Personal life of Alla Ioshpe. Stakhan Rakhimov and Alla Yoshpe - the legendary duet of Soviet times

Then there was not only the Internet, but also a free press, so when something extraordinary happened in the Soviet country, at best it could be learned about it from the broadcasts of enemy radio stations. Therefore, the sudden disappearance from the air of the very popular duet Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov gave rise to many incredible rumors. On the other hand, it is not appropriate to award medals to artists who want to emigrate to their historical homeland.

early years

Born famous singer June 13, 1937 at Jewish family in Ukraine. She was ten years old when she saw how corn field The neighbor's children are running around. Alla Ioshpe ran out barefoot and, while playing, injured her leg. The splinter caused an infection in the blood vessels and sepsis began. Domestic medicines did not help, and it was impossible to get imported ones. The parents sold everything they could to provide treatment. Nothing helped, little Alla was literally burning and dying from infection. The doctors wanted to amputate the leg, but my mother did not give consent. And then a miracle happened, the child began to recover.

At first her mother took her to school; she still had trouble walking and was practically hanging on her. So they hobbled along together. Co terrible diagnosis, during which many do not get out of bed, she managed to study well, sing and play the guitar. She seemed to be getting better at school. She often remembers: a thin, pale girl lies on the sofa and dreams of dancing the foxtrot with the guests - her sister’s friends. But the pain in her leg haunted her day and night.

First performances

Only girls studied at their school; in the eighth grade, boys from a neighboring school were invited to join them. For little Alla Ioshpe it was an exciting event; she got up early and put on her sister Faina’s green coat with fur trim, in which she considered herself irresistible. And she went for a walk around the city, did not return home - they would take away her coat. I went to the hairdresser, where I got my nails done for the first time, because today is her first performance.

It was not in vain that she prepared so much; the concert really became fateful in the biography of Alla Ioshpe. Then, at the age of fifteen, the teenage girl met her future husband, Vladimir. Eight years later they got married.

Both my mother and grandmother always said that on stage she transformed - literally before her eyes she became prettier. And later, laughing, they remembered: he was literally dying, all green, frozen, eating practically nothing. And as soon as he comes out to perform, he instantly seems to recover. The eyes shine and glow like spotlights.

Obtaining a specialty

No matter how much Alla dreamed of the stage, she went to study at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University, and later even defended her Ph.D. thesis. She actually had to apply twice; she scored 19 points in the entrance exams, with a passing score of 18. But she was not on the list of applicants. Alla Ioshpe went to see the rector, who simply said that she did not pass the competition and suggested that she take exams for the Faculty of Philology. Without any preparation, the young girl again received only one B - in Russian oral. She was offered to pick up the documents, but she refused, and the university had to provide additional space. As her classmate later wrote, the brilliant Ioshpa had a hard time, let down by both her origin and nationality.

IN student years She performed a lot with propaganda teams and became a soloist in the university pop and symphony ensemble.

Meeting with destiny

In 1960, she made it to the finals of the student amateur art competition in Moscow, the final concert was held in the Column Hall of the House of Unions. She performed in the first part of the concert in a white modest dress. Her mother sewed it for her from a curtain, since there was no other suitable material in the house.

On this stage, Alla Ioshpe was first seen by Stakhan Rakhimov, as he recalls: a girl as thin as a reed, when she sang, reached for the sky, stretching upward like a string. And he realized that they felt music the same way. They met before going on stage. The girl came up and reprimanded him. Stakhan was probably the only one who wasn’t nervous, he just sat there and smoked. Alla considered that this harmed the vocal cords of the vocalists.

According to the recollections of the singer’s husband, she was finishing the first part, and he was finishing the second, like singers who shared the first prize. For some reason, Stakhan wished that if Alla waited for him to speak, then everything would be fine with them. After the performance, he saw the girl, hid his wedding ring in his pocket, and they went home together. We walked for a long time from the Hall of Columns to Malaya Bronnaya and talked and talked...

Duet debut

Alla Ioshpe invited a new friend to anniversary concert his orchestra, in the Molodezhnoe cafe, which was located on Gorky Street (now Tverskaya). They took a taxi and first went to talk - they drank champagne, which Stakhan borrowed, leaving his watch in the cafe as collateral.

Then the concert began, she sang her popular songs: “Princess Nesmeyana”, “Buy violets”, and then for some reason she decided to sing “Song about Tbilisi”. The young Uzbek singer had just returned from a tour in this city and knew her only in Georgian. Something tugged at him, as he himself recalls, by the second verse he approached her and began to sing along in a second voice. This was the first joint performance in the biography of Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov. The audience became silent and even stopped dancing, impressed by the performance. Then the artists sang a few more songs at the request of the listeners. They didn't need rehearsals, they just felt each other.

The best years of the duo

Soon the first solo concerts and city tours Soviet Union. Their debut was a trip to Siberia, where they were very well received by the audience. After that, they became popular, as the singer Alla Ioshpe herself believes, because the niche was not occupied, the genre was not very in demand. And when they heard them, they loved them.

They performed a lot, the duo's songs were constantly played on the radio, although they were shown on television quite rarely. Concerts were given only in those cities that they wanted to go to. They planned the tour program themselves. Stakhan Rakhimov and Alla Ioshpe traveled half the world with their songs. They even went on a tour of Australia, where they sang for local residents, and on different languages: Russian, English, Greek.

First call

They traveled around the country with the program “Songs of the Peoples of the World,” which featured songs from French, German, Italian and even African. After the show in Omsk, a concert took place at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Before the performance, Alla Ioshpe asked Rosconcert director Borya Brunov: “Can I sing “Hava Nagila”?” He listened and allowed it. However, for singing this Jewish song, all concerts and tours were canceled for violating labor discipline. Because at that time the Seven Days War began.

Soon the duo was banned from singing Alla Ioshpe's songs, obliging them to perform only works by members of the Composers' Union. Among other things, they did not like her song “Horse,” which contains the words: “The slower you go, the further you will…” Officials considered that these words hinted at emigration to Israel.

Failed Zionists

In the 70s, Alla again began to be seriously bothered by her leg, which had been damaged in childhood. The operations performed in the Soviet Union practically did not help. They began to look for treatment opportunities abroad. It turned out that Israel could help her. When they applied to Soviet officials for permission to travel for treatment, they were refused everywhere. In 1979, they applied to leave for Israel, but they were rejected, like many other future repatriates. Alla Ioshpe says that she doesn’t know why they weren’t released; the authorities simply said that they were important for the country.

Profession ban

The authorities reacted very harshly: they were not only not allowed to leave the Soviet country, but were also subjected to repression. Of course, it was no longer the 30s. But all their tours were canceled and they stopped inviting them to radio and television. Recordings of songs and performances were destroyed. Stakhan was constantly summoned for an interview by the KGB and asked to give up the Jewish woman, just like Alla did with him. Daughter Tatyana was expelled from the Komsomol and the university.

Sometimes they called strangers from pay phones, words of encouragement were spoken. Alla expressed her pain and bitterness in poetry and the book she began to write. Creativity remained in the biography of Alla Ioshpe, although the duet was not released on stage for the next decade. Stakhan tried to feed his family. They stubbornly continued to submit documents to leave every six months.

The couple sold almost all their property, first antiques, and then furniture. We slept on bookshelves because there was nothing else left. Since the duo suddenly disappeared from the airwaves, the wildest rumors began to circulate around the country, including that they were living in poverty in Israel, and Stakhan was selling homemade pilaf there.

Home concerts

Many refused such a dangerous acquaintance, but friends continued to visit and brought food: salads, fruits, sweets, cakes and other products. And, of course, impromptu gatherings ended with home concerts. Gradually formed family theater"Music in denial." Once a month, 60-70 people came to them, although the spouses did not ask, but all the guests brought something. Family duet sang, and policemen were on duty outside the windows.

The famous pianist Vladimir Feltsman, violist Lesha Dyachkov and his wife Fira, and professor Alexander Lerner often dropped in to see them. Sometimes the popular comedian Savely Kramarov also performed, but he was also not allowed to leave the country for a long time.

The couple began writing letters to newspapers: if you don’t let me leave, give me at least the opportunity to earn a living. They sent their messages to about 100 publications. And it worked, they were allowed to sing in the outback. Gradually people began to learn about it, the halls were crowded. Alla Ioshpe's songs appeared in the repertoire: “Violin”, “Roads of Artists”, “ Autumn time", "Tango", "And again tango", since no one gave their works to the "enemies of the people".

Songs of the Promised Land

With perestroika, more opportunities appeared, they did not break down, they were able to start all over again. They had to win over the audience again, travel a lot again. At Stakhan’s insistence, Jewish songs by Alla Ioshpe appeared, and the duo gradually updated their repertoire. The first foreign tours after a decade of oblivion were in America. They were warmly received by emigrants from the Soviet Union; in total, the artists spent almost three years in the United States.

In 2002, the singers of the once famous duet were awarded the title of "People's Artists of Russia". Every year in December they organize a concert in Moscow dedicated to the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. Alla Ioshpe wrote four books containing her poems and stories.

The singer's two husbands

The first time Alla married a guy she knew from school. The young family lived with the husband's parents, in a small multi-room house. In one of them lived Robert, his older brother and his wife, in the other - Allan Chumak, the future famous psychic throughout the country, and in the third - Alla and Vladimir. Her husband supported all her endeavors and was a good family man. Coming soon married couple daughter Tatyana was born, who became a doctor. Her son, grandson Kostya, lives in London.

They settled with Stakhan on Vasilyevsky Island; by the time they met, both were no longer free. The children of Stakhan Rakhimov and Alla Ioshpe lived with the other halves of the aspiring artists. As the singer later recalled, their love was born there and the realization came: they should be together forever. Alla went home, but how to tell her husband about this? Vladimir suffered greatly when Alla told him that her heart belonged to another man. She left, taking her daughter Tanya with her. Ioshpe is still grateful to him for everything.

Rakhimov, who also studied at a Moscow university, had his wife Natasha and daughter Lola living with his mother in Tashkent. Lola and Tatyana are the only children in the biography of Alla Ioshpe.

Stakhan Mamadzhanovich Rakhimov - Soviet and Russian crooner, People's Artist of the Russian Federation.

Stakhan Rakhimov was born in 1937 in Andijan, UzSSR, Uzbek. His mother, a future famous singer, People's Artist Uzbek SSR Shakhodat Rakhimova came from a wealthy family. However, when the time came to get married, she ran away to the theater, which she had dreamed of all her life. No one remembers what happened to the almost paid bride price, but the scandal that broke out then seems to have been preserved forever in local epic tales.

Stakhan Rakhimov’s first public performances began at the age of three. The nanny noticed that the boy was humming something all the time: sometimes his mother’s Uzbek melodies, sometimes his nanny’s Russian melodies, sometimes some of his own. And she began to take it with her to shops, to the market, to the hairdresser. The child “performed”, received awards and the first well-deserved applause. And at the age of five, Stakhan “came out” onto the real stage. His mother was then a soloist of the Tashkent musical theater drama, where she played all the leading roles. The boy, in the full sense of the word, grew up behind the scenes, and when in one of the performances the heroine was “killed,” he screamed “Mom!” rushed onto the stage. His success that evening was enormous. When Shakhodat was sent to Moscow, to the conservatory, for advanced training, she took Stakhan with her. Here he graduated from school and became a student at the Moscow Energy Institute.

In 1960, while participating in the finals of a university amateur performance competition, he met his love, Alla Yoshpe. Both already had families at that time, and yet both, shocked by the other’s voice, almost immediately realized: “We can’t help but sing together. We can't help but live together. This is impossible"

Since 1963, the duo entered the professional pop stage, where they were invariably successful. They became famous and toured almost the entire huge Soviet country and half the world to boot. And then suddenly they disappeared...

In the 1970s Alla Yakovlevna’s health suddenly deteriorated, the operations performed did not help... They decided to help them abroad, but the Ministry of Health refused them.

And then in 1979 they decided to apply to leave for Israel.
The authorities reacted immediately: Alla and Stakhan were not only not released from the country, but they were declared enemies of the Motherland and banned from performing on stage. All their radio and television recordings were demagnetized. Rakhimov and Yoshpe spent the next decade practically “under house arrest.” They were threatened, constantly summoned to the Lubyanka, and their daughter was expelled from the institute. One day, Alla and Stakhan wrote a hundred letters to all the capital’s publications: “We have not left, we are alive, we are here. They don’t let us work...” Often strangers called them from pay phones and said: “Guys, we are with you, hold on!” And friends came to visit, brought food: cakes, sweets, salads. Of course, they asked me to sing.

And soon rumors spread throughout Moscow: Yoshpe and Rakhimov were organizing home concerts. Indeed, people began to gather in their house every Saturday. Mine " home theater they called it “Music in Refusal.” Its emblem was a painting by a banned artist: two birds with a barn lock hung on their beaks.

And only at the end of the 1980s the curtain of silence began to be lifted. They were allowed to sing in small regional centers, and then on the main stages of the country.

Now Alla Yoshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov can be seen on television and radio, on concert venues Russia and abroad.

In 2002, A. Ya. Yoshpe and S. M. Rakhimov became People's Artists of Russia.

Why didn’t doctors treat Alla Ioshpe, but suggested amputating her leg? What was the threat to friends from friendship with the disgraced duo, and why did those closest to them turn away from them during the years of oblivion? Who persuaded Stakhan Rakhimov to leave his wife and start solo career? Honored artists of Russia Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov told the reporter about love and betrayal, about glory and oblivion.

On landing We are greeted by the hospitable host Stakhan Rakhimov. The artist leads into the living room; in a dimly lit room, a beautiful woman sits in an easy chair by a floor lamp.

I recognize those bright eyes, that flirtatious smile. Alla Ioshpe answers the greeting, her voice has not changed at all. She is short, slender, with a regal head set, her legs covered with a warm checkered blanket. Alla Yakovlevna doesn’t show it, but it’s difficult for her to move.

“I remember: I was lying on the sofa, pale, thin, with neatly braided pigtails, looking at the guests of my 17-year-old sister Faina and mentally dancing the foxtrot with them,” she recalls. – Two steps forward, two to the side. The music leads into the distance, I take a big step and cry out in pain. My leg doesn't give me any rest. Neither day nor night!

Alla Yakovlevna recalls the story of her parents: June 13, 1937 - the happiest day, a daughter was born! Who would have thought that protruding wreaths on a tiny leg would bring suffering to a girl’s life. The insidious disease lurked, sometimes manifesting itself, after a day full of games and running around, the knee would swell and hurt. The girl didn't pay attention to this. Not a single game could do without it!

– I was ten years old, I was with my grandmother in Ukraine, and together with the guys we were running barefoot through a corn field. A splinter stuck into my leg, which introduced an infection into the blood vessels and caused sepsis. Domestic antibiotics did not help; imported ones are difficult to get even for a lot of money.

My parents sold everything they could! Mom cried, knocked on the doorsteps of officials, begging for at least one more ampoule. I'm on fire at home and dying from infection. Doctors decide that the leg should be amputated. My mother does not consent to such an operation. How is it - a girl and without a leg? This is a sentence!

And then I began to recover, without amputation. God probably heard my mother’s tearful prayers and sent salvation,” says Ioshpe.

It’s hard to believe that little Alla, with a diagnosis that makes others unable to even get out of bed, managed to do everything - study, sing, play in the theater.

“Only girls studied at our school, I still couldn’t walk well, and my mother took me to school. I hung on it and we hobbled. But at school I seemed to feel better. And in the eighth grade we invited boys from a neighboring school to school. An exciting event.

I got up early, while sister Faina was sleeping, put on her coat - green, with a fur trim - I am irresistible in it. And she ran away. I walk the streets all day, I don’t go home, otherwise Faina will take my coat. I go to the hairdresser and get my nails done for the first time, because today I will be singing. For boys!

My mother and grandmother said that I was good on stage. They laughed: she was lying there, just dying - green, frozen, not eating anything... but she goes on stage - and nothing hurts. The eyes glow and burn like spotlights!

Alla Yakovlevna talks enthusiastically, and Stakhan Mammadzhanovich listens to her with fascination, as if I had never heard this story.

“When I was a fifteen-year-old girl, I met my future husband, Volodka, at this holiday!” Eight years later we got married.

We lived with his parents; the house was small, but with many rooms. The older brother Robert lived with his wife in the same room. In the second - his other brother, Allan - the same Allan Chumak, in the third - us. Then our daughter Tanechka was born. She is our doctor, and her son, our grandson Kostya, is now in London. Such a good boy.

He is already twenty-eight... Volodya supported all my endeavors. He is a wonderful family man, a kind person. I am grateful to him for everything.

– Stakhan Rakhimovich, who are you grateful to?

- To mom. She was a rare beauty and smart woman, an actress of the Andijan Theater - Shakhodat Rakhimova. When I was little, I loved to go to work with my mother at the Tashkent Musical Drama Theater.

There, behind the scenes, I reviewed the entire repertoire.

The story of the birth of Stakhan Rakhimov is shrouded in mystery. There were rumors in the city that the beautiful Shakhodat Rakhimova gave birth to a son from the owner of the republic, Secretary of the Central Committee of Uzbekistan Usman Yusupov, who came to the city at the head of a high delegation.

This information famous artist doesn't comment at all. But they say that it was Yusupov who helped the artist get a three-room apartment in the center of Tashkent.

“Do you know that the name Ustakhan translated into Russian means “master of masters,” Alla Yakovlevna enters the conversation, “you know what a master he is!” He restored this table himself, so handy. He also does wood carving. Go, he will show you everything.

Alla Yakovlevna did not join the tour of the house. Her bad leg does not allow her to walk much. She is gathering strength for the concert, because in front of the audience at the concert dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the duet, she must be fully prepared. Our meeting took place the day before.

- This table, like many things, I bought in Soviet time at the thrift store. We had little money, and this old furniture cost a penny, everyone bought fashionable chipboard and got rid of bulky tables, cabinets, and chairs.

And I restored it. I specially ordered a mirror for the bedroom, and then I came up with a frame for it myself. And in this sideboard there are crafts made from boxwood - this is a tree that grows in Central Asia.

– Do you remember the first time you saw Alla?

- Of course, thin as a reed. She is wearing a modest white dress.

“My mother sewed this for me from a curtain; there was no other suitable material in the house.”

“I remember when she sang, she stretched out like a string upward, towards the sky,” says Stakhan Rakhimov, looking tenderly at his wife. “I realized: she feels music like I do.” By the way, before going on stage she came up to me. And like a great artist, she made a remark.

“Of course,” Alla Ioshpe laughs, “there are vocalists all around, and this impudent guy sits and smokes!” And this is detrimental to the ligaments!

– Alla finished the first part, I finished the second. And for some reason I made a wish: if she waits for my speech, then... She waited, I saw her and hid the wedding ring in my pocket... We walked home together - for a long time, on foot. From the Hall of Columns to Malaya Bronnaya. And they talked and talked. And then she invited me to the anniversary concert of her orchestra. I took a taxi from her house and we first went to a cafe.

– We drank champagne, which he borrowed, leaving his watch in the cafe. And then there was my performance. She sang “Princess Nesmeyana”, “Buy violets”. And then “Song about Tbilisi” for some reason.

– I had just returned from a tour in Tbilisi and knew the same song, but in Georgian. Therefore, he stood up and began to sing in a second voice. We sang as if we had been rehearsing all our lives. This is how our first song was born.

– We lived in an apartment on Vasilyevsky Island. There our love was born and the understanding came: we should be together - always! But it was necessary to decide family problems. I was not free.

Alla was driving home, thinking how to tell Volodya that her heart belonged to another man and she couldn’t help herself.

“I left and took my daughter Tanya with me. Volodya suffered greatly, but I could not do otherwise.

Then they will joke: an Uzbek and a Jewish woman - to be honest, they are not a couple. And indeed, at first it was difficult. Oriental man and the spoiled Muscovite did not always give in to each other.

“My whole side was blue,” the artist complains jokingly. - Let's come visit and talk.

Someone smiles at me. And I'm flirty and sociable. My Uzbek pinches me and whispers: “Look at me.” He made me jealous too.

One day in Prague we are walking along a cobblestone street, and in front of us is a beauty in a mini and high heels. And I'm in long skirt, with a sore leg. The comparison is not in my favor, I think, but he looks at her. And then he says: “Poor thing, your legs are like matches. And on such stones”...

Sometimes Stakhan went to Tashkent, I was calm: his mother lives there. But one day he returned and admitted: “I have a family and a daughter.” I started crying. I was very worried, and still am. I know, Natasha good woman, even though I don’t know her. I understand how painful it was for her.

“Natasha and I met in Moscow as students and got married,” says Rakhimov. - Then we went to mom. Tashkent is warm, there are a lot of fruits and vegetables.

And my mother helped with everything. He left Natasha there and returned to Moscow to study. But family life in two cities did not work out. He rarely visited his wife and newborn daughter Lolochka. Natasha was incredibly jealous of me for the stage and especially for the fans.

Every meeting turned into a scandal. One day he left home. Now we communicate, I recently went on a visit and saw everyone - Natasha, Lola, grandchildren.

Stakhan and Alla were recognized stars in the Soviet Union. All concerts are sold out! But the artists were not accommodated in one hotel room.

“This is my wife,” I argued. (Stakhan Rakhimovich grins.) But the administrators didn’t believe me, because there is no stamp in the passport.

One day he told her casually: “By the way, we should get married.” We signed in passing. And then trouble came.

Probably due to nervous stress, Alla’s illness returned with renewed vigor. Doctors suggested surgery, but it can only be done in Israel.

The couple submitted documents to leave the country. And she signed her own death sentence. They were refused and even forbidden to perform! The bullying, like an infection, spread to all relatives; in Tashkent, Stakhan’s mother died from the stress. His friends tried to persuade him to leave Alla, but he was not capable of betrayal.

Alla expressed all her pain in poetry and in the book she wrote. Stakhan tried to feed his family.

Every six months they submitted documents to the OVIR and received refusals. My daughter was expelled from the institute - unreliable.

– The famous pianist Vladimir Feltsman, professor Alexander Lerner, violist Lyosha Dyachkov and his wife Fira came to us. Volodya played classics and we sang.

And then our theater “Music in Refusal” appeared. Once a month, 60–70 people came to our apartment, and all of them were not empty-handed - they brought fruit, pies, food, although we did not ask for anything. We sang, and there were policemen under the windows.

Sometimes Savely Kramarov also performed with us, but they didn’t let him out either,” says Ioshpe. – We wrote letters to the newspapers: if you don’t let them out, let them work.

It worked. They allowed me to perform. We started performing in the outback. No one wrote songs to us, former enemies of the people.

Alla began to write herself. People found out by word of mouth: there would be a concert by Alla and Stakhan, there were no empty seats in the halls.

...The spouses smile at each other, and then Alla stretches out her hands to Stakhan: “Kiss me, honey.” I look at this couple and understand: they are more than husband and wife, they are a reflection of each other.

They carried their love through years of hardship and pain. No one and nothing broke them.

They have earned the right to sing again and give people their songs. And again they will come out and sing about love, which they know firsthand.

Liya Razanova

Alla IOSHPE and Stakhan RAKHIMOV: “We survived because we stayed together”


In the late 70s, they turned from people's favorites into enemies of the people. The most popular duet, Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov, whose songs - "Alyosha", "Nightingales" and "Goodbye, Boys" - were known by heart by the whole country, lost everything overnight. Famous couple they were deprived of their titles, all their records and cassettes were confiscated from sale and destroyed, Stakhan was expelled from the party, their daughter, an excellent student Tanya, was expelled from the university with the wording “not corresponding to the high rank of a Soviet student”...

Leave her, this traitor, this Zionist! - a representative of the “authorities” persuaded Rakhimov. “You’re ruining your life because of some Jew.” Let her go to hell, but you...

Then Stakhan Rakhimov responded to the admonitions of the young KGB officer with a phrase that later became their motto in life:

Even if Ioshpe is placed at one end globe, and Rakhimov - on the other and turn their backs to each other, they will still take their breath in one place... We cannot help but sing together. We can't help but live together. This is out of the question.

This year marks 40 years since Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov lived and sang together.

An Uzbek and a Jewish woman - to be honest...

Alla saw him by chance. On her day off, to the sound of the TV constantly droning, she was putting things in order in her apartment. Alla was already heading to another room, when suddenly some unknown force riveted her gaze to the screen. With half-closed eyes, a thin non-Russian boy was either singing or praying. "God, how he sings!" - Alla whispered.

"God, how she sings!" - Now it’s Stakhan’s turn to be surprised. He was sitting in the auditorium when Alla came on stage. Thin, as it seemed to him, ugly, freckled. Limping on one leg. “The end of the concert,” Stakhan chuckled to himself, “why did she come out?..” And then the girl began to sing. Stakhan was shocked. He took a pen out of his pocket and found the name in the program. unknown singer- Alla Ioshpe - and circled him.

After some time they met. The final student amateur performance competition was held in the Hall of Columns. By all accounts, there were two favorites: the soloist of the Moscow State University orchestra Alla Ioshpe and rising star MPEI Stakhan Rakhimov. They ended up sharing first place.

Alla did not recognize him. “It’s immediately clear that you are not a singer!” she was indignant when Stakhan sat down at her table and casually lit a cigarette. “You smoke, and it harms your ligaments.” Stakhan silently put out his cigarette and went on stage...

Stakhan: “Even before the concert, I told myself: if she stays to listen to me, everything will be fine. And when she stayed, I quietly took off my wedding ring and put it in my pocket.”

Alla: “When I heard him sing, I couldn’t stand it, I went up to him and said: “Stakhan, what a great fellow you are!” And then he went to accompany me home and told me fairy tales in Uzbek. “Borakan-yogakan” - I I listened to this strange script of speech, the stars were shining... It was so beautiful. I was a little tired, he tactfully sat me down on a bench. Nikitsky Gate, and we talked and talked... But I still didn’t think about anything: love is not love. I couldn’t even imagine that I would have an affair on the side, leave my husband... A week later, Stakhan brought me to his company. He was making pilaf and wrapped his shirt sleeves like this (shows - author). Dark, handsome, thin, high-cheeked, infectious... How he butchered that meat! Then I thought: “Joshpe, you need to flee.” But he didn't let me go..."

In the families of Stakhan and Alla, the news of their marriage was received with hostility. Alla’s parents were indignant: you are married, you have such a wonderful husband, he loves you so much! And this one is Uzbek. From another family, from another republic. Don’t you know, they are polygamists, they are treacherous... Alla begged her parents: “But we can’t, we sing like that together!..”

At first, Stakhan’s mother also seemed adamant. She said: “Muscovite. They are all spoiled, spoiled. Do we have few Uzbek women here?” “Mom,” Stakhan tried to object, “of course, Alla is a Muscovite, but she is not Russian, she is Jewish...” Oddly enough, this phrase had an effect. The woman suddenly thought for a moment and sighed heavily. “Well,” he says, “it’s still ours.” “I mean, nationality,” explains Stakhan.

Alla: “My first husband took our separation very hard. He was driving me to the next rehearsal when I said: “We won’t succeed, forgive me for God’s sake.” He let go of the steering wheel, the car almost rolled into a ditch, one wheel hanging over ravine. “I beg you, come to your senses,” he told me. - You will regret this for the rest of your life. This is not your person. I know, I feel. Let six months, a year pass, but let’s not part. I will never remind you of what happened..." He was a real knight for me: he protected, he cared. The most intelligent, kindest, most delicate person who loved me unspeakably. I probably loved him... Of course, I loved him. But we had different life: He is an engineer, I am a singer. But stage people are abnormal, and only an equally abnormal person can tolerate this abnormality.”

Was Stakhan’s wife also worried?

The girl suffered and suffered. I’ll never forget: she came to Moscow, called him down on the phone... I felt so sorry for her!

Stakhan: “Natasha was a student, very good girl: soft, kind. And my mother always taught me that a person should not be so much beautiful as warm. Natasha was just like that - with a twist. But there's nothing you can do about it - music."

“Stakhan told me: “We won’t go to Rosner, I didn’t like the way he looked at you.”

In the early 70s they talked about the Fab Five Soviet stage. In fact, there were six of them: Muslim Magomayev, Joseph Kobzon, Maya Kristalinskaya, Edita Piekha and they - Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov. Not a single Kremlin concert, not a single New Year's "Ogonyok" was complete without the songs of the international duet. “Alyosha”, “Nightingales”, “Goodbye, boys”, “Meadow Night” - with these hits Ioshpe and Rakhimov became stars of the first magnitude in the Soviet Union and traveled all over the world.

They were called "stage in a tailcoat." Soft, lyrical style of performance. Quiet, clear, pleasant voices, genuine sincerity. The audience idolized them. But my colleagues didn’t like me. Many of the famous artists whispered behind Alla and Stakhan’s backs: “What’s special about them is that amateur performances have remained the same. They have no pop presentation at all.”

Alla: “We are very static on stage, we hardly move. I remember once we were in Jurmala, performing at a concert by Raymond Pauls. A Latvian duet came out in front of us. They sang well, even well. But all the time they hugged, showed, how they love each other. And we don’t need all this. The audience caught our every nuance: how I look at him, how he takes me by the hand, how I lean on him... This says a lot, right? They say that the loudest scream is a whisper. They said about us: when they sing on stage, you get the feeling that the audience is only bothering them.”

Stakhan: “And those artists who disliked us were mainly those who, at one time, we, students, cut off the oxygen with our “leftists.” We had a well-coordinated team called “seven plus seven”: Alla and I, five of our musicians and seven “ phrasebooks": Marik Rozovsky, Alik Axelrod, Semyon Farada, Alexander Filippenko and others. All postgraduate students - not a single professional. And we were "leftist" - all the leftist, commercial concerts in Moscow were ours. In Mosestrad, folk artists whispered in the corners: “Where did these graduate students come from?!” Famous groups danced with us: the Moscow Music Hall, the Lundstrem and Rosner orchestras...

By the way,” Alla interrupts her husband, “one day we finally came to Eddie Rosner’s house. We had already agreed on the repertoire, but as soon as we left, Stakhan told me: “We won’t go, I didn’t like the way he looked at you.” And with many famous composers Exactly the same story came out - Stakhan again said: no.

From the outside it might seem that Alla and Stakhan are some kind of darlings of fate: young, talented, favored by the authorities. In fact, their path to the pop Olympus was strewn not only with roses, but also with thorns. The first time they received a “slap” was for performing the “enemy” “Hava Nagila” in Luzhniki during the Seven Days War. Then, with the wording “for violation of labor discipline,” Alla and Stakhan were not allowed to go on tour to Germany.

Further more. At the concert in memory of Mark Bernes, Ioshpe and Rakhimov allowed themselves to perform the purely patriotic song “Where the Motherland Begins” in the form of a dialogue, and at the end they also left the question open. This was already real sedition. “Suckers, they ask a question, they question: where does the Motherland begin?!” - the “Soviet public” in the person of officials from the Ministry of Culture could not hide the indignation.

During another concert, Stakhan for a moment forgot the words to one of the songs. There was an awkward pause. But the singer was not at a loss: he walked up to the ramp and asked for a hint from auditorium. The next day, someone spread a rumor around Moscow that Rakhimov went on stage drunk.

But these were all flowers - the tragedy in their lives happened later.

10 years under house arrest

Once Ioshpe and Rakhimov were invited to the Ministry of Culture. The then minister Demichev began busily: “Then we received a letter signed by hundreds of spectators. They write: “Can’t our great state help the talented artist Alla Ioshpe with her treatment?” How can I help?” “We need an operation abroad,” Stakhan replied. “Why abroad?!” Demichev was indignant. “Have the operation here. We don’t have that kind of money to pay for your treatment abroad.”

Alla Ioshpe has been struggling with constant pain in her leg almost all her life. At the age of 11 she was diagnosed with blood poisoning. The girl was rescued from the other world, but her health problems remained. The delighted spectators had no idea what terrible pain the singer had to fight with. After working for a month, Ioshpe usually spent the next two in bed.

Alla: “As a child, my mother told me: “You are not like everyone else. Something is not given to you. But you have been given something much more than others." No, I never felt discriminated against. On the contrary, I was always surrounded by a lot of boys who looked after me, even were jealous of each other. I was a pretty girl, what can I say. And the guys wanted to take care of me, to protect me. I’m still weak, I’m limping. For example, in the tenth grade I had seven wonderful boys at once. They brought me stamps, books, flowers, pies. Are any of them in love?" She answered: "In my opinion, with all of them."

Stakhan: “Then, in the late 70s, Alla could still be cured. We found three clinics: in Israel, in New York and in Paris. After the refusal of the Ministry of Culture, we said that we could pay for the treatment ourselves, we were ready to sell everything , what is... The answer was the same: it’s not allowed.”

Alla: “That is, we are nothing to them. But we earned a lot of money for the state. We traveled all over the world with concerts, received daily allowances of ten dollars a day, and brought thousands to the State Concert with our own hands. And we were good. And when we ourselves I needed help..."

And then Stakhan decided, as many thought, to be crazy: he submitted documents to travel to permanent place residence in Israel. The authorities' reaction was immediate: to ban it. “You have done too much for the Soviet state to risk you,” they were told at Lubyanka. “Anything can happen.” Just then the country was shocked by the news of the murder of one of our musicians, who decided not to return from Japan. "Are you threatening us?" - Alla asked, looking into the eyes of the KGB officer.

The very next day, yesterday's favorites were declared renegades and traitors. The artists were stripped of their titles, all their recordings were destroyed, and they were banned from giving concerts. The 1st Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Rashidov, when he was informed about the situation, almost choked from his own anger: “Rakhimov?! Yes, he’s more likely to be with me.” Far East will go than to the Middle!"

Every day Alla and Stakhan received letters with threats, their daughter Tanya shuddered at every phone call after she once heard on the phone from a stranger: “A man has come from Tashkent to kill your father.” They set fire to their doors, mailbox, smashed their car... And they were constantly summoned to the Lubyanka, where Alla was asked to abandon Stakhan, Stakhan - from Alla, and their daughter Tanya - from both parents. “Let them go,” they said, “stay, we are raising orphans.”

Alla: “For television and the press, we seemed to have died - not a single mention. And only the lecturers of the Knowledge Society, who broadcast on various enterprises about the international situation, they remembered us with a “kind” word. They said there was no time popular singers Alla Ioshpe and Stakhan Rakhimov emigrated to Israel. That they lead a miserable lifestyle there. That Stakhan cooks pilaf there and sells it. That we are asking to go back, but the Soviet Union does not want to accept traitors."

For almost ten years, Ioshpa and Rakhimov were not allowed to work. Money accumulated over long years performances melted literally before our eyes. The couple had to sell the car. And after a while the walls of their apartment were decorated only bookshelves- all the other furniture, as well as dishes and antiques, eventually ended up in the nearest second-hand store.

One day, Alla and Stakhan wrote exactly one hundred letters to all the capital’s publications: “We have not left, we are alive, we are here. They don’t let us work...” Often some strangers called them from pay phones and said: "Guys, we are with you, hold on." And friends came to visit, brought food: cakes, sweets, salads. Of course, they asked me to sing. And soon rumors spread throughout Moscow: Ioshpe and Rakhimov were organizing home concerts. Indeed, every Saturday people began to gather in their house: actor Savely Kramarov, musician Alexander Brusilovsky, pianist Vladimir Feltsman, famous academician Alexander Lerner, the current Minister of Labor of Israel Natan Sharansky - all those who different time was denied leave. They called their “home theater” “Music in Refusal.” Its emblem was a painting by a banned artist: two birds with a barn lock hung on their beaks.

"Hello, Alla Borisovna..."

Under Gorbachev, Ioshpe and Rakhimov could no longer be banned. But they were in no hurry to give permission.

Stakhan: “We were given some kind of terrible orchestra, they allowed us to tour. Only without posters. We arrive in one city - there are only a few people in civilian clothes in the hall. In another - the same story. And for this bunch of KGB officers we sang. After the series After such “concerts”, Alla and I were summoned to the Ministry of Culture and told: “You see, people don’t want to listen to you, your homeland doesn’t accept you.”

Alla: “And in order to take away our right to solo concerts, Mosestrad organized a re-certification of all the artists. Mark Novitsky, one of the members of the artistic council, came up to us and said: “Guys, I respect you so much, I cannot participate in this.” And he left the hall."

And they, holding hands, sang: “Don’t part with your loved ones.” They were crying in the hall. Even someone from the commission began to clap, but pulled himself together in time...

They were finally “forgiven” only in 1989. And even then, when Joseph Kobzon came to a meeting of the party committee, where the question was being decided: or not to remove the wording “enemy of the motherland” from Stakhan Rakhimov. The singer, whose words were used to being listened to at the very top, said: “Leave them alone already.” And they were left behind.

They still draw full houses today. And not only in Russia. America, Israel, Australia, Germany - in these countries Alla and Stakhan have long been called "people's artists of the Russian emigration." And two years ago Ioshpa and Rakhimov were awarded the titles folk artists Russia.

Alla: “We were recently in America. We were sitting in the room, suddenly a call rang: “Have you read this shameless article?” - “No, which one?” - “Now we’ll bring it to you.” We brought it, read it - an interview with Alla Pugacheva. Everything seems to be delicate, without leaving anyone out, without calling anyone names. And suddenly we come across the last phrase. The journalist’s question: why are you with one, then with the other: first Philip, then Alla answers: well, the actor’s fate is like this: if I had been with one person all the time, we would have been forgotten just like Ioshpe and Rakhimova.

So, dear Alla Borisovna. Thank you for not forgetting us and mentioning us in vain. But you forgot that we were destroyed by the Soviet machine. That's why, my dear, we're not on the same page today. And not because I didn’t leave my husband or he left me. On your part, such a statement seems, to put it mildly, shameless. And to be more precise, it’s impolite and stupid.”

They have not been forgotten. And today, when Ioshpe and Rakhimov take the stage, the audience stands up. Because they survived. Because they stayed together. Because they didn't betray each other. They haven't changed their style. They're not in the bag. They are in people's hearts.
17.02.2004

Dmitry MELMAN

Source - Moskovsky Komsomolets
Permanent address of the article -

Biography, life story of Ioshpe Alla Yakovlevna

Alla Yakovlevna Ioshpe is a Soviet and Russian singer.

The future pop star was born on June 13, 1937 in a Jewish family. Her parents lived in Ukraine, but the girl decided to get higher education in Moscow. She successfully passed the exams at Moscow State University and was enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy. She combined her studies with singing in a student ensemble.

Fateful meeting

In 1960, Alla met a man with whom she not only created a creative duet, but also a family. This happened in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, where the final concert of participants in an amateur art competition took place. Ioshpe reached the final, but had to split Grand Prize with a singer from Uzbekistan. A handsome young man, Stakhan Rakhimov, gallantly escorted his colleague home, after which a romance broke out between them. By that time, both Alla and Stakhan already had their own families, but they were unable to resist the sudden surge of feelings. Soon they got married. Among the gifts was a samovar, which the guests presented with wishes for a long life. family life. After all, in the event of a divorce, unlike other property, it cannot be divided. The words turned out to be prophetic.

Trouble

As a child, Alla injured her leg and developed blood poisoning. The disease was stopped, but periodically it made itself felt. So at the end of the 1970s it manifested itself, so much so that urgent medical intervention was needed. But the operations did not bring relief. There was still hope for help from foreign doctors, but during the years of the USSR, permission from high-ranking officials was required for citizens to travel abroad. The Ministry of Health refused Ioshpe’s request. The State Concert also became depressed in a similar way.

Sanctions

Being in great despair, the couple decided to take an extreme measure - they submitted an application for Israeli citizenship. Such an act caused such a negative reaction from Soviet authorities that the couple was accused of treason. This meant that the path to the stage was closed. Moreover, all recordings of singers stored in television and radio music libraries were destroyed. For creative personalities, whose popularity in the 1970s was, as they say, “off the charts,” this was a terrible blow.

CONTINUED BELOW

Return

No matter how hard the authorities tried to erase from memory ordinary people creativity of a unique duo, fans have not forgotten their idols. From time to time in their apartment they heard phone calls, strangers expressed support in half-whispers. Friends came to visit and brought food with them. The couple thanked them by singing their songs.

Moscow was full of rumors about such impromptu concerts, where the previously timid spirit of freethinking was already beginning to raise its head. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the wall of silence finally fell. Alla and Stakhan were allowed to return to the stage. True, at first they were allowed to perform only in small towns. But the artists, yearning for their audience, were happy about this. Then they found themselves at the main concert venues of the country, as well as on television and radio broadcasts, and recorded several discs.

In 2002, official recognition arrived - the singers received the title of “folk”.

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