Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (russian: Пётр Константинович Лещенко; 2 June 189816 July 1954), a singer in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, and later
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, is universally considered "the King of Russian Tango" and specifically known for his rendition of "
Serdtse"—a tango, sung unusually not in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
but in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
.
Biography
He was born in the village of Isayevo,
Kherson Governorate
The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...
(now part of
Odessa Oblast
Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administ ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
) into a poor and illiterate Ukrainian peasant family. During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, his mother and stepfather moved to
Chișinău (
Bessarabia Governorate
The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...
), which was later united with
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
(today's
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
). He was drafted into the Russian army, and attended an officers college in
Kiev. After graduating he was sent to the front, and was wounded soon thereafter, recuperating at a military hospital in Chișinău. He was proficient in numerous languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, German, and others. In his early childhood, he sang in a church choir and learned how to play the 7-string guitar.
After the war, Pyotr, who had never learned a real trade, worked at various restaurants, serving, dish-washing and performing small theatrical acts. He had a soft
baritone voice.
After taking some ballet lessons in Paris, he started performing with his
Latvian wife Zinaida Zakit, a dancer. Their act was a mixture of ballet, folklore dance and European tango, which was so popular it led to tours to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Germany, and Great Britain. It was at
Riga, when he improvised
gypsy music and tango singing to make up for the absence of his pregnant wife, that he discovered he could sing in front of an audience. In 1935, he was at the peak of his success. Though he still included old
Russian romances, and even Soviet songs (like "Serdtse", which was originally sung by
Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utiosov (russian: link=no, Леонид Осипович Утёсов, uk, link=no, Леонід Йосипович Утьосов); real name Lazar (Leyzer) Iosifovich Vaysbeyn or Weissbein ()) (, Odesa – 9 March ...
) in his repertoire, songs were now composed for him exclusively (with the tango songs turning Argentine in style and arrangement). One of his favourite non-Russian composers was
Jerzy Petersburski
Jerzy Petersburski (1895–1979) was a Jewish Polish pianist and composer of popular music, renowned mostly for his Tangos, some of which (such as '' To ostatnia niedziela'', ''Już nigdy'' and ''Tango Milonga'') were milestones in popularizat ...
, but he also sang work composed by Pavel German,
Konstantin Podrevsky
Konstantin Nikolayevich Podrevsky (russian: link=no, Константин Николаевич Подревский; 14 January 1888 in Turinsk, Tobolsk Governorate, Russian Empire – 4 February 1930 in Moscow, USSR) was a Russian Soviet poet o ...
and
Isaak Dunayevsky
Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for operett ...
. Composers who composed certain songs specifically for him included Oscar Strok, Mark Maryanovsky and Yefim Sklyarov. Many lyrics of Leshchenko songs were written by
Boris Fomin
Boris Ivanovich Fomin (Бори́с Ива́нович Фоми́н, 12 April 1900, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – 25 October 1948, Moscow, USSR) was a Soviet musician and composer who specialized in the Russian romance.
Several of Fomi ...
.
Leshchenko performed for European nobles and "
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
" (anti-Bolshevik) Russian
émigré
An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate".
French Huguenots
Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...
s at his own "Leschenko" cabaret in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
(dubbed the "Eastern
Maxim's
Maxim's is a restaurant in Paris, France, located at No. 3 rue Royale in the 8th . It is known for its Art Nouveau interior decor. In the mid 20th century Maxim's was regarded as the most famous restaurant in the world.
History
Early history ...
"). The first part of every performance would typically be dedicated to
gipsy music, but during the second part Leshchenko would dress up in a tuxedo, with a white silk handkerchief and sing and dance Argentine tango.
In the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
his work was banned both because he was believed to be a
White émigré
White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik commun ...
(which he was not legally) and because the style (tango and
foxtrot) was deemed
counter-revolutionary
A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revolut ...
. Nevertheless, secretly he was very popular: people would even listen to Radio Tehran to hear his music, '78 records were smuggled into the country from the
Baltics
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
, and specialists would
bootleg
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
his music onto "
ribs
The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels.
The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...
" (used
X-ray plate
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...
s). When during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and the subsequent occupation of
Odessa by the
Romanian army
The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...
, Leshchenko was finally able to perform in the country he still considered his own, people would queue for hours on end to buy a ticket to one of his Odessa concerts. It was at Odessa that Pyotr met his second wife, Vera Georgievna Belousova, for whom he would later, back in Romania, divorce Zinaida.
After Romania
switched sides in August 1944 and the Soviet army entered Romania, Leshchenko was not arrested, and became the protégé of
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Vladimir Ivanovich Burenin, military commander of the Red Army garrison in Bucharest. Some sources believe this was due to Marshal
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
being a secret admirer of his music – Pyotr probably thought so, and after the war, wrote many letters to friends in the Soviet Union asking them to contact high-level officials so that he and Vera might be allowed back to the country of their birth.
In 1951, a week after receiving an official letter granting them permission to settle in the Soviet Union, Vera and Pyotr were arrested by the Romanian police. Vera was extradited to the Soviet Union, where she was condemned to forced labour for amongst other things, "marrying a foreigner". Pyotr was detained in a prison near Bucharest, and then was sent to a forced labor camp at the
Danube–Black Sea Canal
The Danube–Black Sea Canal ( ro, Canalul Dunăre–Marea Neagră) is a navigable canal in Romania, which runs from Cernavodă on the Danube river, via two branches, to Constanța and Năvodari on the Black Sea. Administered from Agigea, it ...
. Both outlived
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, but Pyotr died in a prison hospital in
Târgu Ocna
Târgu Ocna (; hu, Aknavásár) is a town in Bacău County, Romania, situated on the left bank of the Trotuș River, an affluent of the Siret, and on a branch railway which crosses the Ghimeș Pass from Moldavia into Transylvania. Târgu Ocna is ...
on 16 July 1954, without Vera at his side (she had already been released but did not know her husband was still alive). Some friends present when he died claimed his last words were "Friends, I am happy, for I will return to my fatherland! I am going away, but I leave you my heart." Vera died on December 18, 2009, age 86.
In 1988, his 90th birthday was marked by several articles in Soviet newspapers, and several radio shows were dedicated to him at the time.
Notable songs
While most tango dancers around the world only know
Serdtse, on special theme evenings and modern CDs, other songs sung by Pyotr Leshchenko may get a mention. They include: the Argentinian Tangos ''Anikusha'', ''Barselona'', ''Chornye Glaza'', ''Davay Prostimsya'', ''Golubye Glaza'', ''Moyo Poslednee Tango'' (Strok), ''Ne Uhodi'', ''Ostansya'', ''Priznaysya Mne'', ''Studentochka'', ''Skazhite Pochemu'', ''Skuchno'', ''Ty I Eta Gitara'' (both sometimes called "Polish Tangos"), ''Vernulas Snova Ty'', ''Vino Lyubvi'' (Maryankovsky) and ''Zabyt Tebya'', the Gypsy Romances ''Chto Mne Gorye'' and ''Za Gitarnyi Perebor'' and finally the "waltzes" ''Moy Drug'' and ''Pesnya o Kapitane'' (this last one, like Serdtse, with text written by the Soviet poet
Vasily Lebedev-Kumach)
In popular culture
* In August 2012, Russian production company,
Central Partnership
Central Partnership (russian: Централ Партнершип) is a Russian film distribution and production company founded in 1995. The distributor was acquired by Russian gas company Gazprom in 2014.
History
Central Partnership started ...
, produced a television drama based on his biography, The series ''
Pyotr Leschenko. Everything That Was...'' stars
Konstantin Khabensky
Konstantin Yurievich Khabensky, PAR (russian: link=no, Константин Юрьевич Хабенский; born 11 January 1972) is a Russian actor of stage and film, director and philanthropist.
From 1997 he was part of the Saint Petersbur ...
as Leshchenko.
References
*David Macfadyen. ''Songs for Fat People: Jazz Music in the USSR''. McGill-Queens Univ Press, 2002.
Google Books
*
"Я тоскую по Родине", или улица Петра Лещенко
External links
Discography of Pyotr Leshchenko on Russian-Records.com
*the German labe
has published four Pjotr Leschenko CDs
*a contemporary orchestra in Leipzig
recreate the rhythms of Pjotr and his era
"Ruhm und bitterer Tod des Sängers Pjotr K. Leschenko"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leshchenko, Pyotr
1898 births
1954 deaths
Romani musicians
20th-century Romanian male singers
Russian pop singers
Romanian male pop singers
Romanian restaurateurs
Ukrainian pop singers
Tango in Russia
Russian Romani people
Romanian people of Russian descent
White Russian emigrants to Romania
Tango singers
Inmates of the Danube–Black Sea Canal
Prisoners who died in Romanian detention
People from Odesa Oblast
Soviet male singers