If you ask contemporaries what songs from the repertoire of "Pesnyarov" 70-80-ies. he was remembered most of all, "Belarus", "Alexandrina", "Birch sap" will be surely called. The hero of the article is the soloist Leonid Bortkevich, who made these compositions so beloved by the people. Not having a higher musical education, he once conquered V. Mulyavin with his voice, whose work continues to this day.
The beginning of the biography
An outstanding musician will turn 68 on May 25. He was born in 1949 in the capital of Belarus. His father died early, so his mother, an accountant by profession, was engaged in upbringing. She gave her son to a music school, where he mastered the trumpet, striking teachers with an absolute ear. Leonid Bortkevich, whose biography is considered in the proposed article, besides everything, had a wonderful timbre of voice and was very fond of singing.
He was gladly taken by the soloist of the children's choir at the Minsk Palace of Pioneers, and then the Conservatory. But at the end of school, the young man went to study at a technical school as an architect and began working in his specialty. With his participation, the cinema "October" was designed.
In parallel, Leonid Bortkevich performed in amateur VIA under the name Golden Apples. It was there that V. Mulyavin noticed him, inviting him to audition and influencing his entire future fate. Having sung in unison with the band’s soloists, a couple of days later the Belarusian nugget went on tour to Moscow. During the night V. Mulyavin wrote for him "Alexandrina", which touched the hearts of the audience. It was the year 1970.
Star period
The team traveled all over the Soviet Union, lingering in each city for several days until the moment when everyone would visit their concert. The success was overwhelming.
The ensemble received many awards of various festivals, which made Bortkevich a distinguished artist of the BSSR in 1979. And before that there was a tour in the USA, where they got after the Cannes Music Fair (1976). At that time, VIA released 45 million records. For comparison: Alla Pugacheva - only 20 million.
At the invitation of the American side, Pesnyary performed in 15 states, giving 145 concerts. Their performances were called tabloids "the invasion of Russian rock", which testified to the tremendous success. The team was offered a world tour, which Leonid Bortkevich was never able to go to. "Pesnyary", however, too. During the Cold War, L. Brezhnev opposed this.
In 1980, the ensemble lead singer entered GITIS. Choosing between tours and education, Bortkevich preferred the latter. Then he performed as part of the Malva ensemble. And after 9 years with his second wife, an outstanding athlete Olga Korbut, he left for the United States.
Return to the team
After 10 years, V. Mulyavin came to visit them for a month. In "Songs" there were problems with the soloists. Someone took up an individual career, and someone died. The team leader invited Bortkevich to take part in the Golden Hit. And one conversation turned the musician's whole life. Leonid Bortkevich not only traveled to his homeland for a speech, he returned to VIA again, leaving his family after 20 years of marriage.
In 2003, Mulyavin died in an accident, after which the lead soloist hoped that he would be invited to lead the musical group. But the Ministry of Culture decided differently by betting on Valery Storozhonka. Part of the group rallied around Bortkevich, who created an alternative VIA.
The ensemble broke up in 2008. But a year later, together with the soloist A. Kasheparov, who became famous for his performance of Vologda, and Oleg Molchan, the composer, Leonid Leonidovich Bortkevich creates new “Songs” that strive to preserve the traditions of the Mulyavinsky collective.
In 2017, VIA celebrated a half-century anniversary. He continues to tour actively, having his audience of listeners.
