Pyotr Leshchenko
Russia
I wanted to present one of the most melodious Russian tangos and to extend "backwards" -- in time and in space - the story of the moving 'Jewish song' - "Where can I go ?" / "Vi Ahin Zol Ich Geyn ?", already presented on You Tube.
The latter version became for Jews a moving complaint and a sort of a tragic meditation over Holocaust and all other events which during WW2nd led Jewish people through intense suffering to death.
It is based, as it is said, on the first performance of Dutch Yiddish singer Leo Fuld, who was handed the song by some holocaust survivor.
It is based, as it is said, on the first performance of Dutch Yiddish singer Leo Fuld, who was handed the song by some holocaust survivor.
Leo Fuld added the English lyrics.
I will venture, however, to add that originally this song is a Russian composition, first was conceived as a tango in early thirties by Oskar Strok, Riga, Latvia, where this Russian composer spent many years outside USRR due to political reasons.
The song in Russian shape had many recordings and three of them I possess.
"Golubye glaza" (Blue eyes) had also a Polish version, recorded in Warsaw, 1938 and, what may be the most interesting or even intriguing, Polish lyrics in refrain starts from the words which in English means exactly "Where can I go ?", a title with which this song -- in Jewish version -- emerged a few years later .
Jewish version is based on a refrain/chorus part only.
Rec. Columbia, London ca. 1933.
I will venture, however, to add that originally this song is a Russian composition, first was conceived as a tango in early thirties by Oskar Strok, Riga, Latvia, where this Russian composer spent many years outside USRR due to political reasons.
The song in Russian shape had many recordings and three of them I possess.
"Golubye glaza" (Blue eyes) had also a Polish version, recorded in Warsaw, 1938 and, what may be the most interesting or even intriguing, Polish lyrics in refrain starts from the words which in English means exactly "Where can I go ?", a title with which this song -- in Jewish version -- emerged a few years later .
Jewish version is based on a refrain/chorus part only.
Rec. Columbia, London ca. 1933.
Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (Russian: Пётр Константинович Лещенко; 2 June 1898 – 16 July 1954), a Russian singer, universally considered "the King of Russian Tango" and specifically known for his rendition of Serdtse—the most famous tango song not in the Spanish language—was born a citizen of the Russian Empire in Isaeva (now part of Ukraine) into a poor and illiterate peasant family. During the First World War, his mother and stepfather moved to Kishinev, which was later annexed by Romania (and is now part of Moldavia). As a result Leshchenko has been claimed as a national by Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. He sang almost exclusively in the Russian language.
Biography
In his early childhood he sang in a church choir and learned how to play the guitar and the balalaika.
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, a dancer. Their act was a mixture of ballet, folklore dance and European tango, which was so popular it led to tours to Egypt, Persia, Turkey, Germany and Britain. It was at Riga, when he improvised Romani 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, the Argentine Tango song that would outlive him and which was originally sung by Leonid Utyosov in a different version as Kak mnogo devushek khoroshikh) 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, but he also sung work composed by Pavel German, Konstantin Podrevsky and Isaak Dunayevsky. Composers who composed certain songs specifically for him included Oscar Strok, Mark Maryankovsky and Yefim Sklyarov. Many lyrics of Leshchenko songs were written by Boris Fomin.
Leshchenko performed for European nobles and "White" Russian émigrés at his own "Leschenko" cabaret in Bucharest (dubbed the "Eastern Maxim's"). The first part of every performance would typically be dedicated to Romani 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 his work was banned both because he was believed to be a White émigré (which he was not legally) and because the style (tango and foxtrot) was deemed counter-revolutionary. Nevertheless, secretly he was very popular: people would even listen to Radio Tehran to hear his music, '78 plates were smuggled into the country from the Baltics, and specialists would bootleg his music onto "ribs" (used X-ray plates). When during the Second World War and the subsequent occupation of Odessa by the Romanian army, 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, for whom he would later, back in Romania, divorce Zinaida.
After Romania switched sides during World War II and the Soviet army came to Romania, Leshchenko was not arrested and became the protégé of General Nikolai Bulganin. Some sources believe this was due to Marshall Georgy Zhukov 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 penal labour for amongst other things, "marrying a foreigner") and Pyotr was sent to a Romanian prison near Bucharest. Both outlived Stalin, but Pyotr died in a prison hospital 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."
In 1981, his 90th birthday was marked by several articles in Soviet newspapers and several radio shows were dedicated to him at the time.
Famous songs
While most tango dancers around the world only know Serdtse, on special theme evenings (and of course modern CDs) other songs sung by Pyotr Leshchenko may get a mention. They include: the Argentinian Tangos Anikusha, Barselona, Chornye Glaza (Strok), 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 LyubviZabyt 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)
(:)
Ricardo Marcenaro
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Sculptures – Esculturas
ricardomarcenaro.ning.com/
Ricardo M Marcenaro - Facebook
Blogs in operation of The Solitary Dog:
Solitary Dog Sculptor:
byricardomarcenaro.blogspot.com
Solitary Dog Sculptor I:
byricardomarcenaroi.blogspot.com/
My blogs are an open house to all cultures, religions and countries. Be a follower if you like it, with this action you are building a new culture of tolerance, open mind and heart for peace, love and human respect. Thanks :)
Mis blogs son una casa abierta a todas las culturas, religiones y países. Se un seguidor si quieres, con esta acción usted está construyendo una nueva cultura de la tolerancia, la mente y el corazón abiertos para la paz, el amor y el respeto humano. Gracias:)
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