Mikhail Sakharovich Schufutinsky

Mikhail Sakharovich Schufutinski ( Russian Михаил Захарович Шуфутинский ; born April 13, 1948 in Moscow ) is a Russian chanson singer and entertainer . Schufutinski, who moved to the USA in the 1980s and is a US citizen , is considered one of the most outstanding and high-profile interpreters of contemporary Russian chanson .

biography

Schufutinski grew up in a Jewish family . His father worked as a dentist. His mother died when he was five. The grandparents took care of the rest of the upbringing. At the age of seven, the first musical interests showed. However, his music teacher advised him to put the accordion , which had a reputation for being a commoner, aside because the state music academies lacked the necessary instruments. Schufutinsky turned to the piano , began to play jazz and became a member of his first professional band - an orchestra of the Bajan Music School.

During his music studies, Mikhail Schufutinsky continued to play in various formations, preferably in entertainment orchestras in large restaurants. In the choir of the music college he worked together with the later singer and composer Alla Pugacheva , who was committed to a renewal of Soviet popular music in the 1970s and 1980s . Richard Nixon's visit to Moscow in 1971 caused a rather involuntary change of residence . The KGB suddenly asked the coffeehouse musician, who was considered unreliable, to leave the city. Mikhail Schufutinsky moved to the Far East for three years - to Magadan Oblast on the Pacific coast. Appearances in bars continued to be the focus; What was new was that Schufutinski tried his hand at singing for the first time. The program consisted of songs by Alexander Wertinsky and Pyotr Leschtschenko ; In addition, there were popular Russian chansons such as Murka and Bublitschki , well-known hits and other repertoire. Named after the Ataman restaurant , Schufutinski finally founded his first band.

The rest of the 1970s was mixed for the entertainer. On the one hand, he made a living as an entertainer. Despite its closeness to the VIA , a cultural line established by the system that tried to integrate pop and rock more strongly, there were always professional or artistic restrictions. In 1981 he and his family were given permission to travel to Israel . The family emigrated to the USA via Vienna and Italy . New places of residence were New York and Los Angeles - decisions that were also based on professional considerations. Schufutinski's assessment was that as a professional singer he only had a chance to continue his career with Russian titles . By the time the Iron Curtain fell , around ten CDs had been released; there were also tours in the USA and Canada .

After the opening of the former Soviet Union, the previous restrictions fell away. In order to test his popularity with the Russian public, he accepted an invitation to a major tour in 1990, during which he completed 25 major events in stadiums. In 1998 an autobiography was published with the English title And so, I'm standing on the way… By the end of 2010, Michail Schufutinski had released over two dozen albums; There is also a similar number of compilations, best-of compilations and themed albums - including one for the legendary Gaunerchanson interpreter Alexander Rosenbaum . He also worked with various interpreters and producers such as Susanna Tepper , Igor Krutoi and the pop singer Irina Allegrowa .

The singer has meanwhile moved the center of his life back to Russia. According to his own statement, he is spending ten months in Russia; the remaining two of the year he spends “relaxing” in the USA. In his private life, Schufutinski is considered a very familiar person - a quality that is not only documented by numerous interviews, but also by articles on his homepage and other websites with anecdotes and family photos.

music

Although Michail Schufutinski cultivates the image of the classical music entertainer in terms of appearance and habitus, he received attention beyond Russia mainly because of his chanson interpretations. On the one hand, Schufutinski covers a very broad genre spectrum that extends into pop and jazz. As an innovator and modernizer, however, he is primarily considered to be in relation to the blatnye pesni, the Russian chanson - a special song tradition that also addresses topics such as crime , camp detention , alcoholism and prostitution and, despite its continued popularity in the official discourse, is not undisputed. Unlike the equally popular Blat singer Michail Gulko , Schufutinski does not stage the habitus of the simple artist from the people, but presents himself as a cosmopolitan entertainer with an international touch - comparable to Western European singers like Paolo Conte or Gilbert Bécaud . He justified his style openness in an interview with the succinct sentence that there are no bad genres, but only bad performers.

Publications

Studio albums

• 1982: Pobeg
• 1983: Ataman
• 1984: Gulliver
• 1984: Ataman 2 (not published in the USSR)
• 1985: Amnistija
• 1986: Ataman 3
• 1987: Bely aist
• 1988: Net problem
• 1989: Ty u menja jedinstwennaja (with Susanna Tepper)
• 1990: Podmoskownyje wetschera (Moscow Nights)
• 1991: Moja schisn
• 1992: Tichi Don
• 1993: Kissa kissa
• 1994: Guljai, duscha
• 1995: O, Shenschiny
• 1996: Dobry wetscher, gospoda
• 1998: Odnaschdy w Amerike (with Igor Krutoi)
• 1999: Nu i radi Boga
• 2001: Yes rodilsja w Moskwe
• 2002: Nakolotschka
• 2003: Bum-Bum
• 2004: Popolam (with Irina Allegrowa)
• 2005: Solo
• 2006: Duety rasnych let
• 2007: Moskva-Vladivostok
• 2009: Brato
• 2010: Duety rasnych let 2
• 2013: Love Story

Compilations

• 1991: Michail Schufutinski w Moskwe
• 1994: Swesdy russkoi emigrazii poiut (with Ilja Resnik)
• 1994: Lyubov, pochoschaja na son (with Igor Krutoi)
• 1994: Spassibo, Sascha Rosenbaum!
• 1995: Russkije swjosdy Nju-Jorka
• 1997: Pomoschem drug drugu rasslabitsja (with Alexander Morosow)
• 2000: Schanson
• 2001: Best
• 2002: Naliwai, pogoworim
• 2002: Swetschi
• 2003: Grand Collection (2 CD)
• 2003: Pobesseduijem sa schisn
• 2004: Serija / Nastrojenije schanson
• 2004: Yes pojedu na jug
• 2008: The Best
• 2008: Solotoi albom
• 2008: Mosty (with Alexander Morosow)

Books

• 1997: Michail Schufutinski: I wot stoiu ja u tscherty (Trijen, ISBN 5-7961-0013-0 )
• 2004: Lutschije / Michail Schufutinski: Teksty i akkordy ISBN 985-13-2098-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Sudba i pesnja Michaila Schufutinskowo , Leonid Shkolnik, The Jewish Journal, July 13, 2007 (Russian)
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Biography of Michail Schufutinski ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 5koncertov.ru (theater and concert agency website), accessed on July 26, 2011 (Russian) 
3. ↑ "Is-sa wnutschki ja natschal nowuju schisn" ("Because of the grandchildren I started a new life") , website of Mikhail Schufutinki, accessed on July 26, 2011 (Russian)
4. ↑ Michail Schufutinski's family album, shansonprofi.ru (music website), accessed on July 26, 2011 (Russian)
5. ↑ Michail Sacharowitsch Schufutinski , Nikolai Fandejew Nasad, eternaltown.com (media website), accessed on July 26, 2011 (Russian)

Web links

• Official website of Michail Schufutinski (russ.)
• Website of the concert agency 5konceertov with a detailed biography article (Russian)
• Sudba i pesnja Michaila Schufutinskowo . Biographical article from The Jewish Journal (russ.)
• Mikhail Sakharovich Schufutinsky . Biography article plus interview on the joint album with Irina Allegrowa (russ.)
• Half of Russia hears crook songs . Article by Karsten Packeiser in Russia News , January 25, 2005
• Shanson Remains an Enormously Popular Music Style in Russia (PDF; 2.5 MB) . Article by Rosemary Griffin as the new Russian Chanson boom in Russiaprofile / Summer 2011 (Engl.)