Producer Yuri Aizenshpis was one of the first in our country to begin professionally “promoting” pop and pop stars. There were legends about this man, and his every step was shrouded in the most incredible rumors. But despite everything, all the projects that Yuri Aizenshpis took on turned out to be successful.
Contrary to the general trend, the performers who left him never threw mud at him in the press and never entered into legal battles.
Yuri Aizenshpis: biography. Childhood and adolescence
Aizenshpis was born in Chelyabinsk in 1945. His mother, Maria Mikhailovna Aizenshpis, a native Muscovite, was sent to evacuate to this city. Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis (Yuri's father) is a Polish Jew who was forced to leave his homeland to escape the Nazis. He fought in the ranks of the Soviet army and was a veteran of the Second World War.
After the end of the war, the family returned to Moscow. Until 1961, she lived in a dilapidated wooden barracks, and then received a wonderful apartment in a prestigious area of the capital. At that time they had a gramophone with a large collection of gramophone records and a KVN-49 TV.
As Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis himself recalled, in his youth he was seriously involved in sports: handball, athletics, volleyball, but due to a leg injury he had to stop playing. In addition to sports, the young man at that time was interested in jazz. He had a tape recorder, which the young man bought with his savings.
The first recordings were jazz compositions by famous musicians of the world - Woody Herman, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald. Yuri Aizenshpis, whose photo you can see in our article, was well versed in various directions - jazz-rock, avant-garde and popular jazz. After some time, he became interested in the origins of rock music, the founders of the rhythm and blues movement.
The circle of lovers and connoisseurs of this music in those days was very small; everyone knew each other. When one of the like-minded people had a new record, Yuri Aizenshpis rewrote it. At that time, “black markets” were widespread in our country, which the police constantly dispersed. Exchange, purchase and sale were prohibited. The disks were simply confiscated from the sellers. And despite everything, records entered the country from abroad regularly, overcoming the powerful barriers of customs rules and laws. Some performers were banned - Elvis Presley, the Bary sisters.
Education
After graduating from school, Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich entered MESI and graduated in 1968 with a diploma in economics. But it should be noted that he entered the institute and successfully graduated only so as not to upset his parents.
First musical project
Yes, a graduate of the Faculty of Economics, Yuri Aizenshpis, did not like his specialty at all. His soul was drawn to music. While still studying at the institute, twenty-year-old Yuri began his creative activity, showing courage and business acumen.
In the mid-seventies, Beatlemania swept the world. At this time, Yuri and a group of like-minded musicians created the first rock band in our country. Since all the members of the group lived near the Sokol metro station, they didn’t go too far with the name of the group and they also called it “Falcon”. Today this group has taken its rightful place in the history of the Russian rock movement.
At first, the musicians performed songs of the legendary Beatles in English. At that time, it was believed that rock music could only exist in English. Friends had long noted Yuri’s activity and organizational talent, so they appointed him as something of an impresario.
After some time, the team was accepted into the staff of the Tula Philharmonic. The group toured a lot, and Aizenshpis’s monthly income sometimes reached the astronomical sum of 1,500 rubles at that time. For comparison: the salary of ministers of the Soviet Union was no more than a thousand rubles.
Ticket selling
At the very beginning of his activities, more precisely during his collaboration with the Sokol group, Yuri developed an unusual ticket sales scheme. Having previously agreed with the director of some cultural center or club, Aizenshpis bought all the tickets for the last showing of the film, and then sold them at a higher price for the group’s concert.
As a rule, there were significantly more people wanting to listen to music than there were seats in the hall. At times the situation got out of control. It was for this reason that Aizenshpis was the first to hire security guards in the seventies to ensure order at concerts.
With the money received from the sale of tickets, he purchased foreign currency, with which he purchased high-quality musical instruments and high-quality sound equipment for the stage from foreigners. Since all foreign exchange transactions were illegal in the USSR at that time, he always took great risks when making transactions.
Work at the USSR Central Statistical Office
In 1968, Aizenshpis joined the Central Statistical Office as a junior researcher with a salary of 115 rubles. However, he rarely visited his workplace. His main income continued to be foreign exchange transactions, purchase and further sale of gold. He made transactions whose volume exceeded a million dollars a month. At that time, the underground millionaire was only 25 years old.
Arrest
But this life did not last long. At the beginning of January 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested. During a search, $7,675 and 15,585 rubles were found in his apartment. He was convicted under Article 88 (“Currency transactions”). Even in places of detention, Aizenshpis’s entrepreneurial spirit was evident. In the Krasnoyarsk-27 zone, the future producer launched a brisk trade in tea, vodka and sugar. Then he began to be appointed to management positions at local construction sites.
When he was transferred to a settlement colony, Yuri fled from there to Pechory and settled with a local intellectual, whom he charmed with his charm and conversations about the capital. However, he was soon exposed by a guest at home - a police colonel. And again, Aizenshpis’s amazing luck, as well as his knowledge of the basics of psychology, came to the rescue. He was transferred to another colony to an excellent position as a normalizer.
Yuri Aizenshpis served almost 18 years in prison for something that any citizen is now allowed to do. But something else is important: over such a long period of time, Aizenshpis did not become embittered, did not become a criminal, and did not lose his human appearance.
Life after release
Finding himself free in 1988, Aizenshpis saw an unfamiliar Russia during perestroika. Alexander Lipnitsky introduced him to the rock scene. Initially, he was entrusted with heading the directorate of the Interchance festival. Gradually, step by step, he studied behind-the-scenes life and the basics of show business, and soon the aspiring producer began working with domestic music performers.
Yuri Shmilevich formulated his purpose quite frankly - to promote the artist using any means: diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail. This is exactly how he acted, for which they began to call him “the shark of show business.”
There were plenty of unknown young performers who dreamed of making it to the big stage. Among them, Yuri Aizenshpis chose those who could hook the viewer, who had at least a more or less interesting repertoire. At first, he introduced them to the general public through television, and then organized tours.
Group "Kino"
From December 1989 until the tragic death of Viktor Tsoi (1990), Aizenshpis was the producer and director of the Kino group. He was the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records. Already in 1990, he released the “Black Album” using funds taken on credit.
It should be noted: by the beginning of cooperation with the producer, Kino was already a fairly well-known group. At that time, the most successful, legendary album “Blood Type” had already been recorded. According to critics, after him Tsoi could not write a single line for two or three years. Therefore, cooperation with Kino brought Aizenshpis to a new stellar level of activity, which allowed him to earn authority in his craft.
"Technology"
If “Kino” already had some success at the beginning of working with the producer, then the “Technology” group was fashioned almost from scratch by Yuri Aizenshpis. “Lighting up the stars” is how the producer began to be called more and more often after his second successful project. Using the example of “Technology”, he was able to prove that he could take guys with an average level of talent and “fashion” them into stars.
Among the numerous ensembles existing on the stage at that time was the Bioconstructor group, which over time split into two subgroups. One was called “Bio”, and the second was just thinking about its name and musical concept. They could show only two or three songs, which the already famous producer liked. As time has shown, Aizenshpis was not mistaken and was able to create a truly popular group called “Technology”.
Linda
In 1993, Aizenshpis drew attention to the young performer Svetlana Gaiman in Jurmala. Very soon the name of singer Linda became known to both viewers and music critics. Soon the compositions “I want your sex”, “Non-stop” and the famous hit “Playing with Fire” appeared. Linda's collaboration with the producer lasted less than a year, after which they parted ways.
Vlad Stashevsky
This project was more long-term - it lasted six years (1993-1999). The favorite half of Russian viewers, the sex symbol of the mid-nineties, was Vlad Stashevsky, who, in collaboration with Aizenshpis, released five albums.
The producer met Stashevsky at the Master nightclub. Yuri Shmilevich heard Vlad playing an out-of-tune piano backstage and singing songs from the repertoire of Mikhail Shufutinsky and Willy Tokarev. After this meeting, nothing foreshadowed long-term cooperation, although Aizenshpis left his business card for the unknown performer.
A few days later he called Vlad and they agreed on a meeting, during which Aizenshpis introduced Vlad to Vladimir Matetsky, who took part in the audition. Stashevsky's first performance took place at the end of August 1993 in Adjara, at a song festival.
Awards, further creative activities
In 1992, Aizenshpis was awarded the Ovation Prize as the best producer in Russia. Until 1993, Yuri Shmilevich produced the groups “Young Guns”, “Moral Code”, and the singer Linda. In 1997, he began to work with singers Inga Drozdova and Katya Lel, a year later singer Nikita became his protégé, and in 2000 he began collaborating with the Dynamite group.
During this period, Yuri Aizenshpis became especially famous as a very successful producer. The man who lit up the stars on the Russian stage has taken the post of CEO of the Media Star company since 2001.
Dima Bilan
Yuri Aizenshpis and Dima Bilan met in 2003. According to music critics, the last project of the famous producer, which he worked on for the last three years of his life, became one of the most successful in the work of Yuri Shmilevich. In September 2005, Dima Bilan was recognized as the best performer of 2004 by MTV, and much later became the winner of Eurovision 2008.
Other roles
In 2005, Yuri Shmilevich played a cameo role in the popular Russian film “Night Watch”. In addition, he became the author of the book “Lighting the Stars.”
Family life
Aizenshpis did not like to talk about his personal life. At the Interchance-89 festival, he met a very pretty assistant director, Elena. The couple did not formalize the relationship. In 1993, a baby appeared in the family - son Misha. But gradually the feelings lost their former severity, and the couple broke up.
Yuri Shmilevich spoiled his son Aizenshpis, however, the educational process was completely transferred to Elena’s shoulders. Mikhail often visited his father’s office and went with him to concerts. Yuri Shmilevich bequeathed two huge apartments in Moscow to his son and ex-wife. After the death of the producer, Elena married the editor of the TNT channel Leonid Gune.
Yuri Aizenshpis: cause of death
On September 20, 2005, this talented person, a recognized and successful Russian producer, passed away. At about eight o'clock in the evening, Yuri Aizenshpis died in Moscow City Hospital No. 20. Death was due to extensive myocardial infarction. Yuri Shmilevich was buried at the Domodedovo cemetery near Moscow.
On September 20, Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis (1945-2005), one of the few real producers in this country, died.
Aizenshpis got into show business in his youth, but much of what he did then was on the verge of legality (). As a result, the guy went to a prison university and was able to fully return to work only at the age of 45.
Aizenshpis's first project was Viktor Tsoi, whose collaboration was interrupted by a tragic accident.
Artists left him with scandals, he abandoned them himself, and sometimes there was not enough money for further promotion.
Let's talk today about the “thwarted” projects of a producer who is considered super successful.
TECHNOLOGY GROUP (1991-1992)
Cooperation: The group members agree that Aizenshpis took them, like Tsoi, “ready-made.” There was no need to do anything - “Technology” had already successfully performed “Strange Dances” and “Press the Button,” which became the guys’ calling card.
Aizenshpis simply shot them a video for “Strange Dances” and charged the airwaves. In addition, he persuaded the participants to squint outwardly to “Depeche Mode.” Well, I also brought lighting equipment from abroad.
But filming clips and broadcasting cost money, which the participants in “Technology” did not seem to understand. Television editors demanded money for every sneeze, making Aizenshpis nostalgic for the days when Tsoi’s appearance on the Vzglyad program did not cost anything.
Reasons for the breakup: The crowd ruined “Technology”. Income was divided at the rate of 60% to Aizenshpis, 40% to the group. In principle, it was divine, but this 40% had to be split between four people and the amount turned out to be unimpressive. Why “Technology” blamed Aizenshpis for this is not entirely clear. Let's assume there are problems with arithmetic.
Wanting to wrest not only freedom, but also money from Aizenshpis, “Technology” turned to crime for help.
Aizenshpis said:
“Not only I, but also some criminal elements who undertook to judge us received a 15-page letter in red ballpoint pen with a bunch of accusations. I couldn’t just dismiss these people and agreed to meet. The shooting took place at one of the rented apartments near Sokol. In addition to me, who came in splendid isolation, and the brawlers from the group, several other very authoritative people in criminal circles came there. Seems like a protégé of musicians. And I even once sat with someone...
The debriefing has begun. Having calmly listened to a whole stream of accusations, I answered each of the points so skillfully and reasonedly that I didn’t even leave a stone unturned. The criminal element admitted that I was right and did not side with the musicians. All that I lost as a result of this meeting was a mountain of promotional material for the group, all sorts of stupid posters and calendars with their insolent faces.”
"YOUNG GUNS" (1992)
Cooperation: Not realizing that the time for pop was coming, Aizenshpis took another rock band under his wing, but quickly changed his mind. He did not have time to invest large sums of money in this project, for which he repeatedly thanked the Lord.
Reasons for the breakup: The initiator of the breakup was Aizenshpis, he got too wild musicians. The guys always shared leadership in the team, starting fights right at concerts, damaging equipment, and conflicts with the police. And this was not glory yet, and a breath of it would have blown the roof off without return. Realizing this, Aizenshpis broke the contract.
LINDA (1992-1993)
Cooperation: Aizenshpis was interested in Linda by his father, the banker Alexander Gaiman, or rather, his money. First of all, Aizenshpis destroyed Linda’s duet with her friend, convincing her that it was easier to push through a solo project. Then he encountered the shyness of the future star. Aizenshpis gave her a description:
“Linda had long hair and could not speak coherently: an ordinary provincial Jewish girl whose dad has risen a lot. There was no talent at all, the girl just wanted to sing. And at the school, naturally, having felt the taste of profit, they began to enroll her in super talent. They simply deceived the parent for clearly selfish purposes so that he would hire expensive teachers.”
Reasons for the breakup: Naturally, the producer’s criticism strained the banker, and Aizenshpis did not know how to mold the artist into something acceptable. And then Max Fadeev appeared on the horizon.
The success of the first albums could not be repeated, although in 2004 Linda had another powerful promotion with producer Prigozhin at the helm.
VLAD STASHEVSKY (1993-1999)
Collaboration: Aizenshpis’s first project, which he put together from start to finish and was a great success. Taking a handsome, well-mannered guy, Aizenshpis ordered music and lyrics for him. Vlad shot very powerfully, at a certain moment all the airwaves were his.
The project lasted a long time, because Stashevsky understood what he owed to the producer and did not have grandiose creative ambitions. Everything was going great until Vlad married the daughter of the owner of Luzhniki, Olga Aleshina.
Reasons for the breakup: Aleshina began to blow in Stashevsky’s ear that it would be better to work without Aizenshpis, she would be the producer and all the money would go to the family.
Aizenshpis tried to stay cheerful:
“My “divorce” with Vlad is the first major one in our show business, which took place tactfully and peacefully. Without mutual claims, name-calling and boycotts. For the first time, two famous people, a producer and an artist, publicly announced that from now on they are ending their cooperation. We did this in the office of the Intermedia company, where we signed a statement for the mass media regarding the end of the five-year contract and about satisfaction with the results of joint activities. To confirm this amazing fact, I cited such indisputable evidence of the project’s success as the release of five albums, one hundred songs, seventeen videos and five “Song of the Year” diplomas over five years.
It’s good that Vlad managed to return to normal life without any problems “a la Zhenya Osin.”
SASHA (1999-2000)
Collaboration: Aizenshpis tried to mold a really bright singer into a Russian Madonna (meaning an earthly star, not a heavenly one). The situation was made easier by the fact that Sasha came not alone, but with a budget. Very soon, songs like “It’s Just Rain” filled the airwaves.
Reasons for the breakup: The philanthropist, who gave money for Sasha, put her to bed, and then began to be jealous, while being married. Troubles arose constantly.
Aizenshpis recalled:
“There was a constant mess with broadcasts due to scandals. Everything has already been paid for, suddenly at the last moment there is a call: “Cancel everything!” I’m canceling with losses, it’s good that at least I saved some of the money. And suddenly the call came again: “Bring everything back!” And try to explain to him that this is not how it’s done!”
The investor fired Aizenshpis, and tried to block Sasha’s path to the stage.
NIKITA (1999-2000)
Collaboration: Like “Technology,” Nikita came to Aizenshpis with ready-made material and was not impressed at first. But after taking a closer look, the producer decided to invest in the boy. The songs “Flew Away Forever”, “You Came From the Sky”, and the scandalous video “Hotel” will go down in the history of the Russian music industry in the strictest sense.
Unfortunately, Nikita thought of himself as an independent creative unit, and so it probably was, but at the same time, he clearly underestimated the contribution of Yuri Shmilevich.
Reasons for the breakup: They were voiced by Aizenshpis.
“There was always confrontation in our relationship. It would seem, why bother, you’re lucky, you’re working with a major producer, you get good money, an excellent prospect. But no, on all issues there is a different point of view, fantastic self-confidence and categoricalness and, as a consequence, constant conflicts.”
Two and a half years later, Aizenshpis and Nikita broke up.
“When I started working alone, in the first days I just wanted to hang myself. When I collaborated with Aizenshpis, I didn’t think about anything other than performances. And now I have to solve all the issues alone - from organizing tours to choosing concert costumes..."
Aizenshpis did not want to contact Nikita anymore. As a result, the promising singer slipped to the level of an artist in clubs in residential areas of Moscow.
Aizenshpis's latest projects, the Dynamite group and Dima Bilan, were successful.
Although by the time Yuri Shmilevich passed away, “Dynamite” was going through a crisis, since Leonid Nerushenko died, kicked out of the group. As for Bilan, he fell into a lawsuit with Aizenshpis’s widow as soon as the producer’s corpse had time to cool down.
These are the results of the professional activity of a non-trivial, tough and very talented person.
STORIES
Talented producer (Yuri Aizenshpis)
The group “Kino”, “Technology”, “Moral Code”, singer Linda, Vlad Stashevsky, Katya Lel, Dima Bilan... Many fans of these and some other Russian pop stars did not know and do not know that Yuri Aizenshpis lit them up.
Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis (1945-2005) was one of the brightest Russian show business producers. It was Aizenshpis who introduced the concept of “producer” into Russian show business, was one of the first producers in Russia and convincingly proved that “anyone can be made a pop star.”
“I call Aizenshpis the best producer. He worked all his life. He started with me... He and I are one of those who stood at the origins of Russian show business...
He was a very decent man. Tough, but respectable. He knew a lot about promotion. A large number of his wards achieved great heights with him. Many of his wards were not very grateful. But when they left him, everything went dark.
His life made a great impression on me. Serve 17 years and become the number one producer. He hardly ate, didn’t sleep, and kept working. In the last years of his life he did not have a single healthy organ. He worked all his free life, and did not slack off like some. This is a great man."
(Alexander Tolmatsky, producer of Decl, Oleg Gazmanov, group “Combination”)
Yuri Aizenshpis was born immediately after the war, on June 15, 1945, in Chelyabinsk, where his mother, Muscovite Maria Mikhailovna Aizenshpis (1922-1991), a Jew by nationality, was evacuated. Father - Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis (1916-1989) - a Polish Jew who fled to the USSR to escape the Germans, was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.
The surname Aizenshpis translated from Yiddish means “iron peak.”
"I am Jewish. My mother is Jewish and my father is of the same nationality. And what from this? Absolutely nothing... I don’t revere Judaism, I don’t know its traditions and I’m not interested in its history. I don’t consider Jews the smartest, the most persecuted, or any exceptional people at all. They say that Jews in Russia have always been oppressed. I don't know, I'm not sure. In any case, just as my family was spared the Stalinist repressions, anti-Semitism did not affect me at all. Neither at school nor later in life did I hear offensive words like “kike” or “kike face” thrown at my face or back...
Many people talk about anti-Semitism and Zionism. These political phenomena somehow passed me by. I didn’t feel anything like this either at school or at college. And I didn’t feel it in prison.”
(From the book “Lighting the Stars” by Yuri Aizenshpis)
Hobbies
Since childhood, Yuri was very fond of sports. He was interested in athletics, handball, and volleyball. He could well have become a champion in one of these areas, but he had to leave the sport due to a leg injury.
“At school I was surrounded by athletes who in the future became champions of the Union, champions of the Olympic Games. I grew up among them, I’m proud that I knew many of them, and attended training camps together. But at the age of 17, due to an injury, I dropped out of big sport.
At that time I was into jazz. I had a tape recorder that I bought with my savings. My first recordings are jazz compositions by the world's leading musicians. John Coltrane, Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong... I could name about a hundred such names. He knew various styles - avant-garde jazz, jazz-rock, popular jazz. Then I was drawn to the origins of rock music, to the founders of such a movement as rhythm-blues. The circle of music lovers was small, everyone knew each other. If my friends had a record, I would rewrite it.
Then there were “black markets” that were constantly being dispersed. Neither exchange nor buying and selling was allowed. The discs could be confiscated, they could be prosecuted for profiteering. Records came to us from abroad through the strong barriers of customs laws and regulations. Some performers were simply banned. It was impossible to bring Elvis Presley, or, say, the Bary sisters. Well, it’s amazing. However, records were brought in and stuck with connoisseurs.”.
After school, Yuri Aizenshpis entered the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics with a degree in economic engineering and graduated in 1968. And, since his sports career was closed for him due to injury, he chose show business, despite the fact that at that time there was no such concept in the Soviet Union.
Impresario of the first Soviet rock band
A graduate of MESI, Yuri Aizenshpis did not like his boring specialty. He was drawn to music. At the age of 16, he organized underground concerts for the first Soviet rockers.
20-year-old Yuri began his promotional and production activities back in 1965 with the Beatles’ project “Falcon” - the first rock band in the country. Even then, his courage and business acumen were evident.
“When Beatlemania swept the whole world, echoes of it appeared here too. My fellow musicians and I created the country's first rock band. We lived in the Sokol metro area, and the group was also called “Falcon”. Now this group has already entered the history of the domestic rock movement. Initially, Beatles songs were performed in English. Then it was believed that the culture of rock music could only exist in such an international language as English.
Knowing my activity and organizational talent, my friends appointed me as something of an impresario. For all of us, the matter was new, unknown, and we looked like blind kittens. Nevertheless, the group grew both creatively and financially.".
Together with the group, he got his first job - at the Tula Philharmonic. Since the musicians toured a lot, Aizenshpis’s monthly income reached 1,500 rubles (Soviet ministers then received only a thousand).
Yuri even then developed an original scheme for selling tickets for performances by the Sokol group. After a verbal agreement with the director of a club (or cultural center) in which his group was going to perform, Aizenshpis bought all the tickets for the evening film screening in this club, and then distributed them at a higher price, already as tickets to a concert of the group.
“A musician cannot live without communicating with the audience. But in order to perform, it was necessary to undergo tariffication in some government agencies. Then I had the idea to organize a meeting of the Sokol group in a cafe with friends, like-minded people in music and lifestyle. Subsequently, other groups followed this path. This was the very first such party. Everyone was happy. Then, during the complete stagnation, nothing bright happened. We decided to make these meetings permanent. My responsibilities included technical support and organization of concerts. The number of people wishing to come to us quickly increased. This was taking on simply menacing proportions. So a lot of people stayed behind the doors.".
Usually there were more people wanting to listen to live music than there were seats in the hall, which sometimes made the situation tense. Therefore, in the 60s, Aizenshpis became the first in the Soviet Union to hire security to ensure order at concerts.
With the proceeds from the sale of tickets, he bought foreign currency, with which he purchased from foreigners branded musical instruments for the group and first-class sound equipment for equipping the stage (quality and purity of sound were always very important for Yuri). At that time, all foreign exchange transactions were illegal in the USSR, so he took a great risk by making such transactions.
“At first there was nothing criminal in my activities. Another thing is the ideological question. To those who monitored the education of young people, we seemed to be a kind of saboteurs, corrupters. The group has already stirred up entire layers - they began to invite us to institutes. That’s when the Komsomol and some officials from law enforcement and financial agencies became wary. They said: you have no right to perform, your repertoire is not approved. Indeed, according to the then existing regulations, the group was illegal.
But we have developed. Technical equipment required constant modernization. Previously, instruments and amplifiers were homemade. Over time, when the level of the group became high, proprietary equipment was needed. I am a creative person. Once I hear a good sound - lively, pure, real - I can no longer listen to another reproduction. I bought the most advanced equipment at that time. And here for the first time I encountered real criminal law. And he began to step over it. Started doing business. Today this is a respectable occupation, but then...”
Speculator and gold dealer
In 1968, 23-year-old Aizenshpis resigned from the Philharmonic and went to work as a junior researcher at the USSR Central Statistical Office with a salary of 115 rubles. But he rarely showed up at work. Using connections with store directors, he obtained scarce food orders for his colleagues. Therefore, they turned a blind eye to his constant absences. Such a free regime helped Aizenshpis lead a second, parallel life, which brought him completely different incomes.
Aizenshpis's guide to the world of currency fraud was Eduard Borovikov, nicknamed Vasya, who played on the Dynamo masters football team. “I bought foreign currency or checks, with which I purchased scarce goods in the Beryozka store and then sold them through intermediaries on the black markets. In those days, the dollar cost on the “black market” from two to seven and a half rubles. Let’s say, a synthetic fur coat could be bought at Beryozka for $50 (from 100 to 350 rubles) and sold for 500 rubles.”.
His first major independent business was the purchase of Panasonic radios in the Beryozka currency store. These were elegant four-band products in two models - $33 and $50. Aizenshpis decided to take 25 Panasonics to Odessa, where they were still a curiosity and cost much more than in Moscow. And he was right – the receivers went flying.
In 1969, two outwardly imperceptible, but very remarkable events occurred in Moscow. First. A certain Mamedov, the first secretary of the Oktyabrsky district party committee of the city of Baku, opened a savings book in the capital in the name of his wife and put 195 thousand rubles on it - the then earnings of an ordinary worker for 108 years. And second. In the same year, a commercial office of Vneshtorgbank opened on Pushkinskaya Street, where they sold gold of the highest standard in bars weighing from 10 grams to one kilogram. Any citizen could purchase gold, but only for foreign currency.
What did these events have to do with Aizenshpis? The most direct. As the first event eloquently showed, the USSR was already rotting, and the shadow economy and corruption flourished in it, especially in the southern republics. In Azerbaijan, for example, positions were sold almost openly: theater director - 10 thousand rubles, secretary of the district party committee - 200 thousand, minister of trade - a quarter of a million. Buyers of positions, in order to justify their expenses, engaged in extortion and embezzlement. The money received had to be invested somewhere. It’s best to buy something “imperishable” – currency, diamonds or, as the second event suggested, gold.
The rich corrupt officials from the southern republics of the Union were dealt with in Moscow by about a hundred gold traders who dealt in currency and gold on a large scale. Aizenshpis also managed to find his theme. A kilogram of gold in that same Vneshtorgbank office was sold for one and a half thousand dollars. Even if you buy dollars for 5 rubles, a kilogram bar costs 7,500 rubles. Plus one ruble per gram was paid to foreign students who bought gold from the bank. As a result, 8,500 rubles per kilogram ingot. And it was sold to enterprising guys from Baku for 20 thousand rubles. A total of 11,500 rubles in profit - a gigantic profit, if you remember that the nurse then received 60 rubles a month.
Trade in the precious metal was brisk. Aizenshpis had to buy almost every day from one and a half to three thousand bucks at the rate of 2-3 rubles per dollar. Every evening he came into contact with a large number of people - taxi drivers, prostitutes, waiters and even diplomats (for example, the son of the Indian ambassador). “The volume of transactions I made reached up to a million dollars.”
“My business was connected with currency and gold - the most terrible, execution article. But the feeling of being right prevented me from correctly assessing the situation. There was no fear, not even a sense of danger. I thought that what I was doing was natural and normal. But much around, on the contrary, seemed unnatural and incomprehensible. Why is the initiative of one person stifled by government agencies - be it trade, production, culture? Why does the state dictate what to sing? I thought about this, but could not find an explanation; the worldview absorbed in the family, at school, at the institute got in the way. Somewhere deep down I knew I was right. And that my business (they didn’t say “business” back then) is my personal business. In short, I started with music and ended in prison. I served a total of 17 years.".
Imprisonment
At the end of 1969, a prominent currency trader, Genrikh Karakhanyan, nicknamed Vorona, was arrested in Moscow, and on January 7, 1970, it was Aizenshpis’s turn. During his arrest, there were 15,585 rubles and 7,675 dollars in his apartment, that is, the salary for more than twenty years of work at his native research institute (as Yuri himself admitted in one of his interviews, he had even saved up more than 17,000 dollars and over 15,000 rubles). The main indictments in the Aizenshpis case were 154, part 2 (speculation on an especially large scale), and 88, part 2 (violation of foreign exchange transactions). Based on their totality, in the case of the first term, they usually gave no more than 5-8 years. But Aizenshpis received a ten. Moreover, a strengthened regime and confiscation of property. According to the court verdict, he was confiscated not only currency, gold, mohair (the list took seven pages), but also a collection of vinyl records of 5 thousand discs, and most importantly - a room of 26 square meters in the apartment where he lived with his parents and why - then I made a separate personal account.
After serving time in Krasnoyarsk, Tula and Pechora, Aizenshpis was released on parole in May 1977. But Yuri Shmilevich breathed the air of freedom for only three months, because... I'm back to my old ways again. Already in August, having bought 4 thousand dollars from foreigners, he and his companion were arrested on the Lenin Hills. Former track and field athlete Aizenshpis started to run. Along the way, he managed to throw away all the dollars, rubles and even the keys to the apartment.
It didn't help... This time he was given eight years. Plus the fact that he did not serve out his term of parole. In total - again ten. He served his second term in Mordovia, in the notorious Dubrovlag. The zone was called the “meat grinder” because almost every day someone was killed there.
“When Solzhenitsyn describes the nightmares of Soviet reality, as he calls them, I say: if only he had lived in the conditions in which I lived. He served his sentence among those convicted on mostly political charges. I was sitting among inveterate criminals. And this is truly a nightmare. Every day blood is shed, every day there is lawlessness, chaos. But they didn't touch me. I am a sociable person, I adapt to any conditions. I could make friends with the general who was sitting with me. He could have been talking to a total anti-Soviet guy. I could listen to an adherent of Marxist-Leninist ideology. I could talk to the last criminal and find a way into his soul.".
Despite the fact that more than half of the prisoners were starving, he circumvented this problem. Thanks to his entrepreneurial talent, he managed to arrange the secret transfer of bribes to the prison, which could make his existence in the zone more bearable than for many other prisoners. At least he wasn't starving.
Despite the fact that in prison Yuri was not kept in one place and was transferred to other zones, he knew how to adapt to each place and always had a high standard of living.
“There are 70 percent of prisoners there who are starving. I wasn't hungry. How? Money does everything, of course, unofficially. This is what my phenomenon is, my peculiarity. No matter what environment I found myself in, and I had to visit different colonies, different zones, different regions - everywhere I had the highest standard of living for an ordinary prisoner. This cannot be explained only by organizational skills, it is a phenomenon of character.".
Last sentence
In August 1985, Aizenshpis was again released on parole - for good behavior, the sentence was reduced by a year and eight months. Returning to the capital, he again took up his favorite speculation. I met a woman in a restaurant who was married to an Arab who often traveled abroad. A new friend suggested that Yuri Shmilevich update his wardrobe. The items offered were of higher quality than in the notorious “Beryozka”. First, Aizenshpis dressed himself, then he dressed his friends, and then he turned the resale of fashionable clothes into a business. His monthly income was several thousand rubles. Not comparable to what he had in gold, but still 5-6 times more than the ministers and secretaries of the Central Committee.
The troubles began when the resourceful Arab fell under the KGB's cap. Tracking all his connections, the security officers found Aizenshpis. In October 1986, Aizenshpis drove a newly purchased sixth model Zhiguli car to another meeting near the Mossovet Theater. Here he was detained by police officers. In the trunk they found several Grundig cassette recorders, a couple of super-scarce VCRs and video cassettes.
Aizenshpis was incredibly lucky that his Arab accomplice managed to escape abroad in time. Without the main defendant, the criminal case, through the efforts of lawyers, successfully collapsed. Yuri Shmilevich left the prison bunks in April 1988, after serving in a pre-trial detention center for about a year and a half. This was his last prison sentence.
Return
In total, Yuri Aizenshpis served 17 years for something that any citizen can do now. Despite such a long prison term, Aizenshpis did not become embittered, did not lose his human appearance and did not become a criminal. He subsequently received a formal apology from the state.
“The world changed while I was away. A new generation has appeared. Old acquaintances may not have forgotten me, but I didn’t know where to find them. Having freed myself, I fell into a state of terrible depression. A lot of time has been lost. Friends have achieved something. And I had to start everything from scratch. No money, no apartment, no family. When I was imprisoned, I had a girlfriend. What happened to her? Don't know.
I was afraid that I would never see my parents again. Fortunately, I saw it. They even caught my new takeoff. My father had his own opinion about this. My parents are war veterans, have awards, and are communists. It seemed abnormal to them that their son was interested in music and rock that they did not understand. My father thought I was guilty. The mother may have had doubts, but she did not admit it. She is internally a freer person, very courageous, very real, like millions of ordinary communists who went through the war and all the difficulties. She herself is from Belarus. Despite her health, my mother went to Minsk for a rally of partisans. And she died among her own people - where she was born. She outlived her husband by only a year.
I probably should have some kind of anger towards this system, towards everything Soviet. Serving 17 years in prison would make anyone angry. But I have no anger. In the most difficult period for myself, I managed to concentrate and gather my will. Maybe because it was already hardened. After all, it still exists - the struggle for existence. For survival."
“No matter what happens, I will never leave the country. Despite what I had to endure here, I am a patriot by nature. Like a bird that was born in this area, it will die in this area.”.
Show business shark
Once free, Aizenshpis found himself in the thick of perestroika. Soon, his friend Alexander Lipnitsky (stepson of Vadim Sukhodrev, Brezhnev’s personal translator) introduced him to the then rock party. At first, he headed the directorate of the Interchance festival, slowly studying the backstage and hidden springs of home-grown show business, and soon began producing domestic musical performers.
Yuri Shmilevich outlined his credo extremely frankly: “Promoting an artist is the functional responsibility of the producer. And here any means are good. Through diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail". This is exactly how he acted, earning the nickname “show business shark.”
His formula for success in show business: “The result is the product of the talent of the performer, the talent of the producer, the time spent by both, the money invested, mutual desire and luck.”.
There were many unknown musical performers who dreamed of making it onto the big stage. Aizenshpis looked for those who could hook the viewer, who had at least some more or less attractive repertoire. First, through the media, mainly through television, he promoted them and made them famous, and then organized tours.
Victor Tsoi
After his release from prison in 1988, Yuri got a job at the creative association “Gallery”, created by the city committee of the Komsomol. At first, Aizenshpis organized concerts of young talented performers. In 1989, he became the official producer of the Kino group, after which the group quickly reached a new level of popularity.
At the time of the start of cooperation with Aizenshpis, the Kino group was already quite famous. The most creatively and conceptually successful album, “Blood Type,” had already been recorded and mixed at home, after which, according to critics, Tsoi could not write anything for at least 2 years. Therefore, working with Kino also brought Yuri Shmilevich to a new stellar level of production activity and allowed him to earn authority in his business.
“For the first time after my release, I worked in a creative youth association. Like mushrooms after rain, they began to appear in the fields of all kinds of Komsomol and Soviet organizations. It was a kind of roof. The concept of “manager” had not yet appeared.
One of my first actions was organizing a concert of Leningrad rock bands. They performed then mainly in cultural centers, and I took them to the big stage.
And so I met Viktor Tsoi. In principle, this is not an accident. I found him myself and convinced him to work with me, convinced him that I was not an accidental person in music. He told me what he had experienced. This somehow had an effect on him, although I was a complete stranger to him, and Victor is not the kind of person who makes contact easily.
Our acquaintance turned into friendship. Then the friendship grew into a creative union. I don’t want to attribute unnecessary laurels to myself. Of course, Tsoi and the Kino group were known before our meeting. But they are known among fans of Leningrad basement rock. And I decided to make a rock star out of him. And it was a success. The work was carried out on the radio and in the press. On television, Tsoi appeared for the first time in the program “Vzglyad”, which was then watched by the whole country. The release was made by Mukusev. I convinced him that millions of teenagers need Choi now.
Internally, Tsoi is a very interesting person, unlike anyone else. His second wife greatly influenced him. She is an esthete, from film circles and was a very good friend to him. I think she also did a lot to create the image that is known to the broad masses. He turned from a hungry, angry Tsoi, imposing and mysterious. That’s how I recognized him – a mature performer who had already starred in “Assa”. And managed to help him turn into a superstar, or maybe even something more.".
After the tragic death of Tsoi in 1990, Aizenshpis released the last “Black Album” of the Kino group. Moreover, for the first time in post-Soviet history, he does this independently of the absolute monopolist in the recording market - the Melodiya company, having taken out a loan of 5 million rubles for this. The posthumous album was released in a circulation of 1,200,000 copies and brought Yuri Shmilevich 24 million rubles.
"Technology" (1991-1992)
The next stage of Aizenshpis’s career was the “Technology” group. And if “Kino” already had a certain initial speed at the start of working with him, then the producer sculpted the success of “Technology” practically “from scratch”, being already an experienced sculptor.
“My second project, “Technology,” showed that you can take guys of ordinary, average talent and also make stars out of them. I was basically dealing with amateur performances. Among the numerous motley ensembles was the Bioconstructor group, which later split into two subgroups. One was called "Bio", the other was still just hatching its musical concept. Only two or three songs could be shown. These are the songs I liked. Maybe I was the only one who liked them, because the concerts with their participation attracted no more than two or three hundred people. But I felt perspective in them.
First, I instilled in them confidence in their abilities: look, guys, you are working with me - you are already stars. This confidence gave them the opportunity to liberate themselves. And when a creative person relaxes, he has a surge of strength, he begins to create something genuine. So are they. After 4 months they became the group of the year and maintained the highest rating the entire time we worked together. Now their popularity is falling. There are many objective reasons for this, including, I believe, our breakup. So even a superstar without a talented producer cannot do anything today.
We can say that show business is an already established industry - the same industry as car production or iron smelting. Here, too, there is its own technology and its own laws.”.
Ovation Award
In 1992, Aizenshpis received the Ovation Award as the country's best producer. And from this year to 1993 he was the producer of the groups “Moral Code”, “Young Guns”, singer Linda.
"Young Guns" (1992-1993)
The short history of the “domestic Guns’n’Roses,” as they were called in the press, is equally instructive and typical for both musicians and producers. Having released a couple of bright hits, the group simply exploded from the internal confrontation of the members. “Each of the Young Guns musicians wanted to be a leader, they constantly argued, fought, and broke instruments. It was my fault that I didn’t stop them in time.”.
Linda (1993)
In 1993, Aizenshpis noticed the young talented performer Svetlana Gaiman on the Jurmala stage and helped the singer take her first steps on the big stage. Soon the name of the singer Linda becomes known both to the audience and in musical circles. At this time, the songs “Non-Stop”, I want your sex and the very first hit “Playing with Fire” (for which Fyodor Bondarchuk shot the singer’s first video clip) appeared. The collaboration between the artist and producer lasted less than a year, after which their creative paths diverged. Composer Maxim Fadeev was brought in to change the arrangement of “Playing with Fire,” who then wrote music for Linda for some time.
Vlad Stashevsky (1993-1999)
A sex symbol of the mid-nineties, a favorite of girls of all ages, Vlad Stashevsky, in collaboration with Yuri Aizenshpis, released 5 albums, each of which became a national bestseller. Yuri and Vlad met at the Master nightclub, where the Young Guns group produced by Aizenshpis performed. Yuri Shmilevich heard Vlad humming songs by Willy Tokarev and Mikhail Shufutinsky on an out-of-tune piano behind the scenes, and asked where he studied music. As a result, they exchanged phone numbers, and after a while Aizenshpis called Vlad and made an appointment. Arriving at the place, Stashevsky met Vladimir Matetsky. Together with Yuri Shmilevich, they arranged an audition for Stashevsky, and within a week the first song for his repertoire was ready. It was called “The Roads We Walk.” Stashevsky's first performance in public took place on August 30, 1993 at a festival in Adjara.
The debut album “Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” became the first release of the newly created company “Aizenshpis Records”. In 1996, Stashevsky’s third album “Vlad-21” sold 15,000 copies in the first week alone, which was an astronomical figure for the very young Russian CD market. In the same year, the performer rises to the top of another, unusual chart: the magazine expert recognizes him as the “most pirated” artist of the year. In 1997, at the invitation of the US Senate, Vlad Stashevsky gives a solo concert in Brooclin park in front of an audience of more than twenty thousand.
Other projects and achievements in show business
In 1994, Yuri was one of the organizers of the international music festival “Sunny Adjara”. Participated in the establishment of the Star Award.
Based on the results of his creative activity in 1995, Aizenshpis again received the Ovation Award.
Then he was the producer of singer Inga Drozdova (1997), singer Katya Lel (1997), singer Nikita (1998-2001), singer Sasha (1999-2000), and the group “Dynamite” (2001).
In 2001, Yuri Aizenshpis was invited to take the post of general director of the largest production company at that time, Media Star.
Aizenshpis's latest project is Dima Bilan (2002).
Different roles of Yuri Aizenshpis
In 2005, he played a small role in the film “Night Watch”. He also proved himself as a writer, becoming the author of the autobiographical book “Lighting the Stars.”
Personal life
Yuri had a wife, Elena Lvovna Kovrigina, with whom he lived in a civil marriage and with whom he had a son, Mikhail, in 1993.
Death
Yuri Aizenshpis died on September 20, 2005 from a heart attack at the age of 60. He was buried near Moscow, at the Domodedovo cemetery.
Yuri Aizenshpis is called one of the first producers in Russia. It was he who opened the Kino group to the general public and brought Dima Bilan to the big stage. Aizenshpis died 8 years ago, but there are still a lot of rumors around his name.
A fabulous amount was seized
Aizenshpis’s sister, Faina Shmilyevna, still remembers her brother almost every day. Although in childhood, according to a relative, they did not have to communicate so often. After all, Aizenshpis spent his entire youth in prison.
“We had completely different childhoods,” recalls Faina. “While I was growing up, he was in prison. My parents were very worried, but I probably didn’t realize everything.
Yuri Shmilevich ended up in places not so remote for currency fraud and speculation on an especially large scale. In Soviet times, this was a serious article. Relatives still remember: the first time he was detained right at the entrance on Christmas Day - January 7, 1970. Having sold the gold at a profit, he returned home. A fabulous sum of sixteen thousand rubles and seven thousand dollars, as well as imported equipment, was confiscated from him at that time. Aizenshpis was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released early after serving seven years. However, less than a month later he was again put on trial for profiteering - and received eight years.
According to Faina Shmilyevna, the relatives could not even imagine that after this Yuri would become a famous producer. Although his organizational skills showed up in his youth. Already at the age of 20, he worked as an administrator with the rock group Sokol.
Stashevsky's departure was a blow
Having freed himself, Yuri Shmilevich began to engage in show business. At first he helped the Kino group and Viktor Tsoi, then he found Vlad Stashevsky. In a matter of months, he turned an unknown boy into a real idol, whom the whole country coveted.
“My brother never shared his difficulties, although of course there were plenty of them in his work,” says Faina Aizenshpis. “But this topic was closed, he always answered our questions: “It’s better not to talk about this.” Yura was a demanding and tough person in his work, but at the same time a very fair person. With us, he was completely different: calm, reasonable - we had ordinary family relationships.
Joseph Prigogine once admitted: Aizenshpis had no luck with artists. Having achieved fame, they betrayed him. At first glance, they parted with Stashevsky quietly and calmly. Vlad decided that he could work independently. Yuri Shmilevich let the singer go, but deep down he was very worried. The departure of Vlad, in whom he had poured his whole soul, was a real blow. Unfortunately, he was far from the first - many whom Aizenshpis brought into the public betrayed him and left him with nothing.
“Once my brother told me that an unknown boy came from somewhere and he was messing with him,” continues the producer’s sister. – It was Dima Bilan. It was Yura who helped him rise; his ascent took place before our eyes.
Until the last time we heard his heartbeat
There are still a lot of rumors surrounding the death of Aizenshpis. According to the official version, he died of a heart attack, but in show business they believe that this is not so.
“I had a heart attack,” sighs Faina Shmilyevna. “I was at the door of the intensive care unit where he was taken.” We spent the whole day there, I still remember everything in the smallest detail. We heard the heartbeat - everything is loud in the intensive care unit!
Those close to the producer do not hide the fact that Aizenshpis never really thought about his health. His players were much more important to him. For example, before his death he was very worried whether Bilan would receive well-deserved awards at one of the prestigious music awards. Dima took the awards and dedicated them to his first producer, who lived only 60 years.
“I think the prison did its job,” says Faina Aizenshpis. – So many years of life were actually lost. Every day is a struggle for existence, health is ruined. Everyone told him that he needed to rest and work less. But he didn’t listen to anyone, for him it was a normal existence. Therefore, if his brother were alive, he would not change anything.
Show business, twice winner of the Ovation music award. He helped many current Russian pop stars ascend to the show business horizon. And the creative groups and solo singers with whom he worked still evoke a response in the hearts of the public.
Family and childhood of Yuri Aizenshpis
Yuri Aizenshpis, whose photo can be seen in this article, was born in Chelyabinsk, immediately after the war, on June fifteenth, 1945. His father Shmil Moiseevich was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. Mother's name was Maria Mikhailovna. The surname Aizenshpis means “iron peak” in Yiddish. Yuri's parents were Jews and worked in the Main Directorate for Airfield Construction.
At first the family lived in a wooden barracks. But in 1961 they received an apartment in Sokol (it was a prestigious Moscow district at that time). Yuri Aizenshpis was very fond of sports since childhood. His greatest interests were athletics, handball and volleyball. He could well become a champion in one of these areas. But he still had to leave the sport. The reason for this was a leg injury he received at the age of 16.
First steps in show business
After school, Yuri Aizenshpis entered a university with a degree in economic engineering. He graduated from it in 1968. In addition to his passion for sports, Yuri had something else. He was attracted to music. Since his sports career was closed for him due to injury, he chose show business.
And his first job was as an administrator of the rock group “Falcon”. He sold tickets to the concerts of the creative team according to an original scheme, which helped technically equip the stage with first-class equipment. And the quality and purity of sound have always been very important for Yuri.
First, he negotiated with club directors for the group to perform. Next, Aizenshpis bought all the tickets for the evening concerts and then sold them himself at a higher price. Yuri was the first in the Soviet Union to hire security to ensure order during the show.
Yuri Aizenshpis: biography. Arrest
Using the proceeds from ticket sales (mostly dollars), Aizenshpis purchased musical instruments for the group and high-quality sound equipment from foreigners. But at that time in the USSR all foreign exchange transactions were illegal, and he took a great risk by making such transactions. If he had been caught, he could have been imprisoned for a serious prison term.
Law enforcement agencies drew attention to his “speculative” activities. On January 7, 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested. During the search, more than 7 thousand dollars were found and confiscated (as Yuri himself admitted in one of his interviews, he had even accumulated more than 17 thousand dollars) and over 15,000 rubles. Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich was convicted of currency fraud. He was given a sentence of ten years in prison. Yuri was sent to the city of Krasnoyarsk to serve his sentence.
After he was released, he did not enjoy it for long. And again he ended up in prison under the same article. But this time he was given seven years and eight months in prison. In total, he served seventeen years in prison. And he was finally released only in April of 1988.
Imprisonment
Yuri was put in prison to serve time among hardened criminals. Every day he observed cruelty, blood and mayhem. But they didn't touch him. The main reason, most likely, was his sociability. He knew how to listen and conduct a dialogue. Being a very sociable person, Yuri Aizenshpis was able to quickly adapt to an environment alien to him.
Although more than half of the prisoners usually go hungry, he avoided this pitfall. The money, although secretly transferred in the form of bribes to the prison, was able to make his existence in the zone more bearable than for many. At least he wasn't starving.
Yuri was not kept in one place; he was transferred many times to other regions and zones. Only in any place he was distinguished by his unbending character and high standard of living.
The first “star” group of Yuri Aizenshpis
After his release from prison, where Yuri Aizenshpis served a total of seventeen years, he got a job at the Gallery, which created the city committee of the Komsomol. Aizenshpis first organized concerts for young talented performers. In 1989 he became the official producer of the Kino group. Yuri was among the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records. Aizenshpis released the last recording of the Kino group, “Black Album,” in 1990, taking out a loan of 5 million rubles for this. This was his first group, which he brought to the world stage.
Further activities in show business
In 1991-1992 producer Yuri Aizenshpis worked closely with the Tekhnologiya group. He helped release their first album, “Everything You Want,” which became their debut. He expanded his advertising activities widely, producing printed products depicting members of the “Technology” group: postcards, posters, etc.
In 1992 he received the Ovation Award as the best producer in the country. And from this year to ninety-three he collaborated with the Moral Code and Young Guns. In the summer of 1994 he began working with Vlad Stashevsky. During their collaboration, four music albums were recorded. The debut was “Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.”
In the same year, Yuri was one of the organizers of the international music festival “Sunny Adjara”. Participated in the establishment of the Star Award. Based on the results of his creative activity in 1995, Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich again received the Ovation Award.