What caused the early departure of the "golden voice" of Bukovina: Nazariy Yaremchuk

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

Many of our readers grew up on the songs of the Soviet stage, so they remember well the name of the legendary singer from Ukraine Nazariy Yaremchuk, whose life was suddenly cut short at 43. Many, when mentioning his name, will recall with nostalgia "Chervona Ruta", "Vodogray", "Guy, Green Guy", "Stozhary" and many other famous compositions performed by him. However, a quarter of a century ago, his swan song was cut short … How it happened and why, further - in the review.

Throughout his creative career, Nazariy Yaremchuk had the role of a lyrical hero, he was a singer of love, or, as they say today, “a sex symbol of the Ukrainian stage”. Therefore, when the handsome black-browed man “from the blue mountains” of Bukovina sang: “Ask me from your bottom”, each girl believed that these words were dedicated only to her alone.

In the late 60s - early 70s, a new page was opened in the history of the Ukrainian stage. Vladimir Ivasyuk will write songs that will bring him and their performers worldwide recognition. It was the finest hour of the legendary pop vocal and instrumental ensemble "Smerichka", in which Nazariy Yaremchuk and Vasily Zinkevich sang. After the participation of "Smerichka" in the competitions "Song-71" and "Song-72" Ivasyukovskys "Chervonu Rutu" and "Vodogray" will begin to sing in all corners of our vast country. And after the filming of the film "Chervona Ruta" Sofia Rotaru, Zinkevich and Yaremchuk will become idols of the multimillion-dollar audience.

It won't be long before Smerichka will be called the Ukrainian Beatles. The ensemble will take to the catwalk of great popularity and will become a symbol of contemporary music for several decades. Music lovers of that time considered Nazarius the leader, the leader of this musical group. Colleagues claimed that Nazarius had perfect pitch, and he could take notes and immediately start singing. He mesmerized with his vocals and conveyed the most intimate emotions and feelings to the listener.

Nazariy was applauded by Moscow, Vladivostok, Bratislava, Prague, India, Mongolia, Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada … He was idolized by millions.

Turning the pages of a biography

Nazariy Yaremchuk comes from the village of Rivnya, Chernivtsi region. He was born the fourth child in a peasant family. They named the boy, like his father - Nazarius - a name that means "dedicated to God." The Yaremchuk family was unusually musical: the head of the family sang in the church choir, having an excellent tenor, my mother also sang and played the mandolin professionally, and was an actress in the local folk theater. That is why Nazariy's vocal and artistic gift manifested itself very early. It seemed that the Almighty himself blessed a boy from a small Ukrainian village to serve music.

Nazariy tried not to talk a lot about his family because of the existence of a family secret, which they preferred not to divulge for decades. When Nazar was born, his father was 64 years old, and this was his second marriage. From the first, the father had a son - Dmitry, who was 27 years older than Nazar. In the 40s, when various nationalist groups operated in Bukovina, Dmitry joined one of them. And after World War II, without accepting Soviet power, he left for Canada under a false name. Subsequently, in a foreign land, getting up on his feet, he helped his relatives, for he knew how difficult it was for a large family to live.

The brothers met many years later, when Nazariy became a famous singer and toured the world. He dedicated the famous song "Crane from Ukraine" to Dmitry and all the emigrants scattered around the world by fate.

The father died when Nazarius was twelve years old. Hard times came, and my mother was forced to send her son to a boarding school. There, in addition to general subjects, Nazariy attended various circles, sang in the choir. After graduating from school, the future singer decided to enter the Chernivtsi University at the Faculty of Geography, but did not pass the competition. I had to work for a year in a seismologist team.

And in the fall of 1969, Nazariy was invited to the amateur vocal and instrumental ensemble "Smerichka" at the Vyzhnitsky House of Culture. The second attempt to conquer the university was more successful - being already a soloist of "Smerichka", in 1970 he became its student. Since 1973, Nazariy studied in absentia, as he worked in the regional philharmonic society. After receiving his diploma, he worked for almost a year at the Department of Economic Geography as a laboratory assistant, senior engineer. But the love for the song turned out to be stronger and Yaremchuk returns to his beloved work, already becoming a soloist of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic.

Of course, the professional stage required professional training. In 1988, Yaremchuk graduated from the stage directing department of the Karpenko-Kary Kiev Institute of Culture.

The first recognition to Nazariy was brought by "Goryanka". He and Vasily Zinkevich became laureates of the All-Union competition "Hello, we are looking for talents." Both singers began an active concert life. Touring the Soviet Union, they sometimes gave two concerts a day in crowded halls. The audience was ready to stand in the aisles to hear their favorites. - Nazariy Yaremchuk always repeated. And the viewer felt it.

By the mid-70s, the duet Zinkevich - Yaremchuk suddenly disintegrated. Ambitions, fame and nationwide popularity, slander of false friends - did their job. And each of them went his own way in art: Vasily Ivanovich moved to Lutsk and became a soloist of the "Svityaz" ensemble, and Nazariy Nazarovich was a soloist in "Smerichka". However, the singers managed to maintain friendly relations, and when, years later, Nazarius had a daughter, Vasily would become her godfather.

The personal life of the singer

Nazarius was idolized by millions of girls and women, and he was completely unhappy in his personal life. In a marriage with Elena Shevchenko, Yaremchuk had two sons, but the children could not unite their parents. After the divorce, the boys began to live with their grandparents in Mezhyhirya. Elena got married a second time, moved to Kiev, and Nazarii could not find a mate for a long time. He traveled a lot around the world, and found a second wife in the neighboring village of Tyudiv. When the future spouses met, Nazarius was divorced for two years, and Darina was a widow and raised her daughter Vera herself.

The wedding took place in February 1991. They got married in the Church of St. John the Baptist in the city of Kosiv, in the Hutsul region. The priest was very happy that he was crowning such a famous artist. And he was immensely happy, he said that he felt as if he had grown wings. Everything was wonderful both at home and in art. In March 1993, a girl was born to the Yaremchuks, who was named after Nazariy's mother Marichka.

Life limit - 43

However, the singer did not have to enjoy family happiness for long and his little daughter, whom he loved to unconsciousness. The singer had grandiose creative plans, he dreamed of seeing his children grow up, but did not have time. In 1995, a disaster struck unexpectedly. A severe oncological disease crippled the singer's vitality. Even overseas doctors could not save him, and he "burned out" very quickly.

Many were convinced that Yaremchuk had developed a terrible illness from excessive radiological exposure received after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The first concert Nazariy and several other musicians gave in the bunker itself, where there was an incredible concentration of radiation. There were no more than a hundred people in the improvised hall, doomed to a slow and painful death, who sang along with painfully familiar songs with tears in their eyes. Later, the Smerichka group, already in full force, twice came to Chernobyl with concerts in order to morally support the liquidators of the consequences of the terrible disaster. Of course, the musicians performed at the risk of their lives., - Nazar reassured himself and his colleagues.

Didn't save … The operation on the stomach in Canada was done to Nazariy too late, and it did not help. Cancer has progressed.

But even seriously ill Yaremchuk continued to perform. Upon returning from abroad, emaciated and exhausted Nazariy appeared at the evening of Yuri Rybchinsky. - he reassured his colleagues backstage before going out. Leaving the stage for the last time, Nazariy waved his hand to the audience, somehow uncertainly and listlessly, as if the singer was forever saying goodbye to his listeners. This May concert was the last swan song of Nazariy Yaremchuk.

The singer was quickly fading away. He was very worried that his children would be left orphans. A week before his death, he wrote in his diary: on June 30, 1995, the soul of the musician left his exhausted body. He lay in an embroidered shirt, and thousands of people stood around the coffin in sorrow … The singer was buried in the central cemetery of Chernivtsi.

Vasily Zinkevich, seeing off his friend on his last journey, said:

Posthumously, Nazariy Yaremchuk was awarded the Shevchenko Prize.

Legacy in children

The two sons of the famous artist followed in the footsteps of their father. Dmitry (1976) and Nazariy (1977) became professional musicians and, since 1996, the brothers have been successfully touring not only in Ukraine, they have already traveled to many countries of the world, performing duet songs of their famous father.

Daughter Maria Yaremchuk (1993) - Ukrainian pop singer. Participant of the "Voice of the Country" project, bronze medalist of the "New Wave 2012" competition. In 2014, she represented Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest, following the results of which she took 6th place.

- Maria Yaremchuk wrote on her blog about her star father.

Continuing the theme of the great and famous artists of the Soviet era, read: Why negative characters were the favorite role of one of the most talented actors in Soviet cinema: Bogdan Stupka.