Biografia
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Dolsky was born on June 7, 1938, in Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg), Russia. His father, Aleksandr Viktorovich Dolsky, was a renowned opera singer and honored actor of Russia, while his mother, Elizaveta Aleksandrovna, was a ballerina.
As a child, Dolsky sang with the Boys Choir at the Ekaterinburg Opera, where both his parents performed. From 1958 to 1963, he studied at the Urals Polytechnic Institute named after S. M. Kirov, earning a degree in Construction Engineering. He also gained qualifications in applied mathematics and completed postgraduate studies in mathematics. Between 1963 and 1969, Dolsky worked as an engineer and served as a part-time mathematics professor at the Urals Polytechnic Institute. During this period, he played guitar in a local jazz band and studied guitar under Vladimir Savinykh and Lev Voinov at the evening classes of the Sverdlovsk School of Music. He graduated as a concert performer on classical guitar, performing works by Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, and Heitor Villa-Lobos at his graduation concert.
Dolsky's first popular song, "Plakala devchonka, slezy ne unyat" ("A Girl Could Not Help Her Tears," 1954), became a folk hit across the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He won a diploma in the six-string guitar category at the inaugural Russian Performers Competition in 1956 and continued to develop his skills as a guitarist and songwriter. His early poetry was published in Sverdlovsk and Moscow. Initially influenced by Bulat Okudzhava, Dolsky eventually cultivated a unique style characterized by vocal improvisations and skillful classical guitar accompaniment. In 1967, he performed at the Moscow University Festival and, in 1968, participated in the annual Grushin Festival in Samara, becoming a regular performer there and at numerous other festivals and concerts throughout the former Soviet Union. In 1979, he was awarded laureate status at the 6th Russian Performers Competition as a singer-songwriter.
That same year, Dolsky was invited by Arkady Raykin to join the stage, becoming an actor at the Leningrad Theatre of Miniatures under Raykin's direction. Concurrently, he pursued a career as a singer-songwriter, composing over two hundred poems and songs performed in concerts, recordings, and films. He set to music the poetry of Yevgeniy Yevtushenko, Bella Akhmadulina, Bulat Okudzhava, and other prominent Russian poets. Dolsky contributed songs to soundtracks such as "Traktir na Pyatnitskoy" ("The Dining House on Pyatnitskaya," 1979) and several other Russian films and stage productions. His acting credits include "Novye skazki Shakherezady" ("New Tales of Shakherezade," 1987), "Kogda svyatye marshiruyut" ("When the Saints Come Marching Down," 1990), and the Russian-Japanese film "Rin" ("The Legend of Icons," 1992).
In 1989, Aleksandr Dolsky represented Russia in a historic live television concert near the Berlin Wall. The event featured performances by popular singers from six nations involved in World War II and took place on September 1, 1989, in Tiergarten Park near the Berlin Wall, produced by Deutsche Welle WDR. Dolsky toured extensively across four continents with his solo concerts, steadily gaining popularity among Russian and international audiences. He earned acclaim for his guitar virtuosity and innovative vocal improvisations. Over his career, he composed numerous popular songs, published eight books of poetry and prose, composed more than 200 songs, and released over 20 albums of live and studio recordings that sold millions of copies. In recognition of his contributions, he received the Bulat Okudzhava State Prize for Literature in 2002 and was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia in 1989.
Aleksandr Dolsky is married with three sons and resides in St. Petersburg, Russia.
