Alexander Gradsky

Contents

• Childhood and youth of the singer
• Musical career: from numerous bands to his own theater
• Personal life

Biography of Alexander Gradsky

Alexander Gradsky is a famous Russian singer, musician, songwriter, composer. One of the founders of Russian rock, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, whose merits have been recognized with many prestigious awards.

Childhood of the singer

Alexander Gradsky (at birth Fradkin) was born on November 3, 1949. The father of the future musician was an engineer who came to work in the Chelyabinsk region after graduating from the institute, his mother - an actress who ran an amateur theater at the local House of Culture. The boy spent his childhood years in the Urals, later his family moved to Moscow.

When Sasha was 9 years old, his parents took him to a music school. The boy learned to play the violin reluctantly. He did not like the need to study many hours a day. In middle school the boy also did not stand out. Humanities were given to him more easily, he read a lot, and at the age of 13 he wrote his first poem. Thanks to his uncle, who often went on foreign tours, the boy early got acquainted with Western music. Later it was reflected both on composing and on the manner of performance of the future singer.

Already while studying at school, Sasha actively participated in amateur performances, played in the theater circle, sang under his own accompaniment at school events. At the age of 14, taking his mother's surname, the teenager began to perform in the Polish student group "Tarakany". The first song performed by Alexander Gradsky was the composition "The Best City on Earth". By this time he had already firmly decided that he would become a singer and musician.

Musical career: from numerous groups to his own theater

In 1965, Alexander Gradsky, together with Mikhail Turkov, became the organizer of the third (after "Brothers" and "Sokol") Soviet rock band "Slavs". The repertoire of the group mainly consisted of compositions by The Beatles and Rolling Stones, but Alexander wanted to create exactly "Russian rock". This is how the Skomorokhi ensemble appeared, which brought the musician incredible popularity. The band performed mainly Gradsky's songs. At the same time, Alexander performed with the group "Scythians", "Los Panchos", played in the VIA "Electron". It is noteworthy that for all this time the musician has never sung. He dreamed of saving money, getting decent equipment, and then perform in Moscow with Russian rock'n'roll.

In 1969, Gradsky became a student of the Gnesin State Music Institute. After graduation, his musical career began to develop rapidly. Together with the "Skomorokhy" Alexander traveled all over the country, gathering full halls of listeners. His popularity went off the scale, he gave several concerts every day. In parallel, the musician worked on creating music for movies. "Romance about lovers", which Gradsky wrote and performed in the movie by Andrei Konchalovsky, was a real breakthrough in the creative biography of the singer. Billboard magazine declared him "Star of the Year" for this composition.

In general, Gradsky wrote music for several dozen feature and documentary films, children's cartoons. In some films he himself performed songs and even participated as an actor. Alexander Gradsky tried himself in larger works, writing music for several famous rock operas and ballets.

Currently, the singer continues to be active in music. In his creative piggy bank - dozens of albums, compositions from which are loved and remembered to this day. Among the latest works should be noted the opera "The Master and Margarita", which Gradsky worked on for about 30 years. Unfortunately, it exists only as a recording.

From 2012 to 2015, Alexander Gradsky was invited as a mentor in the show "The Voice". His mentees became winners of this project for several seasons in a row.

In 2014, Alexander Borisovich opened his own musical theater "Gradsky Hall" in Moscow. His productions and concerts are a constant success with the audience. The troupe of the theater consists mainly of participants of the show "The Voice", but Gradsky often invites the most famous stars to perform. You can get to one of these events using our online ticket office.

Personal life

The personal life of the famous Russian singer is no less saturated than the creative one.

The founder of Russian rock three times entered into an official marriage. His first wife was Natalia Smirnova. Gradsky lived with her for only 3 months, calling this marriage later "a youthful act".

In 1976, the musician married actress Anastasia Vertinskaya. They lived together for 2 years, although the divorce was formalized only a few years later.

Soon Gradsky again entered into marriage. This time his wife was Olga Fartysheva, who gave birth to Alexander two children - a son Daniel and a daughter Maria. With his third wife, the musician lived more than 20 years.

Since 2004, Alexander Gradsky lives in a civil marriage. His current wife, model Marina Kotashenko, 30 years younger than her husband. This fact causes a lot of comments and speculation in the media. In 2014, the couple had a son. The boy was named Sasha. The child has already purchased a child-sized guitar, on which he mastered the song repertoire from his favorite cartoons. In the future, the parents plan to give him to a music school.

In November 2018, Marina again gave birth to a boy. Son Ivan became for her the second, and for Gradsky the fourth child. No comments on this matter spouses do not give.

The family lives in the Moscow region. Gradsky writes classical music, teaches vocals. The composer has a personal website, where he familiarizes fans with the novelties of his work. Details about this can also be found in our blog about artists at kontramarka.de.

The filmography of Alexander Gradsky:

1972 - "A Visit of Courtesy";

1974 - "One among strangers, a stranger among one's own" (vocals);

1974 - "Romance about Lovers" (vocals);

1975 - "Concerto for Two Violins" (vocals);

1975 - "Concerto for Two Violins";

1976 - "The Sun, the Sun Again" (vocals);

1976 - "Songs Under the Clouds" (vocals);

1976 - "My Love in the Third Year" (vocals);

1976 - "The Blue Puppy (cartoon) - vocals of Sailor, Sawfish;

1977 - "The Legend of the Old Lighthouse" (cartoon, vocals);

1977 - The Princess and the Ogre. (cartoon, vocals);

1978 - "Let's Talk, Brother..." (vocals);

1979 - "Don't part with your loved ones" (vocals);

1979 - "Alexandra Pakhmutova. My life is in the song..." (documentary);

1979 - "The feat. Cipher 12080";

1979 - "Kamerton", cameo;

1980 - "O sport, you are the world!" (vocals);

1985 - "Stained Glass Master";

1986 - "The Life of Klima Samgin" (vocals);

1988 - "The Pass" (cartoon, vocals);

1989 - "Prisoner of the Castle of If" (vocals);

1989 - "Stereotypes" (cartoon, vocals);

1989 - "The Art of Living in Odessa" (vocals);

1989 - "And the line does not end" (documentary);

1991 - "Genius";

2000 - "Bandit Petersburg. Movie 1. Baron."

2000 - "In August of '44..." (vocals);

2012 - "Living Soul" (documentary);

2014 - "Alexander Gradsky. Turn around" (documentary).

Discography of Alexander Gradsky:

1972 - "How beautiful this world is";

1973 - "Alexander Gradsky Sings";

1974 - "Romance about Lovers";

1976 - Alexander Gradsky sings songs from the movie "The Sun, the Sun Again";

1977 - Alexander Gradsky sings songs from the movie "My Love in the Third Year";

1978 - Alexander Gradsky and the Skomorokhi ensemble;

1979 - Alexander Gradsky sings;

1979 - "Only You Believe Me";

1980 - "Russian Songs";

1980 - "We can't live without each other";

1981 - "Bird of Happiness";

1984 - "Life itself";

1985 - "Stadium";

1986 - "Star of the Fields";

1987 - "Satires."

1987 - "Let's Get Started."

1987 - "Utopia by Alexander Gradsky";

1987 - "Reflections of a Jester";

1988 - "The Flute and the Piano";

1988 - "Nostalgia";

1988 - "Man";

1989 - "Monte Cristo";

1989 - "Concert Suite";

1990 - "Expedition";

1991 - Metamorphoses;

1994 - "Untimely Songs";

1994 - The fruits from the cemetery;

1995 - The fruits from the cemetery;

1996 - "LIVE in "Russia";

1996 - "Golden junk";

1996 - "Alexander Gradsky's Collection";

1997 - "Legends of Russian Rock";

2000 - "LIVE in "Russia" 2";

2003 - "Khrestomatiya";

2003 - "Songs for Ira";

2004 - "LIVE in "Russia" 2". Anniversary video concert;

2009 - "The Master and Margarita";

2010 - "LIVE in "Russia". Anniversary video concert;

2010 - "Anti-Perestroika Blues";

2011 - "Selected by Alexander Gradsky";

2011 - "Neformat";

2014 - "Concert-2010";

2014 - "Romances.

Alexander Gradsky's rock operas:

1967-1969 - "Mukha-Tsokotukha";

1973-1985 - "Stadium";

1979-2009 - "The Master and Margarita".

Alexander Gradsky's ballets:

1985-1988 - "The Man";

1987-1990 - "Rasputin";

1988-1990 - "Jewish Ballad".