It would seem impossible to combine so many facets of talent in one person, but Yuri Antonov showed that the unprecedented happens. An unsurpassed legend of the national stage, a poet, composer and the first Soviet millionaire.
Antonov set a record number of performances in Leningrad, which no one has been able to surpass until now - 28 performances in 15 days.
The circulation of records with his compositions reached 50 million, and this is only at the peak of popularity.
The creative path of the artist
From the 1st grade, little Yura attended classes at general education and music schools. The love of music entered his heart along with the warm atmosphere of family evenings.
When my mother sang songs from the Ukrainian repertoire, my always stern father was transformed.
The beginning of a musical career began at the age of 14, when Antonov was offered to lead the choir of railway workers. The boy responsibly approached his work and soon pleased his parents with the first official salary.
After school, Yuri entered the music school at the department of folk instruments. His family then lived in Molodechno, and the guy wanted to spend some more time with his parents.
Based on his experience as a leader of a choral ensemble, the student organized a pop orchestra on the basis of the local House of Culture.
Yuri Antonov teacher
After graduation, Antonov was sent to teach at a music school for children. He moved to Minsk. But the teaching orientation did not interest the young performer.
Yuri tried not to miss any opportunities and strove for change.
So the guy got the position of soloist-instrumentalist at the Belarusian State Philharmonic. Service in the army was supposed to stop his creative activity, but Yuri Antonov turned out to be not such a person.
The guy organized an amateur ensemble of craftsmen to play the accordion, drums, trumpet, guitar / The guys performed at various army meetings and visited a military hospital.
After the army, Yuri, like never before, took up a stormy creative activity. He was invited by Viktor Vuyachich to a leadership position in his Tonika ensemble.
Antonov showed himself as an arranger, and even took part in the filming of the film "Why shouldn't we sing." The bass player of the ensemble showed Yuri his poems. In a creative tandem, the first composed compositions appeared.
Artist in the group Singing guitars
During the tour of the ensemble "Tonika" in Donetsk, the young performer was noticed by the VIA "Singing Guitars" - the "Beatles" of the Soviet stage.
Yuri became a keyboard player in a popular band and moved to Leningrad. Here he first appeared on stage as a vocalist.
Star Rising
In the early 1970s, the Russian stage was going through a period of stagnation, when suddenly the Singing Guitars group took the stage with a new composition, “You Are Not More Beautiful”.
The whole country knew this hit by heart. For the first time, the name of Yuri Antonov was next to the prefix composer.
In Antonov's memoirs, this period is associated with a tough struggle and a creative "breakthrough". To be recognized, it was necessary to become a member of the Union of Composers of the USSR.
At that time, this niche was occupied by 65-year-old old men, and there was no place for young talent among them. But this did not stop Antonov. Yuri scrupulously worked on each composition, tried to achieve harmony not only in music, but also in words.
The search for his creative "I" led to cooperation with many musical groups. He performed with the group "Good fellows", played in the theater "Sovremennik".
Already in 1973, Soviet listeners were able to enjoy the first author's record of Yuri Antonov. The performer was able to convey the spirit of the era, reflect the experiences familiar to every person, so he soon gained popularity.
Recording full-length records required a significant amount of bureaucratic regulation, so work on the album was very slow.
Antonov was able to outsmart the system by releasing a series of EPs (as small records were called) with 1-2 songs.
Songs written by Yuri Antonov were performed by popular musical groups and solo artists. The compositions “Believe in a Dream”, “If You Love”, “Red Summer” sounded in every apartment, on every avenue.
Despite the recognition of a million-strong audience and unsurpassed talent, Antonov could not record a full-fledged disc and get on television, because he was not accepted into the Union of Composers.
In the 1980s, close creative cooperation began with the rock group Araks. The performers gave the world such hits as: "A dream comes true", "The roof of your house", "The Golden Staircase".
Antonov himself presented the audience with a hit, which is still popular today. The composition "I Remember" is better known to listeners under the working title "Flying Walk".
Antonov's first full-length album was released in Yugoslavia.
Interesting facts about the artist
- Antonov collaborated with film studios, wrote music and songs for films, performed many compositions himself.
- In collaboration with Mikhail Plyatskovsky, he composed many songs for a children's audience.
- He worked on the basis of Finnish recording studios, released the English-language composition My Favorite Songs.
- In order to adequately reward Antonov for his creative activity, the Living Legend nomination was created especially for him.
- Yuri is a laureate of the Ovation award, which has an all-Russian significance.
- He received many honorary orders, including "For Services to the Fatherland" IV degree.
