Mikhail Turkish: biography, personal life, family, songs and photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Mikhail Turetsky is a popular domestic musician and performer. He is best known as a producer and founder of an art group called Turetsky Choir. In 2010 he received the title of People's Artist of Russia.

Childhood and youth

Mikhail Turetsky was born in Moscow in 1962. In the family, he was the second child, and unwanted, at least for his father. Boris Borisovich Epshtein, that was the name of the father of the hero of our article, in every possible way dissuaded his wife from having a second child. There were a lot of reasons: hard times, elderly parents, painful first-born Alexander, with whom there were always a lot of problems.

Today we can only be grateful to the musician's mother for insisting on her own. On April 12, Bella Semyonovna gave birth to a boy, Misha. Interestingly, Turkish is not his pseudonym at all, but the surname of his mother, which he took to perform on stage.

Mikhail Turetsky's nationality is Jewish. This created certain problems when he was growing up, but in his childhood no one paid attention to it. Misha's parents constantly disappeared at work in order to earn money for the maintenance of two sons. Therefore, the mainthe responsibility for his upbringing fell on the shoulders of his older brother Alexander, who was 15 years older. Of course, such an occupation was a burden for him, so he often left the child next to the radio or TV turned on, and he went for a walk.

Creative inclinations

Apparently, this played a certain positive role in the biography of Mikhail Turetsky. When the parents found out about such an upbringing, they did not even begin to punish Alexander, because they noticed that little Misha constantly sang along to the songs that sounded on the air. And he does it well, demonstrating good inclinations. The main hit at that time was the song "Lilac fog".

Mikhail Turetsky's father worked as a foreman, and his mother was a kindergarten teacher. There was always little money in the family, but over time they managed to save up for an additional room in a communal apartment near the Belorusskaya metro station, where they all lived. There was even money left over for an old piano.

A musical instrument was purchased so that Misha could study at home with a guest music tutor, honing his talent. However, the teacher was not as optimistic as the parents. About six months later, she said that there was no point in studying further, because the child had absolutely no hearing.

This upset the parents, but persistent Mikhail Turetsky convinced him to give him another chance. He entered a music school, started learning to play the flute because it was the cheapest.

Education

BIn 1973, an important event took place, which cannot be ignored in the biography of Mikhail Turetsky. He met his father's cousin, who turned out to be the world famous conductor and violist Rudolf Barshai. Hearing that Misha goes to a music school and also tries to sing, Rudolf asked him to perform something. The boy's vocal abilities sincerely delighted him, and soon he was able to enroll him in the prestigious Sveshnikov Choral School. It was possible to do this only by pull.

Becoming a graduate of this educational institution, Mikhail Turetsky, whose photo is in this article, enters the Gnessin Academy of Music. He graduated with honors in 1985. By this time, there had already been big changes in the personal life of Mikhail Turetsky: he got a wife and daughter, but more on that later. The musician also grew professionally, having managed to participate in several major performances under the direction of Sherling and Mravinsky.

Professional career

Michael decided not to say goodbye to the Gnessin Academy of Music right away, but to study at the graduate school as well. The practice had to take place at rehearsals of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Philharmonic of St. Petersburg, as well as at the Theater of Musical Art, famous at that time.

Money for life was constantly lacking. Therefore, in his free time, he worked part-time, where necessary. He was a loader in a supermarket, a taxi driver at night. The family had to be fed. But even in the most difficult and penniless everyday life, he continued to dream of his own musical project.

In 1987, the first step on this path was taken. Turetsky begins to cooperate with the ensemble and the choir of political songs. Working in this team gave him invaluable experience, and also allowed him to formulate for himself the basic principles of his future team, what it should be like, what goals to follow.

Own project

Turetsky announces the launch of his own project in 1989. Mikhail begins recruiting soloists for the men's choir for the Metropolitan Chorionic Synagogue. Do not forget that Turkish is a Jew, he always adhered to his diaspora.

The idea was truly original. He planned to revive authentic Jewish spiritual music in the vast Soviet Union.

The program was quickly put together and promptly rehearsed. It included Jewish liturgical songs, with which the choir went on tour in Russia and abroad. In particular, they were gladly accepted in Israel, France, Germany, Great Britain.

Tragedy

When Turetsky was on tour in Lithuania, he received terrible news from home. His wife died in a car accident. She crashed in a car on the Moscow-Minsk highway with her brother and father. They were all returning from a relative's birthday party.

After receiving this message, Turetsky's tour was, of course, interrupted. He urgently returns to Moscow. His mother-in-law, Zoya Ivanovna, provides him with all possible assistance, even offering to take custody of her daughter. But Michael refusessuch an option. He decides to raise the child himself, even if he will constantly go on tour with him. Shortly after the funeral, they leave on a contract to America for two whole years.

Format change

After getting acquainted with the cuisine of American show business, Turetsky decides to radically change the format of his team, as well as the entire repertoire. He decides to add more color, spectacle and dynamics to each performance.

It is worth noting that Broadway musicals, which he regularly attended while in America, had a great influence on him in this regard. At the same time, the work of Turetsky himself also deserved high praise. In 1994 and 1995 he was awarded the "Golden Crown of Cantors of the World".

Turkish Chorus

With an updated format, an art group called "Turetsky Choir" returns to Russia in approximately the form in which we all know it today. In 1997, they made a real splash on the domestic stage, occupying a free niche. Popularity comes to them after a joint performance with Iosif Kobzon, who highly appreciated the work of Mikhail himself and his team.

From 1999 to 2002, the team performs in the capital's State Variety Theater with its own performance, known as "Mikhail Turetsky's Vocal Show". In 2002, the hero of our article was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

Finally, the team is formed by 2003. It has ten soloists who perform with a variety of voices - from tenor to bass. Myselfthe repertoire has long gone far beyond the purely Jewish culture. Music critics rate Turetsky's Chorus as a classic crossover.

Already next year, the team manages to gather the largest concert venues in Russia and abroad. These are the Ice Palace, the Olimpiysky sports complex, George Hall, Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall.

In 2005, Mikhail decided to write his own autobiography, in which he details his entire story, how he managed to achieve success, what obstacles were overcome on the way. Tells how the songs of Mikhail Turetsky became popular.

In 2008, it seems that the team is reaching the peak of its popularity. They give a concert in the State Kremlin Palace. They are beginning to be considered one of the most famous and popular artists in the country, but Turetsky does not think to stop there.

Women's team

In 2010 he launches a new project called SOPRANO. In fact, this is the female version of the Turkish Choir. The girls from this team, which are produced by Mikhail himself, are quickly becoming popular. They perform at prestigious festivals.

For example, on "Song of the Year", "Slavianski Bazaar", "New Wave". 2010 is becoming a successful year for Mikhail in the sense that he is awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia and the Order of Honor.

Private life

Mikhail Turetsky built his family in 1984. His chosen oneElena becomes a classmate. In the same year, their daughter Natasha is born. It was Elena who died in an accident along with her brother and father, after which Mikhail left with Natalya on a tour of America.

In the US, his daughter liked it. There she even began performing on stage for the first time. However, her father managed to convince her to try herself in some other field, because he himself already understood what hard work it was. The main argument was that music and vocals would completely deprive the girl of her personal life. She did not dare to do this, as a result she took up the study of law. Now she works as a lawyer in the office of "Turetsky Choir", promptly resolving all emerging issues.

In 2014, she gave her father a grandson Ivan, and in 2016 her daughter Elena was born.

Mikhail Turetsky himself also had children. In 2001, an illegitimate daughter named Isabelle was born, this happened after a short romance with Tatyana Borodovskaya. And in 2002, the hero of our article married a second time. He chose an Armenian woman named Liana as his wife, whom he met during the next tour of America, which was organized by the girl's father.

Even before her marriage to Turetsky, Liana already had a child - daughter Sarina. Despite this, the couple decided to have more children together. In 2005, Emmanuelle was born to them, and four years later, Beata.

Activities in recent years

Mikhail Turetsky is now 56 years old. It's a lot for a musician and vocalist, but he doesn't even think about leaving the stage yet. All his life heshowed himself as a workaholic, recruited the same enthusiasts into his team and does not intend to slow down.

"Turetsky Choir", together with its leader and inspirer, annually gives about two hundred concerts in Russia and abroad. In parallel, artists are actively developing social networks so that fans can watch them literally in real time.

In 2017, several important and significant events took place in Turetsky's life at once. He received the Order of Friendship for the development of culture, and also married his daughter Sarina to Tornik Tsertsvadze. Sarina is Liana's daughter from her first marriage, whom Mikhail himself has long considered practically his own.

At the moment, the Turetsky Choir has already released eight albums. The first was released in 1999 under the name High Holidays, then there were records Bravissimo, Turetsky Choir Presents, When Men Sing, Born to Sing, Moscow - Jerusalem, Music of All Times, The Show Must Go On.

When talking about their work, artists often like to emphasize that during the year they have to take a plane about a hundred times, drive about 120 thousand kilometers by car, and also travel considerable distances by trains and buses. But they all admire and respect their leader a lot.