Modern Tango World #8 (Moscow)

Russian ballads and patriotic songs dominated the
repertoire. Tango was almost never performed, during
the 1940s. However, there was one tango that was
very popular.
This song was written specially for a great Soviet singer,
who was the first to get the rank of People’s Artist of
USSR, Leonid Utesov. The song was written by Isaac Dunaevsky
and Vasily Lebedev-Kumach and is called Serdtse
(Heart). It became the soundtrack for the first Soviet
musical comedy Veselilye Rebyata (Jolly Fellows). The song
was first performed in Russian ballad form. But soon after,
versions in Argentinean tango fashion were made.
In 1935, Pyotr Leshchenko sang the song in Argentine
tango fashion and this version beame very famous in Russia.
Though later USSR versions were made more in the
style of a Russian ballad, the song became so popular. Its
fame spread beyond the state border. It is quite curious
that everywhere in the world the song is thought of only
as an Argentinean tango. Quite often, this song is named
as Kak khorosho na svete zhit! (How great it is to be alive!).
Heart, you do not want peace,
Heart, how great it is to be alive,
Heart, how good that you are like this.
Thank you, heart, that you can love so much.
According to the plot of the film, the song is performed
by the shepherd musician Kostya Potekhin, in whose
role Utyosov was shot. This song now is more than
eighty years old. The film. Jolly Fellows, was shot in 1934,
while the song was written before the shooting. The
film became legendary in the Soviet Union. It is not
surprising that when fame came to the film, the songs
from film also became very popular. For decades, Russian
musicians have reincarnated them many times.
The 1950s were a period of intensive industrialization
of Soviet Union. For the first time, foreign films began
to appear on the screens of Soviet cinemas. Many of
these films were shot in friendly countries, such as Argentina.
One of the most famous Argentine actresses
seen on these screens in the Soviet Union, was Lolita
Torres, whose films were translated into Russian. In
these films, she portrays Spanish folklore, in particular
with some demonstrations of Argentine tangos and
milongas. Torres came to the Soviet Union fourteen
times, beginning in 1959.
Throughout the 60s, she gave numerous concerts in
Moscow. At that time, she was the only one to represent
the Argentine tango in Moscow and could only
present this music from the stage. The Soviet people
did not dance and did not listen to tango, except for
the Wearied Sun.
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