Избранное 4 (Selected 4)
from Vladimir Vysotsky
Date of issue:
01/01/2005
Genre:
Pop
Published by:
Joker Media
Description:
This release is one of four CD's include the most popular songs of Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980 ).
He was an iconic Soviet-Russian singer, songwriter, poet, and actor of mixed Jewish whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. Although best known as a singer-songwriter, he was also a prominent stage and screen actor. The multifaceted talent of Vladimir Vysotsky is often described by the word "bard" (бард), a term that carried a special meaning in the Soviet Union. Vysotsky was never enthusiastic about this term, however. He thought of himself mainly as an actor and writer rather than a singer, and once remarked, "I do not belong to what people call bards or minstrels or whatever." Though his work was largely ignored by the official Soviet cultural establishment, he achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime, and to this day exerts significant influence on many of Russia's popular musicians and actors who wish to emulate his iconic status. The poet accompanied himself on a Russian seven-string guitar, with an intense voice singing ballads of love, peace, war, everyday Soviet life and of the human condition. He had the ring of honesty and truth, with an ironic and sometimes sarcastic touch that jabbed at the Soviet government, which made him a target for surveillance and threats. In France, he has been compared with French singer Georges Brassens. In Russia, however, he was more frequently compared with Joe Dassin, in part because they were the same age and died in the same year; however, their ideologies, biographies, and musical styles are very different. Vysotsky's lyrics and style greatly influenced Jacek Kaczmarski, a Polish songwriter and singer who touched on similar themes.
