USSR USSR
Ukraine Ukraine

Aurika Rotaru(full name Aurelia Mikhailovna Rotaru; genus. 22 of October ( 19581022 ) , Marshyntsi, Chernivtsi region) - Ukrainian pop singer, Honored Artist of Ukraine, sister of Sofia Rotaru.

Biography

Family

• father - Mikhail Fedorovich Rotar (- March 12) was a war veteran, a machine gunner, reached Berlin, was a foreman of winegrowers
• mother - Alexandra Ivanovna Rotar (April 17 - September 16)
• brothers - Anatoly Mikhailovich Rotar and Evgeniy Mikhailovich Rotar (bass players and singers) - worked in the Chisinau VIA "Orizont".
• sisters - Zinaida Mikhailovna Rotar, Lidia Mikhailovna Rotaru and Sofia Mikhailovna Rotaru.
• Husband Vladimir Pigach. married in 1987
• Daughter - Anastasia Vladimirovna Rotaru (b.)
• Granddaughter - Aurelia Andreevna Knyazeva (b.)
• Aunt - Lydia Pritolyuva Rotaru

Awards

Discography

• - Album of Streltsy songs
• - Collection “Primevara”
• - Album “I can’t live without you”
• - Collection “Day by Day”
• - Collection “I can’t live without loving”
• - Album “Happiness is a free bird”, JRC

Video clips

• "For love"
• "Happiness is a free bird"
• "I can not live without you"
• "Letter"
• “I’ll never know you”
• "Tell me a fortune"
• "I'm leaving"

Write a review about the article "Rotaru, Aurika"

Notes

Links

An excerpt characterizing Rotaru, Aurika

On October 22, 2018, the legendary singer Aurika Rotaru, also known as, celebrates her 60th anniversary. the site will tell you more about the creative path and personal life of the Honored Artist of Ukraine.

Aurika Rotaru - childhood and first steps on the path to fame

The girl was born in the Moldavian village of Marshintsi, which is located in Western Ukraine. Her father was in charge of a team of winegrowers, and her mother was a housewife. In the family circle, they communicated exclusively in the Moldovan language, as well as in the high school that Aurika attended. The family had many children. In addition to our birthday girl today, she had two brothers - Anatoly and Evgeniy, as well as three sisters - Zinaida, Lydia and Sofia. The father of the family loved music very much and sang beautifully himself. It was from him that the children inherited their musical abilities.

Having received a certificate of secondary education, Aurika became a student at the Chernivtsi Music College, where she chose conducting and choral direction. Already while studying at this institution, the talented girl began performing in a musical ensemble called “Cheremosh”. As a soloist of the group, Rotaru toured the entire territory of Ukraine.

Having successfully completed her studies at the Chernivtsi School, the girl entered the Odessa Pedagogical Institute. She decided to continue her musical activity on the stage of the Vinnitsa Philharmonic, and then began working in a Crimean institution that organized concerts.

Solo career of Aurika Rotaru

For a long time, Aurika sang together with her older sister Sofia, who achieved incredible success on the Ukrainian stage. The youngest of the Rotaru sisters, she was an active participant in many musical events. She could be seen on the stage of the song festivals “Crimean Dawns”, “Kiev Spring”, “White Nights”, “Wider Circle” and “Song of the Year”.

Aurika Rotaru’s debut album appeared in 1994 and was called “Album of Streltsy Songs.” Just a year later, she presented the collection “Primevara,” which won great success among listeners. Since then, the performer has released 4 more full-length albums, the last of which was presented in 2006. Aurika actively worked on filming videos for her compositions. 7 video clips were released for her songs, including “Happiness is a free bird”, “I can’t live without you”, “I’m leaving” and “For love”.

Thanks to her fruitful work in the field of art, in 1996 Aurika Rotaru became an Honored Artist of her native country. In addition, Aurika is the owner of the Order of Princess Olga and the Great Martyr Catherine.

Aurika Rotaru - personal life

The artist met her future husband in the mid-80s. The wedding ceremony of Aurika and Vladimir took place in 1987, and a few months later, the couple had a daughter, Anastasia. Today, Aurika already has two granddaughters, one of whom bears the name of our birthday girl today. Unfortunately, the artist’s husband did not live to see the birth of his granddaughters - thirteen years ago, Vladimir died from a massive stroke.

Aurika is the youngest representative of the large and talented Rotaru family. All the brothers and sisters of today's heroine connected their lives with art. She doesn’t need long introductions either, who has become one of the most popular Ukrainian pop stars.

Aurika Rotaru continues her musical career. She is still touring throughout Ukraine and working on her new songs.

The surname Rotaru is involuntarily associated with the famous singer, the “dark-skinned girl,” who was at the peak of her popularity in the 90s. The talented Sofia has a sister. She also sings and shines on stage. Let's get acquainted with the biography of Aurika Rotaru, her creative career. What interesting facts does she share in the interview?

Biography

The biography of Aurica Rotaru begins in the small Moldavian village of Marshintsy in western Ukraine. The singer's date of birth was October 22, 1958. She became the youngest child in the family. Her parents were ordinary villagers. They worked on a plot of one hectare and kept a small farm. Each child in the family had his own responsibilities and worries around the house. Has Aurika ever dreamed of becoming a singer? Of course yes! The children inherited their talent for singing from their father. He also wanted to become an artist, but war and famine prevented this.

From the age of four, Aurika Rotaru was already performing on stage. In Marshintsy there was an amateur art club, which she attended with her brothers and sisters. The girl sang Moldovan folk songs, which she knew well.

Aurika Rotaru graduated from a rural school and entered the music school named after. Vorobkevich (conducting and choral department) in Chernivtsi. In 1985, she also graduated from the Odessa Pedagogical Institute. K.D. Ushinsky.

Creation

Aurika Rotaru's professional singing biography began at the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. It was then that, together with her sister Lydia, she began to successfully solo and tour around Ukraine as part of the Cheremosh ensemble. After leaving, Aurika’s place was taken by brother Evgeniy. The group began to work in the direction of Italian pop music. But she did not achieve success.

By the 90s, Aurika moved to the Vinnitsa and then the Crimean Philharmonic. At this time, she participated in the tours of her older sister Sofia, performing as a backing vocalist. Young Aurika also successfully performed at festivals throughout the Soviet Union: in “Crimean Dawns” (Yalta), “White Nights” (St. Petersburg), “Song of the Year” (Moscow) and in “Kyiv Spring”.

Discography

Currently, Aurika Rotaru’s creative biography includes six albums. The last one was recorded in 2006. Her husband Vladimir helped the singer work on her repertoire.

In addition, seven video clips were shot for Aurika’s songs, two of them in Ukrainian.

Awards

The singer has three significant awards. All of them are connected with her creative activity. This is the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine, which Aurika received in 1996. The singer was also awarded the Order of the Holy Princess Olga (Ukraine) and the Holy Great Martyr Catherine of the second degree (Russia) for her active participation and contribution to the development of the cultural life of the state.

Family

The Rotaru family is quite large. Parents Mikhail Fedorovich (died in 2004) and Alexandra Ivanovna (died in 1997) had six children born in their marriage: two sons and four daughters. They were proud of everyone without exception. Currently, only Sofia and Aurika remain in the profession of artists.

Their brothers - Anatoly and Evgeniy - were once singers and bass players in the VIA "Orizont" in Chisinau. But in the early 2000s they returned to their parents' house.

Sisters Zinaida and Lydia once followed the path of singers. The second even received special education. And for 10 years she performed in the same group with Aurika. However, each had her own family and new worries. And life scattered the sisters across different cities.

Aurika Rotaru's personal biography began in 1986, when she met her future husband, Vladimir Pigach. A year later they got married and moved to Kyiv. Soon their daughter Anastasia was born. Today Aurika Rotaru is already a happy grandmother. She has two granddaughters. The eldest's name is Aurelia.

By her own admission, Aurika Rotaru’s creative biography and personal life were successful. She is doing what she loves, her siblings are alive. The singer finally completed the construction and arrangement of the country house into which she moved, leaving the Kyiv apartment to her daughter. There is only no spouse nearby. He died in 2005 from a massive stroke.

• As children, four sisters slept in the same bed. Aurika herself told the Ukrainian magazine “Facts” about this. The family lived very modestly. But this only brought the relatives together.
• At the beginning of their creative career, the Rotaru sisters had a problem with the correct spelling and pronunciation of their last name. After all, according to their passports they went as “Rotar”. The fact is that the village in which the family lived originally belonged to Romania. And after the war, the territory went to Ukraine. Father Mikhail Fedorovich was summoned to the military registration and enlistment office on this occasion and asked to change his Romanian surname to a Ukrainian one. It was then that a soft sign appeared instead of “y” at the end of the word. The correct sound returned only after the collapse of the USSR. The name of the singer Aurelia is of pure Moldavian origin.
• She received her first fee of one ruble at the age of four, performing on the stage of a rural club. The girl's singing touched the audience so much that they threw the hat around the hall to raise money.

• Aurika Rotaru’s biography included a lot of traveling with concerts. However, she always dreamed of visiting Brazil, the vibrant and dancing city of Rio de Janeiro. For now, an amazing trip remains only in plans. After all, the singer has a busy touring schedule.
• The famous Rotaru sisters are already over 50, but even today they look young and fresh. And it’s not all about plastic surgery and secret elixirs and creams. The main thing is the right lifestyle. Despite your busy schedule, you need to get plenty of sleep and exclude “fried potatoes, desserts and meat dishes” from your diet. But it’s even more important to do what you love, take care of your loved ones and look for happiness in every day. This is what the biography of Aurika Rotaru demonstrates. Photos of the family, large and friendly, are a source of pride. Rotaru celebrates every holiday and even minor event together. Sofia especially pampers them, arranging joint trips to Florence, Venice, or Paris.

With a song through life

Aurika ROTARU: “Singers are not allowed to eat seeds, but Sonya and I love them very much. We’ll fry a whole frying pan and click, only at home and not before the concert, otherwise there won’t be any fees.”

For the upcoming birthday of the people's favorite Sofia Rotaru, Sofia Mikhailovna's sister, the beautiful Aurika, gave Gordon Boulevard a frank interview.

The popular singer Aurika Rotaru did not come alone to the meeting with the journalist - together with producer and friend Natalya Goncharova, who has been accompanying her on all her trips for several years now, sharing her joys and sorrows. We drank strawberry tea in a cafe in one of the central Kyiv parks, talked, reminisced and, despite the fact that it was pouring rain, were in no hurry to leave. After all, such sunny, friendly and sincere people as Aurika Mikhailovna are rare. But with them it’s light in any bad weather.

“WHEN I WAS 20, MY MOTHER SAID: “OH MY GOD, AURIKA! YOU'RE SO OLD. WHO WILL TAKE YOU?

- Your full name - Aurelia - means “golden”. Did your parents name you that because they are the youngest?

- Yes. But this, in principle, is a very common name in our village. There were four Aurikas in the class alone. Brother Zhenya’s wife is also Aurika - my classmate.

- Does gold love you?

I do not like him. I'm generally indifferent to jewelry. I don’t wear anything gold, except for one cross, but this is already a talisman.

- Do you often visit your native Marshintsy?

Unfortunately no. Both me and Sonya do it once every six months maximum. And now we decided: we’ll leave everything and go home, because we haven’t been since the fall. I want to visit the graves of my parents in the cemetery, chat with my brothers and sister Lida, wander barefoot on the grass - to relieve my soul.

-Where do you go first?

To my home. Our whole family loves fishing. It used to happen that we would come home, drop our things, and go fishing. So my parents specially dug a pond in the yard so that we wouldn’t go anywhere, so that they could sit at home and see us and talk to us. Zhenya - he lives with his family in his parents' house - has already called. He says: “There are a lot of fish, come, we’ll catch crucian carp!” Tolya, another of our brothers, lives in Marshintsy and lined up opposite.

Have you ever thought about setting up a museum of the Rotaru family there? Look how many talented creative personalities it has given to Ukraine.

Maybe over time, but for now, I think it’s too early. Thank God, we are all working, alive and well. And in general, I think a house should be residential, alive, so to speak. The brothers made renovations there, amenities - now everything is like in the city.

- I know, your father was a winegrower...

And from morning to evening he was in the field. There was a collective farm house where he spent the night and guarded the vineyards. And then he picked grapes. Not just one - there was a whole brigade. Dad made wonderful wine. We always had it at home - there were a lot of grapes growing in our garden. Now the brothers continue this tradition.

Dad dreamed of becoming a singer, but times like these: war, you understand... The dream did not come true, and he, of course, was very happy when Sonya became famous, and then Lida, Zhenya, and I followed in her footsteps. And my mother only dreamed of getting the girls married as quickly as possible. In our village they went out at both 16 and 15 years old. When I was 20, my mother looked at me and said: “Oh my God, Aurika! You’re already so old, who will take you?”

- Did your mother take care of the children and housework?

We had a hectare of vegetable garden, which she cultivated. And we helped - from a very early age, as soon as we started walking, and in the garden: weeding and planting... When we grew up, my mother sent us to the market to trade - to sell radishes and carrots. She went there herself, and so did we, the little ones. And later, when I was studying at the Chernivtsi Music College, she sold vegetables and herbs at the market. I came to her and said: “Go, rest, eat, and I’ll stand in your place.” I wasn’t at all ashamed, because we lived by it.

- In one of the interviews, Sofia Mikhailovna admitted that she never bargains on the market...

Me too, because I understand how much work is put into these fruits and vegetables. I can’t bring myself to ask to yield. I work at the dacha myself and I know how much you need to plow for something to grow.

- It is believed that a vegetable garden and a beautiful woman are incompatible concepts.

It's not true, it's such a pleasure! When I sow or plant something, then every day I come and see: has it sprouted or not? And when it comes up, what a joy it is! It's like watching a small child - you are constantly wondering how much he has grown.

I have a dacha near Kyiv. True, it is unfinished - the interior work remains. The garden is large, and everyone asks me: “Why do you need to process so much? Don't you get bored?" I say: “When I get tired, I’ll do less, but for now I’ll work hard.” I give everything to relatives and girlfriends and get a thrill from it: both because I grow it and because I treat someone. I pickled a bunch of cucumbers - although no one ate them over the winter .

“TOLIK, SONIA’S HUSBAND, JOKED: “I HAVE THE BEST MOTHER-IN-LAW: FIRSTLY, HE LIVES FAR AWAY, AND SECONDLY, HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND RUSSIAN.”

- A family with six children probably couldn’t boast of special wealth?

- Then all the villagers lived poorly. Well, we didn’t think about it when we were little. We worked, plowed... Before school, everyone knew who fed the pig, who fed the chickens, and who fed the cow. We were woken up earlier, at about six in the morning, we did everything and went to school. We returned, did our homework, and went to the garden. Or herd a cow. The farm was large: sheep, geese, ducks, and chickens...

- Is it true that at home you only communicated in Moldovan?

We still speak it among ourselves. In Marshyntsi we only had a Moldovan school, where Ukrainian was not taught at all. Yes, we sing on it, but we’re not used to talking. For ourselves, without noticing, we switch from Moldavian to Russian, then vice versa. Our mother didn’t understand Russian at all. If we arrived and started “Russianizing”, she was very offended: “Well, please, let’s do it in Moldavian!” And Tolik, Sonya’s husband, always joked: “I have the best mother-in-law in the world. Firstly, he lives far away, and secondly, he doesn’t understand Russian!”

- Do your children know your native language?

No. Well, maybe they understand a few words, but they don’t say them. Not my Nastya, not Sonin’s Ruslan, and especially not Son’s grandchildren. It was time to leave them in the village for the summer. Although Ruslan, when he was little, stayed, and I nursed him. Sonya always had a lot of trips, tours, and, of course, she had to take her son to the village. Zhenya and I rode him on a bicycle, didn’t let him go...

- Has your family always been this friendly?

Yes. Well, it happened, of course, in childhood to argue, to pull each other, to pinch each other, like all children. But if, God forbid, someone strange looked at me askance, the brothers could turn the whole school upside down! So it is now. God forbid that one person feels bad - the rest drop everything and go to the rescue.

We were taught that elders should be respected. If the older sister said that this is what you need to do, you can argue with her, but you must obey. Zina, our eldest, is blind, it was hard for her... Therefore, instead of our parents, Sonya stayed - she holds us, collects us. And even then I was a second mother.

Sonya left her parents' house when we were still little. I remember her wedding - it was in our yard, but it didn’t arouse much interest in me. I rode a bicycle, my brothers Zhenya and Tolya and I had our own team.

- I wonder what games you played?

Hide-and-seek. At night, all the children in Marshintsy ran away from home and were divided into two teams. One team was hiding, the other was looking, all over the village. And so on until the morning - through all the attics, along fences, gardens... One day Zhenya and I quietly walked in in the morning, and dad was sitting with a belt on a stool! It was a good belt, a soldier's belt, with a buckle. After that I no longer wanted to hide.

- Was Sofia Mikhailovna’s wedding musical?

Certainly! Tolik Evdokimenko - may he rest in heaven! - was a wonderful trumpet player, played with the guys at dances. So they played at the wedding. And Zinaida got married even earlier - in Chisinau. That's where he lives.

“DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY PLACED A TREE IN THE YARD, DADDY WAS EXCLUDED FROM THE PARTY, AND BROTHER FROM KOMSOMOL”

- Psychologists say that it is much more difficult for people who have lost their sight than for those who were born that way.

- Well, Zina went blind from three to five years old. She was born during the war, suffered from typhus, which caused atrophy of the optic nerve. I don’t remember how old I was, I was still very young when my dad found out that there was a school for the blind in Chisinau. He took Zina there, she made friends. She lives like a normal, full-fledged person. And if she had stayed in the village, what would have happened to her?

- Sofia Mikhailovna once said that Zinaida’s voice was even stronger than hers...

He is not only strong, but also beautiful. For as long as my sister studied in Chisinau, she worked at a factory and always took part in amateur performances. They had their own ensemble, they traveled to Georgia, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. Not only does Zina have a strong voice, she also has absolute pitch.

She constantly checked our lessons - we sat down and told her every paragraph by heart. They didn’t dare to deceive, because Zina is sacred. In addition, your sister could tell by her voice when you were confident in the answer and when you were not.

- What kind of story happened on New Year’s Eve, because of which your father was expelled from the party?

It happened, it happened, although I won’t say exactly what year. In our village we never celebrated the New Year on December 31st - only from January 13th to 14th. It wasn't even called Old - just New Year. Tolya came from the army... And he has been very fond of technology since childhood: he was little, so he put up small poles and put lights around our house, he made a machine for himself - like a real one! Well, my brother decided to put up a Christmas tree on the street. He cut down a large tree, installed it in the yard, made it spin and glow - at that time it was something! And we, of course, included this tree. The whole village was happy. And right on New Year’s Eve they came and took dad away...

He was soon released, but was punished: he was expelled from the party. Tolya was expelled from the Komsomol, and then from the university. Mom was worried about how her son would withstand all this, but he held on like a real fighter. On the second day, I took a candle and went to church.

After some time, dad was offered to recover. But he refused: that’s who you have to be to stir up such a crime because of a New Year’s tree! Neither he, the front-line soldier who reached Berlin, nor his son were spared...

- Have you kept any family traditions from those times?

The most favorite holidays, as before, are New Year and Easter. We waited for Easter like manna from heaven, because mom dressed us in everything new, we knew: there would be new shoes, socks, dresses... Dad went to bless the Easter cakes, and we waited for him all morning. Then you had to get up and be sure to wash yourself with some water from the glass where there was a red egg and a coin in order to be beautiful and rich. After which my mother set the table and we sat down to break our fast.

Our family has always been believers. Despite everything, our parents baptized all of us. Even Ruslan, Sonya’s son, was christened secretly so that no one would know.

“You CANNOT ENTER THE TOILET IN A CONCERT COSTUME. ONCE YOU PUT IT ON, BE HAPPY!”

- Sofia Mikhailovna believes in prophetic dreams, mystical coincidences, and you?

- I can interpret some dreams. I know that this is a sign of illness, and it means that some kind of miracle will happen or a person will appear who will begin to interfere and do nasty things. And, as a rule, my dreams come true.

- Do you believe in omens? What, for example, should you not do before going on stage?

You can’t go to the toilet in a concert costume - I know that for sure. Once you put it on, that's it, be patient! And I already have a habit: I have to cross myself before going on stage. Sonya always does this too.

There is another sign from time immemorial: I had just started working at the Philharmonic when I found out. If we are going to a concert and, God forbid, someone takes out the seeds, we are immediately kicked off the bus, because there will be no collection. You bite the seeds and you get the seeds.

“And I thought artists weren’t allowed to use them so that the cords wouldn’t get clogged.”

Well, this goes without saying, but Sonya and I really love sunflower seeds. Black, sunflower. Let's fry a whole frying pan and click - only at home and not before a concert. We also like to play cards - preference. We simply love it! When we arrive in Marshintsy, the four of us will sit down... Usually I, Sonya, Lida and her husband Seryozha play.

- Who is winning?

Differently. There is not yet one such master among us who would constantly win. After all, we are professionals in other things.

- Did you initially want to become a singer?

Maybe yes. I looked at Sonya, and I had no other options.

- At school, Sofia Mikhailovna showed promise as an athlete - she was involved in athletics...

And I got first place in acrobatics. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to seriously engage in sports. There was a small hall - there was nowhere to turn around. With our physical education teacher - he, unfortunately, died several years ago! - We communicated until the very end. When we came home, we would definitely come to him or invite him to visit us. He was a very good person, so physical education was everyone’s favorite subject in Rotaru.

- When you started your career, did you have the feeling that you were in Sofia’s shadow?

Of course, it was, because Sonya had already soared to a level that Lida and I had never even dreamed of. I had to work very hard so as not to lose face in the dirt.

From year to year, newspapers reprint the information that your real name is Rotar, and Edita Piekha advised young Sonya to add the letter “u” to make it sound better. Is this true or a story?

-(Surprised). What does Piekha have to do with it? Rotaru was originally our last name. She is not even Moldavian, but Romanian. “Rota” is a wheel, and “rotaru” is a wheelwright. When Bessarabia, which was part of Romania, was annexed to Ukraine, the inhabitants were enumerated. Our dad became Rotar Mikhail Fedorovich. And then we changed our last name back.

- Whose idea is it to create a duet of Rotaru sisters?

I studied at the Chernivtsi Music College, a very good one, by the way, with the same teacher as Sonya. I lived with Lida, in her apartment. And she sang with Leonid Zatulovsky in the Cheremosh ensemble. And then one day, on a day off, I went with Lida just to listen to the concert.

There was time before the concert, Leonid Borisovich sat down at the piano and said: “Come on, girls, sing something together.” We sang "Primavera". At the same concert, they found me some kind of blouse and skirt, and we performed as a duet. So I stayed in “Cheremosh” - they took me to the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. We didn’t go far: I was studying as an in-patient student. Further - to the Caucasus, for example - already when the holidays began.

- You and Lydia traveled all over the Soviet Union. How were Ukrainian songs received then?

Great! The first section was almost entirely in Ukrainian. And after the Ukrainian songs that people love and always wait for, in the second part, you can already sing anything.

When I moved to Kyiv, our brother Zhenya began performing with Lida - he is a very talented musician, he started in Nikolaev together with Igor Krutoy and Sasha Serov. Well, then Lida gave birth and didn’t want to return to the stage. And Zhenya got married: he has his own shop in the village, land, vineyards...

- Does Lydia also live in Marshintsy?

No, she’s a businesswoman with us, she has her own restaurant in Chernivtsi - there is very tasty home cooking. Even as a child, she loved cooking as much as singing. And the signature dish, of course...

- ...mamaliga?

Yes! With sheep's cheese, with cracklings... You can sell your homeland! How was it at home? If Sonya or Lida didn’t cook hominy at lunch, it’s no longer food. We ate it instead of bread. And now, when we come to Marshintsy, the daughters-in-law cook mamalyga, cook our favorite chicken in sour cream, put cottage cheese on the table and, of course, homemade wine.

- You probably have a lot of friends and fans...

So many! There are fan clubs even in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. They write, call, send SMS all the time, congratulating me on all the holidays. If we go to a concert, they will be the first to know about it. I don’t know where it comes from, but it’s nice. They often come to the entrance of the house - with flowers and gifts. And recently we were in Germany, so a girl fan from Russia came there and followed us around all the cities!

There was one. Galya, in my opinion. She is mentally unstable - she called at three and four o'clock in the morning, and not only to Sonya - to everyone! Because of this, I changed my phone numbers. If she’s in a good mood, she’ll just talk, but if she’s in a bad mood, she’ll start talking so much that it’s impossible to bear. She threatened that if she was not allowed to go to the concert, she would do something...

Sonya did not dare to contact the police for a long time; she felt sorry for this unfortunate woman. The last straw was that when there was an anniversary evening in the Kremlin, she called and said that the palace was mined. Galya “mined” a lot of things: the concert hall in Vladimir, and the airport, but already when the Kremlin, she was quickly found and eventually imprisoned. It’s a pity, of course, for the person, but she simply didn’t let him live.

- Probably after that they hired a whole staff of security guards?

For what? There are still more normal people than abnormal ones. Yes, people often recognize me on the street, in a store, but in a kind way: they just ask how I’m doing.

“ON THE FIRST EVENING VOLODYA PROPOSED TO ME. I ANSWERED: “BUT I’M MARRIED!”

- When you lost your husband, you said that the topic of marriage was closed for yourself forever...

- I had a good husband: kind, generous, smart. And I just understand that I won’t find a second one like this. My bar is very high. I won't settle for anything less.

- How did you meet him?

Very simple. I worked at the Chernivtsi Philharmonic, Alexander Tishchenko, a famous singer and composer, was our musical director. And when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, Volodya came to Chernivtsi with Natasha, my current producer: they were fleeing radiation. Natasha introduced us, and on the very first evening he proposed to me.

- And you answered: “Yes”?

I was confused: “But I’m married!” And he said: “Nothing, you’ll get a divorce.” I got divorced and didn’t regret it for a single day.

- What does your daughter do?

Nastya graduated from the Kiev Institute of International Relations with a degree in International Economics and is studying in graduate school. I'm not in a hurry to get married. Unlike my mother, I say: “It’s too early!”

- She sings?

No. She graduated from a music school in piano with honors, danced in the Virsky ensemble, and recorded a song in the studio with Tishchenko Jr. But this is not hers: she took after her father, a mathematician.

We have Tolik, Sonya’s grandson, who is interested in music. He's a DJ. A very persistent guy. After school, go to the studio and work. Little Sonechka sings clearly and studies with teachers. Wait and see...

- Rumor has it that you and Nikolai Mozgov have a strained relationship. This is true?

Noooo, fiction. We never fought with him. But we didn’t fraternize, although we are from Marshynets, and he is from Novoselitsa - it’s two kilometers away. Somehow they just didn’t intersect. Previously, when he sang more, we met more often at concerts, but now we hardly see each other.

“I HAVE ABOUT 500 cow cows. WE HAD NO IDEA HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT A COW”

- In general, friendship in the pop circle is possible, what do you think?

- Why not? I communicate with Sasha Tishchenko, the Bilonozhko family, and Pasha Zibrov.

- Do you often see Sofia Mikhailovna?

Every day! Because we live in the same building. True, she recently moved into a house in Koncha-Zaspa, which she finally completed. And now both I and she are bored. We call each other every day. It was very convenient for us: we could run for salt, just drink tea, and play cards...

When my husband died, Sonya pulled me out of depression. She didn’t leave a single step: “Don’t sit at home, let’s work...”. She herself experienced such a terrible grief, having lost Tolya, and tried in every possible way to protect me. Sonya was saved by work - this is the best medicine for her.

She and I are almost always together. We go on vacation, tour. This year we sunbathed in the Maldives: I adore the sea. True, we thought there weren’t as many of us there as in Turkey or Egypt, but it turns out there are plenty! When they returned, Sonya’s grandson Tolik asked: “Sonya, did you live in such and such a hotel? It’s just that my classmate’s dad was there too, he saw how you and Aurika were collecting shells on the beach...”

- Does Tolya call you by name?

That's better. All these “aunts” and “grandmothers” are useless. And are we really like grandmothers? I think not yet! ( Laughs).

- You lived in rented apartments for a long time...

Yes, I’ve only lived in mine for 10 years. There was still not enough money. You want to make your place cozy, but are you really going to redo anything in your rented apartment? You can’t hammer a nail without asking, you can’t get a cat... And now I have a chow-chow dog, and a red, arrogant cat, seven kilograms of live weight - everything is as it should be!

- I know you have a large collection of cow figurines. Why did you decide to collect them?

This is the nurse. We had no idea how to live without a cow. I have about 500 cows, I can’t even count them anymore. I’ll finish building the dacha and make a special room for them. I also keep outfits because I sew to order. Now I’m working with Alena Oleynik. And once upon a time in the Chernivtsi region, in the village of Melievo, there lived a craftswoman who hand embroidered mine, Sonina’s and Lidina’s dresses. I have never seen such patterns anywhere before!

It would be great if someday there was a benefit performance for the Rotaru family. People would see and hear Lydia and Evgeniy again...

The idea is good, but it’s a pity that there is no person who would implement it. Especially now, during the crisis, when organizing concerts has become a problem. And we can sing, don’t worry about that: me, and Lida, and Zhenya, and Zina. And Sonya, of course. Tolya, my brother, also sings with us, but when we all went to the stage, he said: “You know, I stay at home. You will sing and sing, but still return home. Someone should be waiting for you?”

If you find an error in the text, highlight it with the mouse and press Ctrl+Enter

Exclusive. How much gold does the Rotaru family have?

Aurika Rotaru considers herself a happy woman. Her happiness is a large family, daughter, granddaughter, song, inspiration and, of course, love...

"Gold" and favorites

The full name of the singer and native (and well, maybe the most slightly less “starry”!) sister of Sofia Rotaru is Aurelia (in Moldavian Aureira). People familiar with Mendeleev’s periodic table of elements will immediately draw a parallel with the Latin “aurum” - “gold”. And they will hit the mark! Aurelia is precisely interpreted as “golden”. In Bukovina this is a very common name, and the girl was named that way because she was the youngest child in the family. That is, golden. However, all six children were “golden” and beloved in the large Rotaru family. The elder sister Zinaida now lives in Chisinau, Lydia - in Chernivtsi, brothers Evgeniy and Anatoly - in their native village of Marshintsy, and Sofia and Aurika - in Kyiv.

Everyone has their own destiny. Zinaida, having suffered from typhus in childhood, lost her sight, but managed to survive all the hardships and find herself among millions. Lydia has become a “businesswoman”: she has her own restaurant. Living in his parents' house, Evgeniy is engaged in viticulture. Anatoly is also a businessman. On stage today there are only Sofia and Aurika. But Ukraine believes: the time will come, and one day the entire singing Rotaru family will gather on the main stage of the country!

We remember "Cheremosh"

Aurika and Lydia sang together for quite a long time in the Cheremosh ensemble of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. In the 1980s, as part of a group with a fast-moving “river” name, they came to Nikopol! Involvement in the “star” surname forced the sisters, whose duet was quite popular in the USSR, to sing with full dedication. They tried, looked for their songs, their authors. But over time, circumstances changed: Lydia went into business, and Aurika continued her creative activity in the Vinnitsa and then the Crimean Philharmonic. She toured a lot with her now solo program. It’s not in vain - Rotaru! (This surname is Romanian and means “wheel driver” from the word “rotar” - wheel.) So he travels around the planet singing!

Life without shocking

There are always scandals and affairs, intertwined with juicy details, around the personal lives of celebrities. But to any “rule” there is an exception, which is the Rotaru family. So Aurika is clearly not a “socialite”: she lives without pathos and scandals, does not hang around in social gatherings and does not advertise her personal life. And problems, even if they arise, never become the property of the “yellow” press.

The singer does not like large and noisy companies or nightclubs. He does not strive to appear on television, believing that it is more important to be remembered by the audience with a good song and manner of performance.

The house my husband and I dreamed of

She recently moved to her country house, built near Boryspil. She had long wanted to live in nature.

– After all, I am a rural person. I love the land and clean air, which is always lacking in the city,” the celebrity confesses to me.

Aurika Mikhailovna lives alone in the house. Her husband Vladimir Pigach died in 2005, and she had never met such a caring, loving and generous man in her life. The singer’s only daughter Anastasia lives separately - Aurika Mikhailovna left her Kyiv apartment to her daughter. Nastya is married and has already given her mother a granddaughter, who was also named Aurika. It seems that this name brings good luck to the family!

Cucumbers and tomatoes

“I love working on the land,” continues Aurika Rotaru. – Even in my Kyiv apartment, I grew tomatoes in pots on the balcony. It is such a pleasure to sow or plant and then watch it grow! But now I have a garden and grow cucumbers, parsley and celery myself. She has grown a garden in which there are pears, apples, cherries, apricots, peaches, dogwoods, and quinces. I look after my household myself and get tremendous pleasure from it!

For us, our parents were an example of devotion to the land, hard work, decency and respectful attitude towards people. Mom, for example, taught: a man came into the house - first feed him, and only then talk. And my father always said that he would wear a sweatshirt, but would not leave the black earth Ukraine...

Hobbies

In her free time from busy work, she embroiders with cross stitch, satin stitch, beads and “gold”. He likes to do this at night, when there is silence around. He also collects cow figurines!

– I already have more than five hundred of them. In a country house I will set aside a whole room for them. The cow in the village is the nurse. As a child, we also had a cow.

I also love to cook. Volodya, for example, ate only at home - no restaurants and, God forbid, fast food. And in general, I try to make my family feel warm and comfortable with me.

He gave her a whole world filled with spring

Aurika Rotaru is a believer. He does charity work, builds churches, and when he goes on stage, he always crosses himself. She did not change the tradition, even climbing onto an improvised platform in the village of Chkalovo, where the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Nikopol region took place.

Aurika Mikhailovna was married to her husband. This decision was made after fifteen years of marriage, when the couple became convinced that there was a strong spiritual connection between them. And they had love at first sight: the future husband proposed to Aurika on the very first day they met! The woman felt in her heart that this was her man! And I was not mistaken.

“There is nothing accidental in this life,” says the singer, recalling those days. – Everything was planned from above.

First ruble

Now Aurika Rotaru has her own name and pride in Ukrainian show business. Although at first, he admits, there was a special magic felt in the name of the older sister. But she managed to find her image, which was easily accepted by the viewer. Even in the difficult 1990s, when it was not easy for artists to “find themselves,” she had no downtime: the singer traveled to the Far East, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan with concerts.

And if you take a look back, Aurika has been on stage since she was four years old. The leader of the rural amateur performance group personally came to Rotaru’s house to listen to the “little one.” That's when she started performing on stage. They placed a stool for her, an accordion player sat next to her, and Aurika sang. And when the little one was asked what you would be, she answered without hesitation: “A singer!”

Once she performed at a rural club, and the audience collected her first “fee” - a ruble in small change. The little girl spent it on candy.

Flowers, like songs, have a beginning, but no end.

After school, there was no question of a profession for Aurelia: she entered the conducting and choral department of the Chernivtsi Music College. She studied and at the same time sang in “Cheremosh”. It happened unexpectedly. The leader of the ensemble, Leonid Zatulovsky, invited the sisters to sing together. They sang “Primavara” (“Spring” in Moldavian) - the song later became the calling card of the Rotaru sisters. As soon as the duet appeared, Aurika and Lydia were invited by the then chief director of festivals and cultural programs of Ukrkoncert, Boris Sharvarko, to a government concert in Kyiv. This was their debut at the Ukraine Palace.

Since those times, a lot has changed in Aurika Mikhailovna’s life, but her devotion to the song, the audience and her family have remained unchanged.

Now the singer tours a lot in the cities of the former Union. At the invitation of the Ukrainian diaspora, it enters Austria, Germany, Canada, the USA, and Israel. Her solo repertoire includes songs by Vladimir Matetsky, Yuri Martynov, Oleg Kharitonov, Alexander Tishchenko, Arkady Khoralov, Ruslan Kvinta, Oleg Green, and the Teodorovich brothers.

The singer draws crowded halls, and fans continue to give her roses, chrysanthemums and lilies, and it seems that this flow of flowers, like the songs, has no end...

Aurika Rotaru has released six solo discs and shot seven videos. In 1997 she became an Honored Artist of Ukraine.

Happy

Aurika Rotaru considers herself a happy woman.

– I have a daughter, a granddaughter, all my sisters and brothers are alive. I have a favorite job. I built my house. What more could you dream of?! It’s a pity, of course, that Volodya passed away so early; his parents are no longer there. But the Almighty ordered it this way. For the rest - all glory to God! - the star guest says to me goodbye.

Happy anniversary, Aurika Mikhailovna!

On October 22, Aurika Rotaru celebrated her anniversary birthday. Life gave her two A's! The Prospekt team congratulates this sunny woman and sends her the most sincere wishes for health, goodness and creative longevity!