Evgeny Belyaev

Early years and private life On 11 September 1926, he was born in Klintsy in the Bryansk Oblast. As a child, he was known by the diminutive, Zhenia (the soft "g" of Bryansk). He fought in Czechoslovakia and served as a Lance Corporal in the first Red Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov division of the Carpathian Military District of the 4th Ukrainian Front under the command of General-Colonel Andrei Yeremenko. He is also said to have been in an anti-aircraft warfare unit and to have finished the war as a sergeant. He is said to have sung in the lulls between the fighting. Musical career 1947: He was a soloist of the Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Carpathian military district. 1958: Received the title: Honoured Artist of Russia (Meritorious Artist). and again "Monsieur Kalinka" in France. Also in this year he sang the voice-over part of the cartoon rabbit in the Russian film,Pif Paf Oi Oi Oi (Russian: Пиф Паф Ой Ой Ой) (possibly Dir. Garri Bardin, 1980). This animated cartoon dramatizes via opera a Russian nursery rhyme about a hunter shooting a rabbit ("Pif-paf!") which is brought home and found to be still alive ("Oi! Oi!"). Belyaev mainly performed in small chamber concerts in Russia after he left the Ensemble. At some point he was made Honorary Citizen of Klintsy, his home town. 1994: In the 1990s he sang with the government musical organization RosKontsert as an independent soloist. On February 21 or 22, 1994 he died. == Critical commentary ==

This commentary is about a music video featuring Evgeny Belyaev (see screenshot, right): Belyaev sings "Kalinka" on the music video "Soviet Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble". The first "Mr Kalinka" was Victor Nikitin who was the second tenor (Pyotr Tverdokhlebov was the first) to perform it with the dramatic, overarching and operatic notes which now precede the chorus in every Ensemble soloist's performance of this song. The origin of this kind of tenor-bravado introduction to a song is in Arab music, and can still be heard in Flamenco cante jondo. "Kalinka" is a trivial song about a fruit tree, but it lends itself perfectly to this kind of operatic showing-off. Belyaev himself was already the recipient of popular acclaim after the 1956 London tour, and he had already been called "Mr Kalinka": the obvious natural successor to Nikitin. So in this performance, as the screenshot clearly shows, he is an immensely confident man with a great musical future before him. In fact it was very possibly the Cold War which kept him tied to the Ensemble and away from the operatic career which he clearly deserved. Since Nikitin, "Kalinka" has always been one of the signature songs of the Ensemble, and the performances are always presented as both great achievement and great fun. This ca.1960 video is filmed outdoors, and shows the soldiers laughing, joshing each other, and dancing comically at the end. This is acting of course, and a striking contrast to the severe picture of Soviet life which was being presented at that time in the West. In the last moments of the "Kalinka" performance, Belyaev, like the other soldierly soloists not allowed to gesticulate while singing, cannot help himself and performs a brief Russian dance movement with his arms, showing us something we did not know before: that his background was in Russian dance culture as well as in music. == Notability ==

Worldwide fame This superb lyric tenor This is partly the result of "Kalinka" being recently associated with Chelsea Football Club. Russian fame April 2007: In celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Klintsy, Belyaev's home town, it was decided to install a bust of the singer by the sculptor A.Smirnov in the town. February 2008: A memorial concert was given in Bryansk in memory of Belyaev. It was attended by his great-niece Ekaterina Belaeva, fellow Communist Party members, people from his hometown Klintsy, and his old musical colleagues from the Alexandrov Ensemble. On this day the Klintsovskoy children's music school was named after Evgeny Belyaev. == Repertoire ==

His work as soloist with the Alexandrov Ensemble meant that he sang primarily songs in the Russian folk music genre, traditional songs, and other songs about Russia, besides a few foreign songs and operatic arias. For this he was considered a "national treasure". What the songs are about In alphabetical order of titles, with links to auto-lyrics: . is pictured on the Order of the October Revolution. used by partisans in the Czech Republic, now a World War II memorial., c. 1930. "Accidental Waltz": Probably a love song (lyrics unavailable). "And Again I Am in Line": Song of the veteran pilots of World War II, and their replacement by younger pilots. "Baikal Beauty" recalls beautiful Lake Baikal and a girl at home for the homesick soldier. "Before the Long Journey" remembers preparations for people's long journeys in the past; comparing them with the preparations of modern astronauts. Possibly sung as a tribute to Yuri Gagarin and his fellow astronauts. "Bryanski Partisan Song": A guerilla song about Soviet partisans that mentions an ambush, burnt houses and revenge. "Donetski Night": refers to the horror of the Battle of Stalingrad, and optimism about a woman (lyrics unavailable). "Evening on the Road"/"Night on the Road": A sailors' song about going to sea. "Ogonek": Possibly about a girl and a soldier. It may refer to Ogonyok, (Russian: Огонёк), which means "little flame", as a symbol of love (lyrics unavailable). "Oh You Rye": A love song (lyrics unavailable). "Cold Waves Lapping": (lyrics unavailable). "'Ridna My Mother": (lyrics unavailable). "Rodina": About the Russian landscape. musical arrangement (see Alexandrov Ensemble) which sets off his skill and creates the magic every time. A good example of this is the "Bryansky Partisan Song" with its Eastern Orthodox Church music tonality and harmony, which has the effect of somehow making the Ensemble sound like a choir of thousands, evoking perhaps the size of the USSR, the history which created its peoples, and pride in the Soviet partisans. Belyaev sings the secondary harmony in a duet with Alexei T. Sergeev and the choir here, but his enthusiastic voice adds a piquant excitement to the sheer power of the arrangement. So here is one possible answer to the question of why Belyaev stayed with the Ensemble instead of looking for easy fame on the opera circuit. Musically, it was worth staying. == Recorded songs ==

In date order of original recording dates (not album production dates). Some original recordings have been recycled over many albums, and this is still happening - especially with some earlier recordings - due to their continuing popularity. of Moscow stud performing at Vologda racecourse. Key to links (a): from Japanese "Red Army" webpage, for images of past album sleeves containing tracks by Belyaev. (b): from Amazon for current albums containing tracks by Belyaev. of Russia. 1950s "Oh You Rye" (1950; 1964; 1978; 1992) (composer A. Doluhanyan; lyrics A. Newcomer 1950) (a): (b): "Choir of Sailors from the Opera Dawn" (1954) (composer K. Molchanov; lyrics S. Severtsov): no data "Cold Waves Lapping" (1954) (composer F. Bogoroditsky; lyrics Ya Repninsky): no data "Kalinka" (1956; 1963; 1978; 1992). (a): (b): "Annie Laurie" (1956; 1963). (a): (b): Fallen Russian Soldier (1914-7), the subject of Nightingale. 1960s "Ridna My Mother" (1960) (composer P. Maiboroda; lyrics A. Malyshko: no data "By Mostochku Narrow" (1960) (composer K. Akimov; lyrics M. Vershinin): no data "Beautiful Moonlit Night" (or "Moonlight") (1960; 1963). (a): (b): "Where Are Your Arms" (1948–65; 1985). (a): "My Country I Pledge To You" (1963?). (a): "Nightingales" (1963; 1975; 1978) (composer V.Solovev-Sedoy; lyrics A. Fatyanov) (a): "Near the Garden" (1963). (a): "Where This Country Was Built" (1965). (a): moored in the roadstead 1901. Evening on the Road tells of a peaceful evening such as this. 1970s "Russia" (ca.1970). (a): He performed the song in concerts in the Bryansk region in 1975. "'Wilderness" (1974). (a): In My Moscow Suburb (ca.1975?). (a): In the Dugouts (1975; 1977) (composer K. Sheets; lyrics A. Surkov 1942): no data Accidental Waltz (1977) (composer M. Fradkin; lyrics E. Dolmatovskaya): no data Ogonek (1977) (lyrics M.Isakovsky): no data My Favourite (1977) (composer M. Blanter; lyrics E. Dolmatovskaya 1942): no data Two Maxim (1977) (composer S. Katz; lyrics M. Plyatskovsky 1941): no data You Who Love (1978). (a): Execution of the Warrior Revolution (1987) (a): , but the coal-mining city of Donetsk was also destroyed in World War II and then rebuilt, including this cathedral. 1990s In the Sunny Meadow/Shine in the Field (1992). (a): Birch Tree Stood in the Meadow (1992). (a): (b): ''Soldier's Wife'' (undated). (a): Epitaph (undated). (a): Baikal Beauty (undated) (composer A. Doluhanyan; lyrics M. Lisyansky): no data Immortelle (undated) (composer S. Zaslavsky; lyrics A. Sofronov): no data Donetski Night (undated) (composer E. Zharkovsky; lyrics N. Upenik, L. Titova 1975): no data Where Are You Now, Friends (undated) (composer V. Solovyov-Sedoy; lyrics A. Fatyanov 1947): no data And Again I am In Line (undated) (composer B. Muradeli; lyrics S. Bencken 1960): no data Favourite, Remember Us (undated) (composer Boris Alexandrov; lyrics N. Dobronravov 1978): no data In a Sunny Forest Clearing (undated) (composer V.P.Solovev-Sedoy; lyrics A. Fatyanov 1970): no data Bryansky Partisan Song (undated) (composer D. Kabalevsky; lyrics V.Lebedev-Kumach). Duet with Alexei T. Sergeev: no data. '' refers to the cold, treeless zone all along the northern edge of Russia. Shooting Kommunarov (undated) (composer V.Tan-Bogoraz): no data Rodina (undated) (composer A. Samoylov; lyrics F. Savinov): no data Click the Guy (undated) (composer LA Shats; lyrics V. Alferov 1977): no data At the Gate, The Gate (undated) (traditional): no data I Left the Army (undated) (composer S. Tulika; lyrics V. Malkov): no data I Loved You (undated) (composer B.Sheremetyev; lyrics Pushkin): no data I Met You (undated) (composer B.Sheremetyev; lyrics F.Tyutchev): no data It Evokes Memories (undated) (composer P.Bulakhov): no data I Took You into the Tundra (undated) (composer M. Fradkin; lyrics M. Plyatskovsky): no data. Listen If You Want (undated) (composer N.Shiskin): no data My Moscow (undated) (composer O. Feltsman; lyrics A. Sofronov): no data Separation (undated) (composer A.Gurilev; lyrics A.Koltsov): no data ''Soldiers' Mothers'' (undated) (composer Boris Alexandrov; lyrics S. Bencken): no data Soldiers Pribautki (undated) (composer A. Doluhanyan; lyrics G. Hodos). Duet with B. Ruslanov: no data Unselfish Soul (undated) (composer A. Pakhmutova; lyrics M. Lisyansky): no data We Went Out Into the Garden (undated) (composer M.Tolstoy; lyrics A.Butt): no data The Book Motherland (undated) (composer Boris Alexandrov; lyrics N. Dorizo): no data Kid (Sucu Sucu) (undated, 1960s?) (composer Tarateño Rojas; translator unknown, Russian & Spanish) To You I Swear the Fatherland (undated): no data performs numerous songs about Moscow, including My Moscow, which was recorded with E. Belyaev as soloist. == Discography ==

His 78s, LPs, CDs and DVDs are listed on the Alexandrov Ensemble discography page. == See also ==