Each person has his own destiny, and no one knows how much he is destined to live. Unfortunately, some leave this world too early, at the peak of their prime. Among those whose care has become grief not only for family, friends and relatives, but also for millions of fans, Viktor Reznikov occupies a special place.
The cause of the death of this gifted composer and songwriter is an ordinary accident, which might not have happened if the killer driver had behaved appropriately on the road and had not violated the rules of the road.
Father and mother
Victor Mikhailovich Reznikov was born in 1952 in Leningrad. His mother worked as a pediatrician, and then changed her profession, having retrained as a psychiatrist. As for his father, Mikhail Yakovlevich Reznikov was a graduate of the Air Force Academy and served as an engineer in the aviation units deployed in the Far East.
Parents broke up almost immediately after the birth of the boy, and only his mother, Lilia Efremovna, with whom he lived in house number 13/9 on Vladimirsky Avenue, was engaged in his upbringing. Later, the future composer moved with his family to Kupchino.
Childhood
When V. Reznikov was very young, on the street a woman approached his mother who was casting for the feature film “Mother’s Heart”. She said they were looking for a brunette boy for a cameo. Vitya liked the director, and in this picture his debut on the screen took place.
During his years at school, Viktor Reznikov (whose cause of death is a car accident) was fond of football and spent several years in swimming, gymnastics, chess and basketball. Oddly enough, such a large out-of-school load only pleased him, but he categorically refused music lessons, although his mother tried to interest him in playing the violin.
Be that as it may, Viti’s patience was only enough for three months, so he did not receive the appropriate education, which, however, did not hinder his future career as a composer.
Study
After leaving school, Viktor Reznikov (the cause of death, photos in his youth and facts about childhood are presented in the article) entered the Shipbuilding Institute. During the first years of study at the university, he was fond of music and sports, but he soon realized that he was wasting his time in acquiring the profession of an engineer. Having collected the documents, he went to the pedagogical institute to them. A.I. Herzen and in 1975 received a teacher’s diploma in physical education.
The first steps in creativity
The composer Viktor Reznikov, whose cause of death is already known to you, wrote his first song, called “Tramp April”, in 1970. At the same time, he was one of the first in the Soviet Union to start creating music on a computer. The lack of a classic special education did not prevent Viktor Reznikov from becoming a Lenconcert employee in 1978. At the same time he wrote the hit song “Fly Away, A Cloud, ” performed by Alla Pugacheva, a Soviet pop star.
Collaboration with Mikhail Boyarsky
In the mid-80s, Reznikov was at the peak of his creative abilities. Together with Mikhail Boyarsky, they created an unusual family-friendly musical quartet, unusual for the USSR, by including Andrei and Sergey in their sons. This collective became famous with the song "Dinosaurs", which began to sound in all television and radio broadcasts. In the same period, Reznikov resigned from the Lenconcert and began to collaborate with the Leningrad rock band Marathon, and in 1988 he headed the Leningrad branch of Record SPM.
Contest participation
If not for the terrible accident - the cause of the death of Viktor Reznikov, the composer would probably have written many more hits. However, during his short life, he managed a lot. In particular, V. Reznikov in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1999 and 2000 became the laureate of the TV festival “Song of the Year” for the compositions “Soldier”, “House of Cards”, “Ice Cube” and “Phone Book”.
Victor’s songs were performed by such famous singers and VIAs of the Soviet and Russian pop, as Alla Pugacheva, L. Dolina, V. Leontiev, I. Ivanov, I. Otiev, “Songs”, Yaak Yoala, A. Veski, L. Senchin, T. Myagi, S. Rotaru, R. Rymbaev, L. Leshchenko, A. Asadullin, the Beat Quartet “Secret” and others. Many of them were his friends. They took the news of his death heavily, especially since the reason for the death of Viktor Reznikov was that the accident happened unexpectedly when the composer was full of energy and creative plans.
On TV
The young composer participated in many popular Leningrad television broadcasts. Including in the "Draw", "New Year's Maze" and "Musical Ring", in which in 1986 and 1988 he competed with the young Leningrad composer I. Kornelyuk. In addition, he was often invited to music programs on the then Central Television. In particular, he was a frequent guest of Morning Mail and Wider than the Circle. And the musical quartet of Boyarsky and Reznikov and their young sons became a participant in the charity telethon “Renaissance”, which aimed to organize fundraising for the fund of the city of Leningrad.
Fame in the USA
In1988, Reznikov’s song “Brownie” interested American producers. An English text was written for her, and the name was changed to Don't Stop Now. In addition, in June 1990, the joint album with the Americans, Music Speaks Louder Than Words, was released, which also included a song by V. Reznikov performed by The Cover Girls. American producers did a great job of spinning it up, as a result of which she got into the American hit parade of dance music Hot Dance Music, rising to 2nd place.
I must say that for the Soviet songwriter such success in the USA was unprecedented, and V. Reznikov was even invited to join the Society of Authors of the United States. However, being an exceptionally modest person, he was shy. It is hard to say what other successes this young and extremely talented composer could achieve in the USA. However, it all ended due to a terrible accident (the cause of the death of Viktor Reznikov) that occurred in February 1992.
The Stark Team
In 1991, Viktor Reznikov, Yuri Davydov and Mikhail Muromov decided to organize a football team of pop stars, which was called "Stark". It was assumed that the matches will be held in conjunction with large-scale national teams gala concerts, and all income will be transferred to charity. The first captain of "Stark" was Viktor Reznikov himself. The 1st team also included the father and son of the Presnyakovs, A. Kutikov, M. Boyarsky, M. Muromov, Yu. Davydov, Yu. Loza, S. Belikov, S. Minaev, V. Syutkin, V. Malezhik, K Kelmi, S. Krylov, N. Fomenko, A. Glyzin, A. Misin and many others.
The project of the team of stars turned out to be extremely successful, and Victor himself repeatedly showed at the stadium not only his musical, but also sports talent, especially since he had been playing football for a long time. In the same period of the composer's work, songs dedicated to his favorite game appeared. They became the composition “Football” and “Spare”.
SUS Project
In the early 90s, Reznikov was passionate about the idea of combining Russian and American musicians in one team. As a result, in early 1991, he, along with Dan Merill, organized the SUS team. It also included Steven Boutet, Dmitry Evdomakha and Vladimir Gustov. In August, Dan Merill and his colleagues arrived in St. Petersburg, where an album was recorded, which, unfortunately, never came out.
It also included several well-known composer songs with new lyrics written by Dan Merill. In addition, quite successful video clips for those times were shot for the songs Place In My Heart and Another Try in the USA. There were other projects in the process of implementation, but the accident put an end to everything (the cause of the death of Viktor Reznikov).
A family
The famous songwriter got married quite early. His wife was Lyudmila Kolchugina. In 1978, the couple had a son, Andrei, and later had a daughter, Anya. Today they are already adults and successful people. In particular, Andrei Reznikov in the past served as general producer of MTV Russia, and currently runs Radio Record, replacing his mother Lyudmila Kolchugin-Reznikova in this post.
Death
The composer passed away very early, when he was not yet forty years old. The reason for the death of Viktor Reznikov, whose memory is still alive in the hearts of his fans, is quite common in Russia, where drivers often violate the rules of the road.
A tragic incident occurred on February 22, 1992, when the composer in his VAZ-2106 car decided to take his daughter to his grandmother, Lilia Efimovna. Viktor Reznikov was already approaching his mother’s house and stood in the right lane to turn in the opposite direction and stop on Belgrade Street. At the beginning of the U-turn, his Volga crashed right into the driver’s door, driving back in the second row at high speed. Daughter Anya was not injured in the accident, but Viktor Reznikov received serious injuries. At the same time, Liliya Efremovna, who left the house to meet her son and granddaughter, and stood on the other side of the street, became an eyewitness.
For more than two days V. Reznikov was at the St. Petersburg Military Medical Academy. However, all the efforts of the doctors did not lead to anything, and he died on February 25. The composer was buried in the Komarovsky cemetery, and at first it was difficult for many to believe in his death and in the fact that it was an ordinary car accident that caused Viktor Reznikov's death.
Filmography
The composer is the author of the music for the two-part film "How to Become a Star." This picture directed by V. Aksenov, released at the Lenfilm film studio in 1989, was a huge success with the audience, and it was often jokingly called a guide for beginner artists. Somewhat later, Reznikov received a proposal for cooperation from Tatyana Lioznova. She invited him to write music for her picture “Carnival”, but for some reason changed her mind, and in the final version the music sounded Dunaevsky.
The musician did not write anything more for the movie, as he was prevented by an accident with a tragic outcome (the cause of the death of Viktor Reznikov). The composer's discography is also quite short. He recorded several albums. Among them:
- “How to Become a Star” with songs from the musical picture of the same name, which included such well-known compositions as “I Live” and “Sonnet No. 5” performed by V. Leontyev, as well as “How are you, old man?” Recorded by the group “ Secret".
- “House of Cards” (“Ice Cube”, “Trainee Katya”, “Half”, “Phone Book”, “Hang Glider”, etc.).
- “Give a hand and goodbye” (“Brownie” performed by the Boyarsky-Reznikov quartet, “Julia”, “Migratory bird”, “Fly away, cloud”, etc.).
There could have been much more albums, like songs, if not for the accident (the cause of the death of Viktor Reznikov).
“Recognition” is a musical composition that was included in two of them and was very popular. In the film “How to Become a Star” she was performed by Marianna Ganicheva, and in the album “Give a Hand and Goodbye” the audience heard her performed by the Baltic singer Gintare, who at that time already lived in the USA. Later, the same composition, which everyone loved, was performed by Alla Pugacheva, thanks to which Reznikov's other work, “Fly Away, A Cloud, ” became a hit.
