Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Rotaru

Sofia Myhajlivna Jevdokymenko-Rotaru (born August 7, 1947) known as Sofia Rotaru (Ukrainian: Софiя Ротару, Template:Pron-en) is a Ukrainian pop singer and formerly Soviet pop-icon of Moldavian heritage.

Born to a large, impoverished family in Marshintsy, Rotaru, called Bukovinsky Solovey (Nightingale from Bukovina) emerged in 1966 as a pop folk star in the movie Solovey iz sela Marshintsy (Nightingale from Marshintsy) in the Moldavian and Ukrainian-speaking world after her manager and future husband Anatoliy Jevdokymenko made her change her music style from the folk into the pop music style with Chervona Ruta.

In 1972, Sofia released the multilingual album Sofia Rotaru, re-released three times and covered by numerous singers, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Rotaru had first gained international recognition after participating in 1968 in the International Youth Song Festival in Bulgaria and winning the first prize at the Golden Orpheus in 1973 and the second prize in the category of Polish songs at the Sopot International Song Festival in 1974. In the former USSR her career was marked by her stage success and numerous controversies. Sofia Rotaru is known for her sex appeal and recognition by the Kiev Patriarchate. She has been named a queen of pop music by Russian-language journalists.

Her career continues for more than 40 years. According to the polls, she is the most popular pop artist in Russia, considered by Russians as the fourth most popular Russian and topped the Moscow airplay with "Ya nazovu planetu imenem tvoim" in 2008. In 2008, she declared revenue significantly higher than 500 million hryvnia (about $100 million).

Her repertoire consists of more than 40 albums and 400 songs recorded in many languages. She has received awards, including being the first female pop-singer to be given the prestigeous title of People's Artist of USSR in 1986, deemed a Meritorious Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, People's Artist of Ukraine, People's Artist of Moldavian SSR, Laureate of the Young Communist League Prize, Hero of Moldova, and Cavalier of the Republican Order of Moldova. in August 2002 Former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and President of Russia Vladimir Putin gave awards to Sofia Rotaru (for her 55th birthday), bestowing upon her the high rank of the Hero of Ukraine for her "outstanding personal merits in the sphere of art", and the Russian order "For merits before the Nation", respectively. While Sofia Rotaru commonly goes by her last name, her official last name is Jevdokymenko-Rotaru (Ukrainian: Євдокименко-Ротару). Jevdokymenko was the surname of her late husband. Yalta is her main residence, although she also lives in Moscow, Kiev, and Baden-Baden.

Stage name

In the titles of the first musical movies where she starred, Solovey iz sela Marshintsy (Nightingale from Marshintsy Village) and Chervona Ruta, her name appears as Sofija Rotar'. Singer Edita P'ekha advised Rotaru to spell her last name in the Moldavian way with a "u" at the end. In translation from Moldavian, Rotaru means "wheel maker". Aurica Rotaru, Meritorious Artist of Ukraine has said:

No, no one has imagined this, this is related to the fact that the village where we were born belonged at a certain time to Romania, this was territory of Romania. Right after the war, this territory was joined to Ukraine and my father was summoned to the military registration and enlistment office and was told that the Moldavian family name should be changed into a Russian one. The letter "u" was taken away and instead Rotaru we got Rotar' with the soft sign. This is how all of us got the family name Rotar'. But indeed, the right last name is - Rotaru...

Early life

On August 7, 1947 Sofia Rotaru was born in a family of brigadiers and wine-growers. She was the second child in a family of six children, in Marshintsy, Chernivtsi Oblast. A passport office employee accidentally wrote her passport birthdate as August 9 and as a result, Sofia Rotaru celebrates her birthday twice.

Sofia's father Mykhail Fedorovich spent the entire Second World War as a heavy machine gunner and traveled all the way to Berlin. Injured, he returned home only in 1946, and was the first one to enter the Communist Party in the village. Sofia's older sister, Zina (in full form, Zinaida), was born on October 11, 1942. As a child Zina endured severe illness and went blind. Zina possessed perfect pitch and easily memorized new songs so she taught Sofia many folk songs and became a second mother for her sister, as well as a dear teacher. Sofia Rotaru said: "We all learned from her - what a musical memory, what a soul!". Zina spent hours listening to the radio and learned numerous songs, as well as the Russian language, which she later taught to her brothers and sisters. At home, the Rotaru family spoke only Moldavian. Sofia helped her mother and oldest sister Zina with housekeeping, the education of her younger brothers and sisters, and in the mornings by going to the local market to sell home-grown products. "Mother would wake me up early in the morning, but I really wanted to sleep. Then she said: `Who will be the one to help me?'. I was sleeping while on the road. We were at the destination at six in the morning. We had to take our place in advance on the market, display all the products. Only when the sales started, I was getting awake. I was interested. We always had a queue in front of our stand, as our mother was a clean, known and waited seller. She had her permanent customers."

As a child, Sofia Rotaru participated in regional competitions of pentathlon and running.

Rotaru started singing from the first grade in the school choir, as well as in the church choir, however the latter was not accepted by the school officials. Hence, she was threatened with an exclusion from the Pioneer organization. Rotaru was also attracted by the theatre. She practiced in drama classes and sang popular folkloric songs in vocal classes. In the evenings, when the kerosene lamp went out in the house, she used to take the only bayan at school and hide in the barn trying to find the proper melodies for her most loved Moldavian songs. Sofia Rotaru has said:

"It is difficult to say, when and how did the music appear in my life. It seems that it has always lived in me. I grew up among music, it was playing everywhere: at a wedding table, at klatches, at girls' winter evening gatherings, on the dance floor..."

Her first teacher was her father who enjoyed singing as he was young, possessing a perfect musical pitch and a good voice. Sofia Rotaru learned at school to play bayan and domra, participated in amateur art activities,and performed with concerts in nearby villages. She was especially fond of house concerts. The six children of Sofia Rotaru's father, made up a choir. Her father believed in the bright future of his daughter. He always said: "Sofia will become an artist". His belief gave Rotaru strength to overcome the doubts in her vocation.

Career

1962–1964: Career start and Ukrainian pop-folk

Sofia Rotaru's victory at a vocal competition of amateur performers opened the door to a regional review in 1962. In 1963 in Chernivtsi, she earned a first degree diploma at the regional amateur art review. In 1964, she won the Republican festival of popular talents in Kiev. On this occasion her picture made it on the cover of № 27 of the magazine Ukraine in 1965. After the graduation from high school, Rotaru decided to become a singer and entered the vocal and conductor department of the Chernivtsi Musical College. In 1964, Sofia Rotaru performed at the State Kremlin Palace. The first pop song performed by Sofia Rotaru was "Mama" by Alexander Bronevitskiy.

1968–1973: International recognition

In 1968, after graduation form the college, Sofia Rotaru performed as a delegate of the IX World Festival of Youth and Students in Sofia, Bulgaria, as a member of an artistic group. She won the First Prize in the competition of singers of folk popular songs. Bulgarian newspapers were full of headlines: "21-year old Sofia has conquered Sofia". Her performances of the Ukrainian folk pop song "Na kameni stoyu" (Standing on the Stone), Moldavian folk pop songs and "Valentina" by Gheorghite made the newspaper headlines. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) The latter song was dedicated to the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who was present in the concert hall. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

In 1968, Sofia Rotaru married Anatoliy Jevdokymenko, who at that time was a student of Chernivtsi University and a trumpet player in a student pop band.

In 1971, producer Roman Alekseev shot a musical film Chervona Ruta for Ukrtelefilm. The plot was about the tender and pure love of a girl from the mountains (played by Rotaru) and her relationship with a man from the industrial city of Donetsk. The name of the film means the rue flower, derived from an ancient Carpathian legend. Rue blossoms only on the Ivan Kupala night, and the girl who succeeds in finding a blooming rue will be happy in love. Songs of the composer Volodymyr Ivasyuk and other writers were co-performed by Zinkevich, Yaremchuk and other singers. The film enjoyed a significant success. After the film was released in the cinemas, Sofia Rotaru received an offer to work in the Chernivtsi Philharmonic Society and with a backing ensemble called Chervona Ruta. Rotaru's husband Jevdokymenko became the artistic director of the ensemble.

As a result of collaboration with Volodymyr Ivasyuk, an cycle of songs was created, based on the roots revival material in an orchestration characteristic for the 1960s and the 1970s in Continental Europe. Resulting works brought Rotaru great popularity in the Soviet Union, especially in Ukraine. This was largely due to the fact that the Soviet authorities eagerly promoted her art as an example of international Soviet culture being an ethnic Moldavian singing in Moldavian, Ukrainian and Russian languages. Consequently Rotaru gained regular airplay on the state radio and television and was systematically billed for state-organized concerts.

In 1972, Sofia Rotaru and Chervona Ruta participated in a tour in Poland with the programme Pesni i tantsy Strany Sovetov (Songs and Dances of the Country of Soviets).

In 1973, she received the First Prize of the international contest of Golden Orpheus in Burgas, Bulgaria, performing the song "Moy gorod" (My city) of Doga, and the Second Prize in the category of a foreign performance of a song in Bulgarian language. In the same year, she received the title of the Meritorious Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. Later, the songs which she performed in the Moldavian language, "Codru" and "Moy gorod", became soundtracks for the film Vesenniye sozvuchiya – 73 (Spring accords – 73).

1974–1979: New authors and Moldavian lyricism

In 1974, Sofia Rotaru graduated from the Chisianu Art Institute of Gavriil Musicescu and participated in the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland, performing "Vospominaniye" (Remembrance) by B. Rychkov, and "Vodogray" by Ivasjuk. She received the second prize in the category of Polish song for her performance of "Ktoś" (Someone).

In 1975, she became the soloist of the Crimean Philharmonic Society.

In 1976, due to persecutions of her family for celebrating Christmas considered a religious holiday, Sofia moved from Chernivtsi to Yalta, transferring from the Chernivtsi Philharmonic Society to the Crimean Philharmonic Society.

After the death of Volodymyr Ivasyuk in 1979, a number of songs by Moldavian composers appeared in her repertoire penned by the Teodorovici brothers. By that time, Sofia Rotaru had ceased collaboration with Moldavian authors, primarily Eugene Doga. The latter had actively created rumors that the voice of Sofia Rotaru was created note by note on a computer.

Rotaru's songs of the period were created in collaboration with the following composers and lyricists: Arno Babadzhanyan wrote "Verni mne muzyku" (Bring Me the Music Back); Aleksey Mazhukov - "A muzyka zvuchit" (But the Music Plays) and "Krasnaya strela" (Red Arrow); Pavel Aedonitskiy - "Dlya teh, kto zhdët" (For Those Who Wait); Oskar Feltsman -"Only For You"; David Tukhmanov - "Ayst na kryshe" (Stork on the Roof), "V dome moëm" (At My Home), and "Val's" (Waltz); Yuriy Saulskiy - "A Usual Story" and "Osennyaya melodiya" (Autumn Melody); Aleksandra Pakhmutova - "Temp" (Tempo); Raimonds Pauls - "Tanec na barabane" (Dance on the Drum); Zatsepin - "Sovsem kak na Zemle" (Almost like on Earth); V. Migulya - "Zhyzn'" (Life), and others. Sofia Rotaru was the first performer of the songs of Yevgeniy Martynov, such as "Lebedinaya vernost'" (Swan Fidelity), "Jabloni v tsvetu" (Blossoming Apples), and "Ballada o materi" (Ballad About Mother). The controversial song "Rodina" (Motherland) is the first rap song performed in the Soviet Union. Another patriotic song "Schastye tebe, Zemlya moya" (Be Happy, My Earth), also caused political controversies; although both songs speak only of love for the land of one's birth, without political propaganda.

1980–1983: Acting career and new connections

In 1980 in the international song festival held in Tokyo, Sofia Rotaru won the first prize at the for her performance of the Yugoslavian song "Obeshchaniye" (Promise) and received the Order of the Badge of Honor.

The singer continued to experiment and appeared as a first Soviet female singer wearing trousers on stage. While doing this, she performed a hip-hop style song "Temp" (Tempo) {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) with music composed by Aleksandra Pakhmutova and lyrics written by Nikolay Dobronravov. The songs "Temp" and "Ozhidaniye" (Waiting) were specially written for the cultural programme of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The song was also used as the soundtrack theme for the drama film Ballada o sporte (Ode to sports), produced by Yuri Ozerov. In the same year, for the performance of "Ozhidaniye", the singer won the All-Union Song of the Year award.

This period is characterised by her leading role in a film released by Moldova-Film in 1980 and called Gde ty, lyubov'? (Where Has Love Gone?). Among other songs in the film, Sofia Rotaru performed the song "Pervy dozhd'" (First Rain). The movie featured her riding a motorcycle on a narrow sea embankment without a stunt double. According to the autobiographic plot, a village teacher is invited to join an ensemble and she wins the Grand Prix at an international festival with the song "Gde ty, lyubov'?". The music for the song was composed by Raimonds Pauls and lyrics by Ilya Reznik. The rest of the composers of the soundtrack were: Yevgeniy Martynov, Oskar Feltsman, Arno Babajanian, and David Tukhmanov. Simultaneously, a double album of the soundtrack was released. More than 25 million movie goers viewed the film in 1980. The title song of the film was forbidden on the state radio by Gennadiy Cherkassov the director of the music department, because he did not like how Sofia Rotaru sang. In 1981, at the XIVth All-Union Cinema Festival in Vilnius, the film received the jury's prize for popularisation of the singing art of Soviet composers, in the section of drama films. This movie was the first public exposure for Sofia Rotaru in a drama role. Many critics called it "clambaked", nevertheless the film gained film viewers' respect and some of the film themes became popular.

The next artistic period began with the search for a new style - rock music. The film Dusha (Soul) with Rotaru's new rock band Mashina Vremeni was released in 1981, including songs by Aleksandr Zatsepin and Andrei Makarevich. Due to her illness, Rotaru's doctors recommended that she not participate in the movie production and furthermore the suggested that she cancel all concert performances. This initial refusal caused Alexander Borodyansky and Alexander Stefanovich to write an additional autobiographical scenario with a dramatic situation in the singer's life, experiencing a loss of voice and an opening of her soul. This was shown in a dialogue on the pier with an older man and included a reevalutaion of her values. After having seen the new rewritten scenario and new songs, written in a completely new style, Sofia Rotaru agreed to star in the movie and moreover, decided to refuse for a while all concert performances. The movie became a musical drama, touching not only the private life of an artist and human relationships, but also raising the question of the artist's attitude towards her talent and the responsibility of being talented relative to her audience. Rolan Bykov was the partner of Sofia Rotaru in the movie and the lyrical hero was played by a Leningrad actor Mikhail Boyarsky. Sofia Rotaru has said: "The producer suggested to completely change my image from what the people had got used to see me on stage. I think the movie may become a turning point in my artstic destiny. Anyway, this is an experiment, for which I am heading with joy. And as during any experiment, it is difficult to suppose how it will all end." The film experienced more than 45 million entries in the Soviet distribution. In what director Stefanovich called the first music video in the Soviet Union, Sofia Rotaru and Mashina Vremeni were dressed in golden stretchy fabrics, jumping on a transparent trampoline, shot by a camera below it.

In 1983, Rotaru performed a national concert tour of Canada, organised by the National Concert Agency Inc. The concerts were supported by the issue of an LP, titled Canadian Tour 1983 and released by Cansov Exchange Inc.

1985–1989: Change of style - Europop and hard rock

The mid-1980s evolved into a turning point in the creation of the singer's image. Contrary to the previous Vas priglashaet Sofia Rotaru (Sofia Rotaru Invites You) (1985), the new film Monologue of Love (1986) explored the aesthetics of the new art. Only one song "Techët voda" (Water Flows) by Ihor Poklad carried on her folk theme and presented an image of a farm girl who became a star.

A new collaboration began in 1985 with the song "Lavanda" (Lavender), written by Vladimir Matetskiy for a duet with the Estonian Jaak Joala. In 1986, she reversed her artistic direction with the relatively unknown Moscow song writer. He managed the transition of Rotaru to a Europop style ("Bylo no proshlo" (Once It Was But Now It's Over), "Luna" (Moon)), including elements of hard rock ("Moya vremya" (My Time), "Tol'ko etogo malo" (That's Not Enough). During the next 15 years, Matetskiy and his co-author Mikhail Shabrov practically monopolized the right to collaborate with Sofia Rotaru. They produced songs, most of which became part of her concert progammes in 1990–2000, and these songs helped to establish a popular and charismatic personality for Sofia Rotaru with her unique vocal timbre. After the first collaboration many others have followed, including: "Luna, luna" (Moon, Moon), "Dikiye lebedi" (Wild Swans), "Heart of Gold", and "Zhyzn' moya, lyubov' moya" (My Life, My Love").

1990–1991: Among different cultures

The transition to a repertoire in Russian language caused a certain amount of animosity in Ukraine. Accustations in betrayal of national culture were also supported by the state producer unions, philharmonic societies, and concert companies who were losing control over the financial side of the concert and tour activity of Sofia Rotaru as a result of economic reforms. In order to avoid large scale provocations, Sofia Rotaru refused to participate in the Chervona Ruta festival, taking place in Chernivtsi in 1989. The diminuation of proportion of Ukrainian songs was caused by the absence of high-quality lyrics in Ukrainian. Rare exceptions included the songs of Mozgovoy, ("Kray" (Country), "Minaye den'" (Day Passes), Bliznyuk ("Ekho vernosti" (Echo of Fidelity), Rybchinskiy ("Bal razluchennykh serdets" (Ball of Separate Hearts), and Kvinta ("Chekay" (Wait), "Odna kalyna" (Lone Guelder-Rose), "Tuman" (Fog). In 1991, during a conert in Lviv, some people from the audience put up a poster in Ukrainian, translating into: "Sofia, a heavy penalty is waiting for you". Due to the incident, Rotaru did not perform in Ukraine until the end of the 1990s, after a personal request by the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.

At the same time, Rotaru prepared a new concert program, presented to the public in 1991. One half of it consisted of remixes of classics of Ukrainian pop song, including: "Chervona Ruta", "Cheremshina" (Bird Cherry), "Maple Fire", "Kray", "Gray Bird", and "Yellow Leaf". Rotaru has not faced Ukrainian nationalist accusastions since then.

1991–2004: New times

After the collapse of the USSR and commercialisation of the post-Soviet music, Sofia Rotaru has kept her top positions on the market and has a stable public, including Russian speaking diaspora in Europe, USA, Australia and Israel. In 2000 Sofia Rotaru was named the Best Ukrainian Pop Singer of XXth Century. In 2001 Sofia Rotaru performed in a new solo concert program Zhyzn' moya – moya lyubov' (My Life Is My Love). The programme blended new songs with the hits of the previous years in a new manner. In 2002 Sofia Rotaru was awarded the title "Hero of Ukraine".

After the death of her husband Anatoliy Jevdokymenko, who had produced her programs, and the loss of her parents, Rotaru stopped touring for a period and joined a nunnery. Following several months of mourning, Rotaru resumed her concert and recording activity and topped the Russian, Ukrainian and Moldavian charts again.

A new period started in 2003 with performances in the Koncertny Zal "Rossiya" of Moscow, dedicated to the opening of the her statue in the alley in front of the hall. The main authors working with Rotaru became composers Ruslan Kvinta ("Odna kalyna"), Oleg Makarevič ("Bely tanets" (White Dance)) and Konstantin Meladze ("Ya zhe yego lyubila" (Didn't I Love Him)), "Odin na svete" (One in the World)), as well as the lyricist Vitalij Kurovskij.

In 2004, after a four year break, Sofia Rotaru gave two solo concerts: in Chicago and the Taj-Mahal casino, Atlantic City.

During this time, Rotaru released the following albums: Yedinomu (For the Only One; 2003; with new songs and arrangements in Ukrainian and Moldavian languages), dedicated to the memory of her deceased husband, Nebo – eto ya (Heaven – It's Me; 2004), and Ya zhe yego lyubila (Didn't I Love Him; 2005).

2007–today: 60th anniversary

File:Koncertnoefotosofiirotaru.jpg

Sofia Rotaru performing "Ya zhe yego lyubila" on 7 August 2005 in Yalta

In 2007, Sofia Rotaru celebrated her 60th anniversary. Hundreds of fans, as well as artists and politicians came to Yalta to congratulate the singer. President of Ukraine awarded Sofia Rotaru with the II Degree Order for Merits. Official reception and birthday party took place at the Livadia Palace of Yalta, in the presence of President of Russia, President of Ukraine and President of Moldova. The event was covered live by Ukrainian and Russian state TV channels. Celebrations for her anniversary continued in September in Sochi, where one of the days at the song festival of young performers called "Five Stars" was dedicated to Sofia Rotaru. In October 2007, anniversary concerts took place in Moscow, at the State Grand Kremlin Palace, featuring Russian singers performing Rotaru's songs: Joseph Kobzon, Filipp Kirkorov, Alla Pugacheva, Lev Leshchenko, Nadezhda Babkina, Larisa Dolina, Anzhelika Varum, Kristina Orbakaite, Masha Rasputina, Nikolay Baskov. Featured Ukrainian singers included: Verka Serduchka, Taisia Povaliy, Valery Meladze, Potap & Nastya Kamenskikh, and TNMK.

The years 2006 and 2007 were busy for Rotaru. They saw three albums released: Tuman (Fog) in Eastern Europe and two albums exclusively for the German market Serdtse ty moë (You Are My Heart) and Kakaya na serdtse pogoda (What's the Weather Like in the Heart). The year also included participation in numerous TV shows and concert programmes and a documentary made for the Ukrainian TV. After the filming, she took a one month break in January which made place for rumours about her illness and a car or airplane crash. A Russian Anniversary Tour lasted from March until June 2007. Another TV musical show was filmed with Sofia Rotaru and premiered on 8 March.

Artistry

Several first expressions upon Rotaru's performance have been recorded from professional critics. Dmytro Hnatyuk, a People's Artist of USSR, after the Republican festival of popular talents in Kiev, 1964: "This is your future celebrity. Remember my words." Lyudmila Zykina, the president of the jury of the IX World Festival of Youth and Students in Sofia, 1968: "This is a singer with great future..." {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

Rotaru's performances have been noted for sharing sincere emotions with her audiences. She considers her childhood environment an inspiration for her music. Attention has been drawn to the intonations and strength of her alto voice. She performs in a variety of styles, including rock, rap and jazz, such as the song "Magazin Tsvety" (Flower Shop). In her concert programmes, Sofia Rotaru leaves an important place for modern remakes of folk songs, e.g. a rap version of "Chervona Ruta" released in 2006 with TNMK.

Legacy

Rotaru was nominated the People's Artist of the USSR in 1986. Sofia Rotaru has sung more than 400 songs in Russian, Ukrainian, Moldavian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Polish, Italian, English and German languages. She has performed in concerts in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Australia.

Politics

Sofia Rotaru does not support any particular political ideology. Nevertheless, her multicultural identity served both for and against her. Soviet authorities, persecuting her family for celebrating Christmas, represented her at the same time as the top singer of the USSR. The German press wrote about her as "The Conductor of the USSR". Some of her albums were recorded in Germany. After the recording of "L'immensità" (Immensity) in Italian and of "Wer Liebe sucht" (Who's Looking for Love) ("Deine Zärtlichkeit" (Your Tenderness), "Es muss nicht sein" (It Mustn't Be), and "Nachts, wenn die Nebel ziehen" (At Night When the Fog Spreads) the German label Ariola proposed to release a bigger studio album with these and other songs in French and English, and to perform a concert tour in Western Europe. Due to these offers, the concert administration of the USSR prohibited her to leave the USSR. This interdiction was also put in effect before a planned tour in Canada.

During the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, Sofia Rotaru was dispatching food packages together with her family to people who came to the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, regardless of their political affiliation.

In 2006 Sofia Rotaru took active part in parliamentary elections in Ukraine, balloting for the deputy chair as a second number in the list of Volodymyr Lytvyn's political formation Lytvyn Bloc, however the bloc could not gather the necessary amount of votes to enter the Parliament, which became one of the major surprises of the elections. She held an all Ukrainian charitable campaign tour the same year. Among main reasons for supporting namely the political unit of Lytvyn, Sofia Rotaru named personal trust and steadiness of Lytvyn, as well as her own interest in lobbying the law on patronage of art in Ukraine.

Nationality

Singing in different languages became the source of fierce arguments regarding which culture Sofia Rotaru belonged - Moldavian, Ukrainian, Russian or Romanian. She was also considered as a "fellow" in Russia, and in Armenia the question was debated whether to award her with the Meritorious Artist of Armenian SSR. The singer, who always lived in the Ukraine, considered herself to be a Ukrainian citizen, while not denying her Moldavian roots. On her web page, she identifies herself as Ukrainian.

Personality

Sofia Rotaru never negotiates at the grocery market: "It's a hell of a work, don't even dare," she once said to her husband.

Personal life

Besides Sofia, Aurica, her younger sister, has also performed professionally, combining a solo career with performances as back-up vocal, as well as duets with her brother and sister Lidia and Eugenia. However, for Aurica, the duet performing in the style of Italo-Pop of 80's did not reach noticeable success and in 1992 she ended her singing career. Sofia's Husband - Anatoliy Kyrylovich Jevdokymenko was a People's Artist of Ukraine (1941–2002). He was a son of a conductor from Chernivtsi. He first saw Rotaru on the cover of the magazine Ukraine № 27 in 1965 and immediately fell in love with her. At the time, Jevdokymenko was a serving his military duty in Nizhny Tagil, Ural region. After the service, he looked Rotaru up. Jevdokymenko had graduated from a musical high school, played the trumpet, and planned to create his own band. As a student at the University of Chernivtsi and a trumpeter in the student pop orchestra he helped Sofia discover the pop orchestra. Before meeting him, Sofia Rotaru had used mainly violins and the cimbalom for her musical background.

I rather owe my coming into being singer and, probably, personality, namely to those women, with whom I worked in the village. It is namely from them that I have learned to understand the sense of life. I received help in difficult moments from them - simple and magnanimous.

Discography

Main article: Sofia Rotaru discography

Filmography

Sofia Rotaru was cast in seven musical films, her debut being in 1966 in Solovey iz sela Marshintsy (Nightingale from Marshintsy Village). She played the main characters in the films Chervona Ruta (1971), Gde ty, lyubov'? (1980) and Dusha (1981).

Phenomenon

The oldest official fan club of Sofia Rotaru is "Fortuna". ROTARUNEWS, an information portal with statistical information on Rotaru's career, was created in 2003. Rotaru fan clubs exist in many cities across Russia and Europe.

Among her notable fans is Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a Russian businessman who has, in turn, received public support from Rotaru.

Sofia Rotaru has officially recognized her double act Dionis Kelm, who performs on tours using Rotaru's physical appearance, manner of singing and costumes.

In 2009 the international press has reported alleged tax problems of Sofia Rotaru in Russia. The official representative of Russian state prosecutor has made a statement where an organised crime group has presented itself as producers of Sofia Rotaru and that no tax investigations were under way regarding Sofia Rotaru.

Awards

Sofia Rotaru is a Meritorious Citizen of Crimea and Yalta. She has received numerous awards, including: Meritorious Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, People's Artist of Ukraine, People's Artist of Moldavian SSR, People's Artist of USSR, Laureate of the YCL Prize, Hero of Moldova, and Cavalier of the Republican Order of Moldova. In August 2002, President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and President of Russia Vladimir Putin awarded Sofia Rotaru on her 55th birthday, bestowing upon her the high rank of the Hero of Ukraine for her "outstanding personal merits in the sphere of art", and the Russian order "For merits before the Nation",

External links

• Template:Ru icon Official site
• Fortuna official fan club
• Sofia Rotaru discography at Discogs
• Sofia Rotaru discography at MusicBrainz
• Template:MySpace-music
• Sofia Rotaru at IMDb
• News about Sofia Rotaru (In Russian)
• All Sofia Rotaru Lyrics
• Lyrics of Sofia Rotaru
• Rating of female singers: Moscow favourite Valeria versus All-Russia champion Sofia Rotaru Romir

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