Who is Sofia Rotaru's husband now? Sofia Rotaru - biography, personal life, new husband. What does the family do?

Famous singer Sofia Mikhailovna Rotaru (Rotar) has many titles and awards. She is a People's Artist former USSR, as well as Ukraine and Moldova.

In the post-Soviet space, she is loved for her songs: “Chervona Ruta”, “Moon, Moon”, “Khutoryanka”, “Golden Heart”, “Swan Fidelity” and many others. Despite her enormous fame, the singer lives quite modestly.

She currently owns the following properties:

house and hotel, which are located in Crimea;
an apartment in the capital of Ukraine;
mansion near Koncha-Zaspa near Kyiv.

In 1975, Sofia Rotaru moved from the small village of Marshintsy, Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, to a Crimean city called Yalta. In 1980, she was given a warrant for an apartment in a 9-story building. The layout of the room was made specifically for the singer.

In 1991 she leased for 20 years historical building(a 19th-century monument, the Roffe Baths), which was threatened with demolition. At that time, it was a room belonging to the Crimean Philharmonic, with which she had dear memories.

She restored the building and opened it new studio sound recordings. A little later, she managed to buy this house and the land around it. After studying archival documents and surviving photographs, restorers returned the architectural monument to its original appearance. Nowadays the luxury hotel Villa Sofia is located there.

Villa “Sofia”

For her own residence, Sofia Rotaru chose the small village of Nikita near Yalta, where her son Ruslan built a comfortable mansion for her.

House of Sofia Rotaru near Yalta

The singer's house is located near the ancient botanical garden.

Rotaru spends most of her free time from touring in the village; her children and grandchildren come here to visit her. Her family really likes the mild climate and picturesque nature of this corner of Crimea.

Where does the singer live while on tour?

Sofia Rotaru owns a four-room apartment in the center of Kyiv, which is located next to St. Sophia Cathedral.

The arrangement of this room was carried out by architect Andrei Kostruba. The singer asked him to decorate the room in a classic style and create a large dressing room, a cozy kitchen and a luxurious living room. The real decoration of the apartment is the chandelier made of Swarovski crystals.

Photo from Sofia Rotaru’s apartment in Kyiv

Sofia Rotaru loves to receive guests in this apartment. She comes to Kyiv before her tour, as her concert dresses are stored here.

Second house of Sofia Rotaru

The singer does not really like the bustle of the city. She prefers clean forest air and pristine nature. Therefore, near Kiev, in the forest of the village of Pyatikhatki, which is located in the Koncha-Zaspa region, she built a cozy wooden log house.

The house is surrounded by a pine forest, and a small river Kozinka flows nearby. This two-story cottage is made of rounded logs brought from Finland.

Log house of Sofia Rotaru in Koncha-Zaspa

The interior decoration of the room is also distinguished by its original color. It is made in folk style. In the interior you can see handmade carpets, a lot of natural fabrics, and instead of curtains there are embroidered towels. Her daughter-in-law Svetlana, who works as a designer, helped the singer decorate the house.

Sofia Rotaru today lives in two houses. She often visits Yalta and her cozy mansion near Koncha-Zaspa.

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Biography, life story of Sofia Rotaru

...In the crowded hall of the Sports Palace, the lights went out, tense silence reigned, and then you acutely felt how impatiently the spectators were waiting for her... A melody sounded, and Sofia Rotaru appeared in a mosaic of multi-colored lights... The hall burst into applause...

Family and childhood

So, let's start from the beginning - why at home. Sofia Rotaru was born on August 7, 1947 in the song land - in the village of Marshintsy, Chernivtsi region. Not a single celebration or ritual is complete without songs. It seems that here the earth itself gives birth to songs. There were no longer such pure, beautiful voices as those of Mikhail Fedorovich (he was born on November 22, 1918) and Alexandra Ivanovna Rotaru (04/17/1920 - 09/16/1997).

Mikhail Fedorovich was the first in the village to join the party, went through the entire war as a machine gunner, and reached Berlin. He was wounded and returned home only in 1946. Nowadays, the soldier’s memory more and more often returns his father to those terrible years, he remembers the battles, the faces of his dead friends.

In addition to Sofia, the family had five children: two brothers and three sisters. The elder sister Zina (born October 11, 1942), who suffered a serious illness, lost her sight in childhood.

Zina having herself absolute pitch and easily remembering new songs, taught Sofia many folk songs and generally became the youngest and second mother, and favorite teacher. Then Sofia, not afraid to seem enthusiastic, will say: “... And we all learned from her - such musical memory. And the soul!"Zina, spending a lot of time at the radio, learned the Russian language along with songs. And taught it to her brothers and sisters. At home, Rotaru spoke only Moldavian. Naturally, as the eldest, Sofia was her mother’s first assistant. In the morning, Sonya and her mother went to the market to trade - you had to live on something.

- Mom woke me up after dark, - recalls Sofia, - and I really wanted to sleep. She says: “Who will help me?” I slept the whole way. We arrived at six in the morning. It was necessary to take a place in the market in advance and arrange everything. And only when trading began did I come to my senses. I was interested. There was always a queue near us, because my mother was neat, people knew her and waited for her. She had regular customers.

CONTINUED BELOW

Sofia Mikhailovna never bargains on the market. And he forbids his friends and family to do this. " It's hell of a job, - she says to her husband, - don't you dare".

Often, very often, Sofia had to replace her mother and work for her in the fields. It was during these years that her character was formed.

- With her development as a singer and, probably, as a person,- says Sofia Rotaru, - I most likely owe it to the women with whom I worked in the village, it was from them that I learned to understand the meaning of life. In difficult moments, I received help from them - simple and generous.

In this environment, Sofia Rotaru finds the most humane, deepest and most sincere notes for her future songs. Sofia began singing in the first grade in the school choir, and also sang in the church choir.

In her youth, Sofia was attracted to the theater, she studied in a drama club and at the same time sang folk songs in amateur performances. Sofia, for example, loves to remember how she took the only button accordion at school and at night, when the kerosene lamp in the house went out, she went into the barn and picked out her favorite melodies of Moldavian songs. Father, Mikhail Fedorovich, who worked as a foreman of winegrowers for about thirty years, remembers how one day professional artists came to the village for the first time, and he brought Sonya to them backstage and proudly announced: “ Here's my daughter. She will definitely be an artist!"

Being very lively and active, Sofia loved sports, especially athletics, and of course made progress: she was the school champion in all-around, and went to regional Olympiads. Once, at the regional Spartakiad in Chernivtsi, she became the winner in the 100 and 800 meters...

Sofia Rotaru's victory in the regional amateur art competition in 1962 opened the way to the regional show. For her enchanting voice, her fellow countrymen then bestowed upon her the title “Bukovinian Nightingale.” The voice was truly amazing - its strength and breadth, extraordinary sound richness were amazing. He had so much charm and passion, he was so relaxed and excitingly good-looking, that there was no doubt about the happy fate of the young singer.

1963 brought a first degree diploma at the regional amateur art show in Chernivtsi. As the winner, she heads to Kyiv to participate in the Republican competition.

The year 1964, in turn, pleased me with a victory at the Republican Festival of Folk Talents. On this occasion, her photo was placed on the cover of the magazine "Ukraine" No. 27 for 1965. By the way, this photo later played an important role in her life. After that competition, People's Artist of the USSR Dmitry Gnatyuk told his fellow countrymen: " This is your future celebrity. Mark my words". Shows, competitions - wasn't the 17-year-old girl really dizzy with success? But no, her parents always taught her to critically evaluate her work and persistently pursue her goal, despite the difficulties. Having graduated from school in 1964, Sonya firmly decided to go in Chernivtsi to enter a music school.

Beginning of adulthood

Much to her regret, Sofia learned that the music school does not have a vocal department. Well, I entered the conducting and choir class... In 1964, Sofia sang for the first time on the stage of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, and Moscow was conquered. " And who will marry you?- Mom used to say. - One music in my head"Meanwhile, in the Urals, in Nizhny Tagil, a young guy from Chernivtsi served - Anatoly Evdokimenko, the son of a builder and a teacher, who also had “one music” in his head: he graduated from music school, played the trumpet, dreamed of creating an ensemble. And the same magazine “Ukraine” with a photograph of a beautiful girl on the cover got into their unit. He showed the photo to his colleagues: " Look what girls we have in our villages! Can you imagine what is happening in the city?"And he attached the cover to the wall near his bed. And then he returned home and began to look for Sofia. I searched for a long time, and finally found the school, Sonya’s friends...

In fact, Sonya did not imagine that she would ever sing with a pop orchestra. Apart from violins and cymbals, she did not recognize other instruments for accompaniment until she met her future husband Anatoly Evdokimenko, a student at Chernivtsi University and at the same time a trumpeter in the student pop orchestra. Anatoly intuitively understood that only music and more music could win Sofia’s heart. He was the initiator of the appearance of a soloist in the orchestra. True, at first only folk Ukrainian and Moldavian melodies were selected for Sofia. By the way, today folk songs occupy a significant place in her repertoire: " I can't live without them. When I hear tears...“But Anatoly persuaded Sofia to try herself as a soloist in a pop orchestra. And then one day Sofia finally succumbed to persuasion, took a risk - she sang the song “Mama” by Bronevitsky. And the song worked out.

In 1968 at graduation party at the music school, associate professor Pulinetz assured: “ Already now we can talk about her as a pop actress who will have great success with the widest audience".

Beginning of a singing career

It is curious that in 1968 S. Rotaru celebrated her birthday by winning the title of laureate of the IX World Festival of Youth and Students in Sofia (Bulgaria). This is how the then amateur singer made her debut on the stage. Sofia Rotaru was sent to IX World Festival youth and students as a participant in a folklore competition. Tolik was determined to go to the festival with her. They urgently needed a double bassist for Bulgaria. And then Tolya mastered the double bass in two months. True, the calluses did not leave his fingers for a long time. A stunning success, first place. When Sofia was given gold medal, she was literally covered with Bulgarian roses. And one orchestra member joked: " Sofia's flowers for Sofia". And the newspapers were full of headlines: “21-year-old Sofia conquered Sofia.” This is how the performance of the Ukrainian folk song “Standing on the Stones” and the Moldavian “I Love Spring”, as well as “Step” by A. Pashkevich and “Valentina” by G. Georgitsa were appreciated . Last song was dedicated to the first female cosmonaut Hero present in the hall Soviet Union Valentina Tereshkova. The chairman of the jury then said: " This is a singer with a great future".

Then the time came for another debut: after graduating from music school, she became a teacher. To this day, Rotaru remembers this day with excitement and joy, as if reliving the feelings that she experienced before the first lesson...

On September 22, 1968, Sofia and Anatoly got married in Marshintsy. The parents didn't mind. Mom just said: " Just think about it, Sonya, if you’re getting married, it means it’s for life!". The wedding was “modest” - about two hundred people. In the evening it started to rain, but even it did not interrupt the fun: the happy bride in a long dress, wet to the skin, continued to dance until she dropped...

They spent their honeymoon in Novosibirsk - since at that time Anatoly was graduating from university and was sent there for internship. He worked at the Lenin plant, and the young family lived right there, in the dormitory of the 105th military plant. Sonya cooked food for everyone, and in the evenings she sang at the Otdykh club. The newlyweds left after 3 months.

However, Sofia had only one thing on her mind...
Sofia Mikhailovna once shared: - After a year of our marriage, I began to dream of a child. And she hinted about this to Tolik from time to time. But he made big creative plans and was in no hurry with the child. In addition, we lived with our parents in a 2-room apartment; he had not yet graduated from university. There was not enough money; asking our parents for it was not customary in our family. We are adults. Well, okay, okay, I think... And somehow I tell him: “Listen, the doctor said that I will soon become a mother.” Although in reality I was not in a position at that moment - I had to use a little feminine trick. Tolik shook his head: “Well, good.” He relaxed, let down his guard and began to wait for the heir to be born.

But he had to wait not nine months, but eleven, because Sonya became pregnant only two months after that conversation.

- Now I think I did everything right, - Rotaru smiles slyly. - Then I simply wouldn’t have time - these endless tours would begin...

Rotaru was admitted to the maternity hospital on the night from Sunday to Monday. She cried all day the day before: Tolik didn’t take her fishing with him. His parents rebelled: " Where else are you going? Sonya, you're due any minute now, and you're going out to catch carp?". Tolik returned in the evening with an unprecedented catch, and together with Sonya they went to visit familiar musicians. Contractions began on the way home. Do you think Rotaru immediately rushed to the hospital? No matter how! She hurried home to iron her dress, in where she and her husband went to the maternity hospital, looking amazing in any situation was her lifestyle.

On August 24, 1970, a son was born. He was given the name Ruslan. He turned out to be an absolute copy of his father.

We have never seen anything like this in Chernivtsi! Tolik met his wife and son with the orchestra. All the musicians of the city gathered under the windows of the maternity hospital and played. Some on the trumpet, some on the violin, some on the flute. Cars passing by slowed down, trolleybuses and buses stopped, people poured out of all the nearby houses... When Sonya appeared, fireworks of champagne corks flashed in the air. All the way home the happy father danced with his son in his arms...

And in 1971, at Ukrtelefilm, director Roman Alekseev shot a musical film about the tender and pure love of a mountain girl and a Donetsk boy, “Chervona Ruta.” Songs by V. Ivasyuk and other authors were performed by V. Zinkevich, N. Yaremchuk and others. Sofia Rotaru became the main character. The film was a significant success. And when in October Sofia received an invitation to work at the Chernivtsi Philharmonic and create her own ensemble, the name of the ensemble appeared by itself - “Chervona Ruta”...

Also because that was the name of one of the first songs genius composer and poet Vladimir Ivasyuk. Volodya’s songs amazingly combined the beauty and romance of the Bukovina region, the freshness and chastity of first love, and boundless faith in happiness. Sofia considers the meeting with composer Ivasyuk a happy gift of fate. None of the composers with whom she would work later felt so deeply the singer’s soul, her understanding and perception of life. Most of his songs were written especially for her, for her extremely beautiful voice. They were modern, but at the same time built on the multinational melos of the peoples living in Bukovina. This was a new, surprisingly bright word in the song culture of Ukraine. Indeed, Volodya’s songs gave the singer wings, and it was with them that her pop star sparkled.

Assessing the role of Sofia Rotaru in popularizing Volodya’s songs, his father, the famous Ukrainian writer M. Ivasyuk, will literally say the following in front of an audience of thousands of fellow countrymen: “ We must bow deeply to the Moldovan girl Sonya, who spread my son’s songs all over the world".

Indeed, all over the world, because in thousands of different concerts of Sofia in many, many countries, Volodya’s songs have always been and are heard, many of which have become classics of song art.

Chervona rue is the name of the flower, taken from an ancient Carpathian legend. Rue blooms only on the night of Ivan Kupala, and the girl who manages to see the blooming rue will be happy in love.

The director of the ensemble was Anatoly Evdokimenko. Despite the fact that he worked at the department for some time, he had scientific articles, he changed his profession. Madly in love with his wife, he then graduated from the directing department of the Kyiv Institute of Culture and became the director of all her concert programs.

The debut of "Chervona Ruta" was a performance in Star City for Soviet cosmonauts. It was there that Sofia Rotaru and the Chervona Ruta ensemble first announced themselves as outstanding representatives of an entire direction of Soviet pop art, a characteristic feature of which is the combination in the repertoire and style of performance of elements of folk music with modern rhythms. As soon as she finished singing “Chervona Ruta,” the audience literally shook with applause. She was extremely excited by such an unexpectedly warm welcome. For some reason, she thought: if these people, unusual in her mind, find joy in her songs, then she must sing, stubbornly follow her chosen path. And then cosmonaut V. Shatalov, on behalf of his colleagues, wished her great success in songwriting.

Sofia only strengthened her desire. Then she sang on the stage of the Central Concert Hall "Russia", the Kremlin Palace and on the stage of the Variety Theater. Making her debut on the capital's stage, Rotaru least of all resembled a timid newcomer. This was a completely mature master, confident in his strength. The singer's outward restraint, which left no room for fussiness and unjustified gesticulation, surprisingly harmonized with the flight of her hyper-expressive voice. She sang as if these were the most important concerts of her life. It seemed that she had been accumulating mental strength for a long time so that today, now, she could express all her passion, all her joy and pain without a trace. Rotaru's stunning creative "generosity" unusually excited the audience, causing a hot wave of reciprocal feeling...

Rise in popularity

This was the beginning of widespread recognition of Sofia Rotaru. It is since 1971 that she has been counting her professional creative activity.

Its authors were V. Ivasyuk, music school student Valery Gromtsev, and the head of the Smerichka VIA Levko Dutkovsky. And the deputy director of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic, Pincus Abramovich Falik, and his wife, Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR Sidi Lvovna Tal, were then her second parents. Falik was at that time one of the largest administrators with worldwide recognition. Even before the war, he was the producer of the famous English singer Geri Scott.

The very first professional program of “Chervona Ruta” was not approved by the artistic council. Then it was necessary to maintain a certain line. For example, “love, Komsomol and spring” i.e. the whole performance had to be permeated with joy and optimism. And she sang" Enemies burned down my home". The commission of the Ministry of Culture did not like this, the program was banned. In fact, their oxygen was cut off. Falik saved. He called Moscow, and Chervona Ruta, bypassing all permissions, was included in the program "Soviet and Foreign Pop Stars." They ended up in company to the Germans, Bulgarians, Czechs, Yugoslavs. In Tashkent, people asked after the concert whether she liked the Soviet Union, where she learned to sing in Russian so well. It turned out that she was mistaken for a Bulgarian. There were unforgettable and funny incidents at the concerts.

It was in Grozny at the stadium: she came out onto the stage - slender, in a red tight-fitting dress with a zipper on the back. And then, just during the performance, the “lightning” burst. The audience, of course, noticed. She holds the dress with her hands so that it doesn’t fly off, and suddenly some compassionate citizen runs out onto the stage with a huge pin. He turned her back to the audience and saved her to the general merriment.

In 1972, with the program “Songs and Dances of the Land of the Soviets,” Sofia Rotaru and “Chervona Ruta” took part in a tour of Poland.

In 1973, the “Golden Orpheus” competition was held in Burgas (Bulgaria), Rotaru received 1st prize at it, performing E. Doga’s song “My City” and “Bird” - a song in Bulgarian dedicated to the memory of Pasha Christ, authored by T . Rusev and D. Demyanov. The same year brought her the title of Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. Her songs “Codry” and “My City” in Moldovan were recorded in the film “Spring Consonances - 73”.

At the festival "Song - 73", E. Doga's song "My City" performed by Sofia Rotaru became a laureate...

When Sofia Rotaru goes on stage and starts singing, you forget about everything in the world. Her transparent, enchanting voice penetrates the soul, excites and captivates everyone who loves the stage and loves song. Here she stands in front of a microphone in the light of a spotlight - slender, festive, like a spring twig. There is so much charm, beauty, so much sincerity and excitement in her, when in the beautiful language of music and poetry she confidentially shares with us everything that makes her happy and sad...

In the May Day “Festive Evening in Ostankino” in 1974, she sang along with the artist from the GDR, Michael Hansen. In the same year, Rotaru graduated from the Chisinau Institute of Arts and became a participant in the Burshtinovy Nightingale festival in Sopot (Poland), where she performed “Memories” by B. Rychkov and “Vodograi” by V. Ivasyuk. For the performance of a Polish song from the repertoire of Halina Frontskowiak “Someone” (Russian text by A. Dementiev) she received the 2nd prize. At “Song-74” Sofia Mikhailovna performed “The Ballad of Mother” by E. Martynov to poems by A. Dementiev.

At the festival "Song-75" "Swan Fidelity" and "Apple Trees in Blossom" reached the finals. The song "Darkie" was performed with the Yugoslav singer Mikki Efremovich. A year later, at the next festival the songs “Give Me Back the Music” and “ dark night"The second was performed with Anatoly Mokrenko.

In creativity, the most important thing for Sofia Rotaru is contact with the song, with its creators. Other composers also wrote songs for her. Evgeny Doga wrote "My City", Arno Babajanyan - "Give Me Back the Music", Oscar Feltsman wrote the song "Only for You", Yuri Saulsky - " The usual story"...

Sofia proudly says: " I was the first performer of many songs by one of my favorite composers, Evgeniy Martynov. I love his “Swan Fidelity”, “Ballad of Mother”. My repertoire includes songs of different genres, but almost always - a dramatic plot, a dramatic melody. A song for me is a small short story with its own world of feelings, dramatic structure, characters...."

And yet, her main attraction for listeners is that the singer remains faithful to the folk style of performance. Nationality is manifested in the production of the voice, and in the simplicity and restraint of behavior on stage, and, finally, in the choice of repertoire: Rotaru’s songs are always lyrical and chanting. And yet, in a folk song you will not find random, meaningless, empty words, and this, undoubtedly, taught Sofia, among many new modern songs, to choose only those performed deep meaning, are thought-provoking. After all, in her opinion, in those three or four minutes that the song lasts, the artist must tell the listener a lot, make him richer.

The song "Chervona Ruta" itself is still business card Sofia Mikhailovna. For she found her red rue...

1980-1985: The rise of the actress and new collaborations

In 1980, Sofia Rotaru won first prize at an international competition in Tokyo for her performance of the Yugoslav song “Promise” and was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.

The singer continued to experiment with her image and appeared on stage for the first time among domestic female artists in a trouser suit, performing the song “Temp” by Alexandra Pakhmutova with lyrics by Nikolai Dobronravov. The songs “Temp” and “Expectation” were written for the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow and were included in the cultural program of the Games. “Temp” also became the soundtrack to the feature film “The Ballad of Sports” directed by Yuri Ozerov. In 1980, the singer again qualified for the final of the Song of the Year, performing “My Land” by N. Mozgovoy and “Waiting” by Yu. Saulsky and L. Zavalnyuk.

In 1980, the film “Where Are You, Love?” was released. ( original title“Year of Vocation”), filmed at the Moldova-Film studio, in which, among many songs, the singer performed the song “First Rain”, without an understudy, riding on the back of a motorcycle along a narrow embankment in the middle of the sea. According to the autobiographical plot, a rural singer is invited to join the ensemble, with which she wins the Grand Prix at an international festival with the song “Where are you, love?” R. Pauls on poetry. At the box office, the film was watched by about 22 million viewers. In the same year, a double album was released - “Songs from the film “Where are you, love?”” with songs from the film of the same name by composers E. Martynov, O. Feltsman, A. Babajanyan, D. Tukhmanov.

A. Mazhukov’s composition “Red Arrow” in 1980 became the debut of the young poet Nikolai Zinoviev in the pop genre. The song was banned on All-Union Radio by the head of the music editorial office, Gennady Cherkasov, because he did not like the way Sofia Rotaru sang. But since the song premiered on television, it managed to become famous even without radio airplay. In 1981, the film received the jury prize for popularizing the song creativity of Soviet composers at the XIV All-Union Film Festival in Vilnius under the section feature films. This film was Sofia Rotaru's first experience in feature cinema. Many critics called this role a failure, nevertheless, the film won the love of the audience, and the songs sounded in the film became legendary: “Red Arrow” (music by Alexei Mazhukov, lyrics by Nikolai Zinoviev), “Where are you, love?” (music by Raymond Pauls, lyrics by Ilya Reznik), “Dance on the Drum” (music by Raymond Pauls, lyrics by Andrei Voznesensky).

The next stage of creativity began with the search for a new style - rock music and the film “Soul” with “The Time Machine” in 1981 with songs and. Having received the first offer in Yalta to star in the leading role in the film, Sofia Rotaru refused, she was so sick and the doctors did not recommend her not only filming, but also further performances.

This prompted Alexander Borodyansky and Alexander Stefanovich to describe an autobiographical story about a dramatic situation in the singer’s life, about the loss of her voice, and the revelation of her soul at that moment (dialogue on the pier with an elderly man) followed by a reassessment of values. Having seen the new rewritten script, as well as songs written in a completely new style for the singer, Sofia Rotaru agreed, moreover, she agreed to give up concert performances for a while in order to star in the film. Thus, the film became a musical melodrama, affecting not only privacy artist and human relationships, but also the question of attitude towards talent and the responsibility of talent to those for whom he creates. Rotaru’s partner in the film was an actor, the lyrical hero was played by a Leningrad actor, the rock group “Time Machine” - new group singer Victoria Svobodina. The film was watched at the box office by about 57 million viewers.

Sofia Rotaru reached the final of “Song of the Year” in 1982 with the songs “Melancolie” by P. Teodorovich and G. Vieru and “Get Up!” R. Amirkhanyan and H. Zakiyan. “Song 1983” included the songs “Happiness to you, my land” by Y. Saulsky and L. Zavalnyuk and “And the music sounds” by A. Mazhukov and N. Zinoviev.

After concerts in Canada and the release of the Canadian album in Toronto, Canadian Tour 1983, in 1983, Sofia Rotaru and her team became restricted from traveling abroad for five years. There was no official reason, but when the State Concert received calls from abroad, they refused under the pretext that “ this doesn't work here" During the recording of the record in Germany, the State Concert gave her a rate of 6 rubles per minute of sound. The German side had to pay 156 marks and called back to Moscow. The next day, the translator told Sofia Rotaru: “ Our boss decided to give you a small present, because Moscow does not allow you to increase the rate...” “I regret one thing - that it happened in my younger years, when so much could have been done"- said Sofia Rotaru.

In 1983, Sofia Rotaru gave 137 concerts on collective and state farms in Crimea. The collective farm "Russia" of the Crimean region and the Ministry of Culture of the Moldavian SSR nominated Rotaru's 1983-1984 concert programs for the USSR State Prize. However, the famous singer was not awarded the prize, since all her solo concerts Since the late 1970s, they have been held exclusively with a plus soundtrack.

In 1983, Sofia Rotaru received the title of People's Artist of Moldova. In the same year, while listening to a melody specially written for her by the composer Kiriyak with the poet Vieru, Rotaru insisted on speaking about romance. Her husband supported her and artistic director Anatoly Evdokimenko, and the poet wrote, but about the singer. Romantică is an adjective meaning “romantic” in Romanian.

In 1984, she presented "Romantică" at the Song of the Year festival. This song is included in most solo programs. The second song performed was “I Can’t Forget” (composer D. Tukhmanov, lyrics by V. Kharitonov). The singer performed it in dramatic image courageous nurse of the Second World War. Rotaru was invited to the GDR TV program “The Motley Cauldron”, where she sang a song in German.

In 1984, the LP “Tender Melody” was released. The album was a return to the original image with the song "Melancolie" ("Tender Melody") by Vieru. In 1985, Sofia Rotaru received the “Golden Disc” prize from the All-Union company “Melodiya” for the albums “Sofia Rotaru” and “Tender Melody” - the best-selling records of the year in the USSR, selling more than 1,000,000 copies. In the same year, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

At the finale of “Song-85” the audience together with the singer sang “Stork on the Roof” by D. Tukhmanov and A. Poperechny and “In My House” by D. Tukhmanov and A. Sayed-Shah.

1986-1989: New wave - Europop and hard rock

In the mid-1980s, a certain turning point emerged in creativity. The search for a new aesthetics of creativity permeated the musical film “Monologue about Love” (1986), in which, unlike the previous “Sofia Rotaru is inviting you” (1985), only I. Poklad’s composition “Water Flows” bore the same folklore character and the image of a collective farm girl, became a star. In the film “Monologue about Love,” Sofia Rotaru performed the song “Amor” as a windsurfer, on the high seas and without an understudy. “Monologue about Love” - an album released in 1986 with soundtracks and songs from the musical film of the same name, became Rotaru’s last work with the original Ukrainian composers. The Chervona Ruta ensemble returned to the Ukrainian song and left the singer, which was a big surprise for Rotaru and Anatoly Evdokimenko, artistic director of Chervona Ruta. In one of her interviews, Sofia Rotaru answered a journalist’s question “ Have you ever been truly scared?" answered: " When I was betrayed. This was connected with the Chervona Ruta collective, which Tolik (A. Evdokimenko) organized at one time. It was the peak of popularity, when we were carried in our arms, when cars were lifted at concerts. It seemed to the guys that they could count on success without me, that I treated them wrong, that the repertoire was wrong, that they received little money... When Tolik and I left for our homeland, they got together and decided that they didn’t need us. They left with a scandal and with the name “Chervona Ruta”».

A sharp change in the direction of Rotaru’s work occurred after the start of collaboration with composer Vladimir Matetsky in 1986. “Lavender” and “Moon, Moon” by Muscovite Vladimir Matetsky have already appeared - two of the most popular songs of the USSR in 1986. The joint album of Rotaru and Matetsky “Golden Heart” was recorded with Moscow studio musicians. Sofia Rotaru moved on to Europop compositions (“It was, but it’s gone”, “Moon”), up to hard rock elements (“My Time”, “Only This Is Not Enough”). Matetsky and his co-author, poet Mikhail Shabrov, practically monopolized the right to collaborate with Rotaru over the next 15 years, producing talented works, in large quantities included in concert programs of 1990-2000, and became popular due to the charismatic personality of Rotaru and her extraordinary vocal abilities.

This collaboration began with the song “Lavender”, written by V. Matetsky in 1985 for her duet with Jaak Joala and which has not yet lost its popularity. “Lavender” was followed by “Moon, Moon”, “It Was, But It’s Gone”, “Wild Swans”, “Farmer”, “It’s September”, “Moonlight Rainbow”, “Stars Like Stars”, “Night Moth”, “Heart of Gold” ", "My life, my love" and many others.

In 1986, composer V. Migulya wrote the song “Life” especially for the singer, which was very rarely heard.

Active touring activities and constant presence on music broadcasts led to the fact that by the end of the 80s S. Rotaru objectively became the leader of Soviet song art. On May 11, 1988, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR, the first modern pop singer, for her great services in the development of Soviet musical art.

At the same time, the transition to the Russian-language repertoire caused a certain rejection in Ukraine. Accusations of betrayal national culture, in addition to the general growth of nationalism, were actively fueled by Soviet state production structures, philharmonic societies and concert associations, which, during the course of economic reforms, lost control over the financial side of Rotaru’s concert activities. In order to avoid large-scale provocations, Rotaru refused to participate in the Chervona Ruta festival, held in her homeland in 1989. In the late 80s, strained interethnic relations led to the fact that in 1989, at a national concert in Lviv at the Druzhba stadium, part of the audience, opposed to Sofia Rotaru, greeted the singer with posters “ Sofia, punishment awaits you!” and whistling, which led to clashes with her fans.

Nevertheless, Sofia Rotaru continued to sing Ukrainian songs and constantly included them in the first sections of concert programs. New songs of this period in the Ukrainian language were works by N. Mozgovoy (“The Edge”, “The Day Is Gone”), A. Bliznyuk (“Echo of Fidelity”), E. Rybchinsky (“Flowing Water”), Y. Rybchinsky (“Ball of the Separated hearts"), and later - R. Quint (“Checkay”, “One viburnum”, “Fog”). At the same time, she prepared and presented to the viewer in 1991 new program, included in the album Romance, half of which consisted of remakes of songs by Ivasyuk and other famous Ukrainian composers and poets in the Ukrainian language, in particular, “Chervona Ruta”, “Cheremshina”, “Klenovy Vogon”, “Edge”, “Sizocriliy Bird”, “Zhovtiy” leaf”, which became a classic of Ukrainian pop song, after which such accusations fell apart.

In 1991, the next work of Rotaru and Matetsky was released - the LP “Caravan of Love” (Sintez Records, Riga, Latvia), also with a noticeable influence in the style of hard rock and metal, which was at the peak of its popularity at that time. Simultaneously with the album, a musical television film of the same name and a concert program, Golden Heart, were released, which became the last program of the singer from the times of the USSR.

The collapse of the Union affected the geography of Sofia Rotaru's travels. The USSR Ministry of Culture obliged artists to tour “hot spots.” Having refused at first, Rotaru prepared the programs “Friends Remain Friends” and “Caravan of Love” presented in Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Tbilisi, Baku and Yerevan. The concerts took place in rooms with inadequate conditions, which ultimately led to pneumonia. Sofia Rotaru said: “ I was warned - don’t go down into the hall, you never know. They even posted security. And I believe: what you go to a person with is how he will repay you.».

In the late 80s, while participating in a group concert, Sofia Rotaru drew attention to the performance of the ballet “Todes” and invited him to collaborate. Dancing "Todes" made her songs more spectacular from a stage point of view. In the concert programs of this period, Sofia Rotaru danced almost all songs with “Todes”. This creative union lasted about five years. Alla Dukhova, artistic director of the ballet, said that it was with Rotaru that the Todes ballet began its successful activities.

1991-1999: New times

In 1991, Sofia Rotaru presented in Moscow an anniversary program dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the singer’s creative activity, decorated with laser graphics, candles and fantastic decorations in the form of a moving red flower from the legend of Chervona Ruta, from which the singer took the stage. The anniversary concerts “Flowers of Sofia Rotaru” took place at the State Central Concert Hall “Russia”. Central television broadcast this program, and it was released on video in the TV version of the concert. Remaining faithful to the composition of the first part of her concert programs, the singer sang songs of her youth, but in remixed versions of songs by Ivasyuk and other famous Ukrainian composers and poets in the Ukrainian language, in particular, “Chervona Ruta”, “Cheremshina”, “Klenovy Vogon”, “The Edge”, “Blue Bird”, “Zhovty Leaf”, which have become classics of Ukrainian pop songs, as well as the new “Tango”, “Wild Swans” and others. The Smerichka ensemble, which starred with Rotaru in the film Chervona Ruta, also took part in the concert. Closing the second part was the song “Echo”.

After the collapse of the USSR and the commercialization of the musical space, the singer did not lose her leading position in show business and has a stable audience, including in the Russian-speaking diaspora in Europe and the USA. In 1992, a super hit was released by Rotaru - “Khutoryanka” (music by Vladimir Matetsky, lyrics by Mikhail Shabovr).

The singer left the Philharmonic and continued recording songs at her own studio in Yalta. In 1993, the first two CDs of the collection were released best songs singers - “Sofia Rotaru” and “Lavender”, then - “Golden Songs 1985/95” and “Khutoryanka”. In 1995, Sofia Rotaru starred in the musical film “Old Songs about the Main Thing” by the ORT television company (director Dmitry Fiks, producer Konstantin Ernst), performing the song “What You Were” (music by I. Dunaevsky, lyrics by M. Isakovsky). In August 1996, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the Honorary Badge of the President of Ukraine. In the same year, at “Song-96”, Sofia Rotaru was recognized as “Best Pop Singer of 1996” and was awarded the name prize. In 1996, the songs “Night of Love” by Laura Quint with lyrics by M. Denisov and “There is No Place for Me in Your Heart” by Vladimir Matetsky with lyrics by Mikhail Faibushevich made it to the finals of the competition. “Swan Fidelity” was also performed, but was not broadcast on television.

In 1997, Sofia Rotaru starred in the musical film “10 Songs about Moscow” by the NTV television company (project of Leonid Parfenov and Janik Fayziev), with the song “Moscow in May” (music by D. and Dm. Pokrass, lyrics by V. Lebedev-Kumach) with the group "Ivanushki International".

In 1997, Sofia Rotaru became an Honorary Citizen of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; winner of the honorary prize of the President of Ukraine L. Kuchma for his outstanding contribution to the development of pop art “Song Vernissage” and Knight of the Order of the Republic of Moldova.

On September 16, 1997, at the age of 77, Sofia Rotaru’s mother, Alexandra Ivanovna Rotaru, died. Before these events, Sofia Rotaru repeatedly canceled performances in the concert schedule, anniversary concerts, filming, and other tours.

On the set of the finale of “Songs-97”, the singer performed the songs “Your Sad Eyes” (by Vladimir Matetsky to the verses of Liliana Vorontsova), as well as “There Was a Time” (by Vladimir Matetsky to the verses of Mikhail Faibushevich) and “Sweater” (by Vladimir Matetsky to the verses of Alexander Shaganov ).

In 1998, Sofia Rotaru’s first official (numbered) CD was released, the album “Love Me,” released on the “Extraphone” label. In April of this year, the premiere of Rotaru’s new solo program “Love Me” took place at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Also in 1998, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the “Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” “For increasing goodness on Earth.” Sofia Rotaru becomes an Honorary Citizen of the city of Chernivtsi. The song “Zasentyabrilo” was performed in a duet with Nikolai Rastorguev.

In 1999, the Star Records label released two more CD collections of the singer in the “Star Series”. At the end of 1999, Sofia Rotaru was recognized as the best singer of Ukraine in the “Traditional Variety” category, receiving the “Golden Firebird”, as well as a special award “for her contribution to the development of domestic pop music.” In the same year, the singer for special personal services in the development of song creativity, many years of fruitful concert activities and high performing skills were awarded the “Order of St. Princess Olga, III degree.” The Russian Biographical Institute recognized the singer as Person of the Year 1999.

2000-2006: Music leadership in the 2000s

In 2000, in Kyiv, Sofia Rotaru was recognized as “Man of the 20th Century”, “Best Ukrainian Pop Singer of the 20th Century”, “Golden Voice of Ukraine”, Winner of the “Prometheus - Prestige” Award, “Woman of the Year”. In the same year, Sofia Rotaru became the Laureate of the Ovation Prize, “For a special contribution to the development of Russian stage" In August 2000, the singer’s official website was opened.

In December 2001, Sofia Rotaru released a new solo concert program “My Life is My Love!” on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his creative activity. The expression of the 70s was supplemented by the lyricism of the 80s, the drive of the 90s and the play of halftones, on which Rotaru the director and Rotaru the singer built her program, combining new songs and hits of past years, read in a new way. Many of her songs, no matter how many years ago they were sung, do not fit into the “retro” format, continuing to sound modern in each new concert program of the singer. The program premiered on December 13-15 at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Sofia Rotaru also presented her new solo program “My Life is My Love…” in other cities of Russia, Ukraine and Germany. In this program, the singer performed independently for the first time as a production director, where Boris Krasnov worked with her for the first time as a production designer.

Before solo concerts in Moscow, the film and video association " Close-up" presented a video version of the film "Soul" produced by the Mosfilm film studio in 1981 with Sofia Rotaru in the title role. The film took 5th place at the box office in the USSR and is considered at the moment(2009) Rotaru’s most successful film work.

In 2002, the song “My Life, My Love” opened “New Year’s Light” on the ORT channel. On January 20, the premiere of the television version of Sofia Rotaru’s anniversary solo program “My Life is My Love” took place, which was also released on video. On March 2, Sofia Rotaru performed for the first time with a club concert at the Metelitsa entertainment complex, which became an event in the cultural life of Moscow. On March 6, President of Ukraine L. D. Kuchma awarded Sofia Rotaru the Order of “Holy Princess Olga” for “significant labor achievements, high professionalism and on the occasion International Day women's rights and peace." In April, the first part of the singer’s large All-Russian tour began, covering most regions of Russia from the Far East to the South of Russia. The second part of the tour took place in September 2002, before touring cities in Germany.

In 2002, a new album, “I Still Love You,” was released. The official release of the album took place on April 23 at the Extraphone studio in Moscow. This album became the first production experience of Ruslan Evdokimenko, who attracted talented young authors Ruslan Kvinta and. Nevertheless most compositions, as in the previous album “Love Me” from 1998, are the work of composer Vladimir Matetsky. The variety of styles of each song and the youth drive of “Girls with a Guitar” (considered the weakest by music critics, and which Sofia Rotaru dedicated to the birth of her granddaughter) appeared for the first time in more than 30 years of Sofia Rotaru’s work, along with remixes of the songs “You Don’t Ask” (author Rimma Kazakova) and “My life, my love” (in R&B style). Part of the edition was released in gift format, including a bonus track of the new song “Let Go” and an exclusive gift poster with the autograph of Sofia Rotaru.

On May 24, in Kyiv, in front of the building of the International Center for Culture and Arts, the opening ceremony of the Ukrainian Avenue of Stars took place, among which the “Star of Sofia Rotaru” was lit. On August 7, the singer’s birthday, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the highest title in Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine “ for significant personal services to the Ukrainian state in the development of art, dedicated work in the field of preserving national and cultural traditions, enhancing the heritage of the people of Ukraine" On August 9, 2002, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the Order of Honor by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “ For his great contribution to the development of pop art and strengthening Russian-Ukrainian cultural ties».

On August 17 in Yalta, on City Day, Sofia Rotaru presented to more than 6 thousand spectators at the Avangard stadium a show with light, laser and pyrotechnic special effects, specially brought from Kyiv. Also in the summer, remastered versions of the albums “Golden Songs 85-95” and “Khutoryanka” were released on the “Extraphone” label (Moscow, Russia). Part of this edition was released as a gift with a bonus track and an autographed poster of the singer.

On October 23, after another stroke, Sofia Rotaru’s husband Anatoly Kirillovich Evdokimenko (producer and artistic director of the Chervona Ruta group, director of most of the singer’s concert programs) died in a Kyiv clinic. Sofia Rotaru canceled all concert performances and television filming, refused to participate in the filming of the musical “Cinderella”, and for the first time in 30 years did not take part in the final of the “Song of the Year” festival. After a bereavement, Rotaru temporarily stopped active touring.

On December 25, the official release of Sofia Rotaru’s collection of songs “ Snow Queen", released on the label "Extraphone" (Moscow, Russia). Part of the album's circulation came with an exclusive gift - a poster of the singer.

In 2002, the official release of the video version of the film “Where Are You, Love?” directed by Valeriu Gagiu, released by the film studio “Moldova-Film” in 1980. The video version of the film was published by ARENA Corporation. Starring Sofia Rotaru, Grigore Grigoreu, Konstantin Konstantinov, Evgeniy Menshov, Ekaterina Kazemirova, Victor Chutak. The singer begins collaboration with guitarist Vasily Bogatyrev.

At the end of 2002, Sofia Rotaru took 2nd place in popularity among all domestic performers and groups in Russia (the study was conducted by the sociological service of the Gallup Institute).

On April 11, 2003, Sofia Rotaru appeared in the composition “White Dance”, by Ukrainian authors Oleg Makarevich and Vitaly Kurovsky. A new stage of her creativity began with performances in concert hall“Russia” in Moscow in honor of the laying of a personalized star on the alley in front of the hall. The main authors working with Rotaru were composers Ruslan Kvinta (“One Viburnum”), Oleg Makarevich (“White Dance”) and (“I Loved Him,” “Alone in the World”), as well as poet Vitaly Kurovsky. In the same year, an album dedicated to “The Only One” was released, in memory of Sofia Rotaru’s husband, with new songs and arrangements in Ukrainian and Moldavian, as well as the collection “Leaf Fall”.

In 2004, after a four-year break, Sofia Rotaru gave two large solo concerts in Chicago and Atlantic City, where she performed in one of the most prestigious halls - the Taj Mahal theater-casino (in 2001, the tour there was disrupted due to the fact that the sound engineer did not receive a visa).

In 2004, the album “The Sky is Me” and “Lavender, Farmer, Then Everywhere ...” was released, in 2005 - “I loved him.”

In 2004, 2005 and 2006, Sofia Rotaru became the most beloved singer in Russia according to surveys by one of the rating sociological agencies.

2007: 60th Anniversary - Present

On August 7, 2007, Sofia Rotaru celebrated her 60th birthday. Hundreds of fans, as well as famous artists and politicians came to Yalta from different parts of the world to congratulate the singer. The President of Ukraine awarded Sofia Rotaru the Order of Merit, II degree. The reception on the occasion of the anniversary took place at the Livadia Palace.

Honoring the singer continued in September in Sochi, where at the “Five Stars” music competition for young performers, one of the competition days was dedicated to her work. And in October 2007, anniversary concerts of S. Rotaru were held at the State Kremlin Palace, in which popular performers from Russia (, A., and others) and Ukraine (Evgenia Vlasova, Tank on the Congo Maidan, and others) took part.

The last unreleased single of 2007, “I am your love,” took first place, spending four weeks on the Golden Gramophone chart of Russian Radio. From March to May 2008, Sofia Rotaru was on an anniversary tour of Russia.

Currently, Rotaru participates in national concerts and television programs, sometimes going on small tours. He is in excellent physical and vocal shape and has enormous authority in Ukrainian and Russian musical circles. Doctors forbade Rotaru from undergoing facial plastic surgery.

In October 2011, Sofia Rotaru holds anniversary concerts in Moscow (Kremlin) and St. Petersburg (Ice Palace). The concerts are dedicated to the 40th anniversary of creative activity. Especially for these dates, Rotaru is preparing a special program with premieres and new remakes. Due to poor organization, high ticket prices, and insufficient advertising, concerts are held in incomplete halls. And if in the Kremlin the halls were 80% filled in 2 days, then in the Ice Palace of St. Petersburg Rotaru was able to fill only a little more than half of the hall. The concert organizers suffered heavy losses, including resellers who gave tickets to the first rows of the stalls almost for nothing. The singer herself, having fallen out with the organizers, said behind the scenes that she would never give solo concerts in the capitals again. Over the past 20 years, this was the singer’s first tour in capitals with such low occupancy rates.

After counting all Rotaru’s songs performed in the finals of the “Song of the Year” festival, it turned out that Rotaru holds the absolute record among all participants in history - 83 songs performed at 38 festivals (1973-2011, except 2002).

Family

Parents

Father - Rotar Mikhail Fedorovich (11/22/18 - 03/12/04)
Mother - Rotar Alexandra Ivanovna (04/17/20 -09/16/97)

Brothers

Rotar Anatoly Mikhailovich (08.08.55)
Rotar Evgeniy Mikhailovich (02/03/57)

Sisters

Rotar Zinaida Mikhailovna (10/11/42)
Rotar (Khlyabich) Lidia Mikhailovna (04/08/51)
Rotar (Pigach) Aurika Mikhailovna (10/22/58) Ukrainian pop singer

Evdokimenko Anatoly Kirillovich (01/20/1942-10/23/2002) People's Artist of Ukraine, musician, artistic director of the group "Chervona Ruta"..

Children

Evdokimeno Ruslan Anatolyevich (24.08.70)

News from Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Mikhailovna Evdokimenko-Rotaru decided to celebrate her 67th birthday this time in Spain. This year she spent August 7 only in a close circle of her closest people. Aurelia Mikhailovna Rotaru, dear 55-year-old se...

Sergei Lavrov, director of Sofia Rotaru, shared with the public information that Sofia Rotaru never had Russian citizenship. She is often blackmailed due to the fact that she allegedly renounced Russian citizenship....

Photos of Sofia Rotaru

Childhood and youth

The entire biography of Sofia Rotaru confirms the fact that no obstacles can hinder real talent. The singer was born in a small Ukrainian village called Marshintsy. She was the second eldest of six children in the family of Moldavian winegrower Mikhail Rotar.

My father went through the entire war and returned home in the second half of 1944 after being seriously wounded, and my mother worked all this time at the local market, fed and raised the children. It is noteworthy that the singer celebrates her birthday twice: the absent-minded passport officer entered August 9, 1947 in the metric, while in fact Sofia Mikhailovna was born on August 7.

In the harsh post-war years, the only joy for most Soviet citizens was a radio, and the Rotar family was no exception. Sofia’s older sister, Zina, who was blind after typhus, spent especially a lot of time at the receiver. Listening to songs in Russian, she not only learned the language herself, but also helped the rest of the family master it, because before that, only their native Moldavian was spoken at home.

Sonya's musical abilities were discovered quite early, and also thanks to Zina, who had perfect, almost absolute pitch. As Sofia Rotaru herself admitted, life could have turned out differently if not for her sister, who became her first teacher.

Later, Sofia begins to sing in the school choir and even the church choir, despite constant threats to expel her from the pioneers. At school, the future star studied well, competed in all-around events, and even won the regional schoolchildren’s sports competition.

Little Sonechka adored theatrical performances, enjoyed studying in the drama club, and in the evenings she sang her favorite songs to the accordion. Sofia Mikhailovna said more than once that music was always present in her life: they sang at the table, during weddings, funerals, at gatherings - everyone, from young to old. In her youth, Sofia Rotaru already had a strong voice, for which residents of the surrounding villages awarded her the affectionate nickname “Marshinitsa Nightingale”.

First steps to success

Luck smiled at Rotaru in 1962. After winning the regional folk song competition, she was offered to take part in the regional talent show, which was to be held in Chernivtsi. The singer captivated the jury with her masterly performance of the song in Spanish “Kiss Me Harder”, for which she received first prize and a nomination to participate in a talent competition in Kyiv (1963).

The Republican Festival opened the way for her to the big stage, because Sonya again took the well-deserved first place! On this occasion, a photograph of a young and beautiful singer was published on the cover of the popular publication “Ukraine”, and it was this photograph that helped her find not only a husband, but also a creative partner.

In 1964, after graduating from school, Rotaru entered the conducting and choral department of the Chernivtsi Music College and graduated with honors. Three years later, singer Sofia Rotaru, together with other creative groups, goes to the World Festival of Youth and Students in Bulgaria, where she occupies prize place and receives an honorary award in the competition for the title of best performer of folk songs. The public was delighted with the singer’s voice, and journalists wrote: “Sofia conquered Sofia.”

1971 was a special year for Rotaru: the famous director Alekseev invited her to star in the musical film “Chervona Ruta” and sing several songs along with the then popular singers Zinkevich and Yaremchuk. This is how Rotaru met the aspiring composer and poet Vladimir Ivasyuk, who would later write more than one hit for her. The film had resounding success, and Rotaru was offered to create a group at the Chernivtsi Philharmonic and call it “Chervona Ruta”.

At the peak of his musical career

The singer and her band began touring throughout the country. Their debut performance was in Star City in front of the astronauts. The direction in which the group worked was very unusual for Soviet listeners, as it combined elements of folk music, modern rhythms and pop instrumental arrangement.

However, the first tour was not without annoying misunderstandings: the group’s program was not approved by the artistic council, and Pincus Falik, who held the position of administrator of the group, had to make a lot of efforts to resolve the issue in Moscow. Soon the Chervona Ruta ensemble went on a tour of the USSR together with Polish, Czech, Bulgarian and German pop stars.

At the beginning of 1972, Sofia Mikhailovna and her musicians toured Poland with great success, where grateful spectators gave a standing ovation. A little later, Rotaru went to the Orpheus festival, which took place on Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, where she took first place with the compositions “Bird” and “My City”. The second song turned out to be so successful that, having performed it later in Russian, Rotaru was able to reach the finals of the “Song of the Year” competition, popular in the USSR.

Sofia Rotaru liked patriotic songs, and she soulfully sang “The Enemies Burnt My Home”, as well as “Happiness to You, My Land” and the song “My Motherland” specially written for her voice. It is noteworthy that during concerts the singer always established contact with the audience: she went down into the hall and sang along with everyone. Sofia Mikhailovna often said that sincere applause is much more valuable to her than awards, because the meaning of creativity is to give joy and beauty.

Since 1975, “Chervona Ruta” has been moving closer to Yalta, and there were two reasons for this: firstly, disagreements with the Chernivtsi party leadership, and secondly, the singer began to have serious health problems. 1976 turned out to be incredibly successful for Rotaru: the German company Ariola-Eurodisc GmbH invited her to record several compositions in German. Later, the singer went on a European tour, visiting countries such as Yugoslavia, East Germany, Romania and Germany, where she gave over 25 concerts.

The 80s brought the Soviet pop star victory at a song competition in Tokyo, where she performed the song “Promise.” Rotaru's popularity was growing, but she wanted to try herself in a new capacity. And Sofia Mikhailovna took part in the filming of the film - it was the film “Where are you, love?”

The film turned out to be so successful that it was nominated for prestigious awards several times, and the songs from the film were released as a separate disc. In the 90s, the singer filmed a lot, gave numerous concerts and received four prestigious awards.

During her career, the singer radically changed her repertoire several times. The first time this happened was after a meeting with Andrei Makarevich and the Time Machine group. Romantic, very soft compositions, which were the hallmark of Rotaru, suddenly gave way to more dynamic melodies, more like rock.

After the collapse of the USSR, Rotaru’s concert geography changed, but this did not in the least prevent her from remaining one of the most popular singers in the world to this day. Russian stage on a par with Pugacheva.

Personal life

Sofia Rotaru is sure that her personal life was successful, because she had a wonderful man next to her for many years. Sofia Rotaru’s husband, Anatoly Evdokimenko, was from a simple family, was also fond of music and dreamed of creating his own band. Having seen a photo of young Sofia in the press, he decided that she should become the lead singer of his group. Anatoly found the girl, and four years later they got married and moved to Novosibirsk.

Family life was full of happiness, and a year later Sofia began to dream of a child, but her husband was against it because they did not have their own living space. The singer decided to use a little trick and told her husband about her pregnancy when there was no longer any point in hiding it. The son of Sofia Rotaru was born on August 24, 1970.

I must say that Anatoly was incredibly happy when his child was born. No wonder it is said that true meaning life - children. Sofia Rotaru really wanted to get pregnant again, but she did not dare, which she still regrets.

Her son Ruslan became a music producer, and his wife became the singer’s executive director. Sofia Rotaru’s granddaughter, Sofia, adores her grandmother and spends a lot of time with her, and grandson Anatoly tries his hand at the Ukrainian stage. The singer loves her family very much; she still financially helps all her relatives, pays for their education and treatment.

The personal life of Sofia Rotaru changed dramatically after the death of her beloved husband in 2002 (he died from heart attack). The singer grieved for a long time, she stopped performing, and her family and fans were seriously concerned about her health. However, Sofia was able to pull herself together and return to a full life. The singer celebrated her 55th birthday among her family on a yacht.

What's going on in the singer's life now?

Despite her advanced age, the singer looks in such a way that many people wonder: “How old is Sofia Rotaru?” She does not hide the fact that she resorted to the services of plastic surgery specialists several times, but the interventions were very minor. Rotaru advises fans to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat right and move a lot - only this will help maintain excellent physical shape.

A couple of months ago, Sofia Rotaru, her biography and personal life became the most discussed topics in the Ukrainian media. Journalists were waiting for a sensation, believing that the star would soon have new husband- her young admirer Vasily Bogatyrev. He confessed his love for the star on his social network page, wrote poems and songs, proposed to her, but never received an answer. Nikolai Baskov tried to court the singer, but Sofia Mikhailovna only shrugged it off, explaining that she was a one-woman lover and no one could replace her dead husband.

Sofia Rotaru now rarely gives concerts, and due to the aggravated political situation, she does not visit Russia. About 10 years ago, she ran in elections to the Ukrainian parliament, toured almost all of Ukraine, but never received the required number of votes.

What is Sofia Rotaru doing now? Latest news, reported on Instagram by her relatives, confirm that the singer spends a lot of time with her family, plays sports, and also works in the studio on new song. Author: Natalya Ivanova

Sofia Mikhailovna Rotaru- Soviet and Ukrainian singer and actress. Sofia Rotaru - People's Artist of the USSR (1988), one of the most popular singers of the Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian stage, Hero of Ukraine (2002).

Early years and education of Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Rotaru was born on August 7, 1947 in the village of Marshintsy, Novoselitsky district, Chernivtsi region. Sofia's family is of Moldovan origin.

Father - Mikhail Fedorovich Rotaru (1918−2004), participant of the Great Patriotic War, machine gunner. He reached Berlin, was wounded and returned to his native village. He worked as a foreman of winegrowers.

Mother - Alexandra Ivanovna Rotaru (1920−1997). In addition to Sofia, the family had five children: two brothers and three sisters. The elder sister Zina (born October 11, 1942), who suffered a serious illness, lost her sight in childhood, according to the singer’s biography on her website.

In her interviews, Sofia Rotaru often said that her entire family is unusually musical.

“It’s hard to say when and how music appeared in my life. It seems that she has always lived in me. I grew up surrounded by music, it sounded everywhere: at the wedding table, at gatherings, at evening parties, at dances...”, said the singer. The girl began singing in the first grade in the school choir. In addition, although it was not encouraged, Sofia also sang in the church choir.

At school and after graduation, Sofia Rotaru did a lot of sports, athletics, became the school champion in all-around, and went to regional Olympiads. At the regional sports festival in Chernivtsi she became the winner in the 100 and 800 meters.

Sofia's first music teacher was her father. He had perfect pitch and beautiful voice. As a schoolgirl, Sofia learned to play the domra and button accordion, and, of course, was an active participant in amateur performances. And home concerts were often held at home; Rotaru’s songs even then delighted the villagers. The father was convinced that Sonya would become an artist.

And then the first successes came. Sofia Rotaru won the regional amateur art competition and entered the regional show. Countrymen began to call Sofia “Bukovinian Nightingale” for her voice. And in subsequent years, at all competitions, Rotaru captivated the audience with her contralto, winning prestigious awards.

In 1964, Sofia Rotaru was sent to the Republican Festival of Folk Talents, where the young singer took first place. In this regard, her photo was published on the cover of the magazine “Ukraine”. Having seen Sofia's photo, her future husband Anatoly Evdokimenko fell in love with her at first sight.

1964 is a fateful year in Rotaru’s biography. Sofia Rotaru sang for the first time at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. And again victory. And after graduating from school, Sofia entered the conducting and choral department of the Chernivtsi Music College.

At this time, the young man in love served in the Urals. By the way, Anatoly graduated from music school and played the trumpet. Sofia's future husband after the army entered Chernivtsi University and played in the university pop orchestra. It was Anatoly, who finally met Rotaru, who invited her to sing with a pop orchestra. Before this, Sofia sang to the accompaniment of violins and cymbals.

Music career singer Sofia Rotaru

In 1968, Rotaru graduated from college and was delegated to the IX World Festival of Youth and Students, held in Bulgaria. The news headlines read: “Sofia has conquered Sofia.”

In 1971, director Roman Alekseev directed the musical film “Chervona Ruta”. On main role Sofia was invited. Afterwards, the Chernivtsi Philharmonic created its own ensemble “Chervona Ruta”. From that moment on, Rotaru and the Chervona Ruta ensemble began collaborating with the talented composer Vladimir Ivasyuk. Ivasyuk created a cycle of popular songs based on folk music, which were sung throughout the Soviet Union, performed by Sofia Rotaru.

After the tragic death of composer Ivasyuk, Sofia continued to sing his songs. A Mikhail Ivasyuk- Vladimir’s father - said in front of an audience of thousands of fellow countrymen: “We must bow deeply to the Moldavian girl Sonya, who spread my son’s songs all over the world.”

Success accompanied Rotaru at all concerts. Sofia sang on many famous stages of the USSR. With the Chervona Ruta ensemble, Rotaru traveled almost the entire country, had a constant audience on radio and television, and was active in concert activities.

In 1973, in Sunny Beach (Bulgaria), Rotaru became the winner of the Golden Orpheus competition, performing the song “My City” Evgenia Dogi and a song in Bulgarian “Bird”.

In 1983, Sofia Rotaru received the title of People's Artist of the Moldavian SSR. And in May 1988, Sofia Rotaru was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR, the first of the modern pop singers.

Famous Soviet composers created their songs specifically for her. Popular songs Arno Babajanyan("Give me back the music") Alexey Mazhukov(“And the music sounds”), David Tukhmanov(“Stork on the Roof”, “In My House”), Yuri Saulsky("Regular melody") Alexandra Pakhmutova("Pace"), Raymond Pauls("Dance on the Drum") Evgenia Martynova(“Swan Fidelity”, “Apple Trees in Bloom”) and many others still delight fans of Rotaru’s work.

And after the collapse of the USSR, the singer has a stable audience, including in the Russian-speaking diaspora in Europe and the USA. In 1992, a super hit was released performed by Rotaru - “Khutoryanka” (music Vladimir Matetsky, poetry Mikhail Shabrov).

They haven’t stopped listening to Sofia Rotaru’s songs in Russia either, and the singer herself, still just as young, constantly participates in TV programs and comes to give concerts. In the mid-90s, Rotaru took part in the popular films “Old Songs about the Main Thing” and “10 Songs about Moscow.” At “Song-96” Sofia Rotaru was recognized as “Best Pop Singer of 1996”, awarding a prize named after Klavdia Shulzhenko.

Sofia recorded songs at her own studio in Yalta. In 1993, her first CD collections of the best songs were released - “Sofia Rotaru” and “Lavender”, then “Golden Songs 1985/95” and “Khutoryanka”.

In 1997, Rotaru became an honorary citizen of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

In 1998, the first official compact disc (CD) of Sofia Rotaru was released, the album “Love Me,” released under the “Extraphone” label. In April, the premiere of Rotaru’s new solo program “Love Me” took place at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Sofia recorded the song “September” in a duet with Nikolai Rastorguev.

In 1999, the Star Records label released two more CD collections of the singer in the “Star Series”. At the end of the year, Rotaru was recognized as the best singer of Ukraine in the “Traditional Variety” category.

The new millennium was marked by new high-profile titles, Rotaru was recognized as “Man of the 20th Century”, “Best Ukrainian Pop Singer of the 20th Century”, “Golden Voice of Ukraine”, “Woman of the Year”, and was awarded “For a special contribution to the development of the Russian stage”.

In December 2001, Sofia Rotaru released a new solo concert program, “My Life is My Love!”, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of her creative activity. The song “My Life, My Love” opened the “New Year’s Light” on the ORT TV channel in 2002.

Then followed new albums by Rotaru: “I still love you”, “The sky is me”, “Lavender, Khutoryanka, then everywhere ...”, “I loved him”, in general, Sofia made sure that her fans there was something to listen to.

In 2007, Sofia Rotaru celebrated her 60th anniversary with pomp. There was a gala reception at the Livadia Palace, and in October Sofia’s anniversary concerts were held at the State Kremlin Palace. President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko awarded Sofia Rotaru the Order of Merit, II degree.

To mark the 40th anniversary of his creative activity, Rotaru held anniversary concerts in Moscow (Bolshoi Kremlin Palace) and in St. Petersburg (Ice Palace) in October 2011.

Rotaru's health status

On August 26, 2018, Free Press reported that Sofia Rotaru was urgently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of one of the Ufa hospitals.

The news reported that Rotaru had no scheduled concerts in Ufa. In the city she performed at one of the corporate events.

According to preliminary information, the singer’s condition worsened towards the end of the performance, after which she was called an ambulance and was urgently hospitalized.

Doctors were allegedly forbidden to say that Rotaru was in intensive care. It is noted that the “best” doctors in the region were called in to provide the necessary assistance, and “special conditions” were prepared.

Sofia Rotaru later commented on the news of her hospitalization. According to her, the day before she actually had some health problems, RIA Novosti reported.

At the same time, the artist thanked her fans for their support and care and added that she now feels fine.

Sofia Rotaru about relations between Russia and Ukraine, scandals with concerts in the Russian Federation

According to media reports, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, Sofia Rotaru did not accept Russian citizenship. She herself later explained that she was registered in Kyiv, so she was not entitled to a Russian passport by law. At the same time, according to her, she would not refuse to give her Russian passport Putin. “You won’t need to apply for a work permit,” Sofia explained.

On the Rotaru website you can read her appeal to the people of Ukraine, made in January 2014 during Euromaidan. In it, Sofia appealed “to everyone to stop the violence.” “All parties to the conflict have an obligation to hear each other and find a peaceful solution.” Requests regarding further developments, in particular, there is no conflict in Donbass on Sofia Rotaru’s website.

In 2018, Sofia Rotaru announced that she would no longer participate in “Song of the Year” at the Olimpiysky and did not accept orders for corporate events in Russia. Concert director of Rotaru Igor Kurilev explained the refusal of “Song of the Year” by the singer’s health condition and “the events that are taking place between Ukraine and Russia.”

After this, the concert director Ukrainian singer Sergey Lavrov He called her criticism an order and assured that Rotaru never financed the Ukrainian military. He explained the noise not by the order, but by the fact that people “are tired of guest performers who come to make money in Russia, but at home they either curse her for nothing.” Poklonskaya said that both Russians and Ukrainians are tired of politicians who perceive a person’s personal opinion as an insult and seek to ban tours.

Income of Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Mikhailovna has a business in Crimea. Rotaru opened its hotel “Villa Sofia” in the most prestigious area of Yalta, the so-called “New City”, at the beginning of 2009. And Rotaru is the owner of a small “gingerbread house” in the village of Nikita (7 km from Yalta).

Ukrainian Forbes in 2015 included Sofia Rotaru in the rating of “25 most expensive and popular stars of Ukraine.”

At the same time, the singer's sister Lydia Khlyabich in the same 2015, she said that due to problems with concerts in Russia, Sofia Rotaru had to cut expenses and “she is already counting the money.” Khlyabich also complained about the small number of vacationers at the Rotaru Hotel in Yalta.

Now Sofia Rotaru lives in Kyiv, in her house in the prestigious suburb of Koncha-Zaspa.

Personal life of Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Rotaru has a large family that supports her in difficult life moments. In 1968, Sofia married Anatoly Evdokimenko, and in 1970, their son Ruslan was born.

Sofia Rotaru’s husband, Anatoly Evdokimenko, died prematurely from a stroke in 2002. The singer took his loss seriously.

Relatives help Rotaru in his work: son Ruslan is the singer’s concert producer, and daughter-in-law Svetlana is creative director and a stylist.

Rotaru's granddaughter Sofia (Sonya) is engaged in horse riding and modeling. Ukrainian news reported that in 2017, Sofia graduated from her studies in Kyiv and entered a private school in England. Rotaru’s granddaughter studied vocals and can follow in her grandmother’s footsteps.

Anatoly, Rotaru's grandson, studied fashion photography at London's Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design. The young man also masters specialties graphic designer and music producer.

On the eve of her anniversary (the singer turned 70 on August 7, 2017), Rotaru flew to rest with her family: her son Ruslan Evdokimenko, his wife Svetlana and grandchildren - Sofia and Anatoly to Italy.

Sofia Rotaru's daughter-in-law published many photos of their vacation on her microblog. In one of them, Svetlana Evdokimenko showed the singer without hair and makeup. Fans of the artist noted that even without makeup, Sofia Rotaru looks no worse than when stylists and makeup artists work on her.

Let's add that, according to her, the singer helps to stay in great shape: sports, healthy eating, a positive attitude towards life and love for people.

The world-famous singer and artist Sofia Rotaru was born on 08/07/1947 in Ukraine in the village of Marshintsy. Rotaru has Moldovan and Ukrainian roots, so she grew up in a multinational family where all cultures and traditions were respected. Sofia had simple parents: her mother worked as a saleswoman at the local market, and her father made money in the vineyards. Moreover, there were 6 children in the family who required constant attention, so Rotaru often helped her parents raise their brothers and sisters, because she was the second eldest. Everyone spoke Moldovan, which greatly influenced the multicultural atmosphere. The first singing teacher was my sister, who became blind in infancy, but acquired fine hearing. Since then, they studied Russian together and studied music. Despite his working profession, my father had amazing hearing and voice. Already at an early age, he understood that Rotaru would be successful.

From an early age, Sofia was a very energetic, active and inquisitive girl. She was not only involved in art, music and singing, but also achieved high achievements in sports. Also at school Rotaru performed for everyone theatrical productions, attended a drama club and played musical instruments. For her unusual voice and irrepressible artistry, the girl in the village was nicknamed the “Bukovinian nightingale.” While still a teenager, Sofia began touring neighboring villages, delighting everyone with her creativity.

Climbing the career ladder

It took Rotar only three years to climb to the top of show business. In the early 1960s, while still a teenager at that time, Sofia won a regional amateur art competition. From that moment on, she began to win more and more awards, which brought her fame and fame in the USSR. Having taken first place at the All-Union Talent Festival, Rotaru’s photo appeared on the main cover of Ukraine magazine.

In the late 1960s, the young artist managed to win the World Creative Competition in Bulgaria. After that, she gained worldwide fame; newspapers only wrote about Sofia’s life and successes. In 1971, a film called “Chervona Ruta” was made, which included Rotaru’s songs.

Sofia Rotaru: personal life, biography

The pop ensemble from the Chernivtsi Philharmonic took Sofia with pleasure. From that moment on, the girl performed not only in the USSR with songs of famous figures, but also in Europe. Her achievements did not end there; she also successfully won competitions such as “Golden Orpheus” and “Songs of the Year”.

The singer's first song album was released in the mid-1970s, at the same time she decided to move to Crimea and began pursuing a solo career. In 1976, she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. By the end of the 1970s, Sofia had recorded several important albums that helped her promote her talent abroad. The fact is that many foreign producers noticed her. By 1983, the artist had traveled all over Europe, visited Canada and recorded an album English. However, the USSR government soon banned artists from traveling abroad for five years. The ensemble was not at a loss and began to tour throughout the Crimean region.

Solo performances

In the mid-1980s, Chervona Ruta broke up and the artist had to continue her career on her own. Despite the fact that Sofia knew how to act in this situation, she had to go through many difficulties and experiences. But on her way she met composer Vladimir Matetsky, who helped change the direction of her creativity. Rotaru worked with this wonderful man for 15 years and became People's Artist of the USSR.

When “perestroika” began in the country, Sofia entered into a lucrative contract with the Todes group. Dance group began performing with the People's Artist throughout the USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the singer had a hard time, but she was able to quickly adapt to new conditions. Rotaru began to tour the new republics, performing songs in Russian and Ukrainian.

Cinema with Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Rotaru not only sang, but also starred in domestic films. For example, she easily got the main roles in such films as “Where are you, love?”, “Soul”, “Sofia Rotaru is inviting you” and “Sorochinskaya Fair”.

Sofia Rotaru's new husband

While collaborating with the Chervona Ruta ensemble, Sofia met the leader of the ensemble, Anatoly Evdokimenko. They immediately fell in love with each other, they were connected not only by working together, but also by deep feelings. Therefore, they got married in 1968. It is worth noting that Anatoly first saw Sofia on the cover of Ukraine magazine. After some time, the artist gave Evdokimenko a son, Ruslan.

According to Rotaru, she and her husband never parted for a moment; they worked and rested together. There were difficulties in the family, but the support of loved ones helped to overcome all life barriers. Sofia's husband died in the early 2000s from a stroke. Of course, this was the most difficult time for the actress. Then she canceled all meetings, filming and tours. However, she was able to survive this and get back on her feet. Rotaru has a multi-million army of fans who admire her work.