Bolshoi Don Cossack

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The Bolshoi Don Kosaken are an Austrian male choir that was founded by Petja Houdjakov in 1981 and is still directed by him today. They are the only male choir in the world that consists solely of opera soloists. The repertoire includes Russian folk songs and sacred chants. At large concerts, the choir is also accompanied by dancers. The approximately 50 choir members are all of Russian descent and almost exclusively live in the West. Only a few come from various Russian cities such as Moscow, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg or Samara, as well as Bulgaria.

history

The predecessor choir of the Bolshoi Don Kosaken is the Don Kosaken von Rostov choir, which was founded in 1979 by Petya Houdjakov in Berlin after the Don Kosaken Chor Serge Jaroff was closed due to illness of the director. Houdjakov was a young musician at the time and was asked by the Collin agency to take over the concerts that had already been booked. The original composition consisted of some takeovers of the Don Cossack choir Serge Jaroff (such as Michael Minsky, Wanja Hlipka, Bogumil Manov, Sadko Krastev, Igor Bleicher, Igor Ostopovic and others) as well as newcomers that Houdjakov brought together from various opera houses. The Don Kosaken von Rostov gave the first concert in the International Congress Center (ICC) in Berlin. Just two years later, in 1981, the Bolshoi Don Kosaken, as they called themselves from then on, emerged.

The choir has been based in Austria since 1984, from where the tours to Germany, Switzerland and other European countries start. During this time the members live in the so-called "Cossack House" of Petja Houdjakov and Valerie Houdjakov (singer, pianist and manager of the choir) in Strasshof in Lower Austria on the northern railway. The long-serving choir member is currently Ljubomir Diakovsky (lyric tenor), who has been with us since 1986.

management

The musical and artistic direction has been from Petja Houdjakov since it was founded . The first conductor is Ivan Schalliev, who has been setting the pace since 1988. Born in Bulgaria, he was awarded the first prize, the diploma for good interpretation of modern choral scores, among choir conductors from all over the world in Italy in 1987. Schalliev is famous for his physical effort in conducting, with which he provokes singers to perform at their best. The second conductor is Viatcheslav Prutskikh, who is also the choir's extraordinary basso profondo. Repertoire, Russian songs - from tradition to modernity

Appearance

The Bolshoi Don Cossacks appear at their concerts and performances exclusively in traditional Russian Cossack uniforms, which are made up for the stage, right down to the dummy cartridges. The red scarf for the solemn uniforms used to be made of leather for the mounted Cossacks and served as a lasso or as protection from the sand. Further uniforms consist of dark trousers and colorful Cossack shirts, in which the happier pieces are then presented.

Discography (selection)

The CDs of the Bolshoi Don Kosaken are recorded exclusively with the original singers. Live recordings and studio recordings are often mixed.

  • Bolshoi Don Cossack . CD. Concert. Lera-21091942-1
  • Bolshoi Don Cossack . CD. Popular songs live. Lera-21091942-2
  • Bolshoi Don Cossack . CD. Millennium 1/2. Lera-095255-1 / 2
  • Bolshoi Don Cossack. DVD. History 1984-2013. (2014)

Honors

On behalf of the Bolshoi Don Cossacks, choir director Petja Houdjakov has already received several awards:

  • 2019 Pushkin Medal for Prof. Petja Houdjakov
  • 2018 Medal of the Cossack Community of St. Petersburg
  • 2014 Culture Prize from the market town of Strasshof an der Nordbahn
  • 2014 Cross of Honor for Science and Art
  • 2012 Gold Medal for Services to the Federal State of Lower Austria
  • 2007 Russian medal "Peter the Great" (2nd degree)
  • 2007 Russian Gold Medal "Services to Culture"
  • 2005 Gold Medal of Merit of the Federal State of Burgenland for cultural merit
  • 2001 Appreciation for Services to Russian Culture Abroad
  • 2001 Awarded the professional title "Professor"
  • 2000 plaque from the Humboldt University for cultural merit in Berlin
  • 1996 gold record from EMI Austria
  • 1994 Gold Medal of Merit of the State of Vienna for cultural merit

literature

Valeriy Sandler: Mother Tongue in Foreign Land . Design and publishing by papyrus opus 2015, ISBN 978-1-329-13934-3 .

Irina Muskina: The Russians in Austria . Publishing house Rus. Journal, published in Vienna 2009.

Boris Izmailov: With love for Russia . LESARart Publishing House, Moscow 2007

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ About us. Retrieved October 22, 2018 .