We talked with the maestro about events that would be enough for several TV series and about his rules of life on the radio “Komsomolskaya Pravda”.
Photo: Ivan MAKEEV. Go to Photobank KP
Lev Leshchenko is a man of the times. Yes, what times there are. Ten eras! Believe it or not, young Lyova Leshchenko spoke before Stalin. Now Lev Valeryanovich is 82 years old and gives two-hour concerts, produces musicals, sings with rappers and plays sports. We talked to the maestro about events that would be enough for several TV series and about his rules of life on the radio “Komsomolskaya Pravda”.
LOAD AND GENES
– Lev Valeryanovich, I saw you on stage a couple of weeks ago, at the Stereoleto festival. You did hot there. The way you were received by all this hipster audience would be the envy of any trendy rapper! Is it difficult to give your best at 82 years old?
– All this is a facade, a window dressing. But in reality my health is not so good. But thank God I am holding on for now. In the morning I always do gymnastics for 15-20 minutes. But I can’t get enough sleep. I don’t sleep well. All sorts of thoughts constantly creep into my head. That’s why I don’t sleep more than 5-6 hours a day. However, this is enough for me.
– You also have an excellent heritage. Your father, despite his stressful work in the NKVD and the MGB, lived to be 99 years old. Did he share with you the secrets of his longevity?
– I think that hard life has mobilized all the resources of the body. First the revolution, then the Great Patriotic War. Only the most persistent remained from those years. This was natural selection, endless overcoming. The generation of veterans is completely beyond all understanding. Those who are now a hundred years old are still strong and strong. We are a different, weaker generation. Only medicine keeps us going. You can still exist with it.
Lev Leshchenko at home. 1980
Photo: TASS photo chronicle.
SINGING TO STALIN
– There are a lot of films and TV series about real artists these days. If a film were to be made about you, what episode from your life would it start with?
– I have been offered to make a film about myself 10 times already. I always answer: “Wait, I’m still alive.” Different directors came and showed different scripts. Which episode should I start with? I lived under nine leaders of our state. You can imagine, starting with Stalin, with Joseph Vissarionovich… Yes, in 1952 I sang in the children’s choir of the Soviet Army Theatre when Stalin was present at the concert. Few people can boast a biography like mine.
– But you served in Germany…
– Yes, in the tank forces. Once we even walked along the bottom of the Elbe River in a tank. I was a simple loader. This was the lowest rung of our hierarchy. I carried 33-kilogram shells and stuck them into the muzzle of a tank gun. And at that time the Cuban missile crisis was in full swing. I spent the night in a tank with a machine gun. There was position number one, the so-called one, when, at a signal, you had to grab a machine gun and go to the front. It was the most advanced. Our tanks and the Americans were facing each other. Every minute we realized that the conflict could escalate into a nuclear disaster. There was no fear. There was only hopelessness and the realization that nothing can be changed.
– But why, 60 years later, have Western politicians still not understood anything and have once again brought humanity to the brink of nuclear war?
– I don’t have an answer to this question. I only hope for common sense. The Earth is so small that a nuclear war will make it go off its axis and that’s it: life will stop. We need to think about this and remain human…
Lev Leshchenko and the foreman of the Koktebel state farm, Maria Bryntseva, during the Blue Light television program. 1979
Photo: TASS photo chronicle.
ABOUT THE ART COUNCIL AND THE “TIME MACHINE”
– Why do you think many people now want the return of the Soviet Union?
– Because then, indeed, there were many good things. Of course, there were some unpleasant things. But in general the atmosphere was good. Because there was a certain ideology, we lived in that ideology, and thanks to the censors and critics we knew what was possible and what was not. There were certain limits and boundaries that could not be crossed.
– Is it good to have a censor watching you and putting limits on you?
– There was enough freedom! Here is an example that is often given with the group “Time Machine”. They were apparently not allowed to sing anything. This is not true! During those years I was on the artistic council of Rosconcert. Well, maybe one song was not allowed to be performed. And then there were purely artistic complaints against it.
– And now, in terms of prohibitions, doesn’t modern Russia remind you of the Soviet Union?
– Some qualities, yes, came from there. But there are certain models of state that must be applied in a certain period. Now we need such a model!
Concert “Peace to my Land” in Moscow. 1980
Photo: TASS photo chronicle.
“I WANT A DUET WITH BEYONCE”
– Several years ago, your joint song with rapper Loc-Dog “We will live” was very popular. Is it important for you to remain relevant to young audiences?
– I am interested in new trends. I am learning modern melodic music. Yes, maybe I listen to modern songs without pleasure. But as a person who plays music professionally, I have to know this. In rap, for example, there are poems of quite high quality. Of course, I do not take into account all these battles when there is obscene language and so on. But, in general, hip-hop lyrics are a continuation of the traditions of Mayakovsky, Voznesensky, Rozhdestvensky and Yevtushenko.
The Space ensemble toured from France. In the photo: People’s Artist of the RSFSR Lev Leshchenko talks with French musicians Yann Lauzet and Didier Marouani. 1983
Photo: TASS photo chronicle.
– Are you then open to collaborating with young artists?
– I am often asked: “Who would you like to sing with?” I answer: “I would like to sing with American singers Beyoncé and Dua Lipa. Or with Ramazzotti.” But I don’t have that opportunity. But I try to help budding artists who come to me.
– What kind of musical are you producing now?
– This is such a modern story based on Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev’s “First Love”. This is one of his best stories. And I have long wanted to bring it to the stage. It won’t even be a musical, but a musical and dramatic performance with the participation of the audience. A modern interpretation in clip style. Each scene lasts 5-6 minutes.
– And when will we be able to see it?
– I’m deciding now. Or it will be for Turgenev’s birthday on November 9th. But most likely we will have the premiere on my birthday, February 1st.
– We’ll be looking forward to it! And finally, wishes to our readers.
– I wish that your soul never grows cold from good music, good songs, good literature, good theatre and cinema, as well as from the fine arts!
Lev Leshchenko and the editor-in-chief of Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda Andrey Gorbunov
Photo: Ivan MAKEEV. Go to Photobank KP
“THE OLYMPIC GAMES HAVE BECOME LOW LEVEL”
– For the entire Soviet Union, the main song about the Olympic Games was, of course, your “Farewell, Moscow”. Are you following the current Olympic Games?
– How can I put it more precisely? There is an unpleasant story happening in France right now. But I hope that people will see how absurd it is and understand how low and shallow all this is.
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