Christmas, Zoya Nikolaevna

Born into the family of the operatic soloist ( tenor ) Nicholas Rozhdestvensky ^[2] .

In 1940, Z. Rozhdestvensky graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory . The basis of the work of the singer of this period is the chamber repertoire. Once, when she heard a waltz “To the sounds of a guitar” on a gramophone record, she sang the first song for him in a new pop genre ^[3] and since that time has been more inclined to pop.

Rozhdestvenskaya became a well-known and popular singer during the war years, being a soloist of the Dunaevsky ensemble, formed for performances in front of the front-line soldiers.

After the war, Rozhdestvenskaya was a soloist of the jazz orchestra of the Leningrad radio conducted by Nikolai Grigorievich Minkh . In the late 1940s, early 1950s, songs performed by her sounded almost daily. The singer, who was a member of the country's pop elite, was also recorded on records.

Once, together with singer Ephraim Flax, Zoya Rozhdestvensky represented the USSR stage in New York. The concert, in which she was to perform, led the queen of jazz vocal Ella Fitzgerald . An American woman appreciated Zoya Nikolaevna's talent and skill of accompanists ^[3] .

In the library of the Leningrad Radio there used to be about 150 phonograms of songs by Z. Rozhdestvenskaya, so far there are not a dozen films left ^[3] . In total, the surviving recordings of the singer’s performances include no more than 25 works, among which were especially popular at the time, “On the ice rink”, “The Lacemaker and the blacksmith”, “To us in Saratov”, “Over the bay”, “My native side” "," Merry May "and a number of others. Christmas singing is filled with optimism and purity. Performing skills of Zoya Nikolaevna are distinguished by a special manner, when consonants unexpectedly become the drums in words - “m”, “n”, “l”, “r”, giving singing a unique expressiveness.

Record of the song "My Moscow" performed by Zoya Rozhdestvenskaya to our days, apparently, has not reached; The performance of this song by Veronika Borisenko , which is widespread today, is often incorrectly attributed to Rozhdestvenskaya.

Personal life of Zoe Rozhdestvenskaya did not ask. She was married twice. The first husband (history did not preserve his name) was an artist. He did not want children in the family who could interfere with self-expression. She was forced to take action until one day motherhood became impossible for her. This circumstance turned her life upside down (very painfully she experienced her childlessness). The second husband, Nikolai Matveyevich Pchyolkin, was an aerodrome mechanic. “My flyer,” Christmas called him. He was 7 years younger than Zoya (born May 26, 1913) and survived her by less than a year, leaving in the prime of his life on July 12, 1954. Spouses were buried in the 18th section of the Theological Cemetery in St. Petersburg, not far from the grave of singer Viktor Tsoi. In a simple metal fence is an Orthodox cross with the only (as of April 2014) portrait of Zoe walking on the Internet. To the left of the grave mound of the singer grew birch. To the right is a pyramid welded from metal slats with a star resembling a maple leaf. Under the pyramid - the ashes of Nikolai Pchelkina ^[1] .

In the last years of his life, he was sick a lot and often. After a tiring tour in the winter of 1952-1953, he finally slumped and failed to recover. At that time the Soviet pop star in Leningrad lived in a multi-family communal apartment with a common kitchen near the Finland Station on Marx Avenue, almost near the Neva itself, (in 1991 Marx Avenue was renamed Bolshoy Sampsonievsky , and on the site of the house where Zoya lived, it was built an elite residential building called Mont Blanc). The singer's room had stove heating, there were no excesses in it.

Zoe’s father is Nikolai Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky (1883–1934), a famous tenor opera in Russia and abroad. Descended from an old priestly family ^[4] . Possessed a strong voice of a pleasant timbre. In 1899 he entered the Naval Cadet Corps , which he graduated in 1903. Before becoming a singer, he happened to be a mechanical engineer, a naval officer of the Russian fleet of His Imperial Majesty, a participant in the Tsushima naval battle in 1905, during which time served, was captured by the Japanese.

It is known that Viktoriya Ivanovna Russet (1885–1970), the bride of naval officer Nicholas Rozhdestvensky, who was named, independently arrived in the Far East to visit her fiance. They were married on a ship on which Nikolai Nikolayevich served. The young couple lived for some time in Vladivostok. Here they had a second child, a son, who was named Nicholas (there is reason to believe that the birthplace of his elder sister Zoe is the city of Nagasaki, Japan) ^[1] . A few years later, Christmas leave Vladivostok closer to their native shores. Before the start of his singing career, Nikolai Nikolayevich managed to serve in the Baltic Sea for some time, while Viktoria Ivanovna lived with children in Helsingfors ( Helsinki ).

Soon N. Rozhdestvensky began performing at the Maly Opera House , combining singing with service in the Admiralty (performances in this theater were not frequent and did not interfere with the main service). Many beginning artists, writers, musicians of that time — Mussorgsky — did a vivid example of this (it was almost impossible to feed on some fees from creative activity).

In 1913, N. Rozhdestvensky became the soloist of the Petersburg Theater of Musical Drama . At the same time, on the same stage, she tries to declare herself as an actress Viktoria Ivanovna ^[5] . A photograph of 1913 by the then-famous theater photographer Karl (August) Andreevich Fisher was preserved, in which Victoria Rozhdestvensky as a member of the troupe performs in the play “Carmen”. At the Petrograd Theater of Musical Drama N. Rozhdestvensky performed until 1915. In 1916 he was a soloist with the Moscow Opera Zimin . In 1918-1926 he sang in the Petrograd (Mariinsky) State Opera and Ballet Theater ^[1] .

The family relationship of the artistic Rozhdestvenskiy couple was difficult, and one day the spouses realize that they should leave. After the 1917 revolution, N. Rozhdestvensky became an unwitting participant in the Kronstadt insurgency . Having suppressed the rebellion, the Bolsheviks shot most of the officers who participated in it. Rozhdestvensky and several other officers were pardoned. F. Chaliapin appealed for pardon to Lenin and Lunacharsky . He invited N. Rozhdestvensky to the Petrograd (Mariinsky) State Opera and Ballet Theater, where they sang together until Chaliapin left abroad in 1922. In 1926, N. Rozhdestvensky, with a scandal (due to his hot temper), left the theater and engaged in concert activities. In 1930 he married again for Elizaveta Ivanovna Melnikova (she died in Leningrad during the blockade in 1943).

After the murder in December 1934 of the head of the Leningrad Party Organization of the CPSU (B.) S. M. Kirov , N. N. Rozhdestvensky “fell under the hand” (in terms of his time, under the purge) because he fought on the side of the whites during the Civil War. And in 1936, as a "member of a terrorist organization," he was shot. Elizabeth Ivanovna was told about the standard wording of the sentence of the “troika”: 10 years of correctional labor without the right to correspond. Information of some sources that N. Rozhdestvensky was exiled to Central Asia, to Alma-Ata, where he graduated from the days of his life in 1934 or 1935, is not reliable ^[6] .

The singer’s mother is Victoria Ivanovna Rozhdestvenskaya (Suloeva after her second husband, nee Russet). Born in St. Petersburg in the family of a military teacher. Her maiden name was inherited from her father - Ivan Vasilievich Russet, an officer who taught mathematics and drawing at the cadet school (there is reason to believe that Major-General E. V. Russet , director of the Siberian cadet corps , could have been brought to him by his brother). She graduated from high school with a gold medal ^[5] . She studied drawing in classes at the School for the Encouragement of Arts , at courses at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts , at the Tiflis Art School, and attended art courses in Moscow. ^{[7] [5]} . In her youth Victoria Ivanovna had a very attractive appearance. When she was 16 years old, the artist Konstantin Makovsky , dressing her in the costume of a noblewoman, wrote a sketch from her ^[1] .

Victoria Ivanovna's mother (Zoya Rozhdestvenskaya’s grandmother) Yulia Fominichna (nee Okulich-Kazarina) was a student of the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. To this day, the great-grandchildren of Yulia Fominichna in the city of Cherkasy (Ukraine) have family relics associated with her. This is a decorative plate on which her skilful hand depicts daughter Victoria at the age of five. The portrait of I. S. Turgenev, painted by Yulia Fominichnaya from memory, was also preserved (allegedly Ivan Vasilyevich, her husband ^[1], carved a frame for the portrait).

Okulich-Kazarins came from hereditary nobles of the Vitebsk province. The brother of Julia Fominichny, Nikolai Fomich , was an outstanding person who left a noticeable mark on history. Having started his military service as an artillery officer, he completed it as an investigator of the Finnish Military District. Upon his retirement in 1906 as a lieutenant general, he settled in Pskov. N.F. Okulich-Kazarin is the author of the book “A companion to ancient Pskov” (the book was published in 1911 with the subtitle “To lovers of native antiquity” and has survived two reprints - in 1913 and 2001) ^[8] .

The Borovichi Museum of Local Lore has documentary evidence related to the Christmas family. According to the museum ^{[5], the} local painter, graphic artist V. I. Suloeva was brought by the mother of the famous pop singer Zoe Rozhdestvenskaya.

The last name was Victoria Ivanovna Suloeva after her second marriage in 1917. Her husband, Vladimir Evdokievich Suloev, is the son of a St. Petersburg merchant-vintner. From this marriage in 1921 the son George was born. The family moved to Borovichi at the end of the 1920s, where Vladimir Yevdokievich began to serve as an architect (district city engineer), and Viktoria Ivanovna managed the art studio of the House of Pioneers. In the diary notes of the local artist Alexander Konstantinov, beloved student of Viktoria Ivanovna, recorded from her words, there is a record that her daughter, Zoya Rozhdestvenskaya, was born in Japan, in the city of Nagasaki. However, in the preserved autobiography with his own handwriting, Zoya Rozhdestvensky names the city of Vladivostok ^[1] .

Although the war did not reach Borovichi, Zoya Rozhdestvenskaya’s mother, Victoria Ivanovna, was evacuated and ended up in the city of Kotelnich, Kirov Region, where she worked in a Multi-Company Partnership. Both brothers Zoe (native - Nikolai and step - George) fought. Nikolai participated in the Finnish War - was a radio operator in the ski battalion. During the Great Patriotic War he served in the Eighth Guards Battalion of Communications, went from sergeant to foreman. He fought on the Don, Ukrainian, Southern, North-Western fronts. He was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad", had the gratitude "For the capture of Mitavy ." He was a participant in the 1945 Victory Parade on Red Square. In 1965 and 1970 he traveled to Moscow to celebrate Victory Day, where he met with fellow soldiers at the Belorussky Train Station.

George at the beginning of the war graduated from high school. In 1942 he was already a lieutenant, commander of a communications platoon. He fought on the Leningrad and 1st Ukrainian fronts. In January 1944 he was seriously wounded, a year later, in February 1945, he was slightly wounded, in March of the same year - a shell shock. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad." Throughout the war, George wore a photo of Zoya's stepsister in his shirt pocket ^[9] .

Some information sources claim ^{[3] [2]} that Zoya Rozhdestvenskaya was destroyed by the “People’s Commissar one hundred grams”, to which the singer was allegedly addicted during performances as part of concert brigades in front of the war veterans. Rata Vladimirovna, wife of George, Zoe’s stepbrother, who knew the sister-in-law well and visited her in Leningrad, did not confirm the widespread myth of the singer’s addiction to alcohol ^[1] . These conjectures disprove Zoya’s letters to her mother, written in the last year of the singer’s life ^[1] . In the first letter, Zoya talks about the tour:

“Hello, mom and dad! So I came home. Received your two letters. I did not go to Alma-Ata, but returned again to Novosibirsk, and drove through the whole Kuzbass, then there were the Irkutsk Region, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Molotov, Moscow, Kursk. I received infusions of various medications all the time, and in the end I received blood transfusions ... Now I am very weak and cannot work. I don’t leave the room; I’m lying more. Mostly nasty weakness torments. Head hard to keep straight. I decided to send you a translation and write a letter. It’s very sickening to lie like that. I get up - my head is spinning. Kolya met me well ... The Pchyolkins, Kolina cousins, a boy and a girl were born. Now he has five nephews. The generation comes from all sides. There will be a mood - write. I am very glad to receive your letter. I wish you health, the most important thing. Kisses. Hello Christmas. February 6, 1953. Zoya " ^[1] .

Tedious touring undermined the health of the singer. The last city where they heard her live singing was Kursk. She returned home broken. Judging by the symptoms (dizziness, weakness), Zoe might have a stroke during the tour ^[1] . However, she does not report this to her mother.

Zoya wrote the last letter to her mother on September 29, 1953, less than a month and a half before her death:

“Hello, mom and dad! I did not write for a long time. The reasons were different, including I was in the hospital. That - with the foot, then - because of the heart. Now it has been repaired, but I still feel it is not important ... Doctors do not allow me to work until now. The trip scheduled in Vorkuta has to be canceled. I sent you 700 rubles at the end of September. Let me know how you get. What will be ahead - I can not say. I don’t go out into the street - my head is spinning from a frantic transport. I would like, of course, to visit you, but it’s risky to go alone. How are you doing with retirement? How is your health? Dad called me, and his voice was in a cheerful mood, as always. I kiss tightly. Zoya Hello. Kohl bows to both of you. The literary side of the translation is his ” ^[1] .

Refutes Zoe Christmas attributed to her addiction with her kind, caring, despite her own ill health, letters. In each letter, not only a heartfelt desire to help loved ones, but also evidence of real help: in a postcard of 1938, a message was sent about the New Year, in letters — about remittances ^[1] . The last translation of the mother, who “literary” was designed by Nikolai Pchyolkin, was 700 rubles. This amount corresponded to the monthly salary of a skilled worker (at that time a kilogram of potatoes in state trade cost, for example, 62 kopecks, meat - 8 rubles 13 kopecks, a liter of milk - 2 rubles 11 kopecks).

About Zoya’s love for her mother is told by a notebook page stored now in the Borovichi Museum with verses written by hand, addressed to Zoe's mother: “... And when gray hair appears, the snow will whiten around you, my beloved and faithful friend will like me ". On the back of the sheet is an autograph: “Mom, always remember. Zoya ” ^[1] .

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  Ivan Vasilievich Russet, father of Victoria Ivanovna - mother of Zoya Nikolaevna Rozhdestvenskaya

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  NN Rozhdestvensky as Lensky, 1926, 43 years old.

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  Drawing by Z. N. Rozhdestvenskaya, done by the hand of the beloved pupil of the mother of the singer, by the artist from Borovichi - Alexander Konstantinov in 1950. The drawing is kept in the Borovichi Museum of Regional Studies

• Alpatov M. Memory is alive // Nevsky Vremya . - 1999. - No. 233 (December 16) .
• Borisova N. Milestones in memory // Red spark: newspaper. - Borovichi, 2008. - No. 18 (16005), 2008-05-01 .
• Okulich-Kazarin N.F. Sputnik after ancient Pskov: (To lovers of native antiquity). - Pskov: Pskov. archeol. Is, 1911. - 328 p. || Sputnik for ancient Pskov: (Lovers of native antiquity) . - 2nd ed., Corr. and add. - Pskov: Pskov. archeol. Is, 1913. - 343 p. || / Foreword, note. and total ed. E.P. Ivanova. - 3rd ed., Anniversary., Devoted. 1100th anniversary of the first mention of the city in the annals. - Pskov: Lightbearer, 2001. - 336 p. - 3000 copies - ISBN 5-94542-004-2 .
• Khokhlov S.K. Birch from Nagasaki // Nevsky Almanac . - 2008. - № 4 (41) . - pp . 54-57 .

• Zoya Rozhdestvenskaya (neopr.) . The Red Book of Russian pop music (December 22, 2011). The appeal date is April 13, 2012. Archived May 15, 2012.
• Performed by Christmas Zoya Nikolaevna (vocal - soprano) (Neopr.) . classic-online.ru. - audio files. The appeal date is April 13, 2012. Archived May 15, 2012.
• All artists Borovichi (Page number 3) (neopr.) . Culture and Tourism Committee of the Borovichsky Municipal District Administration (2011). The appeal date is May 10, 2014.