page_title: Alexander Gradsky
section_title: Solo career
hierarchical_section_title: Alexander Gradsky / Solo career
caption_attribution_description: Русский: МОСКВА, КРЕМЛЬ. Вручение государственных наград. Звание народного артиста Российской Федерации присвоено композитору и певцу Александру Градскому.
context_page_description: Alexander Borisovich Gradsky is a Russian rock singer, bard, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of rock music in Russia. His diverse repertoire includes rock 'n' roll, traditional folk songs performed with a rock twist, and operatic arias. He has composed two rock operas and numerous songs including soundtrack music for several films.
context_section_description: In 1973, film director Andrei Konchalovsky asked Alexander Gradsky to compose and perform music for the film Romance for Lovers (Романс о влюблённых – Romance o vlyublyonnyh), which was released in 1974, the same year in which Gradsky graduated with a master's degree in vocal performance. Gradsky performed all the male vocal parts in the film soundtrack, which brought him fame as a solo artist. His many records released during his long career encompass a variety of genres. His first rock opera, Stadium (Стадион – Stadion), was released as a double LP in 1985.  He also composed a rock ballet The Man (Человек – Chelovek), released in 1988.
  Gradsky is a tenor who is reported to have a three-and-a-half octave vocal range, and also plays 12 instruments. He performed the demanding role of the Astrologer in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel (Золотой Петушок – Zolotoy Petushok) in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in 1988.
  His collaboration with John Denver, with whom he performed the 1986 song Let us Begin..., brought him to wider international attention. In 1999, he performed a recital at New York City's Carnegie Hall.
  Since the late '80s, Gradsky has been teaching vocals at the Gnesin Music Academy as well as performing.
  On July 16, 1988 Gradsky performed at the San Francisco, California Golden Gate Park Bandshell as part of the American Soviet Peace Walk Concert. Later that evening he also played acoustic guitar and sang during the intermission (set break) at the Grateful Dead Rex Foundation Charity concert at U.C Berkeley's Greek Theater.
  In late 2009, Alexander Gradsky released a 4-CD opera adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita (Ма́стер и Маргари́та), starring Gradsky himself as Master, Woland, Yeshua and Behemoth.
  The opera also stars Nikolai Fomenko as Koroviev, Mikhail Seryshev (formerly of Master) as Ivan, and Elena Minina as Margarita, in addition to many renowned Russian singers and actors in episodic roles, including (but not limited to) Iosif Kobzon, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, Andrei Makarevich, Alexander Rosenbaum, Arkady Arkanov, and the late Georgi Millyar (voice footage from one of his movies was used).
caption: President Vladimir Putin presenting Gradsky with the People's Artist of Russia title, 2000
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2007:03:12 10:15:20", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3417", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "334"}