Singer Mondrus Larisa: biography, personal life, photo

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

On November 15, 1945, the future star of the first magnitude of the Soviet pop song, Mondrus Larisa Izrailevna, was born.

She shone in the sky of the lyrical song of our country from the beginning of the sixties until the seventies of the 20th century. The creative biography of the singer is a vivid example of endless love for music and song.

Riga sunrises

Often Larisa Mondrus says that her life is divided into three parts. Indeed, if we compare life with a river, then for the singer it consists of three sources, or, more precisely, is divided into three "arms".

The river started in Kazakhstan and then rushed to Riga…

Larisa Mondrus was born in evacuation, in Dzhambul, then the family moved permanently to Riga. There Larisa graduated from school, first the Latvian general education, then the music school. In her youth, in addition to school, she received an excellent education at home and, in addition to the main languages, she was fluent in Polish, French, Italian, and English.

After graduating from a music school in 1962, graduate Larisa Mondrus becomes a soloist of the then populartime in the USSR of the Riga Variety Orchestra. It is here that she meets her future husband - conductor, arranger, composer Egil Schwartz, a creative union with whom becomes a union forever.

In the biography of Larisa Mondrus, personal life is a vivid example of love and commonwe alth of talents.

Jazz Interpretations or New Origins

In the early sixties, the stage in Riga was under the influence of new styles and currents of Western music: symphonic-jazz orchestras by Miller, James. Larisa Mondrus had a unique talent as a singer and received two invitations at once: to the team of Oleg Lundstrem and to Eddie Rozner

The singer, after consulting with her husband, chose the Rosner Orchestra, which at that time experimented a lot in music and was known in the country as the leader of one of the most popular bands in the country - REO. Rosner himself has been called the "white Armstrong" for his incredible jazz compositions.

They are moving to Moscow - Egil Schwartz and Larisa Mondrus. The personal life in Moscow of the family began very difficult, the couple lived in rented apartments, and it was impossible to get a residence permit. Rosner could not help in this regard.

Then Larisa Mondrus had to go to work at the Moscow Music Hall. The head of the theater arranged a residence permit and a room for the family, turning to the Minister of Culture Furtseva. With the "Music Hall" the singer began to travel abroad: to Poland, Czechoslovakia. Everywhere there was an extraordinary success, an invitation with concerts on tourto the GDR and other European countries.

Unlike everyday life, the creative biography of Larisa Mondrus developed brilliantly and stellarly.

Hits, but not hits

In the capital, she was noticed immediately, and a dizzying career on television began for Larisa.

A beautiful and fashionable European singer with an amazingly beautiful voice timbre was in demand in many programs. This is "Zucchini 13 Chairs" and "Prospect of Youth", but the most important thing is the extraordinary popularity of the program of that time - the New Year's "Blue Light".

In the song biography of Larisa Mondrus, the first hits appeared: "Is it really for me alone" (G. Portnov - Y. Printsev), "Moonlight" by E. Rozner and, of course, sounds from everywhere performed by Larisa super-hit song "Blue Flax" to the music of Raymond Pauls.

The singer's voice is on the air of such popular radio stations as "Mayak" and "Youth", she is filmed in the movie "Give me a book of complaints".

The stars chose her

Starting from 1964, fate smiles at Larisa Mondrus, the biography of the singer is inextricably linked with the television of the USSR. But, according to the actress herself, the most memorable and exciting moment in her life was the "Blue Light" on January 1, 1966.

She was lucky to not only perform new songs on this spark, but also to be at the same table with the astronauts: Yuri Gagarin,Pavel Belyaev, Alexei Leonov. Moreover, the script was so twisted that the pop star, according to her role, played the assistant to the leader of the light Tatyana Shmyga, who said: "Comrade cameramen, our assistant Larisa Mondrus is in the frame. Show her somehow better."

And Larisa Mondrus performed "The Stars Are Waiting for Us", and Gagarin himself filmed it with his home movie camera. At the same time, the singer brilliantly sang E. Schwartz's charming twist-foxtrot "My dear dreamer", to which she danced with the hero-cosmonaut Leonov.

And the Rosconcert advised…

Change repertoire. Despite the fact that the songs of Larisa Mondrus were extremely popular, some officials from the Rosconcert, where the singer worked after 1964, advised her to change her repertoire.

But she has always remained true to herself and her music. For the program of the next festive "Blue Light" in a duet with Muslim Magomayev, the first game video clip "Birds Talk" in the history of our television was recorded, where Larisa and Muslim played lovers according to the plot. The result was an unusually romantic and lyrical song with beautiful "not in Soviet" singers, who were adored by the audience.

She was more and more strongly advised to sing patriotic songs of a civil orientation, and wear longer dresses. You never know, they say, whoever has something in their wardrobe, they don’t wear it. Be more modest, you see, and the title on merit will burn out.

Of course, Larisa Mondrus had to sing patriotic songs, because she did not live in isolation, sometimes from her performancesdepended on the fate of close people of the singer.

But she managed to charge even the most ideological songs with optimism and lyricism, and the "cosmic" voice was perceived as an amazing musical instrument, the sound of which made you forget about the lyrics and ideological background.

The emigration of Larisa Mondrus, the biography and personal life of the singer changes course again

Probably, looking at the modern Russian stage, it is difficult to imagine what efforts and courage were sometimes required from the actors in order to remain themselves on stage, maintain their unique style, sing their repertoire.

And in the early seventies, Soviet television gave a sharp tilt to the ideology. Serious male baritones were in demand on the stage, there was no time for "singers", because the ideological struggle flared up with renewed vigor.

Larisa Mondrus was completely excluded from participation in television programs. Consigned to oblivion in life.

The last straw for the singer was the ban on the performance of the song "Leaf Fall", she seemed pessimistic to someone:

Wind leaves from birches

Cuts off tirelessly.

I'll tell you everything

As then in the spring.

How love you go

A narrow path, Like a path back

Come back to me.

Unclaimed, unnecessary former stars were forced to emigrate abroad. Larisa Mondrus and her husband Egil Schwartz received permission to leave the USSR in 1973. They chose Germany for later life.

But the songs performed by her "Good afternoon", "A deer ran through the city" from the fairy tale movie continue to sound now.

The shining star cannot be stopped

On foreign shores they had to start from scratch. In addition to the ten giant discs that Larisa Mondrus released and touring around the world, a long-awaited child was born in the family.

In 1977, the Stars of the Scene 1977 (Star szene 1977) reference book was published in the West, in which the name of Larisa Mondrus is inscribed along with Demis Roussos, Ella Fitzgerald.

In 1982, after the birth of her son Lauren, the singer left the stage and career. Together with her husband, she opened a shoe store in Munich and went into business.

Their son also showed great promise as a musician, but chose science. Now he is a doctor of technical sciences, teaching at the Technical University of Munich. Lauren is married and has two twin children: Laura and Emil.

In the photo: today's Larisa Mondrus, the biography and personal life of the actress are reflected in her achievements.

Despite the fact that songs performed by Larisa Mondrus disappeared from the television broadcast and from magnetic media, listeners and viewers did not forget her.

Yes, and how can one forget those happy moments that the singer gave to admirers and admirers of talent.

In 2001, Larisa Mondrus visited Moscow and took part in television programs, spoke on the radio. And in 2005 - at the New Wave festival in Jurmala.

On the birthday of the singer, 15November, all fans wished Larisa Mondrus he alth, songs, family well-being and happiness.

At the end of our story - the song "Ancient Words" from the movie "Smile to Your Neighbor".