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the1920sand30s | Asparuh Leshnikov - Rosita (ca. 1933) @the1920sand30s | Uploaded July 2021 | Updated October 2024, 10 minutes ago.
Performed by: Asparuh Leshnikov

Full Song Title: Rosita

Recorded in: ca. 1933

Asparuh Leshnikov, often called "Ari" (born June 16, 1897 in Chaskovo, died July 31, 1978 in Sofia), was the most successful Bulgarian musician of the 1920's and 30's. He was the first tenor of the Berlin ensemble Comedian Harmonists.

Ari grew up in Chaskovo and attended a cadet school in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1916. At the end of the First World War he became a lieutenant.

In 1922 he emigrated to Germany to study music. To finance his living, he also worked as a waiter in Berlin in the Bulgarian student restaurant "Bei Kirow".

In 1926 Leshnikov was hired as a choir singer for a large theater. In the choir he got to know Robert Biberti and Roman Cycowski. At the turn of the year 1927/28, the Melody Makers were founded in Berlin on the initiative of Harry Frommermann, and after a few months they were renamed Comedian Harmonists. Leshnikov came to this ensemble through Robert Biberti in March 1928, where he replaced 1st tenor Louis Kaliger. When the Comedian Harmonists separated in 1935, because the three Jewish members were forced to emigrate by the National Socialists, Leshnikov initially took part in the successor group Meistersextett with Biberti and Erwin Bootz as well as the new members Fred Kassen, Walther Blanke and Richard Sengeleitner. When Bootz left the group in 1938 and Leshnikov denounced Biberti to the Gestapo because of comments critical of the regime after a dispute, this group also fell apart. Since he owed Biberti, he gave him his share of the group's royalties.

In 1939 he tried his luck one last time in Germany as a solo singer, but returned to Sofia in 1940. There he had some recordings made by the record company Mikrophon. Finally, in 1941, he was drafted as a captain. With his savings he bought a four-story house in Sofia, which was completely destroyed in a bombing raid in 1944.

His wife divorced him in 1947 and took their son Simon with her. In 1952 Leshnikov married a second time. He worked as a gardener and in a factory to keep the family afloat. In 1978, at the age of 81, he died completely impoverished in Sofia. In the last years of his life he had asked Biberti in numerous letters in vain to allow him to participate in the royalties of the Comedian Harmonists again.

Max Tidof played Leshnikov in Joseph Vilsmaier's film Comedian Harmonists.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

Best wishes,
Stu
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Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners.
Asparuh Leshnikov - Rosita (ca. 1933)Max Mensing - Blutrote Rosen [Blood Red Roses] (1929)Billie Holiday - Mean To Me (1937)Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra - St.  Louis Blues (1929)Jean Sablon - Ces Petites Choses [These Little Things] (1936)Shirley Ross And Bob Hope - Two Sleepy People (1938)Albert Pinkas - I Dreamed You Were Next to Me (1930)Max Mensing - Das Lied Der Liebe Hat Eine Süße Melodie [The song of love has a sweet melody] (1929)Eric Helgar - Capriolen (1937)Annette Hanshaw - Am I Blue (1929)Bessie Smith - Wasted Life Blues (1929)Al Bowlly - Ill Do My Best To Make You Happy (1932)

Asparuh Leshnikov - Rosita (ca. 1933) @the1920sand30s

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