YURI BOGATIKOV – MARSHAL SOVIET SONG
Only a few succeed in becoming a legend in life; singer Yuri Bogatikov found himself in this pleiad of outstanding performers. At one time he was one of the most highly paid artists, a favorite not only of the public, but also of many high-ranking officials.
But it was not at all for this that he received titles and awards, but for an amazing gift – to charge songs with the most powerful energy.
Came out in the Donetsk steppe …
Yuri Bogatikov was born in the Donbass (in the town of Yenakiyevo) on February 29, 1932. He always joked that even his birthday was once every four years. He spent his childhood in Slavyansk, then Kharkov, where the family moved over time. But Yuri always remembered his homeland with undisguised pride. His love for the song was instilled in him by his father, who often performed something at home, and the children would surely sing along with him. From the war, the father did not return, and the mother had to raise sons and daughters alone in the hungry post-war years. Yura, when he was still a teenager, got a job at the Kharkov velozavod to help his mother.
After high school, Yuri entered the vocational school of communication. The future singer continued his career as an instrument repair mechanic at Kharkov Telegraph.
He spent all his free time in amateur groups and did not go unnoticed. Telegraph director sent a talented young singer Yuri Bogatikovspetsialista to study at a music school. It was there that the teachers helped him to polish his voice, brought up a subtle artistic taste in him and taught the vocalist to the difficult daily work.
From the school in 1951, Yuri Bogatikov was called to serve in the Pacific Fleet. Well, how can a real sailor do without a song ?! Yuri performed in the song and dance ensemble of the Pacific Fleet. The first stage costume for him was a vest, and the deck became the first stage.
All four years in Kharkov, his bride Ludmila, with whom he worked at the telegraph office, was waiting for him. After returning from the service, Yuri played a wedding, and a few years later she and Lyudmila had a daughter, Victoria.
Creative search for Yuri Bogatikov
It turns out that Bogatikov dreamed of becoming an opera singer and was preparing himself for performances on the “serious” stage. For this he had great vocal and acting skills. It is not by chance that after the fleet he went to enter the theater institute. That year, the chairman of the selection committee was the famous Les Serdyuk. The future artist performed successfully with poems and monologues, but after a music contest where Bogatikov sang “Without a Field”, Serdyuk advised the young man to go directly to the conservatory, which was located through singer Yuri Bogatikovdorozh. But Yuri decided to complete the training begun several years ago.
Nature generously endowed Bogatikov with a unique baritone that fascinated with velvet timbre. After graduating from the music school of the artist, he was immediately accepted into the theater of musical comedy, then he tried his hand on the stage, later worked in the ensemble of the song and dance Donbass, and then returned to the stage. This time forever.
Often in his youth, Yuri sang in front of theater sessions. He did this not at all for the sake of a fee, but because of a passionate desire to sing in front of the public.
Yuri Bogatikov won popularity by performing for the first time the songs “Dark Barrows Are Sleeping …”, “I haven’t been to Donbass for a long time”, “Where does the Motherland begin”, “At anonymous height” and “Don’t cry, girl”.
Its pop niche
He failed to instantly take off on pop Olympus, he sought the recognition of the audience by continuous work. Then all the repertoire niches were already distributed among the well-known baritones, the singer Yuri Bogatikov, therefore Bogatikov had to create an “image” for himself. He realized that it was necessary to sing what was closest to the people – Komsomol songs, military-patriotic creations and songs about labor exploits. Some performers openly called him a careerist for such compositions, but he did not spend his forces on eternal artistic intrigues. He could turn into a masterpiece even a frankly banal song.
Bogatikov knew about his capabilities and did not try to jump higher than his head. And while eminent composers watched him, he persistently improved his mastery. Success overtook him in 1967, when he won the contest of young performers of Ukraine. A year later, he won the grand prix of the festival in Berlin, and then the Golden Orpheus obeyed him.
Crimean nightingale
In 1963, Yuri was invited to the Luhansk Philharmonic, and from there literally lured to the Crimea. There are even legends about this period of Bogatikov’s life. After the first festival on the peninsula “Crimean Dawns” party leader of the resort region Nikolai Kirichenko decided to entice the best singers there. But Donbass did not want to let go of his pet Bogatikov, they wore him in the mining region on their hands. The Luhansk Philharmonic, in which Yuriy Iosifovich worked for many years, did not want to be left without such a talented soloist. Then Kirichenko almost stole him – he sent a car to his house, where they loaded all the singer’s things, and they put him in the Volga and took him to the Crimea to a new three-room apartment.