Today we would like to get acquainted with the real living legend of the Soviet, and then the Russian stage Olga Voronets. We offer to understand the details of the personal life and career of a famous singer.
Olga Voronets: biography
The future People’s Artist of the USSR and the Russian Federation was born on February 12, 1926 in the Russian city of Smolensk. Her parents were professional musicians: her mother was a pianist, and her father was an opera singer. Voronets Olga Borisovna comes from a noble family - her grandmother is from the family of ruined Smolensk nobles. When the girl was only three years old, her parents decided to divorce. Olga stayed with her mother, however, she was always in a very warm and friendly relationship with her father. From childhood, Voronets showed musical abilities, loved to sing and dreamed of becoming a dramatic actress. However, this dream of hers never came true: she received her first invitation to a movie role as a woman of sixty. Andrei Konchalovsky invited her to play a rural resident. But Olga Voronets rejected the invitation.
The first steps in a musical career
After graduating from school in 1943, Olga entered VGIK (workshop of Vasily Vanin). After some time, she transferred to the pop department at the Opera Studio in Sokolniki. The concert debut of the future Soviet pop star took place in 1947. These were performances on the stage of the Central House of Police. Then Voronets became a member of the vocal group of the Orchestra of Folk Instruments, held at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic.
Career continuation
In 1956, Olga Voronets became the soloist of the Mosestrada. The success of the singer was promoted by a wide range of voice and a rich breast mezzo-soprano, as well as a characteristic appearance. At that time, her repertoire included exceptionally light pop songs, authored by Soviet composers. And Voronets herself was then far from folk art. During one of the concerts, Olga made a symbolic acquaintance with a trio of accordionists consisting of Popkov, Kuznetsov and Danilov. The men began to persuade the singer to try themselves in Russian folk song. Voronets was interested in this experiment. So, in 1956, as part of the International Folklore Festival, held in France, she performed the Russian folk song “Kalinka”. The number Voronets was so huge that since then it has often been called nothing more than Olga-Kalinka. Thus, the singer received not only Soviet, but also worldwide recognition.
On top of success
Great popularity in the early sixties of the last century gained a song performed by Olga under the title "White Snow" by composer Grigory Ponomarenko. The singer was often invited to speak both on radio and on television. In 1971, Voronets made it to the finals of the prestigious Song of the Year festival. The song she performed then, “Why do you girls, beautiful, love” by Yevgeny Ptichkin and Igor Shaferan became a real hit, as well as a kind of calling card of Olga. After this success, the singer repeatedly reached the finals of “Songs of the Year”. So, in 1973, the whole country was delighted with the song "Adult Daughters" by Olga Voronets. In the same year, two more works of the popularly beloved singer - “Blossom, spring land” and “I look into the blue lakes” (from the movie called “Shadows disappear at noon”) also reached the finals. In 1975, Olga’s song “Sweet Berry” reached the final of the festival, in 1977 “Quiet Cities”, and in 1978, “Dedication” and “Love Came”. At this time, the peak of Voronets’s career falls. Such famous composers as Feltsman, Ponomarenko, Ptichkin, Tulikov, Muradeli, Gorodovskaya, Saulsky and others composed songs specially for Olga.
Additional information on the career of the singer
For a long time Olga Voronets actively collaborated with the Osipov Russian Folk Orchestra. The singer toured a lot both in the territory of the Soviet Union (including twice she performed in Kamchatka and six times in BAM), and in foreign countries (she traveled to all the states of the socialist regime, as well as to Holland, Denmark, Japan, the United States and on the island of Mauritius). In her hometown of Smolensk, Olga Voronets for many years was the chairman of the jury of the folk song contest called “Voices of Russia”.
Personal life of the singer
Olga Voronets, whose biography is rich in various events, was married twice. Her first husband was accordion player Rafail Babkov. Their marriage lasted 14 years, after which the couple divorced. The second time Olga married Vladimir Sokolov. Their marriage lasted 30 years until his death in 2012. Voronets has no children.
As for the other family members, Olga has two brothers. One lives in Moscow, he is an electronic engineer. Another brother (the son of mom Voronets and her stepfather) lives in Smolensk.
Today, the singer is 88 years old. In 2010, she had a stroke, and two years later she accidentally fell down the stairs and broke her hip. Since then, Olga Voronets has become difficult to move independently.