On the eve of his 80th birthday, Yuri Antonov began appearing at important events. Now he works more often at home – he has a music studio there.
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS.
A solemn event on the occasion of the Day of National Unity took place in the trade and cultural complex of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation. There were many guests, including one of the most respected masters of the national stage – Yuri Antonov.
In six months, composer, author and performer Yuri Antonov will celebrate his 80th birthday. Many noted that Yuri Mikhailovich was in excellent shape, had lost a little weight and looked very cheerful: he talked a lot with people and smiled. He was very energetic – the first impression was that there was no complicated operation or problems with his leg. People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Yuri Antonov recently told us that rehabilitation after knee surgery was successful, but it is still ongoing. Now we can say that Yuri Mikhailovich is in good shape. It is clear that certain rules, exercises, classes with a rehabilitation specialist after a complex knee replacement operation will remain in the hands of the master, but the mood is already cheerful.
Yuri Antonov has an incredible number of offers for concerts, invitations to festivals and meetings. But he carefully selects the events he attends: he only goes to places that interest him or places and people that are important to the maestro. Antonov simply could not miss the event at the Embassy of his native Republic of Belarus. The fact is that it was there that he became a musician. One day, my mother made up her mind and took young Yura Antonova to a music school in the town of Molodechno, Minsk region, where the head of the family, a career military man, was transferred to serve. Yura successfully completed his music school and then went to study at a music school. At the age of 14, Yura began working as a choir director; for this he received a salary of 60 rubles. As a student he created his first musical group and performed with this pop orchestra at the cultural center. After music school, Yuri was assigned to work as a teacher at a children’s music school in Minsk, where his parents lived at that time. After that, he found a job as a soloist-instrumentalist at the Belarusian State Philharmonic. After serving in the army, he again worked at the Philharmonic – he was the musical director of the Tonika ensemble of People’s Artist of the BSSR Viktor Vuyachich. And then he began to write his first songs of his own composition. Vuyachich allowed these compositions to be performed at his concert – to dilute them, so to speak. It turned out well. And once there was a concert in Donetsk, where at that time “Singing Guitars” from Leningrad were touring – on their day off they came to the concert. After the performance, they approached Yuri Antonov and invited him to join their team. Yuri agreed and was touched – a period of active composition began.
– September 18, 2024 Yuri Antonov at the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation at a gala on the occasion of the Day of National Unity
Photo: Pavel SADKOV. Go to Photobank KP
Until now, these same “old” hits of Yuri Antonov are heard on television, radio, at family holidays and in people’s personal music collections. “There is no more beautiful you”, “I remember”, “The roof of your house”, “On Kashtanova Street”, “How beautiful is this world”, “Oh, the white ship” – fans are looking forward to hearing these songs performed by the author at the anniversary concert. Yuri Mikhailovich himself has not yet promised a solo album, but there is hope. As we were able to see, he is in excellent shape (considering the numbers in his passport). Moreover, as we were able to find out, Antonov is currently recording new compositions in a music studio (located in the maestro’s house near Moscow).
