Dear fans and friends! Peace, health, prosperity and happiness to all of you in 2012! I thank you with all my soul for your love and support.

The admins are excited to announce that the Alexandrov Ensemble will be featured in an upcoming broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Several songs will be featured to include Leonid Kharitonov’s soloist debut performance of The Cliff. The program will be broadcast on the 4th of December and should be available online to many fans via live stream. Click here for more details.

May 9th is celebrated every year in Russia as Victory Day to commemorate the victory in 1945 over Nazi Germany in World War II. 2011 marks the 66th anniversary.

Leonid Kharitonov wishes all of his fans a Happy New Year and a lot of happiness in 2011! And, of course, that there be peace all over the world! He also thanks you for all of your love, for keeping him in your memory and for your beautiful comments! For him, you are all a great treasure! Thank you and God bless each one of you!

In 1848, the district school superintendent of Upper Udinsk, a local historian and writer, Dmitri Pavlovich Davydov (1811-1888), wrote the poem “Thoughts of a fugitive on Baikal.” It was devoted to the fugitives from prison. In an interview, the author told the St. Petersburg newspaper Golden Fleece:

“Fugitives from factories and settlements are generally known as “passers” They are extraordinarily courageous in overcoming the natural obstacles along the way. They go across mountain ridges, through swamps, swim enormous rivers on fragments of wood, and there were some cases where they risked crossing Lake Baikal in barrels that they sometimes found on its shores.” The fugitives were supplied with bread and other items by local inhabitants, who would leave them outside of their houses at night.

On May 9th every year, Russians celebrate Victory Day (Den Pobedi / День Победы). This is a day to commemorate the Nazi surrender in 1945. Parades, music and fireworks highlight the celebration. This year is the 65th anniversary of this day.

In this video, Leonid Kharitonov greets and thanks the World War II veterans. His 1999 performance of The Veterans don’t Grow Old in their Souls, given to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Alexandrov Ensemble, follows.

This song was written specifically for Leonid Kharitonov by the composer Serafim Tulikov in 1967 and has become a “hymn” for veterans. As the first performer of this song, Leonid Kharitonov was invited to sing it on this commemorative occasion.

Leonid Kharitonov - "The Veterans don’t Grow Old" [ 3:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (58)

Leonid Kharitonov has been overwhelmingly pleased by the comments that he’s received on his web sites and “YouTube” channel, along with the e-mails that have been sent.

Fans from all over the world have expressed their thankfulness, admiration and best wishes. To convey his great appreciation, he has made this video as a small token of thanks to you all!

(IMPORTANT! English subtitles have been added! Be sure to turn Captions (CC) on in the YouTube player to view them! It’s the last button on the right side of the player’s tool bar.)

Responding to Leonid Kharitonov’s 2010 New Year’s greetings on his web site, which includes a video of his 1969 New Year’s Eve performance of Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl, the fans from the Japanese musical group “Polyanochka” (The Glade, photo on the right) in turn greet Leonid Kharitonov with best wishes for the 2010 New Year and perform their version of the Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl song as a gift in his honor in this video, which they recently posted on their YouTube channel.

This song, originally titled “For the Sake of Future Days” was written in 1963 by the famous Russian composer Anatoly Novikov; the lyrics were written by Lev Oshanin. This performance commemorates the sacrifices and victorious achievements of Russia’s young men from the Revolution through World War II and into the Soviet space era. The presented video clip of the song (below) was made in 1966 for the New Year’s TV show.

The song begins:

“Is it possible to forget those Russian boys…
They met the year 1917 with cannons pointing at their chests…
Revolution looks at them with stern eyes and asks: Are you ready?!
And the boys raise their hands—they are ready!”

Leonid Kharitonov - "The Ballad About Russian Boys" [ 6:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (86)

Thanks so much to all of you for your very nice comments and your attention to our web site! Recently, Leonid Kharitonov asked us to wish a Happy New Year to all of his fans and friends and those who admire his creative work! He enjoys hearing from you very much, and we, the web site’s administrators, are interested to know your thoughts and suggestions for our web site as well.

We hope you’ll enjoy this special New Year’s performance of Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl. This song was written especially for Leonid Kharitonov in 1966. This specially made video uses a very rare 1971 audio version of the song.

Leonid Kharitonov - "Dark-Eyeyd Cossack Girl" [ 2:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (87)