In the thirties and forties of the last century, Peter Leshchenko was one of the most famous pop singers. But later, the name chanson turned out to be under the unlawful ban, and his songs returned to the ether only in the late 80s. With the release of the series "Peter Leshchenko. All that was ... "with the work of the singer managed to get acquainted with modern spectators.
Fyodor Shalyapin called Peter Leshchenko "Pateton singer" and "a good performer of stupid songs." But it did not bother Shalyapin to love and admire Leshchenko, walk on his concerts and cry during his performance. Peter Konstantinovich generally loved, he was incredibly popular. "Leshchenko was not a professional vocalist. But simplicity and soulfulness of his songs touched the hearts of the listeners, "says the director of the series Vladimir Cott. - He was a man who did not change himself throughout the time. On the break of the epoch, during the revolution, emigration, civil war, the Second World War, he did not betray anyone and remained himself. It now sounds strange, but his songs really united people from different countries and classes. Both the White Guards, and the Red Army, and the officers of the Soviet Army, and Romanians, and the Germans - whoever listened to him, the songs came to the heart and forced to empathize. "
Peter Leshchenko
The director says that for the first time he heard the songs of Peter Leshchenko, twenty years ago. "I walked past some stall at the Komsomolskaya station in Moscow and hear or Tango, or Foxtrot. The voice is such a nesting, but very soulful. I bought a cassette, put in the player and drove, "recalls Cott. "I'm lying on the upper shelf, lanterns pass past, and Leshchenko sounds. Could not sleep. Already then the director thought that Konstantin Khabensky could play in the cinema. "The same hooligan look, the same smile, the same nervousness," Vladimir Cott explains his choice. And when he arrived in 2012, the proposal to remove the series about the popular pop singer, the director did not think approved the main role of Habensky.
It would be approved by the candidacy of Constantine and the widow of Leshchenko Vera Georgievna. She left life in 2009, before the start of work on the series. But her friend Olga Petukhova, who also speaking as a consultant of the film, said that Vera Georgievna Samo marked the striking similarity of the actor with his spouse. "When I was told that Khabensky will play a major role, I was very happy. 15 years ago, when Vera first saw Constantine, she said that he was very similar to Peter Konstantinovich, "recalls Olga Petukhov. - Not only externally, but also by their behavior, because in Leshchenko, delicacy, restraint, modesty and power of character were surprisingly surprising.
Petra Leshchenko played Konstantin Khabensky in adulthood, and the image of the singer in his youth embodied on the screen Ivan Stebunov
"At first I was a little embarrassed that in the film it will not sound the original, and the cable version of Leshchenko songs, but soon it became obvious: Konstantin Yuryevich sings very thumbs up, and he will be able to fall in love with his charisma in Peter Leshchenko to those who have been unfamiliar to The creativity of the singer, "continues his friend of Faith Georgievna. It is noteworthy that in Khabensky did not believe only the author of the scenario Eduard Volodarsky. But the actor did everything to justify hopes assigned to him.
"Konstantin Khabensky immediately felt similarity with his hero. Brunette, sharp nose, huge eyes, big ears ... Leshchenko was not a handsome man, but it was a male charm. We have very few actors who possess such dramatic, nervous character, and Leshchenko was so. He was quick-tempered, he loved, hated, worried, was very subtle and wounded. There was an absolute coincidence, "says the director.
The role of the second wife of Peter Leshchenko Faith Belousova in the series performed Elena Lotov
"Habensky is one of the few artists who needs to fully immerse themselves in his role. On his initiative, we took the search for photo and video archives Peter Leshchenko, who was equally popular both in Russia and in Romania, - Vladimir Cott continues. - At first, our searches were not crowned with success: neither with us, nor in Romania, where Peter Leshchenko often came with concerts, no archival materials were preserved. We were already in despair. But, apparently, the desire of the bone to get in touch with her hero as deeper as possible so strong that the incredible happened. All the necessary materials were found from Olga Petukhova, who handed over the Habenne book memories and rare photos from the artist family album. "
Peter Leshchenko played Ivan Stebunov in his youth. "The fact that I am a copy of Khabensky, I hear from the first year of the academy of theatrical art. We studied there with the same teachers. And finally, our similarity came in handy for a common cause, "says Ivan. And in order to adhere to one manner of execution of the role of Leshchenko, Khabensky and stebunov came to the site to look at each other's game. "We specifically copied each other's movement, gestures, manners, facial expressions, smile, look. Similarity should have been maximum, "explains Ivan.
The shooting of the series was held in Lviv, Odessa, Yaroslavl, Moscow and Moscow region Nakhabin
All the songs of Leshchenko in the series performed the actors themselves, so before the shooting of Habensky and the stebunov had to take vocal lessons. At the same time, the director argues that the compositions of Leshchenko became in the film rather as a background, and not separate numbers. "The Khabensky classic baritone, a pleasant timbre, but much more important than his acting game, dramatic performance of the song," said Vladimir Cott. "This vocal story has become a certain challenge for me, of course," is not less Konstantin Khabensky.