Composer Pelenyagre revealed the secrets of his famous co-authors: Pauls is a “silent man”, and Krutoy is a “life-loving kid”

— Victor, you started in the 90s. Then, it seemed, there was no artist on the stage who would not perform your songs!

— My first big hit was the song “My Girl” performed by Sergei Krylov. This is a pop song, a chanson, and a rock ballad at the same time. Although it sounds like one hundred percent chanson. This is how I became the progenitor of the chanson movement in modern Russia.

— How did you find Krylov?

— Composer Alexander Dobronravov came to him, with whom we wrote a bunch of fateful songs for a variety of performers. Once I gave Krylov one of my first books. Sergei, we must give him his due, turned out to be an attentive reader. He himself found this poem, wrote wonderful music, and it turned out to be the main song of the coming 90s. I once wanted to write a book of children’s poems. Krylov sought out one of them: “The first beauty lived in the city. She was a very unapproachable girl”… That’s where it comes from.

— You probably experienced wild delight when you first heard a song based on your poems!

— The first time I experienced this wild delight, as you say, was a little earlier, when I wrote the first song for the proletarian jazz orchestra “Brigade S” under the direction of Garik Sukachev. It was called “Goodbye Girl, Goodbye.” ​That’s when mind-blowing portals opened up for me. It’s one thing when you just write poetry. And it’s a completely different story when your poems become a song. This song, by the way, became the title of the first album of “Brigade S”. Then I discovered that the song is a real Molotov cocktail. Horizons expand, talkative drinking companions appear, girls fall into embraces and immediately throw off their dresses. Such a powerful release of energy on all fronts! Something incredible happens when your poems spread the waves and acquire a stage sound.

– Plus it brings good money!

— At that time, this assault and onslaught did not bring any money at all. I wrote and gave away my immortal lines out of curiosity and enthusiasm. It was only in 1995 that I learned that you could also get money for this pleasure.

— You co-wrote with Pauls. But they said that at that time they had an unspoken rule: Pauls works exclusively with Ilya Reznik!

“I was a new person in show business, there were no rules for me. Do you know what it was like before me? Raymond writes a melody, Reznik or Tanich provide subtext, and what happens is what happens. And here Pauls for the first time wrote music to my finished poems. There is something to change my flying gait. (Laughs.) We were introduced to each other. They say to me: “Victor, meet the great composer Raymond Pauls.” And I tell him: “Raymond, meet the great poet Victor Pelenyagre.” He looked at me carefully and said: “So that’s what you are like.” That’s all. It even seemed to me that he said this phrase in German: “So what the hell, private Sokoloff.” I think I only heard four words from Pauls the whole evening. Of course, I wanted to chat with him. But I realized that this is impossible. He’s a thinker. Silent. Republican! I’m Figaro next to him. Figaro here, Figaro there!

— You wrote not only with Pauls, but also with Igor Krutoy…

“I was once friends with a girl, and her friend was the wonderful singer Tanya Makarova, who became famous back in the 90s. So Tanya took my poems to Igor Krutoy. He looked, rolled up his sleeves and began writing to all the stars in alphabetical order, starting with Allegrova and ending with Shufutinsky. Because Jaak Joala was out of reach. True composers are always sophisticated connoisseurs of poetry. Igor Yakovlevich was very sensitive to my poems. I love Krutoy: he really helped me out in a difficult moment.

– What exactly?

— When I wrote him a bunch of songs, he helped me with money, and I bought my first home in Moscow. I came to him and said: “Igor Yakovlevich, the great poet is wandering around rented apartments. Is it possible to stop this disgrace?” And he gave me money. Not for the whole apartment, of course. But the lion’s part is his merit. The prospect of dying under the fence has moved away! By the way, if Pauls is silent, then Igor Yakovlevich is very cheerful, sociable, and cool. In my opinion, Raymond was his guiding light. So on the screen he tries to be a kind of taciturn Tarpeian rock. But in fact, he is ours, a southwestern, life-loving boy.

— Have you ever had any quarrels or omissions with Krutoy?

– I don’t remember. True, at first he was very worried: “We have already written so much, but there is no big recognizable song.” To which I replied: “Don’t worry, it will be in a year.” Indeed, a year later we had Baskov’s “Hurdy Organ”. And then off we go! The boy said it, the boy did it. It turns out that Igor and I collaborated for about a year and a half. And some things were revealed through trial and error. There were good songs, there were great songs – it’s impossible to list them all. For example, Buinov’s “My finances sing romances.” They seem to know her, the video is wonderful, but something is wrong with her. You’ll have to re-sing it yourself!

— Allegrova also sang many of your songs. What is she like in life?

— I wasn’t particularly friendly with the performers; the composers did it for me. I might be happy to be friends with singers, but somehow I was more successful with actresses. (Laughs.)

— Do you continue to communicate with Igor Yakovlevich now?

“I haven’t talked to him for a long time.” Since the time of his creative romance with Hvorostovsky. The late Hvorostovsky never sang anything original in Pelenyagre’s absence. But the great Muslim Magomayev performed and broadcast many good songs: “Oh the sea, the sea”, “Wedding” and others. And Hvorostovsky, having such a voice, such opportunities, money, finally covered God knows what! Raymond Pauls once said very precisely: “What is a singer? This is a pearl diver. I must dive and get the pearl – my hit.” Hvorostovsky also needed to dive in and show the world at least one worthwhile song. It’s not meant to be!

—Have you talked to Krutoy about this?

– No, at that time we did not communicate with Igor Yakovlevich. In order not to fall out of the picture, you need to be visible all the time, but Pelenyagre led to great prose. It always worked out naturally for me. Once I met Igor Matvienko at “Song of the Year”. Before this, I had been wanting to reach it for ten years, but due to my sloppiness I couldn’t. And then I look, he’s coming. Like a mere mortal. I tell him: “This is who we will write a great song for “Lube” with. And so it happened. “Call Me Quietly by Name,” I believe, is one of the best works in the Lube repertoire of the new millennium.

— You were often criticized for your songs. How did they feel about it?

– I got it for a lot. They said, for example, that “How delightful are the evenings in Russia” was written not by me, but by Sergei Vladimirovich Mikhalkov. And in general, all Pelenyagre’s songs are by Afanasy Fet. There was such a blizzard. My hair stood on end! For example, what is the best line from Pushkin? “Genius of pure beauty”! He borrowed it from Zhukovsky, his teacher. Lermontov’s best line, “The lonely sail turns white,” belongs to Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. And Pelenyagre’s best line? Right! “How delightful evening in Russia”. You won’t believe it, I wrote it myself!

— Why did “White Eagle,” which performed this hit, have a short takeoff?

— We worked on the “White Eagle” repertoire for two years. Now they can use this material to update their touring repertoire for the rest of their lives. If they had existed for at least five years, they would have surpassed everyone, including Lyube and the Alexandrov Choir. I was their main author, whose songs determined the striking power of the group. He behaved accordingly. He was daring and didn’t put anyone in a penny. Zhechkov (founder of the group. – Auto.) I wanted to annoy. I said: “I am a genius. There are no more authors like Pelenyagre.” (When you appear on “Song of the Year” five times with completely different performers, there is something to go crazy.) And he answered: “Now, after the songs we performed, other authors will send us their works.” Well, some poets appeared at the White Eagle who filled the voids in the albums. But all the biggest hits were mine. So, in the late 90s, the unofficial Russian anthem “How delightful are the evenings in Russia” appeared, and everyone immediately remembered that the Russians are in charge, “Russia – forward!”

— You didn’t write for Pugacheva?

– From what! Krutoy wrote something to her based on my poems, but these songs did not become high-flying. By the way, Pugacheva really liked “White Eagle”. She even sang one of my songs “God” with Vladimir Zhechkov. For some unknown reason, the duet did not go viral, but I inspired Alla to create another wonderful song, “Give it to me, God.”

— How do you feel about the fact that Pugacheva left Russia?

“She probably had some responsibilities to the institution of marriage.” How is it with Archpriest Avvakum… “How long will we suffer, Archpriest?” – “Until my death, Markovna!” – “We’ll still wander.” Apparently, she was missing something in this life. Although here, probably, it is necessary to say: “Something was missing for her husband Galkin (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation. – Auto.)”. How can you exchange such a country for a volcanic piece of scorched earth?! I don’t think she’ll be banging her head against the Western Wall for the rest of her life.

— Pugacheva always competed with Rotaru, Sofia Mikhailovna also performed songs based on your poems!

— All the best creative forces worked for Alla. Rotaru, of course, had fewer opportunities. If only because she appeared in Moscow on short visits. She was content mainly with regional authors. But Sofia Rotaru was, of course, the pole of opposition to Alla Pugacheva in every sense.

— By the way, after the start of the SVO, she doesn’t appear anywhere… Why do you think?

– First of all, she is a smart woman. It is, of course, difficult for her to maintain royal neutrality there. But I think Rotaru will cope. In any case, the artists understand that they owe everything to Russia. Raymond recently said about this that Latvia, when it was with Russia, looked like the center of the universe. And now it is turning into a seedy European backyard. Of course, I haven’t been there for a long time, but I can imagine what might be happening there now.

— Victor, I can’t help but ask why we haven’t heard your new songs lately?

— I like how Yuri Antonov answers this question: “Let those who have bad old ones write new songs.” At the beginning of the 21st century, I left the big Olympic movement and sat down to write a novel. Everyone told me: “What kind of writer are you if you don’t have a novel?” At that time I didn’t know that he would captivate me so much. As a result, I scribbled more pages than in War and Peace. And now I’m terrified of how I can reduce this.

— Don’t you want to write for anyone?

– Yes, I’m writing. Recently, Alena Petrovskaya released the killer song “Siberia” to the music of Igor Slutsky. And I would also write to Leps. I have material for it, but I just can’t get to it. My universal laziness is failing me. Leps is cool, it gives energy. What is art? This is the energy of delusion. No energy – there will be no song! I also like SHAMAN. I was at his concert. Class! It’s time for him to build his own song universe. I wrote “How delightful are the evenings in Russia,” and SHAMAN reminded everyone that we are Russians. Russians are coming! Russia – cool, Russia – victory! Fire on all fronts! So it was, is and will be.