The friendly face of this singer in the 60s did not leave the television screens. Larisa Mondrus was known and loved by the public in the USSR. Her songs were also appreciated outside the country, where Larisa has been on tour more than once. However, fate turned out so that soon the singer had to move abroad forever.
From the biography of Larisa Izrailevna Mondrus
The future popular singer was born on November 15, 1943 in the city of Dzhambul (Kazakhstan). Her mother, who at that time was 18 years old, met Israel Mondrus, a flight school cadet. Young people fell in love with each other and started a family. Soon their daughter Larisa was born.
Father was not taken to the front - he remained in Vyshny Volochyok and began to teach recruits to flight. Mom and daughter in Dzhambul were waiting in vain for a call from her husband and father. But he disappeared from their horizon forever. Only miserable alimony in favor of his daughter reminded of its existence. All her life, Larisa considered her stepfather to be the father.
At the end of the war, mother and Larisa moved to Riga. Here the girl went to high school. Larisa attended the children's choir classes. The head of the musical group immediately recognized the girl's excellent abilities and predicted a great future for her.
Larisa was fond of pop music. She was mainly interested in foreign compositions. At home, she all the time played records with recordings of songs in German, English, Polish, Czech. The voices of the performers often made the girl shiver.
The girl tried not to miss a single school competition, participated in amateur art shows and concerts. The audience has always accepted Larisa's performances with delight. She had a chance to defend the honor of her school at competitions in Kiev and Moscow.
Exact sciences were given to the girl with difficulty. But she loved literature. Larisa also found time for sports: she attended the rhythmic gymnastics section. And yet, in the end, she made a choice in favor of music.
Creativity and career of Larisa Mondrus
After graduating from school, Larisa entered the Institute of Foreign Languages. Once a freshman received a call from the Riga Variety Theater and was invited to audition: the teachers noticed the girl in her school years. Among many performers, the head of the orchestra chose Larisa. So the translator's career ended and the singer's career began.
Back in 1956, the famous Raimonds Pauls created his first musical jazz group in Riga. He wrote several songs especially for Mondrus. In 1964, Larisa received an invitation to perform in the Eddie Rosner Orchestra. At that time, Mondrus was already married. The place of the second conductor of the orchestra was offered to Larisa's husband, Egil Schwartz. To participate in the new project, the family moved to the capital of the USSR.
The singer's popularity was gaining momentum. She toured the country a lot, and during the breaks she recorded compositions. A real breakthrough in her career took place in 1965, after Mondrus took part in the "New Year's Light", where she sat at the same table with the famous Soviet cosmonauts.
Larisa also had a chance to act in films: he played a singer in the film by Eldar Ryazanov "Give a complaint book." After this film, the song "Good evening" became a hit. Subsequently, Mondrus went to perform in the countries of the socialist camp. She was granted in the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia.
Emigration
However, soon the musical leadership became more attentive to the choice of the repertoire of performers. Larisa did not compromise and came into conflict with the authorities. The result was not long in coming: the singer was forbidden to travel outside the country. And then they took Mondrus' performances off the air.
Larisa and her husband decided to leave the USSR. Outside the country, they were awaited by complete uncertainty, but they had nothing to lose. In the spring of 1973, Mondrus and her husband moved to Germany and settled in the suburbs of Munich. Larisa began performing on stage. She could sing in several languages. She also managed to gain popularity in Europe. Larisa Izrailevna finished her concert activity only after the birth of her son. At the end of her career, she became involved in the shoe business. And she achieved success in her new business.
In 2001, Mondrus returned to her homeland for the first time: she participated in the Big Laundry program, where she was invited by Andrei Malakhov. Later, the singer performed at a festival in Jurmala.
Now Larisa Mondrus considers herself happy: she is surrounded by loving people: her husband, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She has the opportunity to visit her homeland and meet old friends.
