Alla Bayanova in Poland / Алла Баянова в Польше -- 1935/36 !

Alla Nikolayevna Bayanova (Russian: Алла Николаевна Баянова; 18 May 1914 -- 30 August 2011) was a Russian Romance singer. Bayanova was born in Kishinev in the family of an opera singer, who moved to Paris in 1918 after Bessarabia was united with Romania. She debuted on the stage as an assistant to her father in 1923, aged 9. By 1927, she was already performing solo. A major step forward in her career was when she assisted Alexander Vertinsky in his famous show at the Hermitage Restaurant, Montmartre. Two years later, her family moved to Belgrade, while Bayanova went on touring Germany, Greece, Palestine, and Egypt. In 1931, she got acquainted with Pyotr Leshchenko, a foremost Russian singer of the time, who helped her to join the Pavilion Russe in Bucharest. She married a local aristocrat, George Ypsilanti, and made several recordings of tangos (e.g., Columbia, His Master's Voice). After her divorce from Ypsilanti, she signed a contract with the Polish recording company "Syrena-Electro" and made in Warsaw 14 sides with songs sung in Russian. It must have been late months of 1935 and early of 1936, as Miss Bayanova also appeared then in the Polish film, playing a role of the vocalist and a dancer of the Russian-Gypsy ensamble, her name was,however, not mentioned in that production. In March 1941 Bayanova was arrested by the Romanian authorities and interned into a concentration camp for having performed in the Russian language. Although released in May 1942, she was kept under surveillance until the end of World War II. In the 1960s and 1970s, while still living in Romania, Bayanova issued eight LPs. Nicolae Ceauşescu's government, however, pressed her into migrating to the USSR in 1988. Thereupon she settled in Moscow, making occasional appearances on the Russian television and participating in numerous concerts, warmly received by the Russian public. Bayanova was named People's Artist of Russian Federation and celebrated the 80th anniversary of her stage career in 2003. In 2004 she sang in a concert to celebrate her 90th birthday. Her last work was in collaboration with Marc Almond on several duets. She died on 30 August 2011, aged 97, of cancer. Upon learning of her death, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated: "Her life was dedicated to the high purpose of bringing people joy through interaction with true art. Ms Bayanova had a rare, beautiful voice, and her mastery and heartfelt performances of Russian songs gained her recognition around the world." (based on Wikipedia) In the video we can listen to her Polish, early 1936 recording of the Oskar Strock's tango - Siniaya Rapsodia. Her Polish Syrena-Electro recordings are documented by the catalogue list, which the video is starting with. A piece of the Polish film comedy is showing Alla Bayanova at the age of 21, if we take her birth date as factual. For comparison - a piece of one of her last concerts (Moscow, 2007) is here:    • Алла Баянова - Мы только знакомы   Miss Bayanova speaks there about the musical form called Old Russian Romance, its meaning and the essence; she also performs one of them: "Мы только знакомы" -- "We are acquaintances only" . One of the very first videos with Miss Bayanova's singing that appeared on YT were mine and since early days of 2008 they have been available for admirers of the great talent of that Artist:    • Alla Bayanova - "Iskorki pozhara", old rom...      • Alla Bayanova sings Anna Akhmatova: "Chern...   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -