early years
Vaenga's real name is Khruleva. She took her pseudonym in honor of the old name of Severomorsk (the city was called Vaenga until 1951), which comes from the Sami word meaning “deer.” Her mother advised the singer to take such a pseudonym.
The future singer was born into the family of a chemist and engineer. Elena’s parents worked in the village of Vyuzhny at a ship repair shop that serviced nuclear submarines.
Elena's paternal grandparents were from Leningrad. During the Great Patriotic War, my grandfather fought in anti-aircraft units, and my grandmother worked as a doctor in besieged Leningrad. Elena's maternal grandfather was Rear Admiral of the Northern Fleet Vasily Zhuravel, who served in the navy during World War II.
Elena has a younger sister, Tatyana, who speaks several languages and works as an international journalist. At first, Lena studied at school in Vyuzhny, but she graduated from school 395 in Snezhnogorsk, where she studied in a literature class.
Already as a child, Elena wrote her first song “Pigeons” (in her own words, she was then either 9 or 11 years old). With this song the girl won the All-Union Competition for Young Composers of the Kola Peninsula.
Having received a certificate of secondary education, the girl entered the Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Music School in St. Petersburg. There she studied piano, receiving a diploma as an accompanist teacher. After university, she taught music at school for a short time, while studying vocals.
Anastasia Nemolyaeva
cottage village in the Moscow region
The star of the film “Courier” Anastasia Nemolyaeva and her husband Veniamin have three daughters. For 20 years they have been professionally designing and painting furniture and interiors, so their house can be called a real work of art.
Author: Olga Shangina | Photography - More Design Ideas: Design Ideas
A two-story house made of timber with a plot in a cottage village in the Moscow region, the search for which took several years, appeared back in 2008. The couple made several changes to the project, enlarging the windows and adding an attic floor, creating a basement with a laundry area and a spacious veranda.
From: Olga Shangina | Photography – Find new interior solutions: living rooms
According to Anastasia's plan, the interior was supposed to resemble a Russian estate. But Benjamin is a fan of the Victorian style, so the couple made a compromise. The actress’s house turned out to be very unusual, picturesque and cozy: with painted ceilings, antique utensils, vintage furniture, popular prints and stove tiles from the 19th century.
From: Olga Shangina | Photography - Find original interior design photos: design ideas
In Anastasia's garden, Chinese apple trees are blooming, and behind the house there is a vegetable garden in raised beds, forming a beautiful pattern. Lupines, irises and roses grow under the windows of the house, and many trees are planted around the perimeter.
Author: Olga Shangina | Photography – More design ideas: outbuildings
Career in music
Since Elena wanted to become an actress as a child, after music school she entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts (formerly LGITMiK) on the course of Gennady Trostyanetsky. However, she did not study there for long; two months later she went to Moscow to record her first album.
According to Wikipedia, the singer’s producer was Stepan Razin, who worked with the group “Ataman”. The music for the young singer was to be written by Yuri Chernavsky, who collaborated with Mikhail Boyarsky, Vladimir Presnyakov Jr., Alla Pugacheva and other Soviet pop stars. Elena was supposed to perform under the stage name Nina. She even recorded an album and released a video for the song “Long Corridors.”
Elena Vaenga’s first concerts took place back in 1996, and already in 1998 the young singer became a laureate of the St. Petersburg “Hit of the Year” competition with the song “Gypsy.”
The singer quarreled with Razin, after which she went back to St. Petersburg, breaking the contract ahead of schedule. Later she said that, according to the contract, she could not perform under her real name, so she took a pseudonym (which her mother came up with). The rights to the songs written at that time remained with Razin, who sold them to Alexander Marshal, Tatyana Tishinskaya, and the groups “Strelki” and “Ladybug”.
Returning to St. Petersburg, the girl learned that Pyotr Velyaminov was taking a course at the Baltic Institute of Ecology, Politics and Law in the Department of Theater Arts. The second time she managed to get a theater education, Elena received a diploma in dramatic art.
In the early 2000s, the singer came to Moscow again. Her first album was “Portrait”, released in 2003. It was released on the Unites Music Group label and consisted of 16 songs.
Then the singer released the album “Flute” in two parts (the first of them had 15 songs, the second 16). Two of the songs from this album by Elena Vaenga were written to poems by Nikolai Gumilyov (“Jester” and “Giraffe”).
However, real popularity came to Elena Vaenga in 2005, when the album “White Bird” was released. On it, in addition to the title hit, there were other hits - “I Wish”, “Airport”, “Taiga” and “Chopin”.
“Chopin” also ended up on the singer’s next album, which was followed by “Absinthe” and “Dunes” in Elena Vaenga’s discography. The last album of the 2000s was “Keyboards,” on which perhaps the singer’s most famous hit, “Smoke,” appeared. For “Smoke” Elena Vaenga was given her first “Golden Gramophone”.
The singer received her second statuette in 2010 for the song “Airport”. In total, Elena has four awards (two more - for “Keys” and “Where I Was”).
In the same 2010, the performer became the laureate of “Song of the Year” (but not with “Airport”, but with “Absinthe”) and for the first time in her career gave a solo concert in the Kremlin Palace, which was later shown on Channel One.
In 2011, the singer collected many Russian awards - “Golden Gramophone”, “Chanson of the Year”, “Song of the Year”, etc. The only exception was the Muz-TV Award, where the performer lost the statuette to Vera Brezhneva. At the same time, Elena first entered the top 10 most successful representatives of domestic show business according to Forbes.
The first album of the 2010s was “Lena,” released on the UMG label. The songs “Mommy”, “A friend was driving to me”, “On my cheek”, etc. were released on it.
The next disc was called “NEW”, it included songs based on poems by Sergei Yesenin, Bulat Okudzhava, Oleg Mityaev. Songs from this album include "Queen", "Lady Di" and "Bride".
The singer’s last album was “1+1”. It was released in 2020. Among the songs from this album, it is worth highlighting “Gravity” and “Neva”. For the first of them, the music was written by Intars Busulis, but the lyrics were written by Elena Vaenga.
The performer sang together with Mikhail Bublik (“What have we done?”), as well as Laima Vaikule, Mikhail Nikitin, Alena Petrovskaya, Achi Purtseladze and Cuban Roberto Quel Torres.
The singer's latest works were three singles recorded by a duet. These are “Black Eyes” (together with Anton Yakovlev), “Man and Woman” and “Whore” (both with Andrei Yagunov).
Among the hits with Elena’s participation, her collaboration with rappers Basta (in the world Vasily Vakulenko) and Smokey Mo (in the world Alexander Tsikhov), which was called “Stone Flowers,” stands out.
Now Vaenga is successfully continuing her career: before the onset of coronavirus restrictions, she toured the country with concerts and participated in major shows. Thus, in 2017, the performer took part in the “Best Songs-16” concert, and in 2018 – in the “Own Track” concert, dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Vysotsky.
Already in the summer of 2020, Vaenga was among the participants in the popular project “Voice 60+”, aired on Channel One. Together with her, Tamara Gverdtsiteli and Garik Sukachev, as well as Lev Leshchenko and the permanent Dmitry Nagiyev, were among the mentors of older talents. This is the third season of the show, in the first and second the mentors were Leonid Agutin, Pelageya, Valery Meladze, Mikhail Boyarsky and Valeria.
Carier start
Lena wanted to develop other talents in herself, and therefore, after her musical education, she decided to enroll in the theater department, although after graduating from college she even received an invitation to work at the Warsaw Conservatory. According to Vaenga, she came to enter the Theater Academy in St. Petersburg (LGI), having no idea what it was like to play on stage and not understanding drama at all. However, after a tough selection and high competition, the girl entered the course of Gennady Rafailovich Trostyanetsky However, she studied at the academy for only two months.
This happened because at the same time Elena received a very tempting offer from composer Yuri Chernyavsky and producer Stepan Razin from Moscow - to come and record an album with their authoritative help. The bitter experience she gained turned out to be very useful for the aspiring artist - she personally became acquainted with the world of show business and its “sharks” and was able to show character by abandoning projects that were not close to her.
In 2000, returning to St. Petersburg, Lena again entered the theater department - this time at the Baltic Institute of Economics, Politics and Law, taking the course of the famous Soviet actor Pyotr Sergeevich Velyaminov. However, having graduated from the university with honors, she nevertheless returned to what never left her during these years - music.
Opinions about Vaenga
Many representatives of Russian music and music criticism spoke positively about Vaenga. According to Artemy Troitsky, Vaenga’s success is due to the fact that domestic listeners are tired of listening to Star Factory graduates, as well as to her undoubted artistic talent and lively voice.
Producer Joseph Prigozhin noted that Vaenga, like Stas Mikhailov, occupied a non-format niche. According to him, this is an example of how listeners chose not what radio and TV imposed on them.
The famous composer Raymond Pauls called Elena a “wonderful singer” who stands out from the background of “those who like to sing to a soundtrack,” and compared her with the early Alla Pugacheva. Vladimir Presnyakov Sr. also spoke complimentarily about the performer, who predicted that Vaenga had replaced Diva. She is not one of the “singing cowards,” he added.
The leader of the Leningrad group, Sergei Shnurov, noted that Vaenga’s performances are an absolute hit with his target audience.
However, not everyone speaks as positively about Elena as Troitsky or Pauls. The notorious music critic Nikolai Fandeev said that Vaenga is a singer with average vocal abilities, and her repertoire consists of “tavern rubbish and plagiarism.”
Writer Evgeny Grishkovets also spoke negatively about the singer’s work. He described her work as “tavern songs” and “disgusting rhymes.”
Elena Vaenga now
Elena Vaenga successfully continues her career - she travels with concerts around the country, she is a constant participant in all major shows and concerts of Russian pop music. In 2020, the singer took part in the “Best Songs-16” concert, held at the State Kremlin Palace, and in 2018 – in the “Own Track” concert, dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Vysotsky. The artist tries to devote all her free time to her family – her husband and son.
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Politics and the cause of Pussy Riot
In the biography of Elena Vaenga, there was also a place for politics. Back in 2011, the singer took part in a rally-concert in support of St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matvienko. As Vadim Tyulpanov, the then speaker of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, said, he personally invited Vaenga to perform at the event, and she did it for free (like many other artists).
The singer’s statement in 2012 regarding the case of the group Pussy Riot, whose members were tried for a punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior “Virgin Mother of God, drive Putin away,” caused a wide resonance.
On her website, Elena posted an open letter in which she stated that this action offended her “to the core.” The letter was replete with grammatical and spelling errors (“michet”, “ohrineli”, “at once”, etc.). The publicist Viktor Shenderovich responded to this appeal in an ironic manner, writing a “Letter to Elena Vaenka.” The singer later apologized for the mistakes and admitted that the letter was written under the influence of emotions.
Also in 2012, the performer supported Vladimir Putin, who decided to run for a third term. Vaenga even starred in the video “Why I vote for Putin.”
Already in 2020, Vaenga received the medal “Participant in the military operation in Syria” for performing at a concert at the Khmeimim airbase (she was accompanied at that time by Grigory Leps).
The rise of a musical career
Real success came to Vaenga in 2005, with the release of the album “White Bird”, which contained such hits as “Taiga”, “I Wish” and “Chopin”. Journalists soon called her popularity “the Elena Vaenga phenomenon,” meaning that the artist managed to break into the pop scene without influential acquaintances or producers. With her sincere songs, Vaenga quickly won people's love.
Vaenga was often compared to Grigory Leps and nicknamed “the queen of chanson.” Elena is a sincere singer with artistic talent and a sensual voice.
In 2007, the equally successful album “Absinthe” followed, and in 2009, Elena Vaenga received the “Golden Gramophone” for the song “I Smoke.” The following year, the performer again became the best at this award, receiving an award for the song “Airport”. In the same year, her composition “Absinthe” became “Song of the Year”.
On November 12, 2010, Elena Vaenga’s first solo concert took place at the State Kremlin Palace, which was later broadcast on Channel One on January 7, 2011. The singer was warmly greeted by the public and was appreciated by many pop stars, for example, Alla Pugacheva.
In 2011, Elena Vaenga performed the songs “Tin Heart” and “Girl” at the annual ceremony of the national award “Chanson of the Year” in the Kremlin. This year can be called the peak in her career: the singer took ninth position on the list of the most successful figures in Russian show business with an annual income of more than six million dollars.
Since 2012, the singer has been the permanent winner in the “Chanson of the Year” nomination for five years. After a short break, Vaenga continued touring Russia and participating in concerts - it is worth noting her performance with Alexander Malinin at the Slavic Bazaar in 2013 and the duet “Neva” with Intars Busulis in 2014. In 2015, the singer again held a solo concert at the Kremlin Palace, performing her best compositions there.
