Nina Shatskaya
Encyclopedia
Nina Arkadyevna Shatskaya (Нина Арка′дьевна Ша′цкая, April 22, 1970, Rybinsk
, USSR) (1966 or 1972, according to other sources) is a Russian
singer and actress, best known for her unique jazz
y take on the Russian romance
heritage. Staying out of spotlight, Nina Shatskaya is held in high regard by critics and colleagues. According to composer Nikita Bogoslovsky
, "Next to our pop 'legends' she is a true queen: lonely and untouchable". Nina Shatskaya released seven well-received albums and was designated Meritorious Artist of Russia
in 2004.
After graduating school Nina couldn't decide which college to join and Arkady Shatsky, by way of reprimand, sent her to a workers' settlement nearby an agricultural factory to work for one year as a club administrator. "That was where I learned what does the word 'rural cultural life' mean, trying hard to get some Indian films for our workers, painting billboards and organising parties", she later remembered. A year later Nina moved to Leningrad
and enrolled to Humanitarian University's Management department. At some point she joined the Music Hall Studio School and graduated both collages. She remembered feeling 'uncomfortable' and rather lonely in Leningrad. "While my girl friends were busy courting men, I spent all evenings in Conservatory or Philharmonics", she recalled. Yet she remembered warmly several years spent at the Leningrad Music Hall. "Teachers there were fantastic, and performers were all individuals, each cultivating their own manner...", she recalled. Having moved to a Moscow Music Hall, she studied vocals in Gnesyn Academy
, in the Natalia Andrianova's class, making miscellaneous recordings with orchestras for the Russian TV and radio.
In 1986 the family suffered a heavy blow. At the hight of Gorbachov-induced 'economy crimes witch hunt' (by which the Soviet music sphere was hit hardest) Arkady Shatsky was arrested and convicted to five years of hard labour for some alleged financial wrong-doings
Arkady Shatsky returned home after being amnestied six months later, but the once internationally famous Raduga orchestra was now finished. "I realized that from then on I was supposed to make my own decisions. The firm parental wall that propped me up all of a sudden was in ruins", Nina remembred.
In 1999 Nina Shatskaya went to the USA with a view to record her Russian romances programme. "Investors hoped that would be some kind of a romance revival. They wanted to make a high-budget product with leading Russian poets and composers participating. But producer <Maksim Dunayevsky
> decided to make it a pop record and since I've never been keen on pop music, the project flopped", she later explained. The recorded material has been taken back to Russia but was never released. She said she felt desperate. "I was well aware that the material recorded have been primitive and had nothing whatsoever to do with what I've been dreaming of. I felt like I'd been given one single chance and squandered it", she later admitted. The American experience lasted six months and was not altogether negative. Later Shatskaya remembered warmly her Afro-American tutor she's been studing with, as well as vocal coach Seth Riggs
. "When I first came to him, he was jovially dismissive of the Russian vocal school. Having heard me, he was impressed and said I've got brilliant technique, for which I have to thank Natalya Andrianova", the singer recalled.
Nina Shatskaya's repertoire changed drastically after she met Zlata Razdolina, a Saint Petersburgh composer experimenting in a modern Russian romance genre. The immediate result of this collaboration was the musical version of Anna Akhmatova
's Requiem, sung by Shatskaya backed by the State Cinema Orchestra. (Razdolina and Shatskaya's ways parted but years later they met again for another Akhmathova-themed project.) All this led to a series of successful recordings. The debut Game of Love (2000, part of the Romance's Golden Mine series) later gave title to an expansive concert project with the Russian Orchestra, directed by Boris Voron. It was followed by The Lady of Romance (2002) which brought the singer to the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall for the first time. Arkady Shatsky, who was present at the rehearsal, remarked: "At last my dream came true. You've become the way I've always hoped you'd be". He went back to Rybinsk hoping to promote his daughter's concerts there but died several days later, aged 66. On November 4, 2002, still mourning her father's death, Nina Shatskaya gave her triumphant gig at the Tchaikovsky's, performing songs from Music of Love set (Russian romances in part 1, American song classics and movie standards in part 2).
By this time the singer have simplified her stage name, from Ninel to Nina. "It was utterly absurd: officially I'm Ninel, but everybody was always calling me Nina, both at home and at school. You see, I was born on April 22 and my parents, true Communists, christened me this way, as Lenin in reverse. As I began performing professionally, people started asking: 'Why would you want this silly decadent nom de plume?' Well, now I can attest: changing name, one changes one's whole life. Now as 'Nina' I am certainly less mannered and pretentious," she said.
In the mid-2000s she started to perform at elitist events (The 2nd Moscow Ball in Vienna
, Russian Seasons in Kitzbühel
, shows in Russian embassy in Finland, some foreign embassies in Moscow), frequently guesting Russian film festivals (Zerkalo, European Window and Amur Autumn, among others).
By this time she’s been collaborating with some well-established ensembles, including the State Symphony Cinema Orchestra
(conducted by Sergei Skripka
), Moscow Symphony Orchestra
(Vladimir Ziva), Russian President Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Orchestra. In 2004 Shatskaya presented her From Romance to Jazz concert programme on the Svetlanov's Hall stage of the Moscow House of Music. This year she was designated Meritorious Artist of Russia
.
In 2005 Shatskaya's third album Emerald (Изумруд), recorded in concert on March 13, 2005, at the Helikon Opera
, came out as part of the Autumn Triptych concert series. The album's material, arranged starkly for piano and voice, was premiered at the Moscow's International House of Music
, accompanied by Natalya Bayurova.
It was followed by Song of Happiness (2005), part two of the same project, recorded with Anatoly Silin Orchestra, and later this year, Jazz Mainstream, a collection of musicals, jazz and pop standards (including George Harrison
's "Something
" cover) recorded at the Moscow International House of Music. In October 2007 Nina Shatskaya performed at her father's fifth year memorial concert held in Rybinsk.
In the early 2009 Shatskaya released her 6th album Zephir, the music of which she defined as 'romanso-jazz, implying "romance in a jazzy arrangement but with genre code well kept, without any improvisational parts". Asked of the album's titled, she explained: "In those times when most of Russian romances have been written, 'zephir' was the word for a warm, light nightly breeze. Warm melancholy arrangements prompted me this association".
Later in 2009 the Sorceress album was released, a collection of Zlata Razdolina's romances based on Anna Akhmatova's poetry and arranged for Sergei Skripka's orchestra by Dmitry Userdov. Infatuation with these poems went back to Shatskaya's early student days when she'd got "all soaked with Akhmatova's poetry", she explained. The same year she was awarded the Order of Sergei Diaghilev
foundation "For contribution to and development of the Russian culture", specifically, for the Aknmatova song cycle.
In October 2010 the Remembering Sun (Память о солнце, originally titled Sorceress) poetry-and-music theater production was premiered at the Moscow House of Music. Directed by Yulia Zhenova and based on Anna Akmatova's poetry (music written by Zlata Razdolina) it featured Nina Shatskaya and actress Olga Kabo
, "two Nature’s elements, two unique women… recreating images of the lost Past, when Love was sacrificial and for a woman a dream of happiness itself proved something impossible and doomed", according to the press release. The Remembering Sun production continued successfully throughout the Spring of 2011.
On May 24, 2011, a new and extended version of Shatskaya's From Romance to Jazz concert programme was presented at the International Moscow House of Music, linked to the Zephir album's Melodia re-issue and featuring Olga Kabo, composer Aleksander Pokidchenko and pianist Yuri Rozum as special guests.
’s In the First Circle (2006) based on Alexander Solzhenitsyn's classic
. Panfilov wrote a small role exclusively for the singer so as to let her use her vocal gift. Having seen the singer at one of the private parties stage, he later approached her and asked if she knew an obscure romance called The Evening Ends (Уходит вечер), was pleasantly surprised to know that she did and included this number in the film.
, Billy Holiday, Lara Fabian
, Diana Krall
and Norah Jones
. There's been a different set on influences too, like Elena Obraztsova
, whom young Shatskaya worshipped as 'goddess'.
Nina Shatskaya's intent on merging musical Russian romance with jazz caused some controversy among purists. Even her fan base is still divided: some argue she's a natural-born jazz diva, others insist she is to concentrate on Russian classic and forget about the American jazz. "When I first started doing there wasn't a single person who wouldn't tell me I shouldn't do this... Nowadays this new, jazzy way of singing a romance is regarded generally as something quite natural. Nobody's even aware of how just several years ago such thing was deemed nonsense", Nina Shatskaya said in a 2011 TV Kultura interview. Music critics treated her experiments with much respect. Teatral magazine described the singer as "a lonely traveller who'd chosen for herself a thorny path". "Having devoted herself to romance, she is not massively popular, but she's formed her own, intelligent and intellectual audience", the critic wrote. Many praised her "wide-ranged voice, exquisite sensitivity and good taste in choosing the material".
Shatskaya herself claimed she never cared much for this genre classification routine. "People don't recognize a genre behind my singing. Its not to me that they listen, but to their own selves", she once remarked. "My aim is not to shake my listener up, just tell a story and then hope this story helps a person to bring up in memory something intimate and important", she said in another interview. According to the singer, one is not supposed to sing romance seriously, though: irony here is most essential. "Not sarcasm, but irony. Like - 'those were the cruel times, when I've so lost my heart, but those were good times, too'. The audience should not suffer in the theater. Not drama or tragedy, but pleasantly sweet melancholy is what they are to carry with them", she argued.
Far from being self-important, she's open to criticism and uses it construstively. During the recording of the "Emerald" track in the Lenkom Theatre
Studios a small episode proved to be decisive for the overall sound of the album. Actor Aleksander Abdulov, passing by, remarked: "You sing of an Emerald as if it were a cobble-stone". This fleeting comment made deep impression upon the singer: she changed her approach completely and later cited this incident as a "crucial, if casual lesson".
There's been another twist to Nina Shatskaya's stylistic experiments in the late 2000s. She's got interested in approaching Russian folklore and described this new development as ‘most exciting’.
Characterised variously as "unassailable", "haughty" and "self-willed", Nina Shatskaya describes her family as "my mother and my brother with his family". She's never been married and is being pestered continuously by the press, as to why. "This 'lack of love' - it does upset me, yes, but one has to agree that feisty, energetic and emotional men are very few while others bore me", she remarked in one interview, adding: "In relations I prefer to keep distance. Otherwise, I am quite open and very sociable person".
Nina Shatskaya's list of hobbies include exotic traveling (South America, Easter Island
, etc.), diving and photography, her works much appreciated by the Russian Geographical Society.
Rybinsk
Rybinsk is the second largest city of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna Rivers. Population: It is served by Rybinsk Staroselye airport.-Early history:...
, USSR) (1966 or 1972, according to other sources) is a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
singer and actress, best known for her unique jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
y take on the Russian romance
Romance (music)
The term romance has a centuries-long history. Applied to narrative ballads in Spain, it came to be used by the 18th century for simple lyrical pieces not only for voice, but also for instruments alone. During the 18th and 19th centuries Russian composers developed the French variety of the...
heritage. Staying out of spotlight, Nina Shatskaya is held in high regard by critics and colleagues. According to composer Nikita Bogoslovsky
Nikita Bogoslovsky
Nikita Bogoslovsky Nikita Bogoslovsky Nikita Bogoslovsky (Ники′та Влади′мирович Богосло′вский, (May 22, 1913, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Empire, – April 4, 2004, Moscow, Russia) was a prominent Soviet/Russian composer, author of more than 200 songs (many of which, like Shalanda and Dark Night were...
, "Next to our pop 'legends' she is a true queen: lonely and untouchable". Nina Shatskaya released seven well-received albums and was designated Meritorious Artist of Russia
Meritorious Artist
Meritorious Artist , also translated as Merited Artist, Deserved Artist or Distinguished Artist or Honorary Artist or Honorable Actor) is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union republics, and Autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern bloc states, as well as in a...
in 2004.
Biography
Nina (Ninel) Shatskaya was born in Rybinsk, daughter of a well-known Soviet jazzman, singer and conductor Arkady Shatsky. It was in in his band Raduga (Радуга, Rainbow) that she's made her singing debut. A strict disciplinarian (who for many years was unmilling to support her ambition to become a professional singer) in retrospect, proved to be a perfect mentor and all-round major inspiration. Later she remembered:After graduating school Nina couldn't decide which college to join and Arkady Shatsky, by way of reprimand, sent her to a workers' settlement nearby an agricultural factory to work for one year as a club administrator. "That was where I learned what does the word 'rural cultural life' mean, trying hard to get some Indian films for our workers, painting billboards and organising parties", she later remembered. A year later Nina moved to Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and enrolled to Humanitarian University's Management department. At some point she joined the Music Hall Studio School and graduated both collages. She remembered feeling 'uncomfortable' and rather lonely in Leningrad. "While my girl friends were busy courting men, I spent all evenings in Conservatory or Philharmonics", she recalled. Yet she remembered warmly several years spent at the Leningrad Music Hall. "Teachers there were fantastic, and performers were all individuals, each cultivating their own manner...", she recalled. Having moved to a Moscow Music Hall, she studied vocals in Gnesyn Academy
Gnessin State Musical College
The Gnessin State Musical College and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music is a prominent music school in Moscow, Russia...
, in the Natalia Andrianova's class, making miscellaneous recordings with orchestras for the Russian TV and radio.
In 1986 the family suffered a heavy blow. At the hight of Gorbachov-induced 'economy crimes witch hunt' (by which the Soviet music sphere was hit hardest) Arkady Shatsky was arrested and convicted to five years of hard labour for some alleged financial wrong-doings
Arkady Shatsky returned home after being amnestied six months later, but the once internationally famous Raduga orchestra was now finished. "I realized that from then on I was supposed to make my own decisions. The firm parental wall that propped me up all of a sudden was in ruins", Nina remembred.
In 1999 Nina Shatskaya went to the USA with a view to record her Russian romances programme. "Investors hoped that would be some kind of a romance revival. They wanted to make a high-budget product with leading Russian poets and composers participating. But producer <Maksim Dunayevsky
Maksim Dunayevsky
Maksim Isaakovich Dunayevsky is a popular Soviet/Russian film composer. Son of Isaak Dunayevsky.-Soundtracks:*D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers *The Trust That Has Burst *Mary Poppins, Goodbye *The Witches Cave...
> decided to make it a pop record and since I've never been keen on pop music, the project flopped", she later explained. The recorded material has been taken back to Russia but was never released. She said she felt desperate. "I was well aware that the material recorded have been primitive and had nothing whatsoever to do with what I've been dreaming of. I felt like I'd been given one single chance and squandered it", she later admitted. The American experience lasted six months and was not altogether negative. Later Shatskaya remembered warmly her Afro-American tutor she's been studing with, as well as vocal coach Seth Riggs
Seth Riggs
Seth Riggs is an American vocal coach and founder of a technique known as Speech Level Singing. Some of his students have included Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Jackson, Kalil Wilson, Ray Charles, Josh Groban and Philip Webb.- External links :...
. "When I first came to him, he was jovially dismissive of the Russian vocal school. Having heard me, he was impressed and said I've got brilliant technique, for which I have to thank Natalya Andrianova", the singer recalled.
Nina Shatskaya's repertoire changed drastically after she met Zlata Razdolina, a Saint Petersburgh composer experimenting in a modern Russian romance genre. The immediate result of this collaboration was the musical version of Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
's Requiem, sung by Shatskaya backed by the State Cinema Orchestra. (Razdolina and Shatskaya's ways parted but years later they met again for another Akhmathova-themed project.) All this led to a series of successful recordings. The debut Game of Love (2000, part of the Romance's Golden Mine series) later gave title to an expansive concert project with the Russian Orchestra, directed by Boris Voron. It was followed by The Lady of Romance (2002) which brought the singer to the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall for the first time. Arkady Shatsky, who was present at the rehearsal, remarked: "At last my dream came true. You've become the way I've always hoped you'd be". He went back to Rybinsk hoping to promote his daughter's concerts there but died several days later, aged 66. On November 4, 2002, still mourning her father's death, Nina Shatskaya gave her triumphant gig at the Tchaikovsky's, performing songs from Music of Love set (Russian romances in part 1, American song classics and movie standards in part 2).
By this time the singer have simplified her stage name, from Ninel to Nina. "It was utterly absurd: officially I'm Ninel, but everybody was always calling me Nina, both at home and at school. You see, I was born on April 22 and my parents, true Communists, christened me this way, as Lenin in reverse. As I began performing professionally, people started asking: 'Why would you want this silly decadent nom de plume?' Well, now I can attest: changing name, one changes one's whole life. Now as 'Nina' I am certainly less mannered and pretentious," she said.
In the mid-2000s she started to perform at elitist events (The 2nd Moscow Ball in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Russian Seasons in Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel
-Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer...
, shows in Russian embassy in Finland, some foreign embassies in Moscow), frequently guesting Russian film festivals (Zerkalo, European Window and Amur Autumn, among others).
By this time she’s been collaborating with some well-established ensembles, including the State Symphony Cinema Orchestra
State Symphony Cinema Orchestra
Russian State Symphony Cinema Orchestra is a cinematographic orchestra of Russia.Unofficially founded on November 1924 at the famous Moscow cinema "Ars", located on Arbat Street.- External links :*...
(conducted by Sergei Skripka
Sergei Skripka
Sergei Ivanovich Skripka is a prominent Russian conductor, People's Artist of Russia.Since 1979 works at the Russian State Symphony Cinema Orchestra. Since 1993 he is an Artistic Director and Chief conductor....
), Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1989, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra comprises 80 musicians, including graduates from such institutions as the Moscow Conservatory, Kiev Conservatory, and Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The orchestra is produced by Stas Namin, and conduced by Konstantin Krimets. It has recorded over 100...
(Vladimir Ziva), Russian President Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Orchestra. In 2004 Shatskaya presented her From Romance to Jazz concert programme on the Svetlanov's Hall stage of the Moscow House of Music. This year she was designated Meritorious Artist of Russia
Meritorious Artist
Meritorious Artist , also translated as Merited Artist, Deserved Artist or Distinguished Artist or Honorary Artist or Honorable Actor) is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union republics, and Autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern bloc states, as well as in a...
.
In 2005 Shatskaya's third album Emerald (Изумруд), recorded in concert on March 13, 2005, at the Helikon Opera
Helikon Opera
Helikon Opera is a Russian opera company based in Moscow, specializing in unconventional productions. Their main performing base is the 250 seat Mayakovsky Theater, the former ballroom in the palace of the Shakhovskoi-Glebov-Streshneva family who were patrons of the arts in 19th century Moscow...
, came out as part of the Autumn Triptych concert series. The album's material, arranged starkly for piano and voice, was premiered at the Moscow's International House of Music
Moscow International House of Music
The Moscow International Performing Arts Center was officially opened on September 28, 2003 with the debut of a new orchestra, the National Philharmonic of Russia under musical director Vladimir Spivakov...
, accompanied by Natalya Bayurova.
It was followed by Song of Happiness (2005), part two of the same project, recorded with Anatoly Silin Orchestra, and later this year, Jazz Mainstream, a collection of musicals, jazz and pop standards (including George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
's "Something
Something
"Something" is a song by The Beatles, written by lead guitarist George Harrison in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles' single...
" cover) recorded at the Moscow International House of Music. In October 2007 Nina Shatskaya performed at her father's fifth year memorial concert held in Rybinsk.
In the early 2009 Shatskaya released her 6th album Zephir, the music of which she defined as 'romanso-jazz, implying "romance in a jazzy arrangement but with genre code well kept, without any improvisational parts". Asked of the album's titled, she explained: "In those times when most of Russian romances have been written, 'zephir' was the word for a warm, light nightly breeze. Warm melancholy arrangements prompted me this association".
Later in 2009 the Sorceress album was released, a collection of Zlata Razdolina's romances based on Anna Akhmatova's poetry and arranged for Sergei Skripka's orchestra by Dmitry Userdov. Infatuation with these poems went back to Shatskaya's early student days when she'd got "all soaked with Akhmatova's poetry", she explained. The same year she was awarded the Order of Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
foundation "For contribution to and development of the Russian culture", specifically, for the Aknmatova song cycle.
In October 2010 the Remembering Sun (Память о солнце, originally titled Sorceress) poetry-and-music theater production was premiered at the Moscow House of Music. Directed by Yulia Zhenova and based on Anna Akmatova's poetry (music written by Zlata Razdolina) it featured Nina Shatskaya and actress Olga Kabo
Olga Kabo
Olga Igorevna Kabo is a Soviet Russian film and theater actress, made famous in 1989 by her role in Lysistrata Comedy which brought her reputation of a Russian movie sex symbol of the time...
, "two Nature’s elements, two unique women… recreating images of the lost Past,
On May 24, 2011, a new and extended version of Shatskaya's From Romance to Jazz concert programme was presented at the International Moscow House of Music, linked to the Zephir album's Melodia re-issue and featuring Olga Kabo, composer Aleksander Pokidchenko and pianist Yuri Rozum as special guests.
Career in films
Nina Shatskaya appeared in two films, Vadim Derbenyov’s On the Corner, By Patryarshy’s (2001, starring Nikolai Karachentsov) and later in Gleb PanfilovGleb Panfilov
Gleb Anatolyevich Panfilov is an internationally acclaimed Russian film director noted for a string of mostly historical films starring his wife, Inna Churikova:...
’s In the First Circle (2006) based on Alexander Solzhenitsyn's classic
The First Circle
In the First Circle is a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn released in 1968. A fuller version of the book was published in English in 2009....
. Panfilov wrote a small role exclusively for the singer so as to let her use her vocal gift. Having seen the singer at one of the private parties stage, he later approached her and asked if she knew an obscure romance called The Evening Ends (Уходит вечер), was pleasantly surprised to know that she did and included this number in the film.
Style and influences
Nina Shatskaya cited her father Arkady Shatsky, the Rybinsk-based jazz-orchestra Radugas leader as her first and major influence. Among her favourite artists, she mentioned Nina SimoneNina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, Billy Holiday, Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian is a Belgian-Italian international singer who also holds Canadian citizenship. Multilingual, she sings in French, Italian and English....
, Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
and Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
. There's been a different set on influences too, like Elena Obraztsova
Elena Obraztsova
Elena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities....
, whom young Shatskaya worshipped as 'goddess'.
Nina Shatskaya's intent on merging musical Russian romance with jazz caused some controversy among purists. Even her fan base is still divided: some argue she's a natural-born jazz diva, others insist she is to concentrate on Russian classic and forget about the American jazz. "When I first started doing
Shatskaya herself claimed she never cared much for this genre classification routine. "People don't recognize a genre behind my singing. Its not to me that they listen, but to their own selves", she once remarked. "My aim is not to shake my listener up, just tell a story and then hope this story helps a person to bring up in memory something intimate and important", she said in another interview. According to the singer, one is not supposed to sing romance seriously, though: irony here is most essential. "Not sarcasm, but irony. Like - 'those were the cruel times, when I've so lost my heart, but those were good times, too'. The audience should not suffer in the theater. Not drama or tragedy, but pleasantly sweet melancholy is what they are to carry with them", she argued.
Far from being self-important, she's open to criticism and uses it construstively. During the recording of the "Emerald" track in the Lenkom Theatre
Lenkom Theatre
Lenkom Theatre is the official name of what was once known as the Moscow State Theatre named after Lenin's Komsomol. Designed by Illarion Ivanov-Schitz, it was built in 1907 to house a Merchant's Club, and was home to many theatrical and musical performances...
Studios a small episode proved to be decisive for the overall sound of the album. Actor Aleksander Abdulov, passing by, remarked: "You sing of an Emerald as if it were a cobble-stone". This fleeting comment made deep impression upon the singer: she changed her approach completely and later cited this incident as a "crucial, if casual lesson".
There's been another twist to Nina Shatskaya's stylistic experiments in the late 2000s. She's got interested in approaching Russian folklore and described this new development as ‘most exciting’.
Private life
One of Nina Shatskaya’s better known boyfriends have been Italian photographer Franko Vitale, best known for his collaborations with Fellini, who in the late 1980s came to Russia and fell in love with her, then a Mosconcert stuff singer. He proposed to her but she refused. Vitale made more than 1.000 photo portraits of Shatskaya which started later to appear in Italian magazines. This caused a wide-spread rumour that she worked as a model in Italy which she's adamant she never did.Characterised variously as "unassailable", "haughty" and "self-willed", Nina Shatskaya describes her family as "my mother and my brother
Nina Shatskaya's list of hobbies include exotic traveling (South America, Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
, etc.), diving and photography, her works much appreciated by the Russian Geographical Society.
Discography
- Game of Love (Игра любви, 2000, Romance's Golden Mine series)
- Lady of Romance (Леди-романс, 2002)
- Emerald (Изумруд, 2005, live; Autumn Triptych, part 1)
- Jazz Mainstream (2005, live; Autumn Triptych part 2)
- Song of Happiness (Песня о счастье, 2005, live with Anatoly Silin Orchestra; Autumn Triptych part 3)
- Zephir (Зефир, 2009)
- A Sorceress (Колдунья, 2009)