PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Vladimir Vysotsky (25 January 1938 - 25 July 1980) was a prominent Soviet and Russian singer-songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street jargon. He was also a serious stage actor, becoming a member of the prestigious Taganka Theatre in Moscow.Vysotsky was born in Moscow, where his father was an army colonel and his mother, a German, was a translator. Despite his parents' divorce, he was able to receive a good education, attending an elite school before studying at the Moscow Art Theatre School.Vysotsky's career in entertainment began in the 1960s when he started writing songs and performing them in his distinctive raspy voice. His music, which combined elements of folk, blues, and rock, was not officially recognized by the Soviet authorities due to its subversive nature. However, his songs were widely distributed in unofficial recordings known as magnitizdat, and he became immensely popular, especially among the urban youth and intellectuals.In addition to his music, Vysotsky was a respected actor. He joined the Taganka Theatre in 1964 and played a variety of roles, including Hamlet. His performances were highly acclaimed, and he was considered one of the leading actors of his generation.Despite his success, Vysotsky struggled with alcoholism and health problems, which were exacerbated by his intense work schedule and lifestyle. He died in 1980 at the age of 42 from heart failure. His death was widely mourned in the Soviet Union, and his funeral attracted thousands of fans.Vysotsky's legacy continues to be influential in Russian culture. His songs are still widely listened to, and his influence can be seen in many aspects of Russian music, literature, and popular culture. His life and work have been the subject of numerous books, films, and scholarly studies. John Farndon is a widely published, award-winning author of books about science and nature, and an acclaimed translator of Russian and Central Asian literature. He was joint winner of the 2019 EBRD Literature Prize with his verse translation of Hamid Ismailov's The Devil's Dance, and a finalist in 2020 for the US PEN Translation award for Rollan Sesyenbaev's Dead Wander in the Desert. He is also a songwriter, poet and performer, who has performed with the legendary folk violinist Dave Swarbrick. His songs have been recorded by rising folk musician Kim Lowings and others. His poetry has been translated into Russian, Uzbek and Kazakh. Olga Nakston is from St Petersburg but now lives in London. She has collaborated with John Farndon on many translations of Russian literature, including Ravil Bukharaev's Letters from Another Room, the poetry of Lidia Grigorieva, and Rollan Sesyenbaev's Dead Wander in the Desert. She is currently working on an English translation of Auezov's libretto for Zhubanov's Kazakh opera Abai.
"""Farndon, along with his cotranslator Olga Nakston, and musical collaborator Anthony Cable, has gone to the painstaking effort of not merely translating these works for the enjoyment of readers, but preparing them to be performed coherently in English. There is rhythm, they rhyme, they make sense, they are entertaining, they are moving and they are to be sung. It is a songbook."" Thom Dinsdale, East-West Review ""Reading this collection of lyrics has certainly introduced me to one of Russia's most distinctive voices and the work of a man whose songs still mean so much to so many people. With his sympathy for the contradictions and the shortcomings of human nature, Vysotsky is a reminder that the best Russian culture is so often found on the margins, positioning itself at an angle to the orthodoxies required by those in power. He deserves to be much better known and appreciated amongst English readers and listeners than he is, and this selection of his work is a great place to start."" Peter Lowe, RUSSIAN ART + CULTURE Vysotsky ""was an iconic poet, singer and songwriter and an extremely popular actor with legendary acting, both in theater (he played Hamlet at the Taganka Theater) and movies (his most famous role was policeman Zheglov in the cult Soviet TV series 'The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed'). He had a very deep voice with a very well recognized wheezing, which made all of his singing even more dramatic and eccentric."" Alexandra Guzeva, Russia Beyond"
Wading in Waist-High Water
The Lyrics of Fleet Foxes
Hardback
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Etre Heureux Ou Ne Pas l'Etre
Three Songs for Tenor and Piano...
Paperback
$36.95
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