– Natalie, first of all, allow me to congratulate you on the magnificent performance of this very difficult role (Lucia is one of the most difficult in the world operatic repertoire), especially in such an acoustically complex hall as the Tchaikovsky Hall. Well, the scene of madness, accompanied by the accompaniment of a glass harmonica - a unique instrument specially brought from Germany - is simply a masterpiece.
– Thank you, I’m very touched. Lucia is very dear to me - this poor girl goes through many extreme states - from falling in love to all-consuming horror. There is a scene that we don’t see - it’s not in the music - but when I take part in the opera, I always really experience this scene of my husband’s murder. And after this horror I go to another world, to a world of madness, which seems to me, on the contrary, liberation. In the scene of Lucia's madness there is a certain state of trance, which is especially noticeable in the vocal cadence. When I sing all this, these endless graces, roulades and vocalises, combined with this amazing, mystical glass harmonica, I myself imperceptibly enter a state of some kind of trance.
– How do you like the Russian public?
– Oh, I adore the Russian public. It is not like the European one - it reacts rather restrainedly to individual numbers in the opera - but at the end, after the last chord, it is an explosion of emotions that do not subside for a long time, the audience applauds and screams for a long time. The Russian listener is very understanding and warm.
- By the way, last summer, in concert hall Mariinsky Theater, You ended the program with Rachmaninoff’s romance “Don’t Sing, Beauty” in magnificent Russian, completely without an accent.
– This is thanks to my assistant and translator, Ksenia. She trained me like that.
– What is your opinion about the Russian vocal school?
- Oh, this is a brilliant school. Nowadays many singers from Russia come to Europe - they are all perfectly prepared. They all have beautiful voices, they know languages, they know music and they are willing to work hard. They are now in demand and have big success– not like 10-20 years ago.
– Don’t you think that many of them are too carried away by the volume of sound, often to the detriment of image and musicality?
– Well, unfortunately, this is now a trend all over the world, not only among Russian performers...
– And how, in this case, is your style of performance perceived, with an abundance of long delicate pianos, with special phrasing...?
– I always try to go from the word, I am interested in the story that I can tell the audience. All the greats did this - Callas, Caballe, Scotto... There are singers who, for all their merits - magnificent timbre, virtuoso coloratura technique, not a single word is clear. It's interesting for five minutes - then it becomes boring. The viewer wants to hear the story...
– We hope to see you again in Moscow...
– Yes, I was invited to participate in the opening of the restored stage Bolshoi Theater in October this year.
– And in parting, what would you wish our readers?
– More kindness and tenderness.. I recently turned 46 years old, and all these years I worked like the last dog. And life, with its seemingly small joys, passed me by. Then came a difficult period related to my health, when I didn’t sing and suddenly I realized that life didn’t end there, I mean my career. And I suddenly began to notice the world around me, which used to rush by as if at a mad race... Therefore - less harshness and greed and more attention to the details of life, more tenderness...
Interviewed by Yuri Alyabov
Singer Natalie, performer of the mega-popular song “The Wind from the Sea Blowed” in the 90s, was brought back into the celebrity circle by the hit “Oh God, what a man!”
Photo: Stanislav Solntsev
More recently, singer Natalie (Natalia Rudina) reminded herself and regained her former popularity. She recorded the song “Oh God, what a man!” and made a video for it. The composition instantly became a hit and literally blew up many Russian charts. The RU.TV television channel awarded Natalie the “Sometimes They Come Back” award, and at the Fashion People Awards 2013 the singer was awarded the prize in the “Comeback of the Year” category. “Of course, today’s popularity is a wonder to me, I already experienced it once,” Natasha admits. - I didn’t feel forgotten, and I didn’t feel like a star either. In general, I never left the stage, because I didn’t stop touring. And I took a break only twice: for three months - when I gave birth to my first son, and for three weeks, when I gave birth to my second. I have already come to terms with and got used to the idea that I am an “artist of the 90s” - I perform a number of hits. They quite rightly called me “Natalie Vetersmoryadulova.” ( Laughs.) At one time, the masters told me: “The song “The wind blew from the sea” gave birth to you and killed you.” Like, there will never be another hit like this in life. Yes, I wasn’t expecting him.”
And yet, after all these years, hasn’t there been a desire to be at the peak of popularity again?
All these years I had a desire to leave the stage and take up teaching; I thought about this even at school. By the way, I still worked as a teacher for a year. junior classes. I didn’t dream of becoming an artist, because I was already one and knew what it was like to work on stage, with the audience, what it was like to unite people around the fire or just in a team. I, perhaps, agreed to stay as an artist just for this. Essentially, I am a mass entertainer. At school I really liked my life: it was truly happy, full of different meetings and discoveries. I couldn’t imagine myself without school; it seemed to me that the only way I could return there was to become a teacher. If I wanted to study music professionally, I would go to study at Gnesinka. But I never even had such a thought. AND for a long time, right up to “Oh my God, what a man!”, I thought that I had missed something real in life. I thought: now I’ll sing again, and that’s enough, like that dragonfly, to sing and dance. I was tormented by the question: is the stage mine? Has everything serious really passed by? I've never had the motivation to be popular - to achieve, achieve, get.
But it’s probably nice that it was your song that topped the Russian iTunes chart for so long, pushing back foreign performers, what exactly were you entrusted with opening the Golden Gramophone?
I’m just glad as an author that I came up with a song that people liked. At the moment when I understand that the composition has found its listener, it seems to me that that’s it, I’ve fulfilled my role. I just love being on stage. I immediately feel not alone, I feel among my family.
Natasha, when the song “The Wind Blew from the Sea” appeared, did you think it would be such a success?
No. I knew this song since I was thirteen. Since I had been singing it for a long time, it didn’t seem to me that it could be taken to the stage. It was truly a yard song. We decided to set it to music and already from the third listen we realized that we wanted to listen to it again and again. For several years I wondered: how can one song make a person so popular?
Has this sudden popularity changed your life in any way?
It was a serious life lesson. At first, when things didn’t work out, I wanted to be recognized, and then, when popularity fell on me, on the contrary, I tried to run away from it.
Why did you choose “Natalie” as your pseudonym? There are a huge number of variations of your name.
We recorded the first album - “The Little Mermaid”. Then I still didn’t intend to become a singer, but the album had already appeared, so it had to be called something. They write: “Nata... Are you Natalya or Natalia?” I'm Natalya - s soft sign, and they already wrote: “Natalie...” And everyone liked it. As a child, I remember only the head teacher of our school called me that. But it turned out that now this is my middle name.
Natasha, after your first success, you were considered one of the most enviable brides in our show business, because few people knew that you got married at the age of 17. Why did you hide your marriage?
Yes, at the beginning of my career I had to hide: it’s bad for show business. And besides, at that time it was unfashionable to talk about personal life. Sasha and I have been together for twenty-three years.
Did you meet when you were in school?
I was in the eleventh grade, I was sixteen years old then, and he was twenty. I have always been a very serious girl. From the age of fourteen she was looking for her betrothed. I purposefully met with young people to see if they were suitable as my husband. With the frenzy with which I was looking for my husband, at some point I felt irritation towards the gentlemen. And if Sasha had just come to meet me, I would have... sent him. ( Smiling.)
Why did he interest you?
We met at the so-called city rock festival, where I performed as part of a vocal and instrumental ensemble. Although the festival was rock, our group played more pop music. We sang something in the style of “Mirage”, the boys composed it themselves. I first appeared on stage in short skirt and with her hair down, and before that she only sang in the choir for school. When I heard the cries of “Come on, come on! Legs, skirt up!” and so on, I felt incredible shame. I told myself: “I’ll never go on stage again!” And then a young man approached me and offered to record my songs in a recording studio. It became interesting, but scary. It seems that I had just sworn off going on stage, and here this young man with an interesting proposal, and is not trying to get to know me at all... That’s how fate deceived me, because this man not only brought me to big stage, but also became my husband.
It turns out that a real singer did your husband make you?
Sasha dreamed that I would be a singer. This idea was his, and I simply supported him. I don’t know who possessed him - a producer or a person who likes to do sound recording. He liked to record me, and then I realized that he enjoyed “giving” me to people. After seeing many men, I realized that my husband would never hold me back. We have deep inner devotion to each other, but we don’t have these, you know, dog eyes. I hate it when people try to please me or look into my mouth. I instantly become a vixen. Although at first, when I was thinking about whether to get married or not, I suddenly felt nervous. And having gone to rest alone, I suddenly decided that I was too attracted to Sasha, that life with him would drag me down, and this was wrong. I came and said: that’s it, I’m leaving you. And he: “Okay.” Others kneel down, but this one... And I couldn’t get away from this “good”. He never sat down with me to rant: “There’s nothing to talk about here,” and that’s all. But with those men with whom I had deep conversations, I eventually “negotiated” before breaking up. There were other gentlemen around me, whom I tested in different situations, literally picking them apart. (Laughs.) But it wasn’t like that. I had a good idea of the person I would like to see next to me.
It’s not for nothing that they say: “Fear your wishes - they come true.” Maybe this is the same case?
More likely. It turns out that I really knew how to dream very correctly, but I did it intuitively. And I must say, I made a very precise order.
How do you manage to save your marriage? This is so unusual for show business. Everyone around is getting divorced every now and then...
And I always existed outside of show business; for me, family always came first. Sasha and I grew up the same way. Maybe this is the secret. Marriages break up when one of the partners dissolves in the other, if one grows and drags the other with it. And with us everything is the same - we are partners. And that’s why we still haven’t gotten tired of each other. I like myself in this union.
Natasha, you were planning to get married from the age of fourteen, and did you also want to give birth early?
Yes, I wanted to, but my sons were very difficult for me. First there was a miscarriage (at age seventeen), then a frozen pregnancy. At the same time. The first time I took everything lightly, it seemed like an adventure to me: the gynecological department, so many women with their own stories. The second time I was scared, crying... There was a very great fear: what if the same thing happened again. I was sad and depressed. There was no feeling of full life, everything seemed to pass by. And only the stage healed me. But, to be honest, I didn’t fully believe that I could have a child. I couldn’t get pregnant for ten years... My mother was worried and took me to fortune tellers. I remember the prediction of one of them: “You will have children through God’s word.” One day I learned that the relics of the healer Panteleimon were brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. I waited in line for six hours. Apparently, my requests were heard: I became pregnant. I was happy! The first son, Arseny, is a real miracle; I never dreamed of a second one! When he grew up, he took on my husband and me so harshly: “Mom, give me a brother,” he says. “What is needed for this, tell me!” I dodged the answer: they say, why did you attack us like that, we need a man and a woman... And he said in a serious tone: “So, we already have that. What else? Maybe we should go to some gods?” At first I laughed at this, and then I remembered that I asked Arseny! And I understood: I need to go to Matronushka. I stood in line and asked her for a second child. And a month later I felt that something was arising in me. new life...
Natasha, it seems to me that, despite this image of a cute blonde, you are still a girl with a strong character.
There is character. As my dad says, “If she weren’t an artist, she would be a factory director.” ( Laughs.) Even though I am kind and sweet, I am also very passionate. If I have an emotion that needs to be expressed, I don’t hide it within myself. When you accumulate everything inside yourself, at some point you still explode, so I express all my emotions. I can scream too. Sometimes even on children, when patience is completely lacking.
You recently turned forty years old. To be honest, it's hard to believe.
When I was twenty, I looked forty. And at forty - to twenty. ( Laughs.) In fact, forty is very good age. I have never felt so happy. In my youth there was so much uncertainty and fear, as if you were taking eternal exams. You run around like an errand girl and don’t understand your place in life. I always had to prove something to someone.
Youthful maximalism?
Yes, maximalism. Now I have the feeling that I no longer prove anything to anyone as before. I can allow myself to be confident or, conversely, insecure. I can allow myself to be what I want. It is most important. When a person approaches life more easily, he himself becomes somehow lighter. I understand that you seem to be still young, but you already have a name and you are already much smarter. But the funny thing is that at forty you begin to like yourself more than, say, at twenty. Self-confidence is reflected even in appearance. I have never been as young as I am now, precisely because of my inner feelings. There are such important deep meditative things that I began to attach importance to only now. I used to be too serious for them. Now youth has “fused” with the mind. You have to take life lightly - in correct understanding this word. They say that excessive concentration adds wrinkles.
By the way, about wrinkles. Are you fighting them?
I love them and work on them. ( Laughs.) Botox really suits me: it makes my eyebrows look so cute and youthful. And I also realized: when you have children, wrinkles - important detail. After all, if everyone were always equally beautiful and young, then grandmothers, mothers and grandchildren would mix. When there are children, wrinkles are still necessary, otherwise the sons may mistake their mother for a girl friend. And if we don’t need wrinkles, then it is important for children to see and understand that this is, after all, a mother, and not a girl.
This sweet, angelic-looking blonde turns out to have an iron character.
The most difficult thing for a singer-songwriter is to sing songs that are not his own. Natalie wrote all her hits, including “Oh God, What a Man,” which has been at the top of the charts for the second year now. She was persuaded longer than other participants to take part in the Channel One project “Exactly”. Only after the argument: “Yes, we understand, you have never been in such large-scale shows“We didn’t participate, we never sang other people’s songs, it’s probably impossible for you” - Natalie... agreed.
Is it true that the key word in negotiations with the channel was “impossible”?
N: Yes. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard this word addressed to me. After a miscarriage, a missed pregnancy and ten years of childlessness, it is impossible to have children. It is impossible to repeat the colossal success of “The Wind Blew from the Sea.” Living with the same man since the age of 17 and loving each other to this day is also impossible. But today I have two children, a real hit, and our love continues. And I know for sure: the impossible is possible.
Great success did not come immediately, how did you manage to achieve it? Who do you thank for it?
N: First of all, the family, which was, is and will be the main support. I meet a lot on the way good people, professionals, and I am grateful to everyone, but the main thing is family. Anything has happened - ups and downs, but no matter what happens, I have a strong rear, and that’s what makes me strong.
Do you have a role model? Idols?
N: Eldar Ryazanov. I am in awe of this great man. But I didn’t have idol singers. I read an interview: this one dreamed of becoming a singer since childhood, this one just learned to speak, she was already singing... I think: “How lucky, they knew from childhood what they wanted to be.” And I dreamed of becoming a teacher, and to this day I am sure that this is one of the most respected professions. And it seemed to me that my efforts in the musical field were like a hobby. When things got going in music, I was sure for a long time: now I’ll sing a song, well, I’ll give up one more and get down to serious business. I didn’t dream of fame, so there were no idols.
Are Natalie on stage and Natasha at home with her family different women?
N: The correct answer is: yes, of course, they say, in public I’m like this, but at home I’m like that, I’m so multifaceted and mysterious. But I'm not a fan of correct answers. And I have never sculpted special image. Yes, I try to keep up with fashion without losing my individuality. If it’s about behavior, then I am on stage as I am. Open-minded, I love to dance, smile, bring joy. When leaving home, I don’t put on a mask, don’t invent legends, and don’t surround myself with a halo. Natasha is the same woman at home and on stage. Life is much easier this way.
A long marriage is unusual for pop singer. Were you lucky or did you create your own happiness?
N: I was lucky to meet Sasha, he’s really happy lottery ticket. And then - daily work, and, what is very important, the work of two people.
If you believed in miracles, what would you ask from the Golden Fish or Santa Claus?
N: And I believe in miracles. There have been so many miracles in my life that it is impossible not to believe. You can write a long letter to Santa Claus, but I’m a modest girl, I’ll limit myself to three wishes addressed to Rybka. (Laughs.) Health to my family, happy fate to my children and infinity of love. We will try to earn money for everything else ourselves. And what’s not enough for it means it’s not really needed.
Interviewed by Svetlana Astakhova
The famous producer Vitaly Manshin has helped many people advance on stage famous artists, such as: Grigry Leps, MakSim, Denis Maidanov, the Reflex group, Natalie. At his service is a magnificent dance group Almost the entire show business came running: pop king Philip Kirkorov, Dima Bilan, Nikolai Baskov and many others. But not all artists left pleasant memories after collaboration.
The most striking was the conflict with Natalie. It was she who sang the hit “The Wind from the Sea” in the late 90s, singing a yard song. Then she was not heard from. And again she reminded herself by singing the song “Oh God, what a man.” It was their quarrel that blew the producer away.
“Almost all artists are scum,” complains the producer. - They have nothing sacred. They think only about their own benefit. I wish I could bury all of them, the creatures, in one mass grave.”
“But most of all I was offended by the singer Natalie and her husband Sasha Rudin,” Vitaly continued the story. “I helped them as much as I could.” And they treated me like a doormat. I met them in 1998, when I worked with singer and composer Arkady Khoralov. We agreed that Natalie would sing a duet with him his song “ New Year's toys" This duet was filmed in Vladimir Markin’s television program “Lilac Fog”. And then this footage was broadcast for a long time on TV-6 and other channels. At that time, Natalie's producer was Valera Ivanov. In the early 90s, he pulled her out of the city of Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod region. He invested his money in recording her albums and filming videos. And he even settled her in Moscow in his living space.
I remember they lived on the same floor, in neighboring apartments. I even had suspicions that they were connected by something more than a producer and an artist. Then Natalie and her husband saved up money, bought these two apartments and combined them into one. And Valera Ivanov was kicked out in 2002. As often happens, they did not want to share the income with him.
But without a producer, Natalie went through a difficult period. She performed then for mere pennies - 30 thousand rubles. I gave her work from time to time. Once he gave her a concert for Izmailovo bandits. Drunk customers almost fucked her there. We thought that sex was included in the price of the concert.
We barely managed to take her away from them. A few years ago, Sasha Rudin approached me and asked me to take on producing Natalie. “I have people who are willing to invest in it,” I told him. “But that involves bed.” At one time, Valera Ivanov and I discussed similar options. And she didn't seem to mind.
In 2008, when Babkina dumped me, Sasha Rudin suggested: “Let’s stage Natalie with your dancers.” But they are cunning. They didn’t want to pay for anything - neither for the rehearsal hall, nor for staging the numbers. They wanted to get everything for free. Nevertheless, I gave Natalie my team. Gave them the opportunity to rehearse during free hours. The dancers choreographed the numbers themselves. I received my interest on them - about 10 thousand rubles a month.
And last year, the director of the ballet, Natalie Andrei, nicknamed Chili, unexpectedly announced to me that they would no longer work with me. Apparently, my 10 percent got in the way of them. Natalie just started playing the song “Oh God, what a man.” She started charging 200 thousand for a concert. How can I earn money?
Of course, I could include a "gangster theme". But I hoped to resolve this issue peacefully. I called Natalie’s husband and said: “We’ve been communicating with you for 15 years. Let's do it the normal way. You will remove this ballet. I'll give you new line-up. I won't take a penny from you. And everyone will be happy. Or do you support those who cheat people?” Rudin avoided a direct answer. “I don’t want to get involved with this,” he began to fuss. “Today we work with this ballet, tomorrow with another.” Well, what is it? This is real prostitution. I couldn’t stand it and told him everything I thought about him. I called him a bastard and a p...as and promised that we would meet again.”
Of course, everyone needs a producer, especially for promotion, and then he can be abandoned. And this is what stars often do, raising their heads a little in the show business horizon. They forget that you can either take off or fall painfully, without the strong hand of a show business specialist. After all, it’s not for nothing that he’s more of a business than a show.
