Vladimir Aleksandrovich Nechaev was born on July 28th, 1908. At the end of th 1920s
he moved from his village to Moscow. He first worked as an unskilled worker in construction
(particularly of the Central Telegraph building, where many years later
he would sing on the radio).
He studied voice, singing in amateur performances and in Stanislavskij's
opera studio.
In 1942, he became a soloist of the All-Union Radio.
Many lyrical songs became popular thanks to his interpretation.
Alongside with an extensive solo repertoire, Vladimir Nechaev sang many songs
with Vladimir Bunchikov, both nicknamed the vocal brothers.
From the memoirs of Bunchikov:
I got acquainted with Volodja Nechaev in 1942 at the radio. Before me, there was
a young very affable lean young man. He had just returned from the war front where he was with a
concert radio brigade and sang Russian songs to the accompaniment of bayanists.
How could I then to assume that we would be connected for twenty-five years of
friendship? At the beginning of our joint work, there was a song by Solovev-Sedoy "Vecher na rejde".
On a map of the Soviet Union, you could not find a city where we did not
sing a little.
We sang not only in large cities, but also in villages, mines, hospitals, and frontier
posts.
Volodya Nechaev was a wide-hearted man. He was very kind and witty.
Lots of people were attracted to him and it was always warm near him, and never boring."
In the post-war years, that duo sang frequently on the radio and became
a part of the life of all the people of that time.
Vladimir Nechaev died on April 11th, 1969.
Another Russian radio tenor; his popularity unfortunately resulted
in eclipsing his namesake Ivan Nechaev, the lyrical tenor of the Mariinskij.
Reference 1 for the biography and the recording
Reference for the pictures: www.vladimirnechaev.ru (defunct)
