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VITAS first appeared on the Russian stage with his hit "OPERA N# 2" in December 2000. Vitas has following achievements during the period of his active creative work:
he released seven albums ("Philosophy of Miracle", "Smile!", "Mother", "The Songs of My Mother", "Kiss As Long As Eternity", "Return Home. Part 1", "Return Home. Part 2") which were entered into the Top Three most popular albums in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. (according to the official sales)
he released two singles ("Opera # 2" and "Goodbye"). According to the official sales results, the single "Opera # 2" was awarded a Russian Prize (established by the producers of phonograms "Record") as the bestselling single of 2001, 2002 and 2003
he became a Musical Discovery of Year according to the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" and the Internet Survey "FORUM 2001"
he became a three-time-laureate of the festivals "The Song of the Year-2000", "The Song of the Year-2001" and "The Song of the Year-2002"
he became a two-time-laureate of the People Prize "Golden Gramophone" for the song "Opera N# 2" in 2001 and for the song "Smile!" in 2002
he became a four-time-laureate of the Musical Prize "PODIUM" for the most stylish achievements in pop music in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005
he became a laureate of the prize "People’s HIT" in 2001, 2002 and 2003. His songs "Opera N# 2", "Smile!" ,"The Star" were the most frequently rotated ones in RF
he became a winner of the Prize "100 Per Cent HIT" established by the radio station "HIT FM" in 2001 and 2003
he was acknowledged the Soloist of the Year according to the results of the National Musical Prize "Ovation" in 2002
According to the Russian Internet portal AFISHA.COM Vitas is recognized to be an actor among Russian actors in 2004, 2005, 2006 who has given the greatest number of concerts on the territory of Russian Federation, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, the Baltics, Israel.
he established a indisputable record having organized the premiere of his solo concert in the State Kremlin Palace on March 29, 2002. Vitas became the youngest artist who performed a solo concert at the Kremlin
he shot eleven MVs ("Opera N# 2", "Opera N# 1", "Blessed Guru", "Smile!", "The Star", "Mother", "The Bird of Happiness", "Kiss As Long As Eternity", "Shores of Russia", "Lucia Di Lammermoorr", "Crane’s Crying") In 2002 at the personal request of the Council of the Worldwide League "Intellect Without Drugs" Vitas and his producer Sergey Pudovkin joined the Board of Guardian of the Worldwide League and became its honorary members alongside with Patriarch of All Russia, Dalai Lama, Koffey Annan, Tina Turner,the presidents of more than 20 countries. Vitas was presented "the Stone of the World", which is 350 million years old, at the ceremony of purification at the foot of the sacred mountain Tashtar Ata. According to the legend, this stone has absorbed all the good deeds of the world during the whole history of the mankind.Vitas presented his collection of the clothes "Autumn Dreams" on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace in September 29, 2002. The show included 42 styles of ladies’ outfits some of which had already been displayed in Almaty, Vilnius, Berlin, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon. At present Mr.Pudovkin is holding negotiations with western companies to create and promote the VITAS brand as his own line of clothing.In December,2002 Vitas took part in the TV series which was a screen version of Mrs. Dontsova’s novel "A Beloved Scoundrel". He played the part of an artist coming to the capital from the provinces and causing a sensation on the pop stage with his unique voice and songs. Vitas created two soundtracks for the movie. During the filming the producers of the series offered Sergey Pudovkin to prolong the contract for the next serial cycle.The premiere of the dramatic performance "Victor or Kids in Power" by Rogeur Vitraque took place on the stage of Mayakovsky's Theatre in spring, 2003. Vitas played the leading role of a nine-year-old boy. The director Dmitry Tcherniakov (a three-time-laureate of "The Golden Mask") and the producer Pavel Kaplevich invited Tatyana Drubich, Renata Litvinova and Mr. Romanov to participate in this project.Vitas took part in the Festival of Indian Films which was held in Delhi from January 6 till January 11, 2003. Within the framework of the festival program Vitas gave a solo concert and took part in the opening ceremony.Vitas got an invitation from Lucio Dalla, the composer, who created "In Memory of Caruso", to perform this famous song Vitas together with the author at the concerts "San Remo in Moscow" held in the State Kremlin Palace. Vitas’ voice enchanted not only the audience but Mr. Dalla himself. So the composer invited Vitas to come to Rome to take part in the rehearsals of "Toska", the modern version of the legendary opera.Vitas presented his second solo program "The Songs of My Mother" in the Concert Hall "RUSSIA", Moscow in November 2003. It consisted of more than 30 compositions, 19 of which were being created by Vitas specially for the premiere. Two new albums of the artist were prepared and released for the premiere. One album included the songs which are considered to be the gold reserves of Russian pop-music, such as "Kings Can Do Everything", "Winter", "Chrysanthemums", "And the Gipsy is going", "The Bird of Happiness" and much more. The second album included only the new songs composed by Vitas – "An Autumn Leave", "The Star", "God, How I Love", "Even Stars will Like Letters", "Mother".The Production Center "Pudovkin" organized an unprecedented tour with the program "The Songs of My Mother" in Russia and the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Israel and the Baltic States in 2004-2006.This concert program is favourite for the Spectator. The actor has come to many towns 3 and even 4 times with it, performing for the halls full of audience.Vitas gave more than 600 performances with the program "The Songs of My Mother" in 2005, 2006. His touring schedule is filled till the premiere on 8, March 2007Vitas became the most popular touring actor in Russia in 2004-2006. His premiere "The Songs of My Mother" was acknowledged "the best musical event of the year".The album "A Kiss As Long As Eternity" released on October 8, 2004 had unprecedented record sales in Russia and CIS: more than 2 million copies were sold less than half a year. The total number of CDs sold during the period of the singer’s creative activity exceeded 10 million copies.Vitas' entry to the Asian market took place in 2005. Mentality and perception was absolutely different from ours, the lack of knowledge of Russian were not on the way for dozen thousands of admirers from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan first to pay attention and then to love Vitas' creative work, his voice and songs. At the end of 2004 the site Vitas China Online was opened, and now the number of registered members of this the fan-club has exceeded 20 thousand people. There are more than one million people in the guest book. More than 600 fan-clubs have been formed in this region for half a year. Letters from Chinese friends overfill an electronic box of the actor daily
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Vitas' Art Explored
Article provided by VitasVitas.com
There is no denying that Vitas now enjoys overwhelming popularity in China.
The style of Vitas’s music falls somewhere between “high art†and “pop artâ€. On
the one hand, he demonstrates a virtuosic command of vocal techniques no
inferior to that required for classical operas and he has an extraordinary vocal
range that spans nearly five octaves. On the other, the lyrics feature fairly catchy
rhymes that make his songs amicable and endearing. In the field of pop music
today, which is almost dominated by the young, Vitas is only one of them, a singer
in his twenties. However, he managed to rise to fame pretty early, that is, over
seven years back and during this time, his style, apparently, has undergone
tremendous, even fundamental, changes, judging from all the albums released
and major live concerts he has given. The writer herein approaches the analysis
of Vitas’s art in the light of the music videos of the title tracks of his albums
released in chronological order, including “Opera #1?, “Opera #2? from
Philosophy of Miracle (2001), “Smile!†and “The Blissful Guru†from Smile! (2002),
“Star†and “Mama†from Mama (2003), “The Bird of Happiness†from The Songs of
My Mother, “A Kiss as Long as Eternity†from the album bearing the same name,
“Lucia Di Lamermoor†and “Shores of Russia†from Return Home I (2006), and
“Crane’s Crying†from the latest album Return Home II (2007).
2001-2002
“Operas No. 1 & 2? seem to constitute a symbol. The two songs are from the
same album and look so similar in the name. Despite this, the ideas that the two
music videos convey form a sharp contrast– “Opera #1? depicts an extraordinary
person worshipped by his pious followers whereas “Opera #2? a marginalized
person suffering from grave loneliness.
These two music videos of utterly different styles reflected the very two sides of
Vitas, a singer who had just made his debut on the Russian stage. In “Opera #1?,
the singer, fully aware of his astonishing gifts, has a feeling of defiance of the
earthly world; on the contrary, in “Opera #2?, he is all gentle and elegant, showing
compassion for the mankind. Miraculously, these two seemingly contradictory
sides co-existed in the singer.These seemingly contradictory styles appeared again in the following album
Smile! “The Blissful Guru†inherited the mysterious and enigmatic style of “Opera
#1?, continuing with the portrayal of “the extraordinary personâ€. The only
difference was that the identity of Vitas was changed from a hierarch into a guru,
no longer feeling unparalleled in the world. Meanwhile, Smile! was completely a
story of “an ordinary personâ€, with focus on the depiction of his emotional and
mental states.The writer holds that in terms of appearance, these two years was the period
when Vitas enjoyed his supreme beauty. His eyes sparkling with transparent
comeliness exerted particular fascination on others, and that belongs only to a
pure and naive child.
2003-2004
After Smile! (2002) was a distinct transformation in style. A transformation in an
artist’s style usually takes place for a reason. Due to the limited resources
available, the writer does not know what exactly it was that led to this change.
However, judging from the songs released during this period, the influence of the
famous artists such as Alexandra Pakhmutova was noticable, yet the death of
Vitas’s mother was the major reason.No one likes misfortune, but a man has to go through the vicissitudes of life
before he matures. “Star†and “Mama†were created by the singer, suffering
gravely from the bereavement of his deeply-loved mother, the very closest person
ever to him. There was less flaunt in these two songs: the heart-piercing
countersoprano part was immersed with emotions. His voice, so pure as if filtered,
ravishes the ear with heart-rending grief. However, rather than a hysterical
emotional catharsis, Vitas expressed “grief without being hurtfully excessiveâ€, in
Confucius’s words. Vitas’s music perfectly blends passion, inebriating lure, reason
and faith. His belief in eternity bestows his works a touch of transcendece over
ephemeral earthly life.His performance in these two music videos exerts gripping infulences on the
viewers and he virtually creates an atmosphere of chilling melancholy only with his
facial expressions.Generally speaking, a man like Vitas who holds fast to his faith never abandons
himself to despair, to which the fact that “The Bird of Happiness†was listed as the
first track in the album The Songs of My Mother may well serve as a testimony.So far, the music video of this song stands out with a unique look, virtually being a
collection of footages of his live recitals. Filled with triumphant joy and burning
enthusiasm, the music video of “The Bird of Happiness†looks, in a sense, like a
“school report†of a straight A student to his late mother. The album The Songs of
My Mother contains Vitas’s renditions of the time-honored Russian folk songs;
hence the widespread popularity since its release.
2005-2007
After the previous two albums with a focus on “telling his own life storiesâ€, Vitas
returned to impersonation, that is, playing a given role in the music video. His
viewers were delighted to notice his acting, demonstrated in the music video of “A
Kiss as Long as Eternityâ€, more mature and expressive than that in “Smile!â€.“A Kiss as Long as Eternity†and “Shores of Russia†contained a lot of traditional
Russian elements. The architectures that appear in the former feature spacious
halls, cool colors and simplistic grandeur, so much so that one takes no more
than one look before he can recognize the distinctive Russian architectural styles.
This trait becomes more noticable when compared with the indoor scenes in
previous music videos, such as “Opera #2? and “Smile!â€. It was also delightful to
find his baritone and bass richer and smoother than fbefore.In the year 2006, Vitas presented his new music videos: “Crane’s Crying†and
“Lucia Di Lamermoorâ€. Seeing from the lyrics alone, one may readily mistake
“Crane’s Crying†for a typical love song. However, the music video is a tribute to
love of a much broader sense, that between husband and wife as well as parents
and children. Vitas, in the music video, is an angel of love, witnessing the joyous
moments enjoyed by three generations in a family over time.“Lucia Di Lamermoor†is the most famous and popular of Gaetano Donizetti’s
operas. Its popularity was further enhanced with the exquisite performance of the
Blue Diva in the movie The 5th Element (1997) starring Bruce Willis and Milla
Jovovich. After its premiere in 1835, the aria was sung by innumerable singers
around the world. Vitas’s version, adapted with stunning creativity, however,
stands out from its peers with his exraordinarily gifted voice and breath-taking
voilin obbligato. Even his hardcore fans, who are so familiar with his voice, would
be seized immediately with amazement at his voice in bel canto operatic style: so
beautiful yet sonorous, so mellow yet forceful, just like a stream of mountain
spring, so limpid and lush with breathless flexibility.All in all, a brief look back on his works reveals his nonstop innovation and
boundless creativity. As his audience, we have every reason to expect more
spectacular works from this prominent artist we all have been waiting for.It is our sincere hope that Vitas lives up to his motto: “Veni, Vidi, Vinci (Latin)â€, or
“I came, I saw, I conquered†in English.