Leonid Mikhailovich Kharitonov (; 18 September 1933 – 19 September 2017) was a Soviet and Russian bass-baritone (баритональный бас) singer. He was honored with People's Artist of the RSFSR and Honored Artist of RSFSR. In the West he was noted for his 1965 video of The Song of the Volga Boatmen.
Early life He was born in Golumet, Irkutsk Oblast, in 1933. When his father went missing in World War II, his mother brought him up. Between 1934 and 1942 he was at Cheremkhovo, and attended school number 25 from 1941 to 1942. Back at Golumet he attended school from 1942 to 1945, and stayed at Golumet until 1947. For a year from the age of 14 (from 1947 to 1948) he studied to be a welder in F.Z.O. and worked at a plant in Kuibysheva in the Irkutsk Oblast as a moulder and caster. From 1948 to 1950 back in Golumet again, he worked in M.T.S. as an electric welder, meanwhile beginning to perform as a singer.The original 3rd party source for the biography of L.M. Kharitonov, used by the narod.ru site and by L.M.Kharitonov's official site scan of biographical information on vinyl record cover of Русские народные песни и романсы (translation: "Russian Folk Songs and Ballads") in Russian
From 17 years old (1950/1951) he was a soloist at Irkutsk Philharmonic and finally was accepted by Moscow Conservatory from 1952 to 1955. This was very difficult because as a Siberian he did not even have a matriculation certificate, but his strong singing voice spoke for him.
Career
With the Alexandrov Ensemble 1953 to 1972
From 9 November 1953 to March 1965 he was a member of the choir in the Red Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army (later the Alexandrov Ensemble). His place in the choir was always third from the right in the top row. From 1953 to 1955 he served in both the Red Army and the choir. From 1956 to 1959, while still with the choir, he studied at Gnessin State Musical College. His first unofficial public performance as soloist was in the State Kremlin Palace on 18 March 1965. On that day two good friends of his, cosmonauts Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov, traveled into space on the Voskhod 2. During this mission, Leonov became the first human to walk in space. Kharitonov's first official public performance as a soloist was on 22 April 1965. In 1967 he was awarded Honoured Artist of Russia. He continued with the Ensemble until 1972 - so he was with them for nearly 20 years. B.A. Alexandrov was proud of his soloist, and would often shake his hand or hug him publicly onstage after a performance.For example, at the end of at the Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow, 1965 Kharitonov sometimes sang duets, but only with Ivan Bukreev. Kharitonov had only one singing teacher in his life: Evgeny Avgustovich Kanger, who taught no-one in the Ensemble but the leading soloists, including Evgeny Belyaev.
Independent career from 1972 to 2017 From 1972 to 1998 he was a soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic Society,Moscow Philharmonic Society , i.e. not the company referred to on the Moscow Philharmonic page in Wikipedia and in 1986 was awarded People's Artist of the RSFSR. Being a soloist for the Moscow Philharmonic meant that tours were arranged; he was given bookings by them; an accompanist was provided; but he could arrange his own bookings and pay for a different accompanist outside Moscow, and could accept tours offered by his own clients. During this time, he performed frequently on radio and television. On tour, he visited the entire country and appeared several times at the State Kremlin Palace concert hall. He was considered the pride of Russia, and sang at concerts for the government and for foreign delegations. During the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Kharitonov went on tour abroad to many different countries, including Czechoslovakia, England, Scotland, the United States, China and Australia. From 1998 to 2006 he performed at various venues on a contract basis, giving concerts in Siberia, the German Embassy and Ilya Glazunov Gallery. He was a friend of Anatoly Solovyanenko but they never sang a duet together. Kharitonov never performed in theatrical opera, but sang operatic arias in concert performances.
Worldwide recognition Like many of the great Russian operatic singers of the Soviet era, this bass-baritone singer who was respected in Russia and who sang fully in the tradition of Chaliapin was largely unknown in the West. This is because his career was overshadowed by the Cold War. However his recordings continue to be re-released worldwide, and this may eventually serve to redress the balance, along with the recent increased exposure of Kharitonov on YouTube.
Critical commentaries on performances 1965 to 1972
1965 video of Cliff Utyos (Russian: Утёс)The accepted UK English translation of the song title is: The Cliff on the Volga, because it is listed as such by the BBC.
One of Kharitonov's first solo performances, at age 32 after twelve years in the choir of the Ensemble, was a concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses attended by top government officials. As a chorister he was aware of the primary function of the bass part. Whether the part actually does so or not, its effect is to appear to provide a rhythmic and tonal foundation for the musical piece. In other words, particularly when the choir sings a cappella, or when there are no drums, the bass part appears to set both the rhythm and pitch, by virtue of having the heaviest sound. This understanding, and the understanding within Boris Alexandrov's arrangement, is what makes Kharitonov's performance commanding. There is no destabilising ego here. When he sings he sets the melody and dynamic, and establishes all that is to come; the choir appears to settle comfortably above his voice; the choir repeats and follows his lead. This roars to a climax, with the soloist's voice appearing to carry the weight of all Russia's revolutionary optimism. After all, this is a song about Stenka Razin: the first revolutionary; a cross between Attila the Hun and Robin Hood - and this performance made Leonid Brezhnev cry. The screenshot, left, from a concert given at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow during the same time period, is an indication of the stage presence which takes on the persona of Razin himself. Ultimately, this is a recording that demonstrates what a bass soloist really is: the musical foundation of a performance.Important: Before editing this critical commentary, please read the section "Critical Commentaries" on the article discussion page. The sound recording of Cliff can be heard in the 2006 BBC documentary series Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster: Surviving Disaster while brave men swim to their deaths, opening sluice gates below the reactor in the hope of preventing a nuclear explosion.
Historical commentary on 1965 performance of Cliff This song is about the fate of the 17th-century Russian rebel, Stepan Razin, its lyrics and music written in 1864 by poet, playwright and novelist Alexander Navrotsky.Alexander Navrotsky (in Russian) Biography at the Russian Writers Biographical Dictionary (Русские писатели 1800-1917. Биографический словарь. Т. 4. М., 1999) // Brief Literary Encyclopedia in 9 Volumes, Vol. 5 (Краткая литературная энциклопедия в 9-ти томах. "Советская энциклопедия", т.5, М., 1968) The song was an anthem for revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th century in Russia; Lenin often sang it with his comrades-in-arms. The song is still culturally central to Russia. Kharitonov remembered:
"My solo career truly began with a concert in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses on April 22, 1965, dedicated to the 95th anniversary of Lenin,i.e. the anniversary of Lenin's birth in 1870 when I sang "There is a cliff on the Volga."Usually translated as "Utyos" or "Cliff", although the BBC lists it as "Cliff on the Volga". This was my first solo performance. Brezhnev wept. He got up from his seat and wiped away the tears with his hands then applauded, and then everyone in the room stood up as well and applauded too. I do not know what my performance stirred in the hearts of Leonid Ilyich and the other listeners, but I would like this song to be considered a monument to the Russian victorious spirit. After that performance, I continued to be a soloist with the Ensemble for seven years, and, from then on, I was regarded as a serious professional singer among the musical and political elite".
"I remember how after the concert Marshal Voroshilov came to see me backstage. After expressions of gratitude he hugged me as a father would and told me that Stalin also considered this song to be his favorite, and often played a record of it being performed by A. Pirogov,Alexander Pirogov (1899–1964), a Russian Soviet opera singer whenever he was sad at heart. "If Stalin were alive, then you would be leaving this room as a People's Artist of the USSR - because you sing it better than Pirogov," Voroshilov told me."
1969 video of Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl Chernoglazaya Kazachka ()
Many Russian songs are serious or sad, but Kharitonov also performed comic songs or arias. The composer Matvey Blanter wrote Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl () especially for him in 1966. Kharitonov's definitive performance was recorded in 1969. Again he is celebrating Chaliapin's legacy as the first modern bass to successfully fuse drama — and humour — with pure musical technique, as in Chaliapin's performance of Dark Eyes. Moreover, this performance of Kharitonov's demonstrates the Ensemble's style, which in the era of A.V. and B.A. Alexandrov encouraged soloists to stay in tune in spite of any vibrato, any emotional acting, or any humour. Therefore, although the song involves laughter, he laughs elegantly in tune. All the while he is making faces and humorous gestures, his vocal tone and pitch remain spot-on. That is the achievement of this kind of performance: while the audience and the other musicians laugh so much at Kharitonov's clowning (see image, left), at the same time they are aware of highly disciplined singing, and the performance remains perfectly musical.
This performance demonstrates that discipline is fundamental to musical elegance.
Reviews "There are eight solo singers whose range of songs is as wide as the convention allows — Leonid Kharitonov chose Di quella pira as an encore and sang it magnificently — who sing well and dispense encores lavishly, dropping charmingly into English now and again." - The Times review of the Ensemble's 1967 UK tour"Sing-for-ever Red Army Men", The Times, 31 March 1967 "Newly promoted from the ranks of the choir to that of soloist, Leonid Kharitonov sternly leads his voice into chasms of dizzying depth, displaying an impressively full sonorousness." - L’Aurore review of the Ensemble's 1967 French tour"Fraichement extrait des rangs des choristes pour celui des solistes, Leonide Kharitonov promene sa voix dans des abimes de profondeur vertigineuse, d’un air severe, avec une ronde ampleur impressionnante." L’Aurore, 25 November 1967 "Leonid Kharitonov was a great success on his visit to Britain in 1967 with his rendition of the Volga Boat Song. Siberian born Kharitonov is now a soloist with the Moscow State Philharmonic Society specializing in traditional Russian songs." - Soviet Weekly review of UK tour, 1977Soviet Weekly, 22 October 1977 "...They were rehearsing in every corner of Hamilton Town Hall. Leonid Kharitonov is the group’s bass soloist. Built like the side of a house, with a voice to match. Like the rest of the troupe he’s a Burns fanatic. They can put most Scots to shame with Rabbie’s songs and poems – in Russian. During his first performance at the Usher Hall, Leonid astonished the audience by sweeping the microphone aside and filling the hall to the echo with his naked voice." - Sunday Post review of his Scottish tour, 1977Sunday Post. 30 October 1977