only if there is a customer, and the author is ready to redo his works for years.
From 2012 to 2015, Alexander Gradsky participated in the show “” as a mentor. He became a representative of the golden jury, which also included, and. On the show, the maestro worked together with his daughter - he invited Masha as an adviser when a decisive choice had to be made.
Alexander Gradsky on the show "The Voice" The legend of Soviet and Russian rock music for several seasons in a row led his players to victory in the country's main vocal project. Among them are , and . According to some reports, it was Alexander Borisovich who was considered the highest paid judge of the project. Reporters voiced the figure of $7 thousand per day, while other mentors had the amount half that. The musicians did not comment on whether this is actually true.
Daniil Gradsky - "Tears In Heaven"In addition, Alexander Borisovich was remembered by the participants and spectators for the fact that he determined their age based on the performers’ voice data. The musician made a mistake only twice: he did not recognize Daniil’s son in the 3rd season of “The Voice” and did not understand who was behind the screen when Dima Bilan performed the song in the 4th season.
In 2013, publicist and television journalist Evgeny Dodolev published the book “Alexander Gradsky. The Voice". According to the author, he collected material for the publication for 20 years; it included interviews with the maestro and statements from his loved ones.
Alexander Gradsky - "The pendulum will swing"Alexander Borisovich became the founder musical theater"Gradsky Hall". The actors of the theater group become best participants mentor team from the “Voice” project, including Busha Goman and others. His eldest son Daniil also works with his father. The young man is engaged in PR and promoting the official website of the theater.
Personal life
The personal life of Alexander Gradsky is quite bright. The founder of Russian rock was married three times. The first marriage took place in early youth musician. His chosen one was Natalya Smirnova, with whom the man lived in official relations for only 3 months.
Gradsky himself calls this marriage a “youth act.”
In 1976, Alexander Borisovich married for the second time. The actress became his wife, but the rock musician could not find family happiness with her either.
With his third wife Olga Gradsky lived in official marriage 23 years old. In this union, the musician had two children - in 1981, a son, Daniel, was born, and in 1986, the wife gave her husband a daughter, Maria. In 2003, this marriage also ceased to exist.
Since 2004 Alexander Gradsky lives in a civil marriage with a Ukrainian model who is 30 years younger than the musician. He was always distinguished by humor and high self-esteem, so he met a girl right on the street, inviting her to “touch history.” Kotashenko did not recognize the star of Soviet and Russian rock, but called back two weeks later. Already on the first date, it became clear that Alexander Borisovich charmed the young lady. With Gradsky, Marina felt calm and at ease.
Gradsky’s young wife gave him a child in 2014, who was named Alexander. The birth of his son Alexander Alexandrovich took place in New York in one of the prestigious clinics. Gradsky’s wife maintains an even relationship with the other children. Gradsky's daughter Maria, who now lives in Miami, even accompanied Marina on her trip to America, where the baby was given birth. It is interesting that Alexander Gradsky Jr. was born on the birthday of his grandfather, Boris Fradkin, September 1.
Sasha is growing under close attention mother - the girl refuses offers from film directors for the sake of her family, despite the fact that in the mid-2000s she graduated from the acting department of VGIK. They bought the boy a real guitar, but for now it’s a child’s size, and Alexander Alexandrovich has already mastered song repertoire from your favorite cartoons and children's programs. In the future, the parents plan to send the young musician to the appropriate studio.
In the summer of 2016, photos of Gradsky and his wife on the beach spread around the Internet. Evil tongues they called the couple “beauty and the beast,” and even the musician himself admitted that he was lucky that Marina chose him and did not find a younger couple.
Kotashenko herself never became a reason for gossip and gave no reason to doubt her attitude towards her husband. Now Alexander Gradsky lives with his family in the Moscow region in the village of Novoglagolevo, where he built a house with an area of 400 square meters. m, writes classical music and teaches vocals. Despite its popularity and active life position, the musician considers himself a marginal and apolitical person.
Gradsky does not like representatives of the press. Because of their annoyingness, he nicknamed the reporters “journalists.” The word took root in the musician’s vocabulary and went “to the people.” The composer has a personal website, where he introduces fans to the latest releases of his work, but the musician does not have an account on Instagram.
Alexander Gradsky now
In September 2017, after a break, Alexander Gradsky returned to the “Voice” project and again led his charge to victory. The winner of the first place in the 6th season of the television competition was.
Many fans of the show expected to see the maestro in the next season. But a year later, the name of Alexander Borisovich did not appear in any of the judges’ lists of three launched projects, including “Voice 60+” and “Voice. Children". The musician himself did not comment on the news.
In November 2018, it became known that Marina Kotashenko. Son Ivan became the girl’s second child and Gradsky’s fourth. The musician and his wife do not comment on the information.
Discography
- 1972 – “How wonderful this world is”
- 1974 – “A Romance of Lovers”
- 1979 – “Only you believe me”
- 1987 – “Let’s get started”
- 1989 – “Monte Cristo”
- 1994 – “Untimely Songs”
- 1996 – “LIVE in Russia”
- 2003 – “Reader”
- 2009 – “The Master and Margarita”
- 2011 – “Unformat”
- 2014 – “Romances”
Musician Alexander Gradsky is seriously ill. In addition to obesity, diabetes and frailty, a broken leg has recently been added. But still, the 67-year-old artist did not refuse to participate in the filming of the new season of the super project “The Voice”.
ON THE TOPIC
In order for Gradsky to easily occupy the chair of a jury member, a special ramp was installed in the studio, thanks to which he climbed onto the platform. The assistants helped the master take a seat in the chair. And only after that the director gave the command “Motor!”
The singer believes that a broken leg will not interfere with the filming process. And I took part in the blind auditions with interest. “I’m incredibly tired of “The Voice”! Especially because people began to recognize me on the streets, come up to me, ask for a selfie or an autograph. And “The Voice”, I think, is already tired of me. In general, before going there, I thought about two months, but then I realized that the idea was great,” the musician assured on the eve of filming.
Let us remind you that Gradsky, together with Pelageya, Bilan and Agutin, will judge the participants in the sixth season of “The Voice”. The director of the music editorial office of Channel One, Yuri Aksyuta, announced this on the evening of August 13. As they say, Gradsky’s participation in the previous “series” ensured comfortable existence several years ahead. In just one season he received two million dollars. Pelageya, Bilan and Agutin, according to rumors, are earning a million dollars from the project. And the presenter of “The Voice” Dmitry Nagiyev – about two million.
Filming for the sixth season recently started. show "The Voice", which means the program management has already decided on the composition of mentors this year. Fans of the program remember how negatively TV viewers and many music experts on last year's appointment of the show's management. After all, then Polina Gagarina, Grigory Leps and rapper Basta became members of the jury. This composition of mentors seemed incompetent to many - the stars were accused of not professionally selecting participants in blind auditions.
Apparently, this year the show's management decided to listen to the wishes and comments of TV viewers and fans of the program. Thus, it became known that in the sixth season the “golden” jury, which included Alexander Gradsky, Leonid Agutin, Dima Bilan and Pelageya. This was announced by the General Producer of the United Directorate of Music and Entertainment Broadcasting of Channel One, Yuri Aksyuta. A video announcing the names of mentors was published on the channel’s website.
Fans of the program were delighted with the news of the return of the “golden” jury. However, many were alarmed by the news that Gradsky was coming to the set of the show in wheelchair. According to eyewitnesses, the organizers of “The Voice” even had to install a special ramp so that Alexander could sit in the mentor’s red chair.
As it turned out, the artist broke his leg shortly before filming began. However, despite the accident, he decided not to refuse work and accepted Channel One’s offer to participate in the sixth season of “The Voice.” Gradsky missed the fifth season of the program, which, according to rumors, he refused to participate in due to disagreements with the management regarding his fee. However, there is another version - gossipers claim that Alexander was very disappointed with the results fourth season, when it was not his ward who won and therefore refused to film in the fifth season. Neither the musician himself nor his representatives confirmed these speculations in any way.
Alexander Gradsky gained fame back in the 70s of the last century. Then he, together with Mikhail Turkov, created the rock group “Slavs”. But even today many people know this talented musician, poet. He is also known as public figure. Alexander has the honorary title of People's Artist of Russia. In the article we will pay attention to Gradsky’s personal life and other interesting details from his biography.
Alexander Borisovich Gradsky, whose biography and personal life is so interesting to us, was born in the Chelyabinsk region. In a town called Kopeisk. It was November 3, 1949. The musician's mother was a professional actress. She played in the theater. And perhaps it was from her that the boy inherited artistry and love of art.
Father Alexander had a more “down-to-earth” profession. He worked as a mechanical engineer. In 1957, the family moved to the capital of the USSR, Moscow. Dad still worked at the factory, and mom worked as a teacher in kindergartens. theater studios. In addition, she was one of the authors of a well-known literary magazine at the time. It is interesting that for a long time the boy lived with his grandmother in Rastorguevo (Butovo district) near Moscow. There he studied at a music school and learned to play the violin. This gave the child great interest. But he didn’t want to practice the violin much at home.
At school, the boy also gravitated toward the humanities. He really liked history and literature. He was especially fond of poetry. And at the age of thirteen he wrote his first poem for the first time.
Gradsky recalls that instead of studying the violin, he spent all his free time to sports. The artist played football and was fond of volleyball and wrestling. In addition, he went to chess. Music school He graduated from the violin class. But the Beatles, who appeared at that time, changed the boy’s worldview so much that he had no chance of becoming a violinist.
In addition, Gradsky loved to listen modern music- both domestic and foreign performers. He adored Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong, Mark Bernes, Klavdia Shulzhenko, Lydia Ruslanova.
A. Gradsky in his youth
His uncle brought him from abroad vinyl records with modern hits. And the boy was amazed by the amazing music. In high school, he began performing as a performer at school events. He sang and played along with himself on the guitar or piano. In addition, he tried his hand as an actor in the school theater.
As a child, Alexander bore the last name Fradkin, which is his father’s last name. However, everything changed when his mother, Tamara Pavlovna Gradskaya, passed away in 1963. The boy missed her very much and decided to change his last name.
The path to popularity
1963 became a landmark year for the boy. He lost loved one, changed his last name and took the first steps in his musical career. He first started playing in the rock band "Cockroaches", which included students from Poland. And in 1965, at sixteen, he organized the group “Slavs”. This group became very popular in the USSR, the young guys won the hearts of many fans. They sang songs of popular groups - Rolling Stones and The Beatles.
In 1966, Alexander Gradsky, in whose biography and personal life there is a lot interesting moments, created another group - “Skomorokhi”. He himself was the author of songs, composing them in his native language. And in the company of old friends from the “Slavs” - Vyacheslav Dontsov and Viktor Degtyarev - he travels around cities on tour. Soon they earn money to buy themselves high-quality expensive equipment. But he doesn’t abandon the “Skomorokhi” team either. Together with him, he continues to tour Soviet cities. And Gradsky personally receives honorary awards for his activities - “For vocals”, “For guitar” and “For composition”.
One day, director Andrei Konchalovsky noticed Alexander and invited him to take part in the filming of his film “Romance of Lovers.” Initially, Gradsky was invited simply as talented singer. And then he became the author of all the poems, songs and music that were heard in this film.
Then Gradsky receives even greater fame and the “Star of the Year” award (1974). Career young musician is rapidly going uphill. The audience loves Gradsky very much; they come to his concerts with pleasure.
But Gradsky, despite his resounding success, does not become arrogant - he continues to study. In 1974 he became a student at the Moscow Conservatory. His teacher was famous composer Tikhon Khrennikov. In 1988, Gradsky wrote compositions for films, which soon became popular.
In the late 70s, Gradsky wrote many songs in support of rock music. As you know, such compositions were not very encouraged in the USSR. They were considered a negative trend from the West. Because of such activities of Gradsky, he has many ill-wishers.
However, the musician remains true to his views and continues to work actively. For several years he taught at the Gnessin School, and then at the institute. Worked as head of the vocal department.
From 1976 to 1980 he wrote the suite “Russian Songs” in two parts. He also publishes a collection of compositions, “Reflections of a Jester,” where he introduces himself as an artist capable of singing and playing music in various genres. In addition, Gradsky composes the opera “Stadium” and music for the ballet “Man”. And after the death of the poet and composer Vladimir Vysotsky, Gradsky changes the vector of creativity to tragic and dramatic.
Worldwide popularity
It is interesting that Gradsky is popular not only in his homeland, but also abroad. Under his leadership, various creative projects. Concerts are held in the capital of the USSR with the participation of various orchestras, rock groups and choir soloists. Gradsky also has fifteen CDs with his compositions coming out. Abroad, Gradsky works with such celebrities as Liza Minnelli, John Denver, Diana Warwick and others.
A. Gradsky with John Denver
Today Gradsky is still popular, continues to tour Russia and works abroad. In addition, for a long time he was a member of the jury of the “Voice” project on central television. Young talents under his leadership have repeatedly become winners of this high-profile project.
Gradsky has been friends with Alexandra Pakhmutova for many years. They met at work. Gradsky was supposed to record a composition for the film “My Love in the Third Year.” And Pakhmutova wrote the music for this film. This acquaintance grew into a long friendship. And it was Pakhmutova who wrote it for Alexander Borisovich famous song"How young we were." It's been a hit for years now.
Gradsky admitted in an interview that he gained popularity precisely thanks to the composition “How Young We Were” and the popular film “Romance of Lovers,” for which he wrote the musical accompaniment. The artist does not hide the fact that he was offered a lot of money for concerts - like no one else in the USSR. The fact is that everywhere he could gather full houses. Not every touring artist can do this.
Gradsky's productions
Alexander Gradsky, whose biography and personal life we are discussing today, is widely known as the author of numerous stage productions. For example, his work, the rock opera “Stadium,” became very famous and popular. It talks about the military coup in Chile in 1973. Then Augusto Pinochet subjected the country to terrible repressions. Many people died. The hero of the opera is musician Victor Jara, who also became a victim of the bloody regime. Although Gradsky does not indicate the name of the main character and the location of the events, it is clear that this is the story that is based on it. Interestingly, the role of the singer with tragic fate played by the artist himself.
This work was released on disc, so fans of Gradsky’s work can get acquainted with it. The roles in the work are played by the author's friends - Alexander Rosenbaum, Joseph Kobzon, Lolita, Andrei Makarevich, Grigory Leps and others.
Gradsky Alexander with his wife: photo
It so happened that the popular musician was married several times. His first wife is Natalya Gradskaya. The artist met her in his youth and, without thinking twice, got married. The second wife of the master was the famous Soviet actress Anastasia Vertinskaya.
For the third time, the artist married Olga Gradskaya. They lived together for 23 years. Olga gave birth to two children to the musician. The son of Alexander Gradsky, whose personal life and biography is still of interest to fans, is called Daniil. He was born in 1981. And his daughter's name is Maria. She was born in 1985. son is successful businessman, which does not prevent him from seriously pursuing music. The daughter works as a TV presenter.
And in 2004, Alexander married again. His chosen one was the beauty and model Marina Kotashenko, who is thirty years younger than him. They met on the street, where the charming Gradsky was able to attract the girl’s attention. Marina later admitted in an interview that she was happy in her marriage. The musician treats her with love and takes care of her. In addition, she is interested in him as a person. Marina is currently filming TV series.
And in 2014 she gave Alexander Borisovich a son. Happy Event happened in the capital of the United States. The child was named Sasha in honor of his father, but it is too early to say whether the boy will become such a famous musician.
In 2016, paparazzi caught Gradsky and his young wife on vacation and posted photos of Alexander and Marina on the Internet. After which the family was hit with many malicious comments. Alexander, unlike his young wife, cannot boast excellent shape. Therefore, many called their union nothing more than “Beauty and the Beast.” Alexander admits that he does not have a complex, but on the contrary, he is very glad that Marina chose him and not someone younger and more athletic.
It should be noted that the beauty was never seen trying to cheat on her husband and never gave anyone any reason to doubt her love for her husband. However, it is not surprising that Gradsky really does not like journalists. It was he who introduced the word “journalist” into use, reflecting his negative attitude towards representatives of this profession.
Now Alexander Gradsky, whose biography and personal life is the subject of today’s article, lives with his family in the Moscow region. He writes music and teaches vocals.