He was alive and real. No more of our colleague Igor Kornelyuk

A lot of amazing hits were presented to his listeners by the talented Igor Kornelyuk. He gained immense popularity in the 80-90s. Today, the artist is writing music for films and TV shows.

Family

Igor was born on November 16th in 1962. His hometown— Brest. His father worked on the railroad track, his mother was an engineer. His parents never played music. The elder sister of the singer studied at the school of music to play the piano. The composer's grandmother, Maria Demyanovna, once knew how to play the guitar and loved to sing romances.

The family often gathered at a common table, where Igor was constantly asked to do something. And then he took the button accordion and sang all the songs that he knew. At first, his parents did not welcome his desire to devote his life to music. But their opinion has changed in the future.

Education

In 1968 he entered the music school. From the age of 12 he began performing with an ensemble at the Palace of Culture. Then he began studying at the city music school.

Soon Igor decided to move to Leningrad to study at a composer school. This decision was unexpected for the parents, and the departure itself was hasty. Arriving in Leningrad, he began composing pieces for the exam, which was one week away.

After the exam, Igor was sure of failure. But what was his surprise when the teacher of the conservatory approached him, praised and congratulated him on entering the school. It was Vladlen Chistyakov, who in the future treated the singer like a son.

Time within the walls of the school was not in vain. Kornelyuk considers it the most fruitful and at the same time very difficult in terms of workload. The singer began a serious study of the work of the orchestra, took up composition.

He was even given the opportunity to write musical accompaniment for the play "Trumpeter on the Square", which was staged at the Drama Theater. Pushkin. The artist graduated from college with honors in 1982.

Then he entered the State Conservatory without much difficulty. By this time, Kornelyuk was already married, and he and his wife had a hard time. He tried to support his family on a scholarship, worked part-time wherever possible.

During his studies, Igor composed a symphony, many romances, music for films, theatrical performances. Here he became more familiar with the synthesizer and music processing on a computer. As a graduation work, he presented the teachers with a computer symphony.

Even then Professor A.S. Leman noted the guy's huge talent. After a brilliant graduation from the university, the composer no longer composed symphonies, although this desire did not let him go for a long time.

First songs

According to the musician, his work was influenced by different music. He listened to QUEEN, he loved jazz. Kornelyuk wrote his first song at the age of 9. His first unrequited love greatly influenced his work. Igor worried and suffered for a long time because the girl Lyuba left him.

Then the first love songs appeared. The musician believes that it was this event that made him a composer.

Once he argued with a classmate that he would write a hit that the entire Soviet Union would sing. This was the song "Honey". Later Kornelyuk performed it himself together with E. Spiridonova and A. Ivantsova. Even more successful was the composition "The boy was friends with the girl", sung by A. Asadullin.

The artist composed many popular songs with Regina Lisits, whom he met in his youth. In 1985, they wrote many hits performed by famous stars stage. These were the compositions "Learn" by Anna Veski, "Not with me" by Svetlana Medyanik.

Later, Anna Veski released a whole album with Kornelyuk's songs. In 1987, the Smena newspaper named the singer best author and performer of his songs, he became one of the 10 best melodists of the USSR.

Kornelyuk's successful career as a solo singer began in 1988. He left the Buff Theatre, where he worked as artistic director, and unexpectedly gained popularity. Viktor Reznikov invited him to take part in the Musical Ring.

Despite the serious Reznik team, which consisted of fans and famous artists, Kornelyuk won and woke up famous after the program. He began to sing his own songs. His composition "Ballet Ticket" won a prize at the "Song of the Year" concert.

In 1988, the singer performed at Luzhniki with his solo concert. His touring activities began to gain momentum. In 1989, a concert was held at the Olimpiysky, in 1991 - again at the Luzhniki, in 1992 - at concert hall"October", in 1996 - in the State Central KZ "Russia".

In 1998, the second in the life of the singer "Musical Ring" took place, but already with Viktor Chaika. And again he won. During his musical career, Kornelyuk created a music studio and wrote over a hundred songs.

Igor became one of popular composers Russian cinema. What is worth only one hit "The city that does not exist", written for the series "Gangster Petersburg". The artist composed music for such films as The Master and Margarita, Justice of the Wolves, Russian Translation, Number 43, Taras Bulba, The Idiot and others.

Musical career

The composer tried himself in different areas: he hosted television programs and beauty contests, starred in TV shows, and participated in television shows. At the age of 45, he received the title of Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, and in 2010, Honorary Citizen of the Petrogradsky District.

In addition to concert activities, Igor Kornelyuk participates in charity projects, is one of the founders of the Foundation for the Support of Education and Creativity.

Igor's parents were insanely proud of him. Unfortunately, they are no longer alive. In 2012, Kornelyuk buried his father, who suffered three strokes. In 2014, his mother died. The musician was very upset by the death of his parents. His only salvation was work and a beloved family.

Personal life

The chosen one of the musician studied at the department choral singing. Igor and Marina were together for about two years when they decided to sign. At this time, the singer only entered the conservatory. Their parents dissuaded them, asked them to wait, because the young people were nineteen years old.

But Igor did not listen to them and considers this decision one of the most correct in fate. He earned money for the wedding himself, and did not ask anyone for help. The celebration took place in a restaurant where relatives and friends were invited.

In 1983, the couple had a son, Anton. He did not want to follow in his father's footsteps and now his hobby is computer technology. Igor dreams of having grandchildren as soon as possible, but Anton has not yet introduced his girlfriend to his parents.

Kornelyuk Igor Evgenievich

Family

There were no musicians in Igor's family, except for the hobbies of Marusya's grandmother, Maria Demyanovna, who performed romances, accompanying herself on a seven-string guitar.
But the family liked to sing at the table on holidays and when guests came. For Igor, such family singing became elementary school vocals: “... Since I had a rather sonorous voice, (I) was asked to sing. All evening I performed everything I know to the button accordion, ”recalls Igor.

Igor's older sister, Natalya, had already been playing the violin and piano for some time. In an interview with Vakancy, Igor admitted: “I remember once discovering that if you press “do”, “mi” and “salt” at the same time, then a surprisingly harmonious chord sounds. This was a discovery for me no less than the theory of relativity.”

Parents, mother Nina Afanasyevna and father Evgeny Kasyanovich, both engineers by education, at first musical career they did not welcome their son, however, on the urgent advice of the professor of the Belarusian State Conservatory, at the age of 6 they sent Igor to study at a music school, piano class.

Evgeny Kasyanovich's opinion about his son's profession changed much later, when Solo career Igor. “My father worked as a dispatcher at the Brest-Central station. For many years he stood in line to buy a "nine" - it was his dream. And when the day came to receive the car, he had a heart attack. After being discharged, he began to find out when he could come for a car, and heard: “Well, what kind of car do you need now? You are now disabled." My father was very upset, worried for a long time ... And at that time I was just starting to tour. I was then offered a big tour to Tolyatti. It was there that I took advantage of the moment: I bought a car for my father and drove it to Brest. When he saw her, he cried. I remember how I told him: “Admit it, dad, that the profession of a musician is still not bad.” Then he agreed."

(February 25, 2012, Igor's father passed away. We mourn with Igor and share the bitterness of his loss, and also wish Igor's mother, Nina Afanasyevna, good health and long, happy years of life)

Childhood

At the age of 9, Igor already wrote the first song "Russia, dear Russia, slender trunks of birches ...".
IN music school Igor studied, in his own words, disgustingly, according to solfeggio he had a “count”. Which, however, did not prevent Igor from playing in the dance ensemble. He came from school, took off his pioneer tie and went to speak.

Igor began his musical work experience in the 5th grade - on Saturdays and Sundays he played the ionic in an ensemble at dances in the city Palace of Culture, receiving 29 rubles and kopecks a month for his work.

And then Igor fell in love. Hopelessly. The girl left him. The tragedy was so monstrous for a child's vulnerable soul that Igor fell ill, and when he recovered, there was an irresistible need to pour out in sounds what overwhelmed him.
“So I am grateful to Lyuba for the coffin of life, she made me a composer!” - says Igor. “There were naive songs about love. He didn’t take words from anyone - from Yesenin, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, even got to Pasternak, hardly understanding then what he was writing about.

At the music school, Igor played in the VIA "Ulybka", and also fulfilled requests to record the notes of the melody and the elementary accompaniment of his favorite song.

After the 8th grade, in 1977, Igor entered the Brest Musical College in the theoretical and compositional department. True, it was difficult to call it study, since at the same time he played in rock ensembles, “hung out”, came home tired in the morning, so there was no time for theories. But it was in this year that the teacher told Igor that he needed to go to study in Leningrad, since there is the strongest composer school.

One fine June morning in 1978, returning home from another "session", Igor told his mother: "I'm going to study in Leningrad!" Mom wearily waved her hand and replied: “Do whatever you want!”. On the same day, Igor left for Leningrad.

Music School at the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1978 - 1982).

Since the decision to leave was spontaneous, and the departure itself was swift, Igor arrived in Leningrad without any documents for admission to the Musical College.
No transfer from course to course from Brest music school there was no question - the difference in the training program and the level of training was too great. Igor had to re-enter the first year. There was one week left before the entrance exams.

During this time, Igor composed a cycle of pieces for piano, which he brought to the exam. Vladlen Pavlovich Chistyakov, who teaches instrumentation and composition at the Leningrad Conservatory, was invited to take the exam at the school. Having passed the exam, Igor went out into the corridor, completely sure of failure. But after some time the door opened, Vladlen Pavlovich appeared, approached Igor and said: “Congratulations, young man! I will have the honor to teach you." They spent all four years together and their relationship was very warm, almost filial-fatherly.

In general, four years of study at the school, according to Igor, were the most fruitful for him in terms of education. It was difficult, the workload was enormous. It was at the school that Igor came to grips with composition and for the first time seriously approached the study of the orchestra.

In the same place, at the music school, in 1979, Igor met Regina Lisits, in the future - his constant collaborator. His first joint song - "Who said: will pass?" they wrote to a student skit.

He received a diploma from the music school at the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

At the very end of the 4th year of the music school, Igor received his first order in his life to write music. At that time in Academic theater Drama named after A.S. Pushkin, the premiere performance “Trumpeter on the Square” was being prepared, in which, by the way, the then young debutant actor Nikolai Fomenko played the main role. Igor was assigned to write music for this performance. He took the order very seriously. Having written the score, he invited musicians from the V.P. Solovyov-Sedov Leningrad Radio and Television.

And four days later, Igor married Marina, with whom they have been living together for more than a quarter of a century.

(July 19, 2012 Igor and Marina celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Congratulations!)

Leningrad State Conservatory (1982-1987)

The next step in education was to be the conservatory, which Igor graduated brilliantly. During his studies at the conservatory (in the composition class), Igor wrote music for a popular science film about the needs of collective farms, music for the play "Tic-Tac-Toe" (Comedy Theater named after N.P. Akimov, 1985), a symphony, four pieces for piano, several piano cycles, a cycle of romances (8) on the verses of B. Pasternak, a cycle of romances (4) on the verses of A. Akhmatova, a cycle of romances (5) on the verses of Mustai Karim, a choir cycle on the verses of A.S. Pushkin, a string quartet.
All his works were performed by students of the conservatory.

The formation of Igor as a composer, according to him, was influenced by a variety of music: in his youth - "QUEEN", in a music school - jazz, in the conservatory - the work of musicians " mighty handful» (N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.P. Mussorgsky, A.P. Borodin). Igor even wrote a rock suite using the intonations and musical structure of great composers.

Igor became a hitmaker on a dare. It happened like this.

According to Igor, Alexander Morozov, a classmate and by that time already a venerable composer, once said to him in a confidential conversation: “Old man, do you know what the difference is between me and you? You are a well-trained person, and I am a talent. Here you write complex music for a trained listener, and I write simple songs, and the Soviet people sing them. You can't do that." Igor was touched to the core, and they bet two bottles of cognac that Igor would write a song that all the Soviet people would sing.

Igor wrote then several songs at once.

The song "Darling" came to almost every house - both in Leningrad and in Moscow, Bryansk, Tomsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ... The first to perform this song were the artists of the Leningrad theater "Buff" Lena Spiridonova and Zhenya Alexandrov (later Igor performed this song with Elena Spiridonova for the album "Ticket to the Ballet" (1989), and later also recorded in a duet with Alena Ivantsova ("My Favorite Songs" (1994).

And another song - the composer's first phonographic debut - was released by the Melodiya company: the minion "A boy was friends with a girl" performed by Albert Asadullin. A wave of success swept across the country. According to a survey conducted in 1985 by the newspaper " TVNZ”, the song “Boy was friends with a girl” entered the top ten songs).

In 1985, Igor wrote his first professional songs to poems by Regina Lisits - his main poet - co-author, which are performed by famous Soviet pop "stars". Anna Veski performs with the song "Know" in Sopot and becomes the laureate of the festival, Svetlana Medyanik, performing the song "Not with me", takes second place in the television competition "Jurmala-86".

In 2012, Igor celebrates three anniversaries at once: the 25th anniversary of stage activity, the 30th wedding anniversary and his 50th birthday.

However, it’s not in Igor’s nature to rest and rest on his laurels as a hero of the day - Igor is actively touring around the country and the world like never before, working on new projects in the cinema, writing songs and dreaming of writing an opera ...

The biography was compiled based on materials from Internet sites, including:

www.csa.ru
www.megakm.ru
www.goldenpelikan.ru
www.blatata.com
www.vacancy.ru
www.obozrevatel.com
www.podrobnodom.ru

On the account of the Russian composer, musician and singer Igor Kornelyuk, there are many hits that sound from the screen and on the radio. His creative biography is bright and successful, and the personal life of the composer was no less successful. Igor Kornelyuk's wife Marina has been with him for thirty-five years, and she is not only a faithful keeper of the family hearth, but also a creative partner.

They met while studying at the music school at the Leningrad Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov and met for two years before the wedding. Marina studied at the choral department, and Igor studied at the theoretical and composing department.

At first, he liked Marina outwardly, and when he got to know the girl closer, he discovered wonderful spiritual qualities in her - the girl turned out to be an amazingly kind and gentle person.

Offer future wife Kornelyuk did it after graduating from college, when he became a student at the Leningrad Conservatory.

His mother, when she found out that her son was going to get married, was upset, asked to wait until the end of her studies, but Igor decided differently, and then he never regretted that he had not listened to his mother.

In the photo - Igor Kornelyuk with his wife

In the last year of the school, she and Marina played a wedding, for which the aspiring composer spent his entire first fee. Friends from the school and numerous relatives were invited to the celebration, and soon after the wedding their only son Anton was born.

To provide for his family, he made arrangements for the orchestra, sang in restaurants and at weddings, earning decent money for those times, and also worked as the musical director of the Buff Theater. Money was also required to record phonograms in the studio, and had to be borrowed. For a long time no one was interested in his work, and only after Kornelyuk's song "Ballet Ticket" hit the radio did his popularity skyrocket.

The young family huddled in a small room together with Marina's mother and little son, and only a few years later they moved out to a rented apartment. Igor Kornelyuk is sure that it is thanks to his wife that everything in his family develops happily - Marina knows how to smooth out any conflicts, and there are almost no quarrels between them. Igor Kornelyuk's wife has been working as its director for many years, and common interests bring the spouses even closer.

The composer's son Anton is now thirty-four years old, he did not want to follow in the footsteps of his parents and study music, so he devoted himself to studying information technologies.

Today, Igor Kornelyuk spends most of his time in his luxurious house near St. Petersburg, the construction of which was supervised by his wife - everything is done there with great taste and a sense of style. The house has a mini recording studio equipped with last word technique, where Kornelyuk creates talented arrangements. The composer admits that he does not want to leave this house anywhere, because he and his wife have been dreaming about it for many years.

He spent his childhood in a small private house near Brest, then he huddled in small city apartments and only now enjoys life in his own huge house, where his whole family gathers and where numerous guests come.

Singer and composer Igor Kornelyuk is known as the author and performer of popular hits of the 80-90s. Today he writes music for serials and films, remaining as popular and in demand as in his youth.

Childhood and youth

Igor was born on November 16, 1962 in Brest (Belarus). His parents were not musicians. Father worked for railway mother worked as an engineer. His sister studied violin and piano at the music school. The love of music was passed on to children from grandmother Maria, who sang romances with a guitar.

Parents were against music education son, but on the advice of a professor at the conservatory in 1968 they sent Igor to a music school. He had a sonorous voice, he often sang during family holidays in the presence of guests, accompanying himself on the button accordion. Igor wrote the first song called “Russia, dear Russia, slender trunks of birches ...” at the age of 9.

Studying at a music school did not please with success, the boy was not given solfeggio, but this did not prevent him from playing dances. From the age of 12, on weekends, Igor performed at the Palace of Culture with an ensemble. His musical work experience began in the 5th grade. Igor played ionics and received 30 rubles a month for this. It was there that he first met Lyuba's love. Igor, despite his young age, truly fell in love, but the girl did not return his feelings.

For the vulnerable child's soul, this was a tragedy that affected health. When Igor recovered from mental trauma and illness, he had a need to express everything that overwhelmed his soul. So the girl Lyuba made him a composer. The first, still naive, songs about love appeared. He took words for his works from, and even from.

Igor enters the music school after the 8th grade. Little time was devoted to studying, since he played in a rock ensemble, "hung out" and returned home in the morning. At that time, from one of the teachers, he received advice that influenced him further fate. Igor was advised to go to Leningrad, where at that time there was a strong composer school.

The decision to move was hasty, he put his parents before the fact, announcing that he was going to Leningrad. He passed the exams, not hoping for success, so he was very surprised when a teacher approached him and congratulated him on enrollment. This teacher was Vladlen Chistyakov, who would become his mentor and close friend.

The study turned out to be difficult, but fruitful and interesting. Students studied the work of the orchestra, studied composition. While studying at the school, Kornelyuk was entrusted with writing musical accompaniment for the play "The Trumpeter on the Square" for drama theater them. . The school was successfully completed in 1982.

By the time he entered the conservatory, Kornelyuk already had a family that needed to be supported. The scholarship was not enough, so he worked part-time where he could. During his studies, he wrote a symphony, composed romances, film scores and theatrical performances. During this period, he masters synthesizers and computers. His thesis, which Kornelyuk defended with "excellent", was a computer symphony.

Music

On becoming creative biography the composer was influenced by different music: in youth it was "QUEEN", in the music school - jazz. As a student at the conservatory, the young man became interested in the works of the great classics of the Mighty Handful (, MP Mussorgsky,).

He was helped to become a hitmaker, who touched Igor to the core, accusing him of writing music that was incomprehensible to ordinary Soviet people. In response, Kornelyuk wrote several songs that became hits. His new songs "Darling", "Boy was friends with a girl", "Rain" and many others sounded in every house.

Regina Lisits becomes his poet-co-author. Their songs are performed by Soviet pop stars, they occupy top places at competitions and festivals. Already in the first year joint creativity Igor Kornelyuk's song "Learn" helped to become a laureate of the festival in Sopot. The singer had a whole program of Kornelyuk's songs, including: "I don't understand what's wrong with me", "Monkey", "Horoscope" and others. And at the TV contest "Jurmala-86" Svetlana Medyanik became the second, performing the composer's hit "Not with me." In 1987 he was recognized as the best songwriter and performer own composition.

In addition to working on solo compositions, the composer works on music for plays and films, and also creates musicals. Among the works of the late 80s are the children's opera "Pull-Push, or Aibolit from Zverinskaya Street" and musical arrangement films " Music games". The songs of Kornelyuk replenish the repertoire of the cabaret duet "Academy".

His solo career began in 1988 after leaving the Buff Theater, where he held a position artistic director. Igor becomes extremely popular, participates in the "Musical Ring", where he was invited. He wins and becomes famous, and the composition "Ballet Ticket", with which he performed on "Song of the Year", receives a prize.

Igor Kornelyuk. Song "Rain"

Three solo albums, which appeared one after another - “Ticket to the ballet”, “Wait”, “I can’t live like this”, made the singer mega-popular. From now on, Igor Kornelyuk becomes a welcome guest at "Christmas Meetings", his songs are heard in the popular intellectual game"What? Where? When?". The popular festival "Song of the Year" is not complete without Kornelyuk. In 1998, the composer reminds of himself with the album "Hello, and this is Kornelyuk!", After which the composer's discography is replenished only with works from films.

In the early 90s, Igor Kornelyuk tried himself as an actor, starring in the film Kud-Kud-Kuda, or Provincial Stories with Interludes and Divertissement in the Finale. Plot and musical material film comedies were used by Kornelyuk in joint concerts with.

Igor Kornelyuk. Song ticket to the ballet

The singer performs solo concerts in "Luzhniki", "Olympic", concert halls "Oktyabrsky" and the State Central "Russia". In 1998, he again participates in the Musical Ring, now with. It was his second victory in popular show. Kornelyuk wrote more than a hundred songs during his musical activity and created a music studio.

Igor Kornelyuk - composer, writing music for cinema. "The city that does not exist" from the TV series "" is one of the most popular hits. A clip was created using film frames.

Igor Kornelyuk, "The city that does not exist"

His music sounds in the films "Idiot", "Taras Bulba", "If the sky is silent", "Someone else's war" and others. The soundtrack from "The Master and Margarita" was called "Infernal Waltz" and was also released as a separate video.

Igor Kornelyuk performs not only solo, but also in duets. He performed the song "Darling" years later, together with. In 2014, Kornelyuk was invited to the jury of the One to One television contest.

Personal life

His wife Marina studied at the department of choral singing. The young people got married after two years of living together, when they were 19 years old. The marriage took place between the final exams at the school and the entrance to the conservatory. Along the way, the play “Trumpeter on the Square” was released with leading role. For Kornelyuk, work on the music for the production was a premiere. The student wedding was played for the first fee. In 1983, their son Anton was born. The son did not follow in the footsteps of his parents, devoting his life to computer technology.

There are many photo portraits and photos on the web. full height Igor and Marina, who live in happy marriage for over 30 years. Igor writes music in his country house, and Marina organizes concerts for her talented husband.

In 2012, the artist officially announced that he was suffering from diabetes. The failure in the body was affected by a difficult event in the composer's personal life - the death of his father, which came suddenly from a detached blood clot. The singer could not recover for a long time, problems with sugar began. The illness forced the composer to reconsider his attitude to the diet. The diet, as well as noni fruit juice, helped to lose weight from 110 kg to 92 kg.

Igor Kornelyuk now

Now the Kornelyuks live in a country mansion in Sestroretsk. At home, the musician has a large collection of watches and rare items. The singer does not use social networks, on Instagram, his photos are posted on the pages of fans.

In 2017, the singer re-released the collection “Igor Kornelyuk. Best songs". In 2018, the musician pleased the residents of Petrozavodsk with a performance at the City Day.

Discography

• 1988 - Ticket to the Ballet
• 1990 - "Wait"
• 1993 - "I can't live like this"
• 1994 - "My Favorite Songs"
• 1998 - “Hello, and this is Kornelyuk!”
• 2001 - "Soundtrack to the series" Gangster Petersburg "" (OST)
• 2010 - "Songs from the Cinema"
• 2010 - "Taras Bulba" (OST)
• 2010 - Master and Margarita (OST)

Igor, it is believed that a man is supposed to plant a tree, give birth to a son and build a house. You have accomplished all this: the garden is full of trees, the son is grown up, the house is magnificent. Do you think this is enough, or is there still something missing?

It seems to me that a person must certainly create something: sew, invent, make films, compose books or music - it does not matter. And also to love: life, people, nature, homeland, finally. And most importantly, perhaps - to want. In my opinion, when desires die, it is worse than illness, worse than loneliness. Life loses its meaning. I am sure that old age comes not when a person cannot, but when he does not want to. And if there are desires, even at the age of 90 he will be young and in good shape.

- Where did your “desires” begin to take shape?

In Brest - I was born and raised there. He lived with his parents and older sister Natasha on the edge of the city in a private house. It was located three kilometers from the frontier post - the state border Soviet Union. This was specific. Not only were fashion items smuggled through Poland, including American jeans - everyone's ultimate dream. Soviet man, so we also listened to Polish radio, watched Polish television, so we were very advanced. Naturally, the music was recorded on tape recorders.

My father's ancestors were fairly wealthy landowners. When Soviet power came, my grandfather was smart enough to voluntarily give up everything and get a job at the depot. Thus, he saved his family. It was only in 1988 that my father told me about this for the first time and showed me our lands. I remember that we were driving along the road with him, and he said: “Igor, our land begins behind this rivulet.” And he pointed out the place where it ended in about twenty minutes. And we were driving at a speed of 80 km / h. But, as you might guess, the wealth of the forefathers did not pass to us. We lived very modestly, from paycheck to paycheck, and there was never enough money. Well, like everyone else.

Dad, Evgeny Kasyanovich, was incredibly artistic. In his youth, he entered Theatre Institute in Minsk, but was not accepted. Returning home, he said: Soviet art lost an outstanding representative. Perhaps that is the way it is. On holidays, many guests gathered at our house, and the feasts were always very cheerful, because dad turned everyone on, he constantly joked. From his stories, everyone laughed, so much so that they forgot to eat and drink. Moreover, it was not a worked out repertoire - it was never repeated.

Dad worked as a dispatcher for railway station: sent trains abroad. He spoke fluent Polish and Belarusian. His Polish colleagues every year at Christmas sent my sister and me a box of sweets and chewing gum. At that time it was beyond a dream. We stretched these wonderful Christmas delicacies right up to the summer - my mother somehow distributed them.

Mom, Nina Afanasievna, worked at a garment factory - first as a seamstress, then as an engineer, supervised the activities of VOIR (All-Union Society of Inventors and Innovators) - she had a huge number of rationalization proposals and inventions. Subsequently, she worked in the regional council of trade unions. But at home she sewed all the time: she would come home from work - and for a sewing machine. It’s a pity that my sister and I rarely got something sewn by her hands: basically, mom’s clients were ladies of her own age.

I remember my pioneer childhood with great pleasure. We swam with the boys in the river, played football, climbed over fences to steal apples in other people's gardens, played war - wandered through the labyrinths of the Brest Fortress with weapons carved from wood ... And I also early years was doing music. It happened by accident. At the wedding of my father's friend (head teacher of the music school), the conservatory professors gathered. At some point, I, a five-year-old boy, was put on a chair and asked to sing. And I, to the accompaniment of the button accordion, gave out all the hits I know Soviet stage. After that, the musicians present told my parents that they should send me to study music. So I, following my sister, got into a music school. Natasha is now a teacher - choir conductor, teaches at a music school.

- In terms of the strength of sensations for me, nothing can compare with what is called "the joy of creativity" - no other joy in the world, including material. Photo: Andrey Fedechko

- Did your peers from the yard company tease you?

Well, how! Immediately pasted nickname - Composer. At first with a desire to offend, but gradually mocking intonations gave way to respectful ones. Because already from the 5th grade, I began to perform as part of the school VIA at all our evenings: I played and sang, then I began to write my own songs. I remember such an episode. I was a maximalist, a stubborn and a fighter - just that, I climbed to fight for my truth. And then one day we started a big fight, dangerous. I am in the forefront. Suddenly our guys run towards me shouting: “Hold Igor! Don't let him in!" I was dumbfounded: "Why is that?" It turned out that they wanted to save me, they were afraid that I would hurt my hands. It moved me to tears ... And our ensemble began to be popular, for the weekend we were invited to play at dances in the city House of Culture. They paid money for this - I received 30 rubles a month and proudly brought them home.

But my parents were very skeptical about my passion for music. They said: "Igor, enter our Civil Engineering Institute, get a normal profession, after that play as much as you want." Dad even laughed. Guests will come, he will pour vodka into a glass and foolishly holds out to me: “Why don’t you take it, son? Drink, you're a musician - get used to it! He believed that all musicians are alcoholics.

He also mocked me when I first fell in love - in the 6th grade. On New Year my sister and I invited some girlfriends to our place, and I called a girl with whom we kind of already met. When the parents realized that the girl had come not to Natasha, but to me, an awkward silence suddenly reigned at the table. Say, is it too early to drive girls? And I was a bespectacled man, but I was embarrassed to wear glasses, especially with this girl. I wanted to look courageous, and I took off my eyepieces. And so, feeling that I needed to somehow defuse the situation, I did not find anything better than to turn to this girl: “Lyuba, do you want a beer?” She was a little older than me - a seventh grader. (Laughing.) I have always liked older women: my wife is like that, six months older. Therefore, from March to November, I call her the old woman.

In short, Lyuba, terrified to death, says: “I want to.” I take a bottle, try to pour it, but it doesn’t work - it doesn’t pour. Dad, gloomily watching the process, says: “Son, the bottle is closed. Your glasses are on the piano, put them on and stop showing off. Soon the guys and I went to play and have fun, and in the morning I went to see Lyubochka home. And dad had an inexhaustible topic for banter. I come from school somehow, he sits at desk and write something intently. I ask what exactly. “I am writing,” he says, “a letter to Podgorny, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.” I was surprised: "About what?" - "So that he would allow my little son to marry." So he teased.

And then this Lyuba left me: she found another guy, a cadet of a military school. For me it was a terrible tragedy. On a nervous basis, I really got sick. For a couple of weeks he was lying around, for some time he was in complete oblivion. And when I came to my senses, the first thing I saw was my mother's bowed face. And I said, "Mom, I want a peach." For some reason, I really wanted to. For Soviet times, in Brest, in March, it was some kind of fantastic desire. But my mother brought me a peach - albeit canned, but it does not matter. I have no idea how she managed to get it. I tried it, but it seemed bitter to me. However, from that moment on, I began to improve.

And most importantly - suddenly there was a mad need to compose songs. I poured out my longing for unrequited love in sounds. He took everything in a row: Yesenin, Pasternak, Yaroslav Smelyakov. Everything that I liked was warm, catchy ... I dragged new songs into our ensemble. We learned it, rehearsed it and then performed it at the dances. And the girls gave us flowers. But that wasn't what impressed me. I was selflessly fascinated by music, literally lived it. So it was in Brest - both at school and at the music school, where he entered after the 8th grade; this continued in Leningrad, where he studied at the conservatory. I could not imagine myself outside of music, I often caught myself thinking: “God, how lucky I am! How do people live without playing?

Wedding with Marina (1982). Photo: From the personal archive of Igor Kornelyuk

- Have your parents changed their attitude towards the profession of a musician?

Let me tell you one telling story. In 1969, dad bought a car - "Zaporozhets". One of the very first, with a body number, I think, 0000000006. "Soap box", of course, but still she went. Then the Zhiguli appeared, and dad was delighted with these "eights" and "nines", began to dream about them. And then, in order to buy a car, you had to sign up in a queue and wait in the wings for years. Dad waited 10 years. By this time, I managed to graduate not only from college, but also from the conservatory, moreover, I became a notorious artist. And finally, it was my dad's turn. He took the accumulated money with him and went to work, knowing that at the end he would go to register the car. But wow, it was on this day that he had his first heart attack! Extensive. Apparently, he was very worried. I left the hospital already with a disability, I had to say goodbye to work. When he asked how things were with his car, he received in response: “Yes, you are disabled, what kind of car do you need!” Dad was very offended. He gave 35 years to this super-tense, wildly nervous, stressful work. I visited him in the control room: a huge room, around the scoreboard with maps of all tracks, train routes, arrows on the tracks are indicated by light bulbs, they light up, flicker, and dad manages it all, controls the process. In front of him are a dozen phones that are constantly ringing. In the end, he was "thanked".

And now - an amazing thing - just at that moment they called me from Tolyatti and invited me to give concerts at the Sports Palace for a week. I told them: “Guys, I beg you, can you somehow arrange for me to buy a car from you right at the factory?” Then it was practiced: all the artists basically bought cars like that. Of course, everything was organized for me, and so I bought my first car. After the tour, he drove him to Brest, washed him thoroughly before entering the city and drove him into our yard. It was summer, dad was sitting on the porch with reverse side at home and peeling potatoes. Noticing me, he was delighted: “Oh, Igor, where did you come from?” I turn him around the corner, he sees the car, I say: “Dad, this is for you!” - and give him the keys. He cried. For the first time in my life I saw my father crying. Then I said: “Dad, well, you must admit, after all, a musician is also a good profession. And not all alcoholics. He laughed through his tears.

Dad suffered two heart attacks and three strokes, after the last motor functions were restored, but speech was not - he could not speak for 18 years. He died suddenly, at the moment - a blood clot broke off. And my mother passed away three years later - in 2014, on my birthday. I returned from the tour the night before and, as usual, wanted to call her right away. And then I thought, “Why? After all, early tomorrow morning, my mother will still congratulate me. But the bell did not ring - at night there was a heart attack.

Since then - an irreplaceable emptiness. And pain. And the feeling that you didn’t say something, didn’t finish it, didn’t like it, and thousands more “underdone”. When your parents are alive, they are a kind of intermediate link between you and eternity: you feel protected with them. And after their departure, you begin to realize that you are left alone with this very eternity. It is impossible to reconcile with this. I miss my mom and dad wildly. At times it's so strong that I don't seem to be able to handle it. This makes me depressed. And from overwork, by the way, too - I am an emotional person. For example, I recently realized that I have reached the edge, because for a long time I have been doing a huge job - writing an opera. In my opinion, opera is the highest bar musical creativity. But, if I knew how hard it is to work in this genre, honestly, I'm not sure that I would take it.

With son Anton (early 1990s). Photo: From the personal archive of Igor Kornelyuk

- How did you survive the euphoria of popularity?

Star disease is a real disease, and those who jump into the orbit of fame will certainly get sick with it - without exception. Only for some artists this aggravation passes easily and quickly, while for others it can stretch for years, it happens even for a lifetime.

I guess I was lucky: my period of "disease" was short. And twisted me after " Musical ring”, which was shown on All-Union television in April 1988. I participated in it with the composer Vitya Reznikov, God rest him, and I happened to become the winner. Then I actually woke up famous. At that time I lived near the Gorkovskaya metro station, and the next day after the Ring, I had to go to Nevsky Prospekt - one metro station - and then walk a block to the right place. During this trip, I realized that something has changed radically in my life. You know, in Amsterdam there is a Red Light District where prostitutes sit in shop windows and passers-by look at them. This is how I felt. Of course, recognition was pleasant, I was right bursting. But it did not last long - two or three weeks.

Major changes have come in the profession. Soon my song "Ballet Ticket" became the winner of the television festival "Song of the Year". Pugacheva called me, offered to get acquainted, I came to visit her, we talked for a long time, then we began to cooperate, I worked for her in the theater for several months. I was very proud of this. And then my singing career. With the first "solo" went to Vitebsk - performed in a new concert hall. I was terribly worried before the start. And then my then director calls me up, slightly moves the curtain aside and says: “Look through the crack.” I looked into it and I see: the hall is full. Five thousand people paid four rubles each to listen to my songs! And it broke through me: I started hysterical, tears splashed. I couldn't think of such a thing. They couldn't calm me down. The concert had to be delayed for forty minutes. Then, nevertheless, I managed to pull myself together, went on stage, sat down at the piano and sang: “I forgot how to fly, I forgot how to dream, alas ... And you?” That's how it all started. We dangled from city to city, worked only in large halls- in sports palaces and stadiums. Of course, I enjoyed it all.

Igor, it is known that you got married very early. Thanks to this, you managed to avoid touring sprees? Or did they take place in parallel with family life?

Logically, I must say: thank God that I tied the knot early and this gave me the opportunity to avoid dubious adventures! But that won't be true. I am a living person, and, of course, after the wedding, there were times when ... Yes, there was everything. Long tours, hotel life, drunkenness, admirers - all this tempts and greatly removes from the life of a righteous man. But you know, I think that family relationships everything depends on the woman, on her wisdom. It is no coincidence that women are called the keepers of the hearth. Marinka and I could run away hundreds of times, but she had the intelligence, tact, understanding, foresight and everything else to save the family, and I am immensely grateful to her.

- Marinka and I could run away hundreds of times, but she had the intelligence, tact, understanding and foresight to save the family. With wife and Labrador Bonya. Photo: Andrey Fedechko

How was it expressed: did your wife not reproach you, did she accept everything as it is, or diplomatically tried to reconfigure?

Let's start with the fact that I still never behaved like a pig towards her, did not climb on the rampage, did not advertise my intrigues. If something like that happened, he tried to ensure that information did not reach her. But all the same, news came from there and from there. And when Marina began to blame me, I said that these were all rumors, evil tongues were spreading. Not a bad excuse, but I think she understood everything correctly, although she pretended to be satisfied with such an explanation. Yes, there were times when I went to the side, and even fell in love, and, accordingly, there were doubts about the correctness of my life, there was a desire to change something. But how happy I am that the Lord kept me from it! My dad told me: “Son, do not commit rash acts. Then you'll understand: there is no point in changing one for the other. And my teacher instructed: “A family is like a jug. If you break it, of course, you can glue it together, but it will be a jar with cracks - it’s not the same anymore. Therefore, try to carry it through life whole.

When Marinka and I decided to get married, everyone was surprised. She and I studied together at a music school in St. Petersburg: she was in the conductor-choir department, I was in the composer department. Once I wrote a cantata for choir and orchestra based on old ritual songs. And Marina, in addition to a very pretty appearance, had beautiful voice and I invited her to the choir. Word for word - began to meet. We dated for a couple of years and I proposed.

Parents on both sides were taken aback. Marina's mother, who raised her daughter alone, was categorically against it. Mine even cried, lamented: “My God, you are only 19 years old, what are you doing, where are you in a hurry, you will still have a million different girls!” In general, I listened to everything that is usually said to children in such cases. But we did not listen to anyone, and ... I, I think, was lucky. I hope my wife does too.

- What kind of decoy was in the Marina and how did you manage to magnetize it?

She was so sweet - I immediately felt a kindred spirit, it was incredibly easy to communicate with her. And besides… As Mark Evgenyevich Taimanov, a grandmaster, our good friend, joked, “the young people loved each other so much that their child was born six months after the wedding…” Simultaneously with all the wedding events in June 1982, I took the final school and entrance to the conservatory. And we got married immediately after the premiere of my first commissioned work in my life - the play "Trumpeter on the Square", for which I wrote the music and where Kolya Fomenko made his debut. On the received fee, we celebrated our celebration - in a restaurant, with relatives, friends and teachers. It was fun.

- Were you ready for the birth of your child?

Of course not. But since this happened, he tried to behave like a man, he understood that the family had to be fed. In addition to studying in the first year of the conservatory, I started working as an arranger - I wrote scores. Just imagine: a 30-line score paper, a magnifying glass, a sharpened pencil, an eraser, a ruler; I draw a sheet and write notes to all the musicians - who should play what. By the beats. One cycle cost 40 kopecks. Most of all I loved waltzes. Do you know why? I'll explain now. (Plays a short passage on the piano.) That's sixty rubles already! And if the song is in several verses and, for example, in the second verse the orchestra plays the same thing as in the first, I simply outlined empty measures and gave these sheets to Marinka: “Rewrite from here to there!” Copy that is. And he wrote more. My record was 500 cycles per day! Sat at the table at six in the morning, got up at two in the morning. Once I took a break for food - I ate very quickly, almost standing up. But he got real money.

Over time, I realized that when I make arrangements, I just give my ideas to strangers, and I found another way to earn money. He began to go to Brest for the weekend: he played there and sang at weddings. As a rule, he traveled alone with a drummer, taking with him rented instruments - synthesizers, accordion. My music-making was akin to an attraction: I managed to play and sing for a whole orchestra, it turned out famously. They loved me very much, they invited me everywhere, and although I was exhausted wildly, I liked it. Great - I went for a couple of days and earned 200-300 rubles.

At weddings, I played until a man came up to me at one of them and said: “Hey, bespectacled man, do you know this song “Darling, I was very sad”? I say, "I actually know." - "Well, can you play?" And on the same evening they asked to sing "Ballet Ticket". That is, they didn’t know me in person yet, but my songs were already heard, and people liked them. Then I realized: that’s it, I can’t play at weddings anymore, I need to move to the next step. Haven't played since.

- A person must certainly create something: sew, invent, make films, compose books or music. And also to love: life, people, nature, homeland, finally. Photo: Andrey Fedechko

- And how did you settle down in the domestic plan?

For the first four years, they lived with Marina's mother (she was a teacher at school) and with her grandmother in two-room apartment in Khrushchev. Marina was reproached: they say, whom did you marry - not a stake or a yard, some kind of squalor, with a scholarship of 40 rubles. But gradually everything began to improve. Now, of course, my mother-in-law respects me, loves me, but before everything happened, it came to scandals. And I’m a hot, emotional guy, I didn’t remain in debt. In the end, everything poured out on Marina, it was not easy for her. So we moved to a rented apartment. Lived like this for a few years. But one day the hostess suddenly called and told us to get out in two weeks. For the first time in my life, I went to some kind of housing committee. And then my records were already released in millions of copies. I donated my CDs, described the situation and asked for at least a temporary apartment. And they allocated me - in Petrogradka, in a non-residential fund, in a settled communal apartment. We settled there first for a while, and then permanently - we managed to re-register it into a housing stock and buy it. Of course, it was a great joy.

But to be honest, for me, in terms of the power of sensations, nothing can compare with what is called “the joy of creativity”. Is it true. No other joy in the world, including material. Even love yields. This is the highest emotion that a person can experience. It happens that you are looking for a melody, looking, looking, and suddenly - oops! - got hooked. It is impossible to explain this - a second flash, a spark! Where? Unclear. But you seized this moment. And then the pain comes...

The spark is clearly caught in many of your works. Not only songs - just remember the music for films, TV shows. The melody from "Gangster Petersburg" generally received the highest popular recognition: it sounded from almost every mobile phone ...

I was amazed when I realized that this soundtrack has become so popular. Of course, such success is very pleasant. Especially when you consider that at that time I was not at all familiar with the specifics of film music, where the main criterion is the same: the music in the frame must work. After all, she is almost the only thing that creates emotion in the film. When we look at the face of an actor, listen to a heartfelt monologue and swallow tears, we do not even realize that this mood arises due to music. It has a lot of emotional components, and the balance of them must be absolutely accurate. But I repeat: it is impossible to understand how this accuracy is calculated.

When Bortko called me to Gangster Petersburg, he was dissuaded: “Volodya, you are crazy! After all, Kornelyuk is pop music: “Rain, rain”, “Ballet ticket”, and we have a serious movie, a saga.” But for some reason the director believed in me and said: “Guys, either this composer writes the music, or let someone else make the film.” Then the producers fell behind. I must pay tribute, then these people called me, apologized and thanked me. And with the "Idiot" arose New episode distrust. This time Bortko said: “Volodya, what does Kornelyuk have to do with it?! He writes for gangster films, and we have a classic, Dostoevsky!” And the director told me: "If you manage, there will never be more such conversations." For a very long time nothing worked out for me, I suffered, despaired, almost every night I saw Fyodor Mikhailovich in a dream, I tried hundreds musical themes and felt - again not that. And yet I found it. I hope I managed, since the conversations have stopped.

However, he did not immediately decide to work on The Master and Margarita. Tormented, tormented by Dostoevsky, I was afraid that I would not be able to overcome Bulgakov. In addition, he did not believe at all in the possibility of filming this Bulgakov's novel, and even more so in his success. But Bortko managed to convince me in a quarter of an hour, and I nevertheless undertook. You know, my mother said more than once: “Never think about what will happen tomorrow. Starting any work, do not try to look into its finale - so as not to be frightened. It is better to clearly plan today and follow this plan steadily. Then everything will turn out, even what seemed impossible. And so it happened. Although this work was even harder for me than the previous one, and when it was all over, I really fell into depression, but in the end I was satisfied with the result.

- I am an emotional person, I can get depressed from overwork. Recently I realized that I have reached the end, because I am doing a huge job - I am writing an opera.. Photo: Andrey Fedechko

- There was no desire to introduce your son to the world of music?

When I studied at a music school, guys who didn’t need it in FIG were working with me - their parents forced them. I saw how hard it was for them. And I promised myself: I will never doom my children to such torments. When Antosha was little, I asked: “Do you want to study music?” He firmly replied, "No." I suggested: "Come, sit with me, just listen, watch how a melody appears out of nothing, maybe you will be interested." He sat for five minutes, after which he said: “Dad, can I go?” Then I gave him a verification test: “Antosha, sing: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do ...” He began: “Do-oh-oh ...” At this point, the experiment was terminated: everything is clear - free . I don’t know if I was right when I let go of the situation, maybe I should have been more persistent. In any case, the train has long since left. Son graduated from St. Petersburg State University information technology, mechanics and optics, became a computer scientist, programmer. At the same time, his interests are diverse, he is well versed in art, music, and cinema.

- Satisfied with his life?

The eternal philosophical question. The problem of fathers and children always remains. It seems to us that in our time the sun was higher, the grass is greener, the girls are prettier and in general everything was better. And we lived right, and they live wrong. We want to pass on our experience to them - we know how to do it. And they do not want to adopt it and do everything in their own way. Apparently, this is the law of life: everyone must go his own way, experience everything for himself, fill his bumps. Se la vie.

- But do you and your son have mutual understanding or are you diving?

Sometimes like this, sometimes like that. As far as I understand, in some matters he treats me like a walking anachronism - they say, what to take from him, daddy.

- Insanely jealous of my peers who have grandchildren! If it were possible to live life again, I know for sure: I would certainly have many children. Photo: Andrey Fedechko

- Your popularity somehow reflected on it?

There were negative reactions. I remember when Antoshka went to the 1st grade, high school students began to tease him. At one time they directly scoffed, mocked: “Come on, Kornelyuchok, sing to us! Come on, dance alive! For fear - a saechka "- and so on. And the son did not say anything, was silent, kept everything in himself. I accidentally found out about this, after which I immediately took him out of this school and transferred him to another, to a gymnasium.

- Do you think about grandchildren?

You have no idea how much I envy my peers who have grandchildren! If it were possible to live life again, I know for sure: I would certainly have many children. Yes, in our youth, Marina and I lived very hard, but anyway, I would have “cut” 17 of them. The shooters would have run, and I would have remembered: “Lord, what is this name?” But what now would be the continuation! How much joy, happiness! In the past, there were large families. The concept of a pension did not exist, and children were a guarantee that you would be taken care of in old age. Now people give birth little, they rely on the state. But that way, in my opinion, was more correct, more humane, or something.

Family: wife - Marina, musician, director of Igor; son - Anton (33 years old), programmer

Education: Graduated from the theoretical and compositional department of the music school at the Leningrad State Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov, and then the Leningrad State Conservatory in the class of composition

Career: pop composer-performer (among the songs - "The boy was friends with the girl", "Darling", "Rain", "Ballet ticket", "We walk around Paris"), music director Leningrad theater "Buff", the author of music for performances and films (in particular, for the films "Gangster Petersburg", "Idiot", "Master and Margarita", "Taras Bulba")