Jelena Vladimirovna Vaenga

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Jelena Vladimirovna Wajenga (Russian: Елена Владимировна Ваенга : internationally used transcribing ; Elena Vaenga real name: Elena Vladimirovna Chruljowa :, Russian Хрулёва *; 27 January 1977 in Severomorsk ) is a Russian pop singer , songwriter and actress . Their musical spectrum ranges from ballads and Russian neo- estrada to chansons and folklore . In Russia she has been one of the most famous singers for several years. Due to her popularity and media presence, some media compared her to the 1970s hit icon Alla Pugacheva .

life and career

Jelena Wajenga (2017)

Vajenga was born in the military hospital of the Soviet Northern Fleet base Severomorsk - a closed town on the Kola peninsula  near Murmansk , which is characterized by its special military status. Her parents were employed at a shipyard that worked for the Soviet nuclear submarine fleet . Her father was an engineer , her mother a chemist . The family in the broader sense is shaped by military traditions and the events of World War II . Her grandmother had seen the blockade of Leningrad . Her grandfather was in the air defense and took part in the fighting for Oranienbaum in 1945 . In an interview, the singer characterized the family atmosphere as both harmonious and career-promoting: when it came to musical issues, for example, her parents were always her strongest critics.

Wajenga received a classical music education early on. Favorite instruments were guitar and piano . At the age of nine, Jelena Wajenga took part in an all-union composer competition on the Kola Peninsula. In addition to music , acting turned out to be an additional career desire. After graduating from high school , she went to the Rimsky-Korsakov Music School in Saint Petersburg . As a graduate of the local music class, she worked, among other things, as a qualified music teacher . She also enrolled as an acting student at the Academy of Performing Arts (Theater Academica; LGITIMIK). Before completing her theater training, however, she moved to Moscow . There she recorded an album in 2001 , which, however, was not released. Only the one-piece video clip was put on the market . Her stage name Vajenga is an earlier name of her hometown Severomorsk.

Wajenga's stay in Moscow lasted a year. She then returned to Saint Petersburg - a city to which she felt a strong connection due to her large group of friends based there. There she took acting roles and performed at local festivals. The breakthrough came in 2005 with the album Belaja ptiza , which contains several of their well-known pieces such as Aeroport and Taiga . The two follow-up albums - Schopen (2006) and Absent (2007) - also advanced to become successful albums. Likewise, individual single releases. Kurju was awarded a gold record in 2009, Aeroport a year later. On January 7, 2011, Jelena Wajenga gave a concert in the Kremlin , which was broadcast by Kanal 1 on Russian television. In 2011 the singer performed around 150 concerts - including in the USA , Germany and Israel .

From a commercial point of view, Jelena Wajenga is one of the top acts of Russian pop and estrada music. In 2011, the business magazine Forbes listed them as the 9th highest-earning artist in Russia - with annual sales of over 6 million US dollars. In 2012 Wajenga completed other appearances, including a tour of Germany with appearances in Hanover , Berlin , Hamburg , Mannheim , Frankfurt am Main , Cologne , Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe . Due to a vocal cord failure , she had to interrupt her performance series in 2012. After her recovery in November, she continued her performance program. In 2013 there were further concerts, including in the western Ukrainian city ​​of Lviv (Lemberg). In spring 2014, the singer performed again in several German cities.

From 1995 to 2012 Jelena Wajenga was married to the music producer Iwan Iwanowitsch Matwijenko. She gave birth to a son on August 10, 2012.

Controversy

In addition to her music, Jelena Wajenga also attracted attention through statements on socially and politically controversial topics. On the occasion of a satirical exhibition on drugs among the Russian public in 2008 in Saint Petersburg, she took a caricature from the wall and tore it up in front of the camera. In 2012 she actively supported the presidential candidacy of Vladimir Putin .

Just like the singer Valerija , the singers Oleg Gasmanow and Iossif Kobson as well as other Russian cultural celebrities , Jelena Wajenga also criticized the controversial action of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral . In the guest book of her website, Wajenga took a position with strongly polemical words. According to Wajenga, she is not Jesus Christ , who can “forgive everything and everyone” . In addition, she feels vilified as a believing Christian . She commented on the sentencing of three group members to several years' imprisonment with the succinct words: "I personally drink to the health of the judges who have sentenced them."

Music and media coverage

Musically, Jelena Waenga covers a broad spectrum. Western pop influences can be found in it as well as classic Estada and popular folklore elements. The singer's repertoire ranges from piano-focused, slow ballads (Schopen, Sneg) to lively, successful pop hits such as the hit numbers Aeroport, Absento and the hit single Kurju , which is backed by a mambo rhythm . In addition there are atmospheric sing-along pieces such as Taiga, a song about the beauty of the Russian landscape, Belaja ptiza, Olowjannoje serdze or Ja sabywaju ljubimowo.

Traditional repertoire is also strongly represented in Jelena Wajenga's program. On the occasion of a performance together with the Red Army Choir , she sang classics such as the world war anthem The Holy War or the piece Kubanskiye kazaki - a well-known song from the film Cossacks of the Kuban from 1948. Live she favors appearances on the big stage and opulent orchestral accompaniment - Events to which she often invites artist friends. Media such as Komsomolskaya Pravda describe her as one of the most popular Russian vocal interpreters at the moment. Jelena Wajenga has also been regularly compared with the Russian pop music icon Alla Pugatschowa - by the Soviet- Latvian composer Raimonds Pauls , among others . Other commentators prefer comparisons with other artists to characterize Wajenga - for example the chanson singer Grigori Leps or the band leader and singer-songwriter Semfira .

Their live presence and contact with the audience are often highlighted as positive factors. The daily newspaper Frankfurter Neue Presse stated on the occasion of her Germany tour in 2012 that she had meanwhile reached the top of the stairs to success. Compared to the German light music market, she takes on a role similar to Mireille Mathieu , Caterina Valente or Gitte Hænning . Wajenga's live performance characterized the contribution with the following words: "(...) She enters the stage in a festive evening dress and accurately coiffed and immediately has everyone's attention and sympathy when she sings in Russian about topics that move many: feelings, love , Solidarity among the people. Vaenga is accompanied by an opulent band, the sound of which is based very much on western light music. Musically the dignified Entertainment between schlager-like melodies Chanson-Esprit and sometimes folk-ethnic motives. "

Discography

Albums

  • 2003 - Portret ( Портрет )
  • 2003 - Fleita 1 ( Флейта 1 )
  • 2005 - Fleita 2 ( Флейта 2 )
  • 2005 - Belaya ptitsa ( Белая птица )
  • 2006 - Schopen ( Шопен )
  • 2007 - Absent ( Абсент )
  • 2007 - Djuny ( Дюны )
  • 2008 - Klawischi ( Клавиши )
  • 2012 - Lena ( Лена )

DVDs

  • 2007 - Concert in Den Roshdenija ( Концерт в День Рождения )
  • 2008 - Ledjanoje serdze ( Ледяное сердце )
  • 2009 - Schelaju solnza ( Желаю солнца )
  • 2009 - Ledjanoje serdze 2 ( Ледяное сердце 2 )
  • 2011 - Belaya ptitsa ( Белая птица )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c world travelers of music ( memento from April 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Joachim Schreiner, Frankfurter Neue Presse, April 4, 2012
  2. ↑ a b Elena Vaenga napisala pervuju muzyku v devjat 'let , Yppress.ru, October 22, 2009 (Russian)
  3. ↑ a b Elena Vaenga Concert , Lviv Today, September 2013 (Engl.)
  4. ↑ 50 zvezd - 2011 , Forbes, July 25, 2011 (Russian)
  5. ↑ Elena Vaenga: Live in concert , concert announcement Friedmann Agency, accessed on April 25, 2014
  6. ↑ Russian singer , lydiahelpling, blog of the city library, Bergheim, March 1, 2012
  7. ↑ Putin Goes to Church , Cathy Young, reason.com, January 2013 (Eng.)
  8. ↑ Russia: Diva Politics Over Pussy Riot , Yulia Lukashina, Global Voices Online, August 25, 2012 (Eng.)
  9. ↑ Russia: Pussy Riot Doomed by its own Supporters? , Andrey Tselikov, Global Voices Online, August 8, 2012
  10. ↑ Western media concealing facts about female rock band's desecration of Russian cathedral ( Memento from April 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Katherine, Soda Head, August 10, 2012 (Eng.)
  11. ↑ Elena Vaenga: "Kollektivu spirtnoe ne predlagat '!" , Komsomolskaja Prawda, October 13, 2011 (Russian)
  12. ↑ Elena Vaenga , online event magazine Live Riga, January 17, 2012
  13. ↑ O concert Eleny Vaengi , Sergej Gorkew, proza.ru, November 2010 (Russian)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vajenga, Jelena Vladimirovna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vaenga, Elena; Ваенга, Елена Владимировна (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION important Russian Estrada and pop singer
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH Severomorsk , Soviet Union