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Biography of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko

Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko was born on June 14, 1898 near Odessa in the village of Isaevo. The father was a small clerk. His mother, Maria Konstantinovna, an illiterate woman, had an absolute ear for music, sang well, and knew many Ukrainian folk songs - which, of course, had the desired influence on her son.

From the early childhood Peter showed extraordinary musical abilities. They say that at the age of seven he performed before the Cossacks in his village, for which he received a pot of porridge and a loaf of bread...

At the age of three, Petya lost his father, and a few years later, in 1909, his mother remarried, and the family moved to Bessarabia, to Chisinau. Petya is placed in a parochial school, where the boy is noticed good voice and enroll him in the bishop's choir. Let’s add along the way that the school taught not only literacy, but also artistic gymnastic dancing, music, singing...

Despite the fact that Petya only completed four years of training, he gained a lot. At the age of 17, Petya was drafted to ensign school. A year later he was already in the active army (the First World War was in progress) with the rank of ensign. In one of the battles, Peter was wounded and sent to a Chisinau hospital. Meanwhile, Romanian troops captured Bessarabia. Leshchenko, like thousands of others, found himself cut off from his homeland, becoming an “emigrant without emigration.”

It was necessary to work somewhere, to earn a living: young Leshchenko entered the Romanian theatrical society “Scene”, performed in Chisinau, presenting dances that were fashionable at that time (including the Lezginka) between sessions at the Orpheum cinema.

In 1917, the mother, Maria Konstantinovna, gave birth to a daughter, they named her Valentina (in 1920 another sister was born - Ekaterina) - and Peter already performed in the Chisinau restaurant "Suzanna" ...

Later, Leshchenko toured Bessarabia, then, in 1925, came to Paris, where he performed in a guitar duet and in the balalaika ensemble “Guslyar”: Peter sang, played the balalaika, then appeared in a Caucasian costume with daggers in his teeth, stabbing the daggers with lightning speed and dexterity. to the floor, then dashing “squats” and “Arab steps”. Has tremendous success. Soon, wanting to improve her dance technique, she entered the best ballet school (where the famous Vera Aleksandrovna Trefilova, née Ivanova, who recently shone on the Mariinsky stage and won fame in both London and Paris), teaches.

At this school, Leshchenko meets a student from Riga, Zinaida Zakit. Having learned several original numbers, they perform in Parisian restaurants, and are successful everywhere... Soon the dancing couple becomes a married couple. The newlyweds go on a long tour of European countries, performing in restaurants, cabarets, and theater stages. Everywhere the audience enthusiastically receives the artists.

And here it is 1929. The city of Chisinau, the city of youth. They are given the stage of the most fashionable restaurant. The posters read: “Every evening, famous ballet dancers Zinaida Zakit and Pyotr Leshchenko, who came from Paris, perform at the London restaurant.”

In the evenings, the jazz orchestra of Mikhail Weinstein played in the restaurant, and at night Pyotr Leshchenko, wearing a gypsy shirt with wide sleeves, came out performing gypsy songs to the accompaniment of a guitar (given by his stepfather). Then the beautiful Zinaida appeared. The dance numbers began. All evenings were a great success.

“In the spring of 1930,” recalls Konstantin Tarasovich Sokolsky, “posters appeared in Riga announcing a concert of the dance duet Zinaida Zakit and Peter Leshchenko, in the premises of the Dailes Theater on Romanovskaya Street No. 37. I was not at this concert, but after a while I saw their performance in the divertissement program at the Palladium cinema. They and the singer Lilian Fernet filled the entire divertissement program - 35-40 minutes.

Zakit shone with the precision of her movements and the characteristic performance of Russian dance figures. And Leshchenko did dashing “squats” and Arab steps, making transfers without touching the floor with his hands. Then came the Lezginka, in which Leshchenko temperamentally threw daggers... But Zakit left a special impression in solo character and comic dances, some of which she danced on pointe shoes. And here, to give his partner the opportunity to change clothes for the next solo number, Leshchenko came out in a gypsy costume, with a guitar and sang songs.

His voice had a small range, a light timbre, without “metal”, with a short breath (like a dancer’s) and therefore he was not able to cover the huge cinema hall with his voice (there were no microphones at that time). But in this case this was not of decisive importance, because the audience looked at him not as a singer, but as a dancer. But in general, his performance left a good impression... The program ended with a couple more dances.
In general, their performance is like dancing couple I liked it - I felt the professionalism of the performance, the special practice of each movement, I also liked their colorful costumes.

I was especially impressed by my partner with her charm and feminine charm - such was her temperament, some kind of bewitching inner burning. Leshchenko also left the impression of a wonderful gentleman...

Soon we had the opportunity to perform in the same program and get to know each other. They turned out to be pleasant, sociable people. Zina turned out to be our Riga resident, a Latvian, as she said, “the daughter of the landlord at 27 Gertrudes Street.” And Peter is from Bessarabia, from Chisinau, where his whole family lived: his mother, stepfather and two younger sisters - Valya and Katya.

Here it must be said that after the First World War, Bessarabia ceded to Romania, and thus the entire Leshchenko family mechanically turned into Romanian subjects.

Soon the dance duo found themselves out of work. Zina was pregnant, and Peter, left to some extent without work, began to look for opportunities to use his voice data and therefore came to the management of the Riga music house "Youth and Feyerabend" (these are the names of the directors of the company), which represented the interests of the German gramophone company "Parlophone" and offered his services as a singer...

Subsequently, it seems in 1933, the company “Youth and Feyerabend” in Riga founded its own recording studio called “Bonophon”, where I, in 1934, after my first return from abroad, first sang “Heart”, “Ha- cha-cha", "Charaban-apple", and the comic song "Antoshka on an accordion".

The management received Leshchenko's visit with indifference, saying that they did not know such a singer. After Peter’s repeated visits to this company, they agreed that Leshchenko would go to Germany at his own expense and sing ten test songs on Parlophone, which Peter did. In Germany, the Parlofon company released five discs of ten works, three of which are based on the words and music of Leshchenko himself: “From Bessarabia to Riga”, “Have fun, soul”, “Boy”.

Our Riga patrons sometimes organized dinner parties to which popular artists were invited. On one of these evenings at the “doctor of ear, nose and throat” Solomir (I don’t remember his name, I just called him “doctor”), where I visited more than once with the composer Oscar Davydovich Strok, we took Pyotr Leshchenko with us. He came with a guitar...

By the way, the walls of Solomir’s office were covered with photographs of our opera and concert singers and even guest performers, such as Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Lev Sibiryakov, Dmitry Smirnov, Leonid Sobinov and Fyodor Shalyapin, with touching autographs: “Thank you for saving the concert,” “To the miracle worker.” , who gave me back my voice in time."... Solomir himself had a pleasant tenor timbre. He and I always sang romances as a duet at such evenings. It was the same that evening.

Then Oscar Strok called Peter, agreed on something with him and sat down at the piano, and Petya took the guitar. The first thing he sang (as I remember) was the romance “Hey, Guitar Friend.” He behaved boldly, confidently, his voice flowed calmly. Then he sang a couple more romances, for which he was rewarded with unanimous applause. Petya himself was delighted, went up to O. Strok and kissed him...

To be honest, I really liked him that evening. There was nothing like when he sang in cinemas. There were huge halls, but here, in a small living room, everything was different; and of course, the fact that the wonderful musician Oscar Strok accompanied him played a huge role. The music enriched the vocals. And one more thing, which I consider one of the main points: for singers, the basic principle is to sing only with diaphragmatic, deep breathing. If in performances in a dance duet Leshchenko sang in a short breath, excited after dancing, now some support for the sound was felt, and hence the characteristic softness of the timbre of his voice...
At some similar family evening we met again. Everyone liked Peter's singing again. Oscar Strok became interested in Peter and included him in the concert program, with which we went to the city of Liepaja, on the shores of the Baltic Sea. But here again the history of performance in cinema repeated itself. Big hall The maritime club in which we performed did not give Peter the opportunity to show himself.

The same thing was repeated in Riga, in the Barberina cafe, where other conditions were unfavorable for the singer, and it was not clear to me why Peter agreed to perform there. I was invited there several times and was offered a good fee, but, valuing my prestige as a singer, I always refused.

In old Riga, on Izmailovskaya Street, there was a small cozy cafe called "A.T." I don’t know what these two letters meant; they were probably the initials of the owner. A small orchestra led by the excellent violinist Herbert Schmidt was playing in the cafe. Sometimes there was a small program there, singers performed and especially often a brilliant, witty storyteller-entertainer, artist of the Russian Drama Theater, Vsevolod Orlov, brother of the world famous pianist Nikolai Orlov.
One day we were sitting at a table in this cafe: Doctor Solomir, lawyer Elyashev, Oscar Strok, Vsevolod Orlov and our local impresario Isaac Teitlbaum. Someone suggested the idea: “What if Leshchenko gave a performance in this cafe? After all, he could be successful here - the room is small, and the acoustics, apparently, are not bad.”

During the break, when the orchestra paused, Herbert Schmidt came to our table. Oscar Strok, Elyashev and Solomir started talking to him about something - we, sitting at the other end of the table, did not pay attention at first. Then, at Teitlbaum’s request, the cafe manager came up, and it all ended with Solomir and Elyashev “interesting” Herbert Schmidt to work with Leshchenko, and Oscar undertook to help him with the repertoire. Peter, when he learned about this, was very happy. Rehearsals have begun. Oscar Strock and Herbert Schmidt did their job and two weeks later the first performance took place.

Already the first two songs were a success, but when it was announced that “My Last Tango” would be performed, the audience, seeing that the author himself, Oscar Strok, was in the hall, began to applaud, turning to him. Strok went up to the stage, sat down at the piano - this inspired Peter and after the tango was performed, the hall burst into thunderous applause. In general, the first performance was a triumph. After that, I listened to the singer several times - and everywhere the audience received his introductions well.
It was at the end of 1930, which can be considered the year the singing career of Pyotr Leshchenko began. Zina, Peter's wife, gave birth to a son, who, at his father's request, was named Igor (although Zina's relatives, Latvians, suggested a different, Latvian name).

In the spring of 1931, I was with the troupe of the Bonzo miniature theater under the direction of the comedian A.N. Werner went abroad. Peter stayed in Riga, performing at the A.T. cafe. At this time, in the same place, in Riga, the owner of the large book publishing house Gramatou Drauge, Helmar Rudzitis, opened the Bellacord Electro company. In this company, Leshchenko records several records: “My last tango”, “Tell me why” and others...

The management really liked the first recordings, the voice turned out to be very phonogenic, and this was the beginning of Pyotr Leshchenko’s career as a record singer. During his stay in Riga, Peter also sang on “Bellacord”, in addition to the songs of O. Strok and the songs of another of ours, also from Riga, composer Mark Iosifovich Maryanovsky “Tatyana”, “Marfusha”, “Caucasus”, “Pancakes” and others. [In 1944, Maryanovsky died in Buchenwald]. The company paid a good fee for singing, i.e. Leshchenko finally got the opportunity to have a good income...

Around 1932, in Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, in the cabaret "Russian Family", owned by the Serb Mark Ivanovich Garapich, our Riga dance quartet "Four Smaltsevs", which had European fame, performed with great success. The head of this number, Ivan Smaltsev, heard P. Leshchenko perform in Riga, in the A.T. cafe, he liked his singing, and therefore he invited Garapich to engage Peter. The contract was drawn up on brilliant terms for Leshchenko - 15 dollars per evening for two performances (for example, I’ll say that in Riga you could buy a good suit for fifteen dollars).

But fate again did not smile on Peter. The hall turned out to be narrow, large, and even before his arrival, the singer from Estonia Voskresenskaya, the owner of a vast, beautiful timbre of a dramatic soprano, had performed there. Petya did not live up to the management's hopes, he got lost - and although the contract with him was concluded for a month, twelve days later (of course, having paid in full under the contract) they parted with him. I think Peter drew a conclusion from this.

In 1932 or 33, the company of Gerutsky, Cavour and Leshchenko opened a small cafe-restaurant called "Casuca Nostru" ("our house") in Bucharest, on Brezoleanu Street 7. The capital was invested by the personable-looking Gerutsky, who greeted the guests, the experienced chef Cavour was in charge of the kitchen, and Petya with a guitar created the mood in the hall. Petya’s stepfather and mother took visitors’ clothes into the wardrobe (it was at this time that the entire Leshchenko family from Chisinau moved to live in Bucharest, and their son Igor continued to live and be raised in Riga, with Zina’s relatives, and therefore the first language he began to speak - Latvian).

At the end of 1933 I arrived in Riga. Sang in Russian drama theater all musical reviews, traveled to neighboring Lithuania and Estonia. Petya came to Riga several times to visit his son. When they went for a walk, I was always the translator, because Petya did not know the Latvian language. Soon Peter took Igor to Bucharest. Things were going well at Casutsa Nostra, the tables were taken, as they said, by fighting, and the need arose to change the premises. When in the fall of 1936, under a contract, I came to Bucharest again, there was already a new, large restaurant on the main street of Calea Victoria (N1), which was called “Leshchenko”.

In general, Peter was very popular in Bucharest. He was fluent in Romanian and sang in two languages. The restaurant was visited by sophisticated Russian and Romanian society. A wonderful orchestra played. Zina turned Peter's sisters, Valya and Katya, into good dancers, they performed together, but, of course, the highlight of the program was basically Peter himself.

Having learned all the secrets of singing on records in Riga, Petya made an agreement with the branch of the American company Columbia in Bucharest and sang many records there... His voice in those recordings has a wonderful timbre and is expressive in performance. After all, this is the truth: the less metal in the timbre of the voice of the performer of intimate songs, the better it will sound on gramophone records (some called Peter a “record singer”: Peter did not have vocal material appropriate for the stage, while performing intimate songs, tango on gramophone records , foxtrots, etc. I consider him one of the best Russian singers I have ever heard; when I sang songs in the rhythm of tango, or foxtrot, which required softness and sincerity of the voice timbre, I always tried, when singing records, to also sing with a bright sound, completely removing metal from the timbre of the voice, which, on the contrary, is necessary on the big stage).

In 1936 I was in Bucharest. My impresario, S.Ya. Bisker once tells me: soon there will be a concert by F.I. here in Bucharest. Chaliapin, and after the concert the Bucharest public organizes a banquet in honor of his arrival at the Continental restaurant (where the Romanian virtuoso violinist Grigoras Nicu played).
The Chaliapin concert was organized by S. Ya. Bisker, and of course a place for me at the concert and at the banquet was secured...

But soon Peter came to my hotel and said: “I invite you to a banquet in honor of Chaliapin, which will take place in my restaurant!” And indeed, the banquet took place in his restaurant. It turned out that Peter managed to come to an agreement with Chaliapin’s administrator, managed to “interest” him, and the banquet from the Continental was moved to the Lescenco restaurant.

I sat fourth from F.I. Chaliapin: Chaliapin, Bisker, the critic Zolotorev and me. I was all attention, all the time listening to what Chaliapin was saying to those sitting next to him.

Speaking in the evening's program, Peter was on fire; while singing, he tried to address the table at which Chaliapin was sitting. After Peter’s performances, Bisker asked Chaliapin: “What do you think, Fedor (they were on you), Leshchenko sings well?” Chaliapin smiled, looked towards Peter and said: “Yes, stupid songs, he sings well.”

At first, when Petya learned about these words of Chaliapin, he was offended, and then I had difficulty explaining to him:

“You can only be proud of such a remark. After all, what you and I sing, various fashionable hits, romances and tangos, are really stupid songs compared to classical repertoire. But they praised you and said that you sing these songs well. And who said this - Chaliapin himself! This is the biggest compliment from a great actor."

Fyodor Ivanovich was in a great mood that evening and did not skimp on autographs.

In 1932, the Leshchenko couple returned from Riga to Chisinau. Leshchenko gives two concerts in the Diocesan Hall, which had exceptional acoustics and was the most beautiful building in the city.

The newspaper wrote: “On January 16 and 17, the famous performer of gypsy songs and romances, who enjoys enormous success in the capitals of Europe, Pyotr Leshchenko, will perform in the Diocesan Hall.” After the performances, the following messages appeared: “Peter Leshchenko’s concert was an exceptional success. The soulful performance and successful selection of romances delighted the audience.”

Then Leshchenko and Zinaida Zakit perform at the Suzanna restaurant, after which they travel again to different cities and countries.

In 1933, Leshchenko was in Austria. In Vienna, at the Columbia company, he recorded records. Unfortunately, this best and largest company in the world (whose branches were in almost all countries) did not record all the works performed by Pyotr Leshchenko: the owners of the companies in those years needed works in rhythms that were fashionable at that time: tango, foxtrots, and they paid for them several times more than for romances or folk songs.

Thanks to records released in millions of copies, Leshchenko is gaining extraordinary popularity; the most willing to work with Peter famous composers of that time: Boris Fomin, Oscar Strok, Mark Maryanovsky, Claude Romano, Efim Sklyarov, Gera Vilnov, Sasha Vladi, Arthur Gold, Ernst Nonigsberg and others. He was accompanied by the best European orchestras: the Genigsberg brothers, the Albin brothers, Herbert Schmidt, Nikolai Chereshny (who toured Moscow and other cities of the USSR in 1962), Frank Fox's Columbia, Bellacord-Electro. About half of the works in Pyotr Leshchenko's repertoire belong to his pen and almost all of them belong to his musical arrangement.

It is interesting that if Leshchenko experienced difficulties when his voice “disappeared” in large halls, then his voice was recorded perfectly on records (Chaliapin even once called Leshchenko a “record singer”), while such masters of the stage as Chaliapin and Morfessi, who sang freely in large theater and concert halls, were always dissatisfied with their records, as K. Sokolsky noted, they conveyed only a certain proportion of their voices...

In 1935 Leshchenko came to England, performed in restaurants, and was invited to appear on the radio. In 1938 Leshchenko and Zinaida in Riga. An evening took place in the Kemer Kurhaus, where Leshchenko and the orchestra of the famous violinist and conductor Herbert Schmidt gave his last concert in Latvia.

And in 1940 there were the last concerts in Paris: and in 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Romania occupied Odessa. Leshchenko receives a call to the regiment to which he is assigned. He refuses to go to war against his people, he is tried by an officer's court, but he, as popular singer, are released. In May 1942 he performed at the Odessa Russian Drama Theater. At the request of the Romanian command, all concerts had to begin with a song in Romanian. And only then the famous “My Marusichka”, “Two Guitars”, “Tatyana” sounded. The concerts ended with "Chubchik".

Vera Georgievna Belousova (Leshchenko) says: “I lived in Odessa then. I graduated School of Music, I was 19 years old then. She performed in concerts, played the accordion, sang... Once I saw a poster: “The famous, inimitable performer of Russian and gypsy songs, Pyotr Leshchenko, is performing.” And then, at a rehearsal for one of the concerts (where I was supposed to perform), a short man came up to me and introduced himself: Pyotr Leshchenko, inviting me to his concert.

I’m sitting in the hall, listening, and he looks at me and sings:

You are nineteen years old, you have your own path.
You can laugh and joke.
But there is no return for me, I have been through so much...

That’s how we met and soon got married. We arrived in Bucharest, Zinaida agreed to a divorce only when Peter left the restaurant and apartment to her...
We settled with his mother. In August 1944, Russian troops entered the city. Leshchenko began offering his performances. The first concerts were received very coldly, Peter was very worried, it turned out that an order was given: “Leshchenko should not be applauded.” Only when he gave a concert in front of the commanding staff did everything immediately change. We both began performing in hospitals, in units, in halls. The command allocated us an apartment...

So ten years flew by like one day. Peter kept seeking permission to return to his homeland, and one day he received this permission. He gives the last concert - the first part passed with triumph, the second begins... but he doesn’t come out. I went into the artist’s room: there was a suit and a guitar, two people in civilian clothes came up to me and said that Pyotr Konstantinovich had been taken away for a conversation, “clarification is needed.”

Nine months later they gave me an address for a date and a list of things I needed. I arrived there. They measured me six meters from the barbed wire and told me not to approach. They brought Peter: neither to say nor to touch. Parting, he folded his hands, raised them to the sky and said: “God knows, I have no guilt before anyone.”
Soon I was also arrested, “for treason,” for marrying a foreign national. Brought to Dnepropetrovsk. They sentenced him to death, then changed it to twenty-five years and sent him to a camp. In 1954 he was released. I found out that Pyotr Konstantinovich was no longer alive.

I started performing and traveling around the country. In Moscow I met Kolya Chereshnya (he was a violinist in Leshchenko’s orchestra). Kolya said that in 1954 Leshchenko died in prison, allegedly from canned food poisoning. They also say that they imprisoned him because, having gathered his friends for a farewell dinner, he raised his glass and said: “Friends! I am happy that I am returning to my homeland! My dream has come true. I am leaving, but my heart remains with you. "

The last words were the ruin. In March 1951, Leshchenko was arrested... The voice of “the favorite of the European public, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko,” stopped sounding.

Vera Georgievna Leshchenko performed on many stages throughout the country as a singer, accordionist and pianist, and sang in Moscow, at the Hermitage. In the mid-eighties she retired, just before our meeting (in October 1985) she returned with her husband, pianist Eduard Vilhelmovich, to Moscow from the city where she spent her best years - from the beautiful Odessa. Our meetings took place in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere...

Pyotr Leshchenko’s sister, Valentna, once saw her brother when a convoy was leading him down the street, digging ditches. Peter also saw his sister and cried... Valentina still lives in Bucharest.

Another sister, Ekaterina, lives in Italy. The son, Igor, was a magnificent choreographer of the Bucharest Theater, died at the age of forty-seven years...

Yuri Sosudin

Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich
Born: June 2 (14), 1898
Died: July 16, 1954 (age 56)

Biography

Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko - Russian Romanian crooner, performer of folk and character dances, restaurateur.

Birth, studies, participation in the First World War (1898-1918)

Leshchenko was born in the village of Isaevo, Kherson province (now Nikolaevsky district, Odessa region). His mother gave birth to him out of wedlock. In the registry book of the district archive there is an entry: “Maria Kalinovna Leshchenkova, the daughter of a retired soldier, gave birth to a son, Peter, on June 2, 1898.” Peter was baptized on 07/03/1898; subsequently, the date of baptism appeared in Peter Leshchenko’s documents - July 3, 1898. In the “father” column there is an entry: “illegitimate.” Godparents: nobleman Alexander Ivanovich Krivosheev and noblewoman Katerina Yakovlevna Orlova. Peter's mother had an absolute ear for music, knew many folk songs and sang well, which had a due influence on the formation of the personality of Peter, who also discovered extraordinary musical abilities from early childhood. The mother's family, together with 9-month-old Peter, moved to Chisinau, where about nine years later the mother married dental technician Alexei Vasilyevich Alfimov. Pyotr Leshchenko spoke Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and German languages.

Pyotr Leshchenko wrote about himself:

At the age of 9 months, he and his mother, as well as her parents, moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was brought up at home, and then, as I had talent for dancing and music, I was taken into the soldier's army. church choir. The director of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th People's Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the regent of the bishop's choir, Berezovsky, drew attention to me and assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915 I received the general and musical education. In 1915, due to a change in my voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. He got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the infantry school for warrant officers in the city of Kyiv, from which I graduated in March 1917, and I was awarded the rank of warrant officer. After graduating from the mentioned school, through the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa, he was sent to the Romanian front and enlisted in the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division as a platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked - and was sent to a hospital, first to a field hospital, and then to the city of Chisinau.

Revolutionary events October 1917 they found me in the same hospital. Even after the revolution, I continued to be treated until January 1918, that is, until the capture of Bessarabia by Romanian troops.

Bessarabia was declared Romanian territory in 1918, and Pyotr Leshchenko was officially discharged from the hospital as a Romanian citizen.

Chisinau, Paris, marriage (1918-1926)

After leaving the hospital, he lived with his relatives. Until 1919, Leshchenko worked as a turner for a private owner, then served as a psalm-reader in the church at the Olginsky shelter, and as sub-regent of the church choir in the Chuflinsky and cemetery churches. In addition, he participated in a vocal quartet and sang at the Chisinau Opera, the director of which was a certain Belousova.

From the fall of 1919, as part of the dance group “Elizarov” (Danila Zeltser, Tovbis, Antonina Kangizer), he performed for four months in Bucharest at the Alyagambra Theater, then with them throughout 1920 - in Bucharest cinemas.

Until 1925, he toured Romania as a dancer and singer as part of various artistic groups. In 1925, he left for Paris with Nikolai Trifanidis, where he met Antonina Kangizer. With her, her 9-year-old brother and mother, Trifanidis performs in Parisian cinemas for three months. Leshchenko performed with a guitar duet in the balalaika ensemble “Guslyar” with a number in which he played the balalaika, and then, dressed in a Caucasian costume, went on stage with “Arab steps” with daggers in his teeth, dancing squatting and accompanying all this with throwing daggers at floor. The number was a success with the public: 168.

Wanting to improve his dance technique, Leshchenko entered Trefilova’s ballet school, which was considered one of the best in France. At school he met the artist Zhenya (Zinaida) Zakitt from Riga, a Latvian. Peter and Zinaida learned several dance numbers and began performing as a duet in Parisian restaurants, with great success. Soon the dancing duo became a married couple:168.

In February 1926, in Paris, Leshchenko accidentally met an acquaintance from Bucharest, Yakov Voronovsky. He was about to leave for Sweden - and offered Leshchenko his place as a dancer in the Normandy restaurant. Until the end of April 1926, Leshchenko performed in this restaurant.

Tour. Publishing records. First success (1926-1933)

Polish musicians, who previously worked in a restaurant in Chernivtsi and had a contract with a Turkish theater in the city of Adana, invite Peter Leshchenko and Zakitt to go on tour with them. From May 1926 to August 1928 family duet made a tour of the countries of Europe and the Middle East - Constantinople, Adana, Smyrna (here Leshchenko married Zakitt in July 1926), Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Athens, Thessaloniki.

In 1928, the Leshchenko couple returned to Romania and entered the Bucharest Teatrul Nostra. Then they go to Riga, on the occasion of the death of his wife's father. We stayed in Riga for two weeks and moved to Chernivtsi, where we worked at the Olgaber restaurant for three months. Then - transfer to Chisinau. Until the winter of 1929, the Leshchenko spouses performed in the London restaurant, in the Summer Theater and cinemas. Then - Riga, where until December 1930 Pyotr Leshchenko worked alone in the A.T. cafe. He only left for a month at the invitation of the Smaltsov dancers to Belgrade.

When Zinaida became pregnant, their dance duet broke up. Looking for an alternative way to make money, Leshchenko turned to his vocal abilities:170. In January 1931, Peter and Zhenya had a son, Igor (Ikki) Leshchenko (Igor Petrovich Leshchenko (1931-1978), son of Peter Leshchenko from his first marriage, choreographer of the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bucharest).

Theatrical agent Duganov arranged for Leshchenko to go to concerts in Libau for a month. At the same time, Leshchenko enters into a contract with the summer restaurant “Jurmala”. He spent the entire summer of 1931 with his family in Libau. Upon returning to Riga, he again works at the A.T. cafe. At this time, the singer met the composer Oscar Strok, the creator of tangos, romances, foxtrots and songs. Leshchenko performed and recorded the composer’s songs: “Black Eyes”, “Blue Rhapsody”, “Tell me Why” and other tangos and romances. He also worked with other composers, in particular with Mark Maryanovsky, the author of “Tatyana”, “Miranda”, “Nastya-Yagodka”.

The owner of a music store in Riga, whose last name was Yunosha, in the fall of 1931 invited Leshchenko to go to Berlin for ten days to record songs at the Parlophon company. Leshchenko also enters into a contract with the Romanian branch of the English recording company Columbia (about 80 songs have been recorded). The singer's records are published by Parlophone Records (Germany), Electrecord (Romania), Bellaccord (Latvia).

Since the spring of 1932, he again works together with Zakitt in Chernivtsi, in Chisinau. In 1933, Leshchenko and his family decided to settle permanently in Bucharest and went to work at the Rus pavilion. In addition - a tour of Bessarabia, a trip to Vienna to record at the Columbia company. In 1935, together with Kavura and Gerutsky, he opened the Leshchenko restaurant at 2 Kalya Victoria Street, which existed until 1942. Leshchenko performs in his restaurant with the ensemble “Leshchenko Trio” (the singer’s wife and his younger sisters - Valya and Katya).

In 1935, Leshchenko traveled to London twice: he spoke on the radio, recorded at a recording studio, and, at the invitation of the famous impresario Holt Leshchenko, gave two concerts. In 1937 and 1938, I went to Riga with my family for the summer season. He spends the rest of the time before the start of the war in Bucharest, performing in a restaurant.

For my creative life the singer recorded over 180 gramophone discs.

Touring in occupied Odessa, second marriage (1941-1951)

In October 1941, Leshchenko received a notice from the 16th Infantry Regiment, to which he was assigned. But under various pretexts, Leshchenko tries to avoid service and continues his concert activities. Only on the third call did Leshchenko arrive at the regiment in Falticeni. Here he was tried by an officer's court, warned that he had to appear when summoned, and was released.

In December 1941, Leshchenko received an invitation from the director of the Odessa Opera House Selyavin with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. He refused due to a possible re-call to the regiment. In January 1942, Selyavin announced that the date of the concerts had been postponed indefinitely, but, nevertheless, all tickets had been sold. In March 1942, Leshchenko received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate, signed by Russ, to enter Odessa.

He left for Odessa, occupied by Romanian troops, on May 19, 1942, and stayed at the Bristol Hotel. In Odessa, on June 5, 7 and 9, Leshchenko held solo concerts.

At one of his rehearsals, he meets nineteen-year-old Vera Belousova, a student at the Odessa Conservatory, musician and singer. He proposes to Belousova and leaves for Bucharest to file a divorce from Zakitt. Scandals, showdowns with ex-wife ended with the receipt of regular notifications from the 16th Infantry Regiment. Leshchenko managed to obtain a document on mobilization to work locally, thus temporarily avoiding being sent to the active army. But in February 1943, he received orders to hand over this document and immediately report to the 16th Infantry Regiment to continue his military service.

A garrison doctor he knew suggested Pyotr Leshchenko treatment in a military hospital. Ten days did not solve the problem: a new notice arrives to report to the regiment. Leshchenko decides to have his appendix removed, although this was not necessary. After surgery and 25 days required vacation is not on duty. Leshchenko manages to get a job in the military artistic group of the 6th division. Until June 1943 he performed in Romanian military units.

In October 1943, a new order from the Romanian command: send Leshchenko to the front in Crimea. In Crimea, until mid-March 1944, he was at the headquarters, and then the head of the officers' canteen. Then he gets a vacation, but instead of Bucharest he comes to Odessa. He learns that the Belousov family is to be sent to Germany. Pyotr Leshchenko takes his future wife, her mother and two brothers to Bucharest.

In May 1944, Leshchenko registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. In September 1944, after the Red Army entered Bucharest, Leshchenko gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, and officers' clubs for Soviet soldiers. Vera Leshchenko also performed with him.

Arrest, prison and death (1951-1954)

On March 26, 1951, Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security authorities during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.

From Romanian sources: Peter Leshchenko was in Zhilava from March 1951, then in July 1952 he was transferred to the distribution center in Capul Midia, from there on August 29, 1953 to Borgesti. On May 21 or 25, 1954 he was transferred to the Targu Ocna prison hospital. He underwent surgery for an open stomach ulcer.

There is a protocol of the interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, from which it is clear that in July 1952, Pyotr Leshchenko was transported to Constanta (near Capul Midia) and interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, who was accused of treason. According to the memoirs of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko (heard in the documentary film “Film of Memory. Pyotr Leshchenko”), she was allowed only one date with her husband. Peter showed his black hands to his wife and said: “Faith! I am not to blame for anything, nothing!!!” They never met again.

P. K. Leshchenko died in the Romanian prison hospital Targu Ocna on July 16, 1954. The place of his burial is unknown. The materials on Leshchenko’s case are still closed.

In July 1952, Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was arrested. She was accused of marrying a foreign national, which was qualified as treason (Article 58-1 “A” of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, criminal case No. 15641-p). Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was sentenced to death on August 5, 1952. death penalty, which was replaced by 25 years of imprisonment, but was released in 1954: “Prisoner Belousova-Leshchenko should be released with her criminal record expunged and travel to Odessa on July 12, 1954,” an order with reference to the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR, the first link is about reducing the term to 5 years according to the Supreme Court Decision of June 1954, and the second - “release from custody.”

Leshchenko's widow managed to obtain the only information from Romania: LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. A MURIT ON TIMPUL DETENIEI, LA. PENITENCIARUL TÂRGU OCNA. (LESHCHENKO, PETER. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED WHILE STAYING IN TIRGU-OKNA PRISON). (From the “Book of the Repressed,” published in Bucharest)

Vera Leshchenko died in Moscow in 2009.

The biography was compiled according to the interrogation protocols of Pyotr Leshchenko and archival documents provided by the widow of Pyotr Leshchenko, Vera Leshchenko.

Memory

In the USSR, Pyotr Leshchenko was under an unspoken ban. His name was not mentioned in the Soviet media. However, many remembered him. One of the evidence of the singer’s posthumous fame is contained in the memoirs of journalist Mikhail Devletkamov:

...In the spring of 1980, I was traveling to the capital on a crowded Dubna-Moscow train. A shaven-headed, strongly built old man in a black padded jacket who sat down in Dmitrov was loudly talking about something to an elderly couple. The badge of the Third Ukrainian Front was on a worn quilted jacket... “But for such words you can end up in Siberia!” - his interlocutor suddenly said to the veteran... The train was approaching Yakhroma. Outside the window floated the majestic ruins of the Church of the Intercession, built in 1803 (the church has now been restored)... “But I’m not afraid of Siberia! - exclaimed the old man. “Now, remember how Leshchenko sang: “But I’m not afraid of Siberia, Siberia is also Russian land!..”” An old but cheerful veteran of the Second World War quoted a song from Pyotr Leshchenko’s repertoire “Chubchik”, dedicated to the tragedy of dispossessed peasants...

Newspaper “Dignity”, No. 12 / 2000

IN post-war years In Moscow, on the wave of the popularity of Pyotr Leshchenko, an entire underground company for the production and distribution of records “under Leshchenko” successfully flourished. The backbone of the company was the so-called “Tabachnikov Jazz” (composer Boris Fomin also worked there at one time) and its soloist Nikolai Markov, whose voice was almost identical to that of famous singer. Behind a short time Forty works from Leshchenko’s repertoire were recorded, including “Cranes”, which had nothing to do with him. The records were distributed mainly in Ukraine, in Moldova... One musician from the “Tabachnikov Jazz” spoke about this like this: “We take a suitcase of records there, and a suitcase of money back…”

Officially, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko’s records were not sold in stores, because they were not released, and the singer’s voice sounded in almost every home. Genuine or fake - you guessed it.

B. A. Savchenko. Retro stage. - M.: Art, 1996, p. 220.

Revival of popularity in 1988

There was no official permission for the voice of Pyotr Konstantinovich to appear on air in the late 80s of the 20th century; they simply stopped banning it. Recordings of songs performed by Leshchenko began to be heard on Soviet radio. Then programs and articles appeared about him. In 1988, the Melodiya company released the album “Pyotr Leshchenko Sings,” which was called the sensation of the month. In May, the disc took 73rd place in the all-Union hit parade, and within a couple of weeks it came out on top in popularity among the giant discs. For the first time legally, Pyotr Leshchenko was named the best.

“A sensation began to brew when our correspondents from many cities in the country began to receive information about the enormous interest of music lovers in the record of Pyotr Leshchenko, a famous chansonnier of the 1930s. Few could have imagined that the disc, which took 73rd place in May, would rapidly move up to the top of popularity in June, and eventually take first place in the All-Union hit parade...

In cinema

Biographical films

2013 - “Peter Leshchenko. Everything that happened…”, an eight-part biographical film (directed by Vladimir Kott, scripted by Eduard Volodarsky, the role of Leshchenko was played by Konstantin Khabensky and Ivan Stebunov).

Using songs

1996 - Animated film Funny pictures. Fantasy in retro style (director R. Kobzarev, scriptwriter R. Kobzarev) - song “Gypsy”.

1997 - Animated film Pink Doll (director V. Olshvang, scriptwriter N. Kozhushanaya) - song “Lola”.

In toponymy

Discography

Gramophone records (78 rpm)

Columbia (UK - France)

Confess to me (tango, music by Arthur Gold) / Sleep, my poor heart (tango, O. Strok and J. Altschuler) (Columbia orchestra)

Stay (tango, music by E. Hoenigsberg) / Miranda (tango, music by M. Maryanovsky) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Anikusha (tango, Claude Romano) / Mercy (“I forgive everything for love”, waltz, N. Vars) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Don't go (tango, E. Sklyarov) / Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm) (Honigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

I would love to love so much (tango, E. Sklyarov - N. Mikhailova) / Misha (foxtrot, G. Vilnov) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Boy (folk) / In the circus (everyday, N. Mirsky - Kolumbova - P. Leshchenko) (Honigsberg orchestra - Hecker)

Near the Forest (gypsy waltz, Hoenigsberg-Hecker orchestra) / Ditties (harmonica accompaniment - brothers Ernst and Max Hoenigsberg)

Andryusha (foxtrot, Z. Bialostotsky) / Troshka (household) (Honigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Who are you (slow fox, M. Maryanovsky) / Alyosha (foxtrot, J. Korologos) (J. Korologos orchestra)

My Friend (English Waltz, M. Halme) / Serenade (C. Sierra Leone) (Columbia Orchestra)

Heart (tango, I. O. Dunaevsky, arrangement F. Salabert - Ostrowsky) / March from the film “Jolly Fellows” (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky) (orchestra)

Horses (foxtrot) / Ha-cha-cha (foxtrot, Werner Richard Heymann) (J. Korologos orchestra)

Tatyana (tango, M. Maryanovsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / Nastenka (foxtrot, Traian Cornea, J. Korologos orchestra)

Cry, gypsy (romance) / You're driving drunk (romance) (Honigsberg orchestra)

Mother's Heart (tango, music by Z. Karasiński and S. Kataszek, Hönigsberg Orchestra) / Caucasus (oriental foxtrot, music by M. Maryanowski, J. Korologos Orchestra)

Musenka (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok, Hönigsberg Orchestra) / Dunya (Pancakes, foxtrot, music by M. Maryanovsky, J. Korologos Orchestra)

Forget you (tango, S. Shapirov) / Let's say goodbye (tango romance) (Honigsberg orchestra)

Capricious, stubborn (romance, Alexander Koshevsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Vilnov, J. Korologos orchestra and balalaika quartet “Baikal”)

Gloomy Sunday (Hungarian song, Rézső Szeres)/Blue Rhapsody (slow fox, Oskar Strok) (Honigsberg Orchestra)

Komarik (Ukrainian folk song) / Brown eyes ( Ukrainian song) - in Ukrainian language, guitar, with accomp. Orchestra of Hönigsberg, CHR 663/664]

Foggy at heart (E. Sklyarov, Nadya Kushnir) / March from the film “Circus” (I. O. Dunaevsky, V. I. Lebedev-Kumach) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshni)

Don’t Leave (tango, O. Strock) / Vanya (foxtrot, Shapirov - Leshchenko - Fedotov) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)

Ancient waltz (words and music by N. Listov) / Glasses (words by G. Gridov, music by B. Prozorovsky) (orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)

Captain / Sing to us, wind (songs from the film “Children of Captain Grant”, I. O. Dunaevsky - V. I. Lebedev-Kumach, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)

How good / Ring (romances, Olga Frank - Sergei Frank, arr. J. Azbukin, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)

Vanka dear / Nastya sells berries (foxtrots, music and lyrics by M. Maryanovsky, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)

Blue Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok) / Wine of Love (tango, lyrics and music by Mark Maryanovsky) (orchestra by Frank Fox)

Black Eyes (tango, lyrics and music by Oscar Strok) / Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by Boris Prozorovsky) (orchestra by Frank Fox)

What sorrow is mine (gypsy romance) / Gypsy life (camp, music by D. Pokrass) (Frank Fox orchestra)

A glass of vodka (foxtrot on a Russian motif, words and music by M. Maryanovsky) / A song is flowing (gypsy nomadic, words by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Chubchik (folk) / Farewell, my camp (Frank Fox orchestra)
Bessarabyanka (folk tune) / Buran (tabornaya) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Marfusha (foxtrot, Mark Maryanovsky) / You've returned again (tango) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)

At the samovar (foxtrot, N. Gordonoi) / My last tango (Oscar Strok) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)

You and this guitar (tango, music by E. Petersburgsky, Russian text by Rotinovsky) / Boring (tango, Sasa Vlady) (Hoenigsberg orchestra - Albahari)

Columbia (USA)

Farewell, my camp (Russian gypsy song) / Chubchik (Russian folk song) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Buran (taboraya) / Bessarabyanka (folk tune) (Frank Fox orchestra)
Gypsy life (camp life, music by D. Pokrass) / What sorrow is mine (gypsy romance)

The song flows (gypsy nomadic, lyrics by M. Lakhtin, music by V. Kruchinin) / Stanochek (folk song, lyrics by Timofeev, music by B. Prozorovsky) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Boring (tango) / You and this guitar (tango) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)
My last tango / At the samovar (foxtrot) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)
Marfusha (foxtrot) / You've returned again (tango) (Honigsberg orchestra - Albahari)
Near the forest / Black eyes
My friend (waltz, Max Halm) / Serenade (C. Sierra Leone)
Don't go (tango, E. Sklyarov) / Sashka (foxtrot, M. Halm) (Honigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

My Marusechka (foxtrot, G. Villnow, with accompaniment of orchestra and balalaika quartet) / Let's say goodbye (tango, Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Ring / How good (romances, Olga Frank - Sergei Frank, arr. J. Azbukin, orchestra conducted by N. Chereshny)

Confess to me (tango, Arthur Gold, Columbia orchestra) / You're driving drunk (romance, Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Heart (tango, I. O. Dunaevsky, arrangement F. Salabert - Ostrowsky) / March of the Jolly Children (I. O. Dunaevsky, Ostrowsky) (Honigsberg orchestra)

Wine of love (tango, M. Maryanovsky) / Blue eyes (tango, Oscar Strock) (Frank Fox orchestra)

Musenka dear (tango, Oscar Strok, Hoenigsberg orchestra) / Dunya (“Pancakes”, foxtrot, M. Maryanovsky, Korologos orchestra)

Caucasus (foxtrot, M. Maryanovsky) / Tatyana (tango, M. Maryanovsky, Hoenigsberg orchestra)

Vanya (foxtrot, Shapirov - Leshchenko - Fedotov) / Don’t leave (tango, Oscar Strok) (N. Chereshny orchestra)

Miranda (tango, M. Maryanovsky) / Stay (tango, E. Hoenigsberg) (Hoenigsberg - Hecker orchestra)

Columbia (Australia)

Komarik (Ukrainian folk song) / Karii ochi (Ukrainian song) - in Ukrainian. language, guitar, with accomp. orchestra

Bellaccord (Latvia)

Electrecord (Romania)

Please make corrections and additions!
[email protected]
.............
RGALI f. 3178 op. 2 units hr. 75. Andrianova (Leshchenko) Vera Georgievna, born 1923, singer
Deadline dates:
December 13, 1955 - October 13, 1962
............
In 1936, the sisters already performed with Zhenya Zakitt, a dance trio. In 1940, one of the sisters got married and went to Italy. The trio broke up.
SO THE DESCENDANTS SHOULD BE SEARCHED IN ROME!
.............
Watch the movie... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ZavW4Qg9M
=============
=========
======
WITNESS PETER LESCHENKO

March 26, 1951 Pyotr Leshchenko was arrested
State security authorities of Romania
during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.
This was followed in July 1952 by the arrest of his wife Vera Belousova.
who was accused of treason.
Belousova V.G. On August 5, 1952 she was sentenced to death,
which was replaced by 25 years in prison,
in 1953 she was released for lack of evidence of a crime.

Leshchenko died in a Romanian prison hospital on July 16, 1954.
The materials on Leshchenko’s case are still closed.
The widow of Peter Leshchenko managed to get from Romania
the only information:
LESCENCO, PETRE. ARTIST. ARESTAT. AMURIT ;NTIMPULDETENIEI,
L.A. PENITENCIARULT;RGUOCNA.
(LESHCHENKO, PETER. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED DURING THE STAY
THERE ARE WINDOWS IN THE PRISON).

INTERROGATION PROTOCOL TAKEN FROM THE ARCHIVED INVESTIGATIVE CASE
ACCUSING VERA BELOUSOVA-LESHCHENKO WITH TREASON TO THE MOTHERLAND
(Art. 58-I "a" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR).

The interrogation protocol of Pyotr Leshchenko is a valuable source of information about the life and creative career singer Based on this protocol, the artist’s biography is presented on the main page of our website. The original handwritten text of the protocol was written on 17 separate stationery pages by the hand of the interrogating senior counterintelligence investigator of the MGB military unit (field post 58148), Lieutenant Sokolov.
At the end of each page there is the signature of Peter Leshchenko.
This document is given in Vera Leshchenko’s book “Tell Why”, but due to the fault of the editors of the publishing house “Decom”, when reprinting the manuscript, the fourth page of the protocol was completely omitted, and there are also many other minor typos and inaccuracies in the text.
A somewhat truncated and largely distorted text of the interrogation protocol, which was presented by Odessa resident Vladimir Aleksandrovich Smirnov, is posted on the Internet on one website. According to his testimony, the materials of the archival investigative case N15641-P of Vera Georgievna Belousova-Leshchenko, to which he had access, are stored in the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Odessa on the street. Jewish, 43.
Below I present the original text of the interrogation protocol of Pyotr Leshchenko, using photocopies of 17 handwritten pages that were copied from the archival investigative file on the charges of Belousova-Leshchenko by a Lubyanka employee. I received copies of these documents from Vera Georgievna during her work on the book. I retain the original spelling, accepted abbreviations and recording form in full.

Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich, born in 1898, native of the village of Isaevo, formerly. Kherson province, Russian, citizen of the Romanian People's Republic, secondary education, speaks Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, French and weak German, artist by profession, in March 1951 arrested by the Romanian State Security authorities and kept in custody.

The interrogation began at 19:15.

Witness Leshchenko was warned about liability for giving false testimony

/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Question: Where were you born and what did you do before 1941?
Answer: I was born in 1898 in the village of Isaevo, formerly. Kherson province. I don’t know my father, since my mother gave birth to me without being married. At the age of 9 months, together with the mother, as well as with her birth-

/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Telami moved to live in the city of Chisinau. Until 1906, I grew up and was raised at home, and then, as I had a talent for dancing and music, I was taken into the soldiers’ church choir. The director of this choir, Kogan, later assigned me to the 7th People's Parish School in Chisinau. At the same time, the regent of the bishop's choir, Berezovsky, drew attention to me and assigned me to the choir. Thus, by 1915 I received a general and musical education. In 1915, due to a change in my voice, I could not participate in the choir and was left without funds, so I decided to go to the front. I got a job as a volunteer in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment and served there until November 1916. From there I was sent to the infantry ensign school in Kiev, which I graduated from in March 1917 and I was awarded the rank of ensign. After graduating from the mentioned school, the 40th reserve regiment in Odessa was sent to the Romanian front and enlisted in the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division as a platoon commander. In August 1917, on the territory of Romania, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked and sent to a hospital, first to a field hospital, and then to Chisinau. The revolutionary events of October 1917 found me in the same hospital. Even after the Revolution, I continued to be treated until January 1918, i.e. until the capture of Bessarabia by Romanian troops.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

In mid-January 1918, I left the hospital and stayed in Chisinau with my relatives. By that time, my mother had married a dental technician, Alexey Vasilyevich Alfimov, and also lived in Chisinau. After that, until 1919, I worked in Chisinau for some time as a wood turner for a private owner, then served as a psalm-reader in the church at the Olginsky shelter, sub-regent of the church choir in the Chuflinsky and cemetery churches. In addition, he participated in a vocal quartet and sang in an opera formed in Chisinau, the director of which was a certain Belousova.
In the autumn of 1919, with dance group consisting of: Zeltser Daniil, Tovbik and Kangushner, (under the name "Elizarov") I went to Bucharest and performed with them for 4 months at the Alyagambra Theater. Then, as part of the same group, he performed in Bucharest cinemas throughout 1920. Until 1925, he worked in various artistic groups as a dancer and singer and traveled around the cities of Romania. In 1925, together with a certain Trifanidis Nikolai, live. Chisinau left for Paris. There I met with Kangizer Antonina, born. Chisinau, with whom I worked in the same troupe in Romania in 1921-1922. Together with her, her 9-year-old brother, her mother and Trifanidis, we organized a troupe and performed for three months in Parisian cinemas.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

At that time, I intended to marry Kangizer, but since she had many admirers, I broke off all relations with her, our troupe broke up and was without work for two months. There, in Paris, I accidentally met a certain Yakov Voronovsky, a dancer whom I knew from Bucharest. He offered me a position as a dancer at the Normandy restaurant, and he himself went to Sweden, it seems. This was in February 1926, I worked there until the end of April of that year. At the same time, I met a certain Zakit Zhenya, a Latvian by nationality, an artist by profession, born. Riga and made a duet with her. Later I met there with two Polish musicians who had previously worked in one of the restaurants in Chernivtsi. They had a contract with the Turkish theater in Adana and were supposed to go there with the orchestra on tour. These musicians invited Zakitt and me, to which we agreed, and in May 1926 we left for Constantinople on the Atiki steamship. Arriving there, we learned that the theater in the city of Adana had burned down. A few days later, an entrepreneur arrived from Smyrna and signed a contract with us for 6 months, where we went and worked for the entire period in one of the restaurants in the city.
/Signature: Petr Leshchenko/

There, in July 1926, I formalized my marriage to Zakitt Zhenya. Then we signed a contract with the Carillon restaurant in Beirut, where we worked for 8 months. From there, he and his wife also went to Damascus under a contract and worked at the Opera Abas restaurant, then worked in the city of Aleppo and returned to Beirut. At the beginning of 1928, we went to Athens, worked at the Kavo Moskovit restaurant, then to the mountains. Thessaloniki. From this city, under a contract, they left for Constantinople and performed at the Petit Chalep restaurant until August 1928.
Since they were abroad for a long time and did not see their relatives, they decided to return to Romania. They immediately entered the Bucharest theater under the name Teatrul Nostru. In December 1928, we went to my relatives in Chisinau, who were provided with some financial assistance, which they needed.
At the beginning of 1929, we went to Riga to visit my wife’s relatives on the occasion of the death of her father, where we stayed for two weeks, after which we went to Chernivtsi and worked there at the Olga Bar restaurant for three months. From Chernivtsi we moved to Chisinau, performed in
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

London restaurant, summer theater and cinemas until the winter of 1929 - 1930. In winter we went to Riga. I worked there alone in the cafe "A.T." until December 1930, then received an invitation from the Smaltsov dancers, who moved from Riga to Belgrade and went there on tour for one month, after which until May 1931 he again continued to work in the A.T. cafe. Theatrical agent Duganov arranged for me to go to concerts in the city of Libau, to the cinema, stayed there for a month and at the same time signed a contract with the summer restaurant "Jurmala". Arriving in Riga, he took his wife, son, born in January 1931, his wife’s mother and went to Libau, where he spent the entire summer of 1931 and returned to Riga again, getting a job at his previous job in the A.T. cafe.
The owner of a music store in Riga, whose last name was Yunosha, suggested that I go to Berlin to sing several songs and record them on gramophone records from the Parlophone company owned by the owner Lindström. I went there in the late autumn of 1931 and returned back 10 days later, continuing to work in a cafe until spring 1932. In the spring, he and his wife went to Chernivtsi, worked there for about two months, after which they lived in Chisinau, where they performed in cinemas. Having decided to settle permanently, we moved from Chisinau to Bucharest and entered the Rus pavilion.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

In addition, we went on a tour of Bessarabia. In 1933 I went to Vienna, where I also performed songs with the aim of recording them on records by Columbia. In 1935 he traveled to London twice, where he performed on the radio and sang for recordings. The first time I went with my wife, and the second time I went alone. At the end of 1935, in a company with certain Cavoura and Gerutsky, they opened a restaurant in Bucharest on Calea Viktorii Street No. 2, which existed until 1942.
In 1937-1938 on summer seasons I went with my wife and son to Riga, and the rest of the time, until the start of the 1941 war, I spent in Bucharest and performed in a restaurant. During the war, I traveled to Odessa, occupied by Romanian troops.

Question: Why did you go there?
Answer: In October 1941, while living in Bucharest and working in a restaurant, I received a notice from the 16th Infantry Regiment, to which I was assigned, to report there to receive an appointment to serve in one of the prisoner-of-war camps, but I did not show up to the regiment. Soon after this, I received a second call to the regiment, but I also did not go to the regiment on this call, because I did not want to serve in the army and tried to avoid service.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Only on the third call did he arrive at the regiment stationed in the town of Falticeni, where he stated that he had not received any calls. I was tried by an officer's court, warned and left alone.
In December 1941, I received an invitation from the director of the Odessa Opera House Selyavin with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. I told him that I couldn’t come because... I don’t have permission to leave and in general my situation is unimportant with regard to past calls to the regiment.
In January 1942, Selyavin informed me that tickets for my concerts had been sold and that the date of the concerts had been postponed to an indefinite time, until my arrival. Apparently he didn't get my first response. I informed Selyavin for the second time that I could not come to Odessa without permission from the authorities. By the end of March - beginning of April 1942, I received permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate of Transnistria, signed, it seems, by Russ, to enter Odessa. To this I replied to the theatrical agent of the Odessa Opera Druzyuk that I could arrive in Odessa only after the end of the winter season at the restaurant. On May 19, 1942, I went to Odessa alone and stayed there at the Bristol Hotel.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Question: What did you do during your stay in Odessa?
Answer: Arriving in Odessa to see Selyavin, I received an opera orchestra at my disposal and began rehearsals. Soon after arriving, in the month of May, I learned that a girl was performing very successfully in concerts at the Odessa restaurant. I became interested in this and decided to visit the mentioned restaurant. Arriving there in the evening, I listened to the performance of this girl named Vera Georgievna Belousova, she sang well to her own accompaniment on the accordion. After the performance, she was introduced to me and that’s how I got to know her. I liked both her and her singing. While I was preparing for the concerts, she continued to work in the restaurant for some time. I gave my first concert with the opera orchestra on June 5, 1942, the second concert on June 7, and the third on June 9 of the same year. I also invited Belousova to these concerts, whom I began to court immediately after meeting. In July 1942, I received a notice from the Odessa commandant's office to report for service in the 13th division as a Russian language translator, but I did not go there and began to look for an opportunity that would help me stay in place. I met certain Litvak and Boyko, who were holding
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Restaurant "Nord", I spoke with them and they offered me to join them. After the mayor’s office certified our agreement on working together, I turned to the Military Desk of the mayor's office, which had the right to issue me a document stating that I was mobilized to work on site. After that, I went to Bucharest specifically to buy an accordion for Belousova, since her accordion had become unusable due to a breakdown.
Returning to Odessa from Bucharest, I received from the Military Desk of the Primaria a document about my mobilization on the spot. Thus, I avoided being sent to the front, to the active army. After all this, I started working in a restaurant alone, and then together with Belousova and other artists. In September 1942, I proposed to Belousova, she agreed to become my wife and I moved to live with her. She lived with her mother and two brothers on the street. Novoselskaya in house No. 66. In December 1942, I caught a cold, became very ill and was forced to go to Bucharest for treatment, while Belousova remained to work in the restaurant. At the beginning of February 1943, I returned to Odessa, and at the beginning of March of the same year, I received an order from the mayor’s office to hand over the documents received at the military desk regarding my mobilization on the spot.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Thus, I could not continue working in the restaurant; Belousova also stopped performing and began studying only at the conservatory, where she had entered earlier. Two days later, the commandant's department ordered me to immediately leave for the 16th infantry. regiment for passage military service. Again, wanting to avoid being sent to the front, I turned to a garrison doctor I knew with the rank of lieutenant colonel (I forgot his last name) with a request to help me. He put me in a military hospital for 10 days. While I was there, an order came to send me to the front, to the operational department of the headquarters of the 95th infantry. regiment of the 19th Infantry Division. A hospital doctor with the rank of captain (I also don’t remember his last name), who knew me, suggested that I have an operation to remove appendicitis, although this was not necessary, but just needed to gain time. He performed the operation on me on April 10, 1943, and until April 20 I was in the hospital, then I received leave for 25 days, after which I had to report to the 16th Infantry. regiment. On May 14, he reported to the mobilization department of the headquarters of the mentioned regiment, located in the town of Falticeni. From there I was sent to the 95th reserve regiment in the city of Turku Severin, where I remained until May 30
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

1943. There I was assigned to the operational department of the headquarters of the 95th Infantry Regiment, 19th Infantry. division located in Crimea, mountains. Kerch. Having reached the Razdelnaya station, I decided not to report to my duty station, but went to Odessa. He immediately turned to the military artistic group of the 6th division, located in Odessa, in order to stay there. I was enrolled in the group, although not without difficulty, and from June 5 to June 15, 1943, I went with this group to give concerts for Romanian military units. Belousova also traveled with me as my wife, but she did not perform at the concerts. I was dressed in military uniform and at concerts I performed only one tango, “Blue Eyes,” translated into Romanian. They performed in front of military units in Zhmerinka, Mogilev, Birzul (now Kotovsk), Balta and Yampol. After returning to Odessa, the order came to leave me with the 6th infantry. divisions in this very artistic group. Until October 1943, I served in the said group and performed with it mainly in hospitals, performing Romanian songs. In October 1943, the General Staff of the Romanian Army ordered the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division to immediately send me to the front. Two days later I left for Crimea with the 95th infantry. Regiment 19 Inf. divisions.
Rev. "October" to believe. /signed Peter Leshchenko./
/signed Peter Leshchenko/

Question: While in Odessa with Belousova, for whom did you give concerts?
Answer: We gave concerts for the city public who visited the Nord restaurant.
Together with Belousova, on our own initiative, we gave one concert in the fall of 1942 at the Obozrenie Theater. Another time we performed at a jazz evening with the Romanian Petrut in the spring of 1943. Tickets for this evening were sold to the entire public.

Question: What repertoire have you performed with?
Answer: I performed dance tangos and foxtrots, Russian folk, lyrical and gypsy songs. Both she and I sang in Russian.

Question: What anti-Soviet songs did you perform with Belousova?
Answer: We have never performed songs with anti-Soviet content!

Question: Did you take part in the newspapers and magazines published by the occupiers?
Answer: No correspondence from me or Belousova was published in the newspapers.

Question: Who wrote in the newspapers about you?
Answer: Newspapers sometimes published reviews of our performances at concerts, but I don’t know who wrote them.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

True, in one of the newspapers, the name of which I don’t remember, at my request, an announcement was placed that on such and such a date my concert with Vera Belousova would take place at the Obozrenie Theater. I did not send any other correspondence to the editorial office.

Question: When and why did Belousova, having betrayed her homeland, flee to Romania?
Answer: Having left for the front in Crimea in October 1943, until mid-March 1944 I worked as the head of canteens (officers), first at the headquarters of the 95th Infantry Regiment of the 19th Infantry. divisions, and more recently at the headquarters of the cavalry corps. I obtained a short leave from the corps commander, General Chalyk, and the corps chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sarescu, and on March 18-19, 1944, I flew by plane from Dzhankoy to Tiraspol with other officers. From there I did not go to Bucharest, but arrived in Odessa to see Belousova, with whom, while in Crimea, I corresponded regularly. Upon arrival, I found the Belousov family in complete confusion. They didn't know what to do. Their entire family was registered as suspicious for being sent to Germany due to the retreat of German troops, due to the fact that Belousova's father served in the Soviet army.
Because Vera Belousova and I loved each other
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

A friend and wanting to help her and her relatives, I invited them to go with me to Romania. They agreed with my proposal, collected the necessary things, and the next day we all left Odessa: Vera Belousova, her mother and two brothers. It was March 21 or 22, 1944.

Question: What were the activities of you and Belousova on the territory of Romania?
Answer: Having arrived in Romania, I left the Belousov family in the city of Liebling, Timis-Torontal county, and I myself and Vera Belousova went to Bucharest to visit my parents, who lived on Bibescu Voda Street No. 3-5. By May 1944, I finally finalized the divorce from my first wife Zakitt and in May 1944 registered my marriage to Vera Belousova, who after that was listed under my last name Leshchenko.
Before the surrender of Romania, we did nothing. After the entry of Soviet troops into Romanian territory, the Belousov mother and brothers came to us in Bucharest and soon returned to Odessa as a repatriation. At the request of the Soviet command, my wife and I gave concerts for military units in various garrisons until the spring of 1948. Then we performed concerts in Bucharest cinemas, and in March 1949 we entered the organized variety theater. I worked there until March 1951, i.e. until the moment of my arrest.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

I don’t know what my wife did after my arrest. I am serving a sentence in a labor colony and am allowed to see my wife. On July 17, 1952, she came to me and said that she worked in one of the Bucharest restaurants called “Pescarus”.

Question: Who did you keep in touch with among the foreigners and what was it?
Answer: Even before the war, I met in Bucharest a Persian citizen, Yusuf Shimkhani Zade, a businessman of Jewish origin. He had a family in Bucharest, but did not live with them. In 1951 he left for Palestine. The family - my wife and daughter left earlier, but I don’t know where. We had purely friendly, everyday relations with him. He was very fond of our singing and often visited our apartment, and in difficult moments of life he provided some financial assistance. Neither I nor Vera Leshchenko were familiar with other foreigners.

Question: Why did Vera Leshchenko-Belousova agree to live in Romania?
Answer: Since we fell in love with each other and, moreover, she became my wife, she did not want to return to the Soviet Union alone. In 1950-51, we contacted the Soviet consulate about leaving for the USSR.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

There they told us that I should apply for this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and my wife should return through the repatriation commission. I intended to write a statement, but due to the arrest I did not have time to do so. Vera Leshchenko did not want to go to the Soviet Union without me, which she stated at the consulate.

Question: Where is your first wife?
Answer: My first wife, Zakitt Zhenya, born in 1908-1910, lives with her son Leshchenko, Igor, born in 1931, in Bucharest on Caimati Street No. 14. I have broken all ties with her since 1939.

Question: Who are your relatives?
Answer: In Bucharest on the street. Bibescu Voda N 3 - 5 lives my stepfather - Alfimov Alexey Vasilievich with his daughter Popescu Valentina Alekseevna, her husband Popescu Peter and their son Pavel Popescu, 10 years old.
Alfimov’s second daughter, Ekaterina, went somewhere abroad in 1940 and I know nothing about her. In addition, as shown above, my son lives in Bucharest with his first wife. I have no other relatives.

The interrogation ended at 24 hours.

I have read the protocol and it is written down correctly. .
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/

Interrogated by: Art. follow counterintelligence MGB military unit 58148 l-nt P. Sokolov
/signature: Sokolov/

There was also an identification protocol in the case.
Leshchenko P.K. had to “identify” his wife, Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, from the photograph:
Leshchenko P.K., after familiarizing himself with the photographs of various citizens presented to him, stated:
“In photo No. 2 I see my wife. I testified about her actions on July 17, 1952.
/signature: Petr Leshchenko/
And, of course, the signature of Art. MGB counterintelligence investigator, military unit 58148 l-nt P. Sokolov
==========
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Leshchenko V.G. Petr Leshchenko: Everything that happened...: The last tango. – M.: AST, 2013. – 352 p. : portrait, ill.
...
Leshchenko Vera Georgievna (1923-2009) - singer
1923, November 1. – Born in Odessa in the family of a leading employee of the NKVD border detachment. Father - Georgy Ivanovich Belousov. Mother - Anastasia Panteleimonovna Belousova, housewife.

1931 – Study in general education and music schools.

1937. – Completion of eighth grade, admission to the music school named after. Stolyarsky.

1939. – Admission to the Odessa Conservatory in piano class. At the same time, she worked as a soloist in a jazz orchestra in a cinema.

1941, June. – Father’s voluntary departure to the front. Mobilization of elder brother George into the army. V.G. serves as part of an artillery brigade in military units. Wound.

1941, October. – Occupation of Odessa by Romanians and Germans. Work as a singer in the Odessa restaurant. The whole family had to report to the commandant’s office due to the fact that Georgy Ivanovich was a communist. The return of his older brother George, who was captured and released.

1942, June 5. – Acquaintance and friendship with a Romanian citizen, singer Petr Leshchenko. Betrothal of Vera and Peter.

1944, May. – Registration of marriage with P.K. Leshchenko in Bucharest. Joint concert activities of spouses.

1944, August 31. – Entry of Soviet troops into Bucharest. Performances of the spouses with concerts in Soviet military units. Study at the Bucharest Conservatory.

1945, autumn. – Return to Odessa of a father who lost his health at the front.

1948 – Death of father.

1951 – Arrest of husband in Romania. Dismissal of V.G. from the Bucharest Theater two weeks after her husband's arrest. Work as a soloist in a restaurant.

1952, July 2. – Arrest of V.G. in Bucharest by Soviet services, transfer to the Romanian city of Constanta. Jail. Investigator Sokolov, charged with treason.

1952, August 5. – Announcement of the verdict of the “troika” chaired by Colonel Rusakov: execution, replaced by 25 years of labor camp, 5 years of loss of rights with complete confiscation of property (except for the accordion donated by V. Peter).

1952, November. – Stage to Dnepropetrovsk in transit prison. Date with mother and older brother.

1953, February. – Stage to the city of Ivdel Sverdlovsk region. Assignment to the cultural and educational unit. Concert and theater work in the camp.

1954, July 12. – Release, receiving a ticket to Odessa. Lack of work, touring with three operetta artists in Siberia.

1955 – Work in the All-Union Concert and Touring Association.

1956. – Receiving news of the death of Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko in Romania.

1957. – Marriage to Vladimir Andrianov, an acquaintance from Ivdellager, head of the production department of the Mosconcert.

1958. – Rehabilitation.

1959, summer. – Concerts in Magadan, cordial meeting with Vadim Alekseevich Kozin.

1960s – Soloist of the Boris Rensky Orchestra.

1966. – Death of V. Andrianov.

1980s – Third marriage, husband – Eduard Kumelan.

2009, December 19. – Vera Georgievna Leshchenko died in Moscow. She was buried at the Perepechinskoe cemetery.

"Peter Leshchenko. All that has gone before…"- an eight-episode television series about the life and work of the Russian and Romanian singer, artist, restaurateur Peter Leshchenko. The series is a film biography of the popular singer, who performed “At the Samovar”, “Don’t Go”, “Black Eyes”, “Komarik”, “Chubchik”, “My Marusechka”, “Farewell, My Camp” and many other famous songs - -s.

The television film directed by Vladimir Kott tells about all the significant milestones in the performer’s life: childhood and youth, battles in the First World War, the beginning of his career, success, tours in occupied Odessa, his women, tragic death in a Romanian prison in 1954.

The premiere of the film took place on October 14, 2013 on the Ukrainian TV channel “Inter”. From May 1 to May 2, 2014 it was shown on the Dom Kino channel. In February and from November 16 to 19, 2015 it was shown on the Dom Kino Premium channel. It is expected to be shown on Channel One in the 2015/2016 season.

Plot

Episode 1

The ensemble, which made the restaurant where it performed the most visited, disbanded. The next time Peter heard Katerina was in the hospital where the wounded man was lying, and famous singer Ekaterina Zavyalova came to speak to the fighters.

During the siege of the fortress, the Whites use psychological weapons - a small group of soldiers, accompanied by Pyotr Leshchenko, goes on the attack. The ruse works, the fortress is taken, and the wounded Leshchenko lies on the battlefield until nightfall.

Episode 3

After being wounded during the capture of the fortress, Leshchenko remains alive, and upon regaining consciousness he receives a message that from now on he is a Romanian subject. Right there in the hospital, Leshchenko meets the Odessa impresario Danya Zeltser, who senses his talent as a musician. He also arranges Peter’s first performances in Bucharest at the Alhambra restaurant. Seltzer's nose did not disappoint - Leshchenko was a huge success. Success accompanies Leshchenko's performances in Chisinau and Riga, Prague and Paris, Constantinople and Beirut, Damascus and Athens, Thessaloniki and London, Berlin, Belgrade, Vienna.

Regular transfers that Leshchenko sent to his mother began to be returned. To clarify the circumstances, he goes to Chisinau, learns from his stepfather about the death of his mother, and meets his high school friend Andrei Kozhemyakin, who lost his arm in the war.

Episode 5

The gypsy camp of Vasily and Zlata Zobar is destroyed, Leshchenko’s friends are arrested. Peter acts as the organizer of their escape from prison.

Episode 6

Leshchenko gets a date with Vasil Zobar and sees the crippled Zlata. Escape turns out to be impossible: Zlata’s spine is broken, Vasily refuses to escape without his sister. Gypsies are shot.

Leshchenko’s wife and stage partner Zhenya refuses to go on the Odessa tour, and Daniil’s exit is in doubt because of his nationality. The gypsies help in this matter. In Daniil Zeltser’s passport, “Bulgarian” is indicated in the “nationality” column.

The ensemble is going on tour. A Romanian captain enters the carriage compartment and calls Leshchenko to sing in front of the officers traveling to Stalingrad. Zeltser tries to dissuade him, which angers the captain, who tries to bring him to justice. In the vestibule of the carriage, Danya kills the captain. A corpse is thrown from a moving train.

Episode 7

Cast

• Konstantin Khabensky - Peter Leshchenko
• Ivan Stebunov - Pyotr Leshchenko in his youth
• Andrey Merzlikin - Georgy Khrapak
• Miriam Sekhon - Zhenya Zakitt, first wife of Peter Leshchenko
• Victoria Isakova - Ekaterina Zavyalova
• Timofey Tribuntsev - Captain Sokolov

Boris Metlitsky writes: “His easily recognizable voice, original songs, often composed by himself, to which it was so pleasant to relax or dance, were heard on all continents. Moreover, none of the foreign listeners was embarrassed that the artist sang in a Russian language unfamiliar to them. The main thing was how he sang. And he sang with his soul, sincerely, sometimes smiling, sometimes sad.”

Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko was born on July 3, 1898 in the village of Isaev near Odessa. Mother, Maria Konstantinovna, was a poor, illiterate peasant woman. The father, who died when the boy was three years old, was replaced by his stepfather, Alexey Vasilyevich Alfimov. It was simple a kind person, who loved and knew how to play the harmonica and guitar.

Peter studied at rural school, sang in the church choir; got involved in work early. He was lucky that his stepfather, who loved him like his own son, recognized artistic inclinations in the boy and gave him a guitar.

When the First World War began, Peter was sixteen years old. The young man did not escape the influence of patriotic sentiments in Russian society: Leshchenko entered the Chisinau school of ensigns. Romania, which fought on the side of the Entente, suffers one defeat after another; Among those mobilized to help the Romanian army, Peter was sent to the front ahead of schedule.

After being seriously wounded, Leshchenko ends up in the hospital, where he was found October Revolution. Meanwhile, the political situation in the region changed: Romania unilaterally resolved a long-standing territorial dispute in its favor. In January 1918, she occupied Bessarabia, tearing it away from Russia.

So Peter unexpectedly became an emigrant. He works as a carpenter, as a singer, as an assistant to the cathedral regent, as a dishwasher in a restaurant, and works part-time in cinemas and cafes. For example, in 1918-1919, Leshchenko performed between sessions as an artist in the Chisinau cinemas “Orpheum” and “Suzanna”.

Leshchenko feels a lack vocational training and in 1923 he entered the ballet school in Paris. He wanted to feel much more confident in dancing.

In Paris, Leshchenko met the charming nineteen-year-old dancer Zinaida Zakis, a Latvian who came to France from Riga with a choreographic ensemble. Two years later they got married and then prepared several song and dance numbers. Zakis, a wonderful classical ballerina, also danced solo numbers.

In the summer of 1926, the husband and wife duo toured Europe and the Middle East and gained fame. In 1928, the couple arrived in Chisinau, where Peter introduced his wife to his mother, stepfather, and sisters.

Then Peter and Zinaida go to Riga, where Zakis’s parents lived. Zinaida had a desire to give birth in Riga. Konstantin Tarasovich Sokolsky, a witness to Leshchenko’s speeches in 1930, recalled:

“In the spring of 1930, posters appeared in Riga announcing a concert of the dance duet Zinaida Zakis and Peter Leshchenko in the premises of the Dailem Theater on Romanovskaya Street, 37...

To let his partner change clothes for the next dance, Leshchenko came out during pauses. He was in a bright gypsy costume, with a guitar. Sang songs.

His voice had a small range, a light timbre, without “metal”, with a short breath, like all dancers, and therefore he could not cover the vast space of the cinema hall with sound, and microphones were not yet used at that time. But in this case this was not of decisive importance, because the public perceived Leshchenko so far only as a dancer, not a singer, and understood that the purpose of his performance was to fill the pause and give his partner an opportunity to rest.”

However, his wife's pregnancy became more and more noticeable. She had to cancel her performances.

L. Pishnograeva writes:

“Zina had to leave the stage, and Peter began performing independently with concert programs. Finally! One. On the stage. Leshchenko began his solo career at almost 32 years old - far from young. All the more unexpected was his stunning success: soon the billboards of the entire city were full of advertisements for Leshchenko’s concerts. And again, applause, recognition, and flowers rained down as if from a cornucopia.

Suddenly it turned out that it was him - an elegant, handsome man, with a languid, gentle look and a deep, caressing voice - that the capricious public was looking forward to. She, like a spoiled society lady, craved beautiful words, unfulfilled promises and passionate confessions. And then he appeared romantic hero, to whom one could surrender without hesitation. Again and again she demanded her favorite songs and caressing sounds of foreign tango. The singer became friends with the famous composer Oscar Stroke, the creator of the most popular tangos, romances, foxtrots and songs. It was Strok who managed to combine the intonations of the burning Argentine tango with the melody and sincerity of the Russian romance.

Leshchenko performed and recorded at the recording company best works famous composer: “Black Eyes”, “Blue Rhapsody”, “Tell Why” and other tangos and romances of the maestro. He also worked with other talented composers, in particular with Mark Maryanovsky, the author of “Tatyana”, “Miranda”, “Nastya-Yagodka”.

In the first half of the thirties, Leshchenko moved permanently to Bucharest, where for some time he sang in the Galeries Lafayette cafe. Konstantin Sokolsky writes: “In 1933, the company of Gerutsky, Cavour and Leshchenko opened a small restaurant “Our House” in Bucharest at 7 Brezoleanu Street. The capital was invested by the personable-looking Gerutsky, who greeted the guests. The experienced chef Cavour was in charge of the kitchen, and Leshchenko with a guitar created the mood in the hall. Leshchenko's stepfather and mother received the wardrobe of visitors.

Things were going well at Our Little House: visitors were pouring in, tables were taken, as they say, in a fight, and the need arose to change the premises.

In the fall of 1936, and maybe earlier, on the main street of Bucharest, Victoria, a new restaurant was opened, which was called “Leshchenko”. Since Peter Konstantinovich was very popular in the city, the restaurant was visited by sophisticated Russian and Romanian society. A wonderful orchestra played. Zinaida made Peter's sisters - Valya and Katya - good dancers. Everyone performed together, but the highlight of the program was, of course, Leshchenko himself...”

Interestingly, the later famous singer Alla Bayanova also performed in the restaurant.

In 1935-1940, Leshchenko collaborated with the Bellacord and Columbia recording companies (Bucharest). During that period, he recorded more than a hundred songs of various genres. The singer's songs are heard on the radio, at parties, and in restaurants. Leshchenko's records even penetrate into the Soviet Union. Especially many of them appeared in the black markets and bazaars of Bessarabia and the Baltic states, which were included in the USSR in 1940. But they don’t sound on Soviet radio. Leshchenko still remains an emigrant.

Bibs Eckel gives the following portrait of the singer of that time: “The most contradictory stories circulated about the character of Pyotr Leshchenko. Some who knew him personally spoke of his stinginess. At the same time, one woman told in Bucharest how he generously helped many, including a young man from one poor Jewish family- pianist Efim Sklyarov, whose father came to Leshchenko with a request to pay attention to his son’s musical abilities. Leshchenko took him into his ensemble and was not mistaken. Efim Sklyarov wrote several musical compositions for his idol, which were later recorded on gramophone records.

Living among the Romanians, Leshchenko was very respected, although he himself treated them without much love, but often expressed admiration for the musicality of this people. Leshchenko drove a brand new German car of the DKV brand. He didn't smoke, but he liked to drink. Leshchenko's weakness is champagne and good wines, of which there were extremely many in Romania at that time. Often the owner and singer of the most fashionable restaurant in Bucharest was greeted slightly drunk, which was almost unnoticeable in the general atmosphere of restaurant frenzy. Leshchenko enjoyed enormous success with women, to whom he himself was not indifferent.”

This fact speaks about the singer’s popularity. King Charles, the father of Mihai, the leader of the ruling dynasty in Romania, often brought Leshchenko to his country mansion in an armored car to listen to him.

Almost a year of the Great Patriotic War had passed when Leshchenko arrived in Odessa in May 1942. His concert is scheduled at the Russian Drama Theater. There was a real rush in the city: lines for tickets started forming early in the morning.

One of the eyewitnesses recalled: “The day of the concert became a true triumph for Pyotr Konstantinovich. Small theater Hall filled to capacity, many were standing in the aisles. At first, the singer was upset: he suddenly began to sing the first things in Romanian, - it turned out, at the request of the authorities... Then the already well-known, beloved tangos, foxtrots, romances began to sound, and each thing was accompanied by frantic applause from the listeners. The concert ended with a genuine ovation...”

At the same time, Leshchenko’s first meeting took place with Vera Belousova, who later became the singer’s wife. A beautiful, slender girl who played the accordion won the artist’s heart. Soon they begin performing together.

In October 1943, Pyotr Konstantinovich was drafted into the army. In Crimea, he works as the head of the officers' canteen. With the approach of Soviet troops, Leshchenko returns to Romania.

In May 1944, Pyotr Konstantinovich officially divorced Zinaida Zakis and registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. After the arrival of the Red Army, Leshchenko gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, and officers' clubs. He performs patriotic songs he composed about Russian girls - “Natasha”, “Nadya-Nadechka”, sings “Dark Night” by Nikita Bogoslovsky, popular Russian songs. His new wife also performed with him.

Here is an excerpt from the memoirs of G. Kipnis-Grigoriev: “... Leshchenko announces the following number:

The most precious thing for every person, he says, is the Motherland. Wherever you are, wherever fate takes you. My wife Vera Belousova-Leshchenko and I will sing about longing for the Motherland.

“I am not walking on our land,

The blue morning wakes up..."

And when the first verse ends, Pyotr Leshchenko comes on with a guitar, and they sing the chorus in two voices - they sing sincerely, with sincere and undisguised suffering:

"I'm homesick

On my native side,

I'm on a long journey now,

In an unfamiliar country.

I yearn for Russian fields.

My pain cannot be relieved without them...”

What can I tell you? Usually they write - “thunder of applause.” No, it was a squall, a thunder squall! And there are tears in the eyes of many. Everyone, of course, has their own memories, but we are all united by one pain, longing for loved ones, and for many - for wives and children, “my pain cannot be relieved without them”... And Pyotr Leshchenko and the beautiful Vera sing an encore "and the second time. And the third. And the hall has already become different. Warnings about the need for ideological and political restraint have been forgotten. And Leshchenko beams, feeling, like an experienced artist, that he has completely captured the audience. He quickly announces the next song - the famous “Chubchik”, but ends with a new verse:

“So flutter, flutter, my little forelock... in Berlin!

Flow, little forelock, in the wind!

Then they alternated between “our” “Dark Night” and some of his “Marfusha”, and the audience constantly shouted “encore!”

Since the summer of 1948, the couple have performed in various cafes and cinemas in Bucharest. Then they find work in the newly created Variety Theater.

“Leshchenko has already passed the fifty-year mark,” writes B.A. Savchenko. - In accordance with his age, his repertoire also changes - the singer becomes more sentimental. Tempo hits like “My Marusichka” and “Nastenka” are disappearing from the programs, and a taste for lyrics and romances, tinged with melancholy and sadness, is emerging. Even in his record recordings made in 1944-1945, it is not a joyful tonality that dominates: “Tramp”, “Bell”, “Mama’s Heart”, “Evening Rings”, “Don’t Go Away”.

And further: “Peter Konstantinovich continues to find out the possibility of returning to the Soviet Union, contacts the “competent authorities”, writes letters to Stalin and Kalinin. It would be better if he didn’t do this - maybe then he would be able to live the rest of his life in peace.”

In March 1951, Pyotr Konstantinovich was arrested. This happened at a concert in Brasov. Many years later, his wife found out: Pyotr Konstantinovich died in the camp in the summer of 1954, either from a stomach ulcer or from poisoning.