Sergei Dmitrievich Orekhov is a unique representative of Russian musical art: he was an outstanding virtuoso performer on the seven-string guitar, gained immense popularity among lovers of Russian romance in particular and guitar performance in general, but at the same time remained unknown to the general public and did not achieve official recognition.
Biography and creativity
Sergei Dmitrievich was the eldest child in a large family of Orekhovs. They lived in Moscow, their father worked as a locksmith, and their mother as a cook. Sergei was born on October 23, 1935, then another sister and two brothers were born. The boy was creatively gifted and very enthusiastic - he drew well, in addition to school, from 14 to 16 years old he was engaged in a circus school. And at the age of 15, he began to learn to play the seven-string guitar, and music captured the young man so much that it became not just his profession, but his whole life. At first, Sergei, together with a friend, tried to master the instruments from a self-instruction manual: Sergei - a seven-string guitar, and his friend - an accordion. But such classes were not enough, an experienced mentor was needed - and he was found in the person of Vladimir Mitrofanovich Kuznetsov, who was a rather famous Moscow teacher-tutor, developed his own method of teaching playing string instruments and wrote a book about it.
Later, Orekhov studied in a guitar circle with the guitarist V. M. Kowalski. Sergei had an amazing capacity for work, he could play his favorite instrument for ten hours a day. In addition to the seven-stringed guitar, the young man also mastered playing the six-stringed guitar, since its popularity in Soviet society steadily increased.
After school, Sergei Orekhov was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army. He served in Leningrad, was a radio operator. He devoted all his free time to playing the guitar, and his command even sent him to various competitions, where he invariably won. He went on stage in a soldier's uniform instead of a tuxedo, and at first no one even took him seriously, but as soon as he started playing, all the listeners and the jury were completely delighted.
And yet, the years of military service played a negative role in the fate of Orekhov: one day he became hypothermic and developed a severe cold with complications in his arms. He was admitted to the hospital, where he underwent a long course of treatment for polyarthritis, then he was even discharged. The process of rehabilitation and development of hands began, but the musician never recovered until the end - for the rest of his life he played the guitar, overcoming pain. But he could not otherwise, he simply could not imagine himself without music and without his favorite instrument.
Returning from the army, Sergei Orekhov was educated at the Gensin School of Music for two years, and then his active concert activity began, in which two directions are clearly traced: solo performance and accompaniment. As a soloist, he performed classical works for seven-string guitar, arrangements of Russian folk songs and romances.
As an accompanist, Orekhov worked with many famous vocalists who also performed romances and songs. Since 1956, Orekhov got a job at the Mosconcert and began performing with Raisa Zhemchuzhnaya, an outstanding performer of gypsy romances. Their cooperation lasted seven years - until the departure of Pearl to a well-deserved rest. And in 1963, Sergei Orekhov met the singer Nadezhda Andreevna Tishininova, who later became not only his partner on stage, but also his life companion. Together with her, Orekhov prepared large concert programs in which he performed solo numbers, and also accompanied his wife; sometimes several accompanists took part in the concert, since it was difficult for Orekhov to play throughout the entire program.
In addition to Tishininova, Sergei Orekhov performed with other performers. Thus, many years of friendship and cooperation linked him with Nikolai Ivanovich Erdenko, a gypsy singer and violinist, who at the age of 24 was invited to the position of musical director of the Gypsy theater "Romen". In 1980, within the framework of this theater, Erdenko created a gypsy youth jazz ensemble "Dzhang", with which Sergei Orekhov played many concerts, and also took part in theatrical performances. Gypsy musicians highly appreciated Orekhov's guitar skills and emotional performance.
In the 80s, Sergei Dmitrievich performed a duet with the guitarist Alexei Pavlovich Perfiliev, with the singer and composer Anatoly Viktorovich Shamardin, as well as with the famous balalaika player and guitarist Valery Pavlovich Mineev. He had a chance to accompany Alexander Vertinsky, Galina Kareva, gypsy singers Tatiana Filimonova and Sofya Timofeeva. A warm friendship tied the Orekhov-Tishinina family with the outstanding singer Vadim Kozin, who in 1945 was convicted and exiled to Magadan. Coming on tour to the Kolyma, Orekhov and his wife always visited Kozin, played music together. There are audio recordings where Sergei Orekhov accompanies Kozin on the guitar, who sings and plays the piano.
However, many musicians who performed with Orekhov complained about some difficulties in working with the guitarist: at times he was so immersed in music and was fond of improvisation that he forgot about partners. In general, he lived in music: it constantly sounded in his head, he composed more and more new arrangements and variations of songs and romances. During the performance, Orekhov closed his eyes, and the listeners had the impression that he was playing, not only with his hands, but also with his face and with his whole body.
The musician's incredible performance undermined his health: instead of listening to the advice of doctors and the requests of his wife to rest and heal his heart, Orekhov loaded himself with work. And he even died of a heart attack during a rehearsal with balalaika player Valery Mineev. This happened in the 63rd year of the musician's life, on August 19, 1998. They buried Sergei Dmitrievich in Moscow at the Vagankovsky cemetery.
Personal life
The wife of Sergei Dmitrievich Orekhov, singer Nadezhda Andreevna Tishininova, is from Belgorod. They met while visiting mutual friends when Orekhov was 28 years old. The girl was mesmerized by the personality and, especially, by the skill of the young guitarist, who performed classical pieces and romances all evening. It seemed to her that not one musician was playing, but a whole orchestra. From that moment on, young people were connected not only by love, but also by joint creativity. The couple lived together for 33 years - until the death of the guitarist. There were no children in the marriage. Nadezhda Tishininova survived her husband by only four years, and all this for a short time she could think and talk only about her beloved wife.
Career
Sergei Dmitrievich Orekhov, being an outstanding seven-string guitarist, did not wait for official recognition by the authorities, did not receive any state awards and titles. He was rarely filmed for television, but he traveled with concerts throughout the Soviet Union and many foreign countries. His wife Nadezhda Tishininova often went on tour around the country with him. Together with other musicians, they gave 2-3 concerts a day, gathering full halls of fans. Abroad Orekhov was in Yugoslavia, Germany, Poland, where he performed very successfully at the festival. This was followed by invitations to France, USA, Greece and other countries. He was incredibly loved by young musicians all over the world, many people wanted to get to his concerts, even if he performed only one or two solo pieces. Once the famous Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia came to the USSR on tour, and when he was asked which of the Soviet musicians he would like to talk to, de Lucia said: "I only need Orekhov!"
In 1985, at the Melodiya company, Sergei Orekhov, together with another guitarist Alexei Perfiliev, recorded the only seven-string guitar record (arrangements and arrangements). In addition, recordings were made of his performance in Paris. And in the USA sheet music was published with transcriptions for guitar of old Russian romances - in particular, "The Coach" and others.
Sergei Orekhov also tried himself as a composer: he composed small pieces - etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, but for the most part the musician did adaptations or create variations of popular songs and romances - “I Met You”, “Chrysanthemums”, “Only once in my life there are meetings "," Moscow Nights "," Blue Scarf "and others.
Another area of Orekhov's activity was the transposition of musical works between the seven-string and six-string guitars. The musician was equally masterful in the technique of performing both on one and on the other guitar, although his soul, of course, lay with the seven-string - he considered it a truly Russian instrument capable of conveying all the features of national culture. However, he understood that the six-string guitar was becoming more and more popular, and sought to expand its repertoire as much as possible.
