Alexander Tikhanovich and Yadviga Poplavskaya: A Musical and Family Union that Withstood the Test of Glory and Backbiting

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

They have always been surprisingly harmonious both on stage and in life, despite the diametrical opposition of characters. They were together when only a narrow circle of fans knew about the Verasa ensemble, they did not part at the zenith of fame and became support for each other at a time when they had to leave their favorite band because of the drug scandal. Alexander Tikhanovich and Yadviga Poplavskaya lived together a whole life to the incessant melody of happiness.

Love instead of glory

In 1970, a student of the Belarusian Conservatory literally fell ill with the idea of creating a female vocal and instrumental ensemble. At the concert of the group "Pesnyary", which is gaining popularity, she heard how refined and harmonious the connection between music and words in a song can be. The idea was supported, the group was created and it even had its own fans.

The first of them was Alexander Tikhanovich. He played in the rock group Minsk at the Philharmonic, but then this group was shut down as inappropriate to Soviet ideology. Alexander had a choice: what to do next. He was invited to the legendary "Tonika" ensemble under the direction of Viktor Vuyachich. It was one of the few bands that were allowed to go on tour abroad.

But Tikhanovich asked to go to Verasy. They discouraged him, talked about his prospects, but the young man nevertheless achieved his appointment at Verasy. By this time, he had long been in love with the creator and leader of this ensemble, Yadwiga Poplavskaya. The team had already ceased to be female; male faces and voices were required. He even got his Yadi's home phone number, happily told her that he would play with them. And I heard indifferent: "Well, congratulations."

Three-year siege and the nearly escaped bride

He sought her attention for three long years. It seemed that Yadviga did not notice him at all. But one day they were returning from a concert in a shaking bus, she was already dizzy from fatigue. Sasha sat down next to him, Yadya laid her head on his shoulder and fell asleep. He did not budge all the way to Minsk, she slept on his shoulder all the way.

Then she looked at him in a completely different way. Already in the morning, the Philharmonic started talking about their romance. This flattered Sasha and added self-confidence. He even decided to invite her to the cinema.

Now, after the rehearsal, he invariably accompanied her home, went to a cup of tea. And my parents really liked it. It was they who began to hint to their daughter that it was time to think about the family. Moreover, Alexander is such a good young man, well-mannered, attentive, polite.

In 1975, a whole bunch of people gathered in the Central Wedding Palace of Minsk: everyone wanted to congratulate the soloists of their favorite band "Verasy" on their wedding day. But when the registrar asked Yadwiga Poplavskaya if she agreed to become the wife of Alexander Tikhanovich, there was a long pause in the huge hall. The bridegroom looked dumbfounded at the bride, the guests looked at each other in bewilderment. The parents froze in fright. Silence stood for 30 seconds. And only then the bride said: "Yes!" During those thirty seconds, she had time to think about a lot. And the last argument for her consent was the thought that it would always be possible to get a divorce.

Music of love

And, as it turned out, there was a whole life ahead. Only once did she still have the thought of divorce, when her husband brought her with his jealousy to an extreme boiling point. Jealousy offended her, because she never gave a reason to even think about treason on her part. But Tikhanovich managed to curb his emotions in time, to apologize to his wife.

Their songs sounded from screens and tapes, their daughter mostly grew up with her grandmother, and then began to go on tour with her parents. It seemed that they had everything for happiness: favorite job, fame, family.

Alexander's accusation of drug dealing sounded like a bolt from the blue. They detained him, searched him, found nothing, but left, it seems, an indelible stain on his reputation. Someone believed in the absurd accusations, someone doubted the honesty of the musician. Only the faithful Yadviga did not even allow the thought that her Sasha could go for such a thing. And she defended his good name to the end. By her own admission, she was not even going to analyze and check anything.

Tikhanovich was fired from the ensemble. Poplavskaya followed him. In 1987 they started all over again. They were invited to the Finberg orchestra, first in backing vocals, then they became soloists, after which they began an independent career. And again we confidently ascended the musical Olympus.

Until the death tear us apart…

They simply seethed with creative energy, toured throughout the former Union, they were invited to Canada. No one could even imagine that Alexander Tikhanovich had been seriously ill for a long time. They stopped touring only when Alexander Grigorievich was practically unable to walk. He died of cancer on January 28, 2017.

Music scandal

Yadviga Poplavskaya came to her senses for a long time after the loss. She was supported by friends, colleagues, her beloved daughter, who also became a singer. It seemed that the crisis in her life had passed, she found the strength to live on and keep the memory of her beloved wife.

But then a scandal broke out between Yadwiga Poplavskaya and Eduard Khank, the author of the music of the most famous songs of the Verasy ensemble: Malinovka, Happy Accident, Zavirukha. He banned the performance of these works, demanding a royalty of $ 25,000 for the right to use his music.

After the long-term treatment of her husband, there was no such money in the family. But at the beginning of 2018, a new version of Zavirukha sounded on Belarusian television. Yadviga Poplavskaya sang it together with the "Syabry" ensemble to new music. And in memory of her husband, fragments of the arrangement, the author of which was Alexander Tikhanovich, sounded in a new interpretation.

The love story of Alexander Tikhanovich and Yadwiga Poplavskaya is inextricably linked with music. In life there was half a century of love and half a century of ballet.