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 sang many patriotic songs during his long career, including the one presented here, “Son of Russia”. He wishes to express his extreme gratitude to all veterans for their sacrifices, and asks all of his fans to pray for peace.

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!

Please enjoy this 2004 performance of “Chrysanthemums Finished Blossoming Long Time Ago”. It is the singer’s most favorite song! 2010 was the 100th anniversary of this song, which was written by Nikolai Harito in 1910. You can read more about it here (in Russian.)

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.

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:

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.

“Ej, Uhnem!”, (Russian: “Эй, ухнем!”), roughly translates to “Yo, Heave Ho!” This well-known Russian folk song is also known outside of Russia as “The Song of the Volga Boatmen“. The burlaks (boatmen) first appeared in Russia in the late 16th century. A burlak was a hired laborer who walked along the bank of the river as part of a crew, dragging ships against the current with a tow rope. The work was extremely heavy and monotonous. The song became widely known thanks to its performance by the great Russian bass, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, and has since become a favorite part of the repertoire of many singers and performers, both inside and outside of Russia. The famous painting by Russian artist Ilya Repin, “Burlaks on the Volga” (shown below), was inspired by the song.

This song is about the fate of the 17th century Russian rebel, Stepan Razin. The lyrics were written in 1864 by novelist Alexander Alexandrovich Navrotsky who was also a member of Narodnaya Volya (Russian: Народная Воля), a secret revolutionary organization perhaps best known for assassinating Tsar Alexander II on March 13, 1881. The song was an anthem for revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th century in Russia; Lenin often sang it with his comrades-in-arms. The song is still culturally central to Russia. Leonid Kharitonov remembers:

“My solo career truly began with a concert in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses on April 22, 1965, dedicated to the 95th anniversary of Lenin, when I sang “There is a cliff on the Volga.” [Click here to listen to this performance.]