The Master and Margarita

Igor Nikolaev - Master i Margarita

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Igor Yuryevich Nikolaev (°1960) was born in Kholmsk on the Sakhalin Island and is a popular Russian singer who became successful in 1983, and whose love life was widely and eagerly spread in the tabloids, as widely as the hundreds of hit songs he produced.

At the age of 15, Nikolaev left the parental home to go to Moscow. He studied at the variety section of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, a department of the Moscow Institute of Culture, guided by composer Igor Yakushenko.

In the early 80s he played keyboards in the ensemble Recital of singer Alla Pugacheva. When, in 1983, he wrote his first songs for Pugacheva, he became an instant celebrity. He also began writing songs for others, including Natasha Koroleva and Valery Leontev, a Russian singer who’s also covered on this website. His songs were often rewarded with prizes at popular festivals and contests. At the beginning, in 1985, he was rewarded as a composer, and from 1988 on as a singer as well.

In 1987 he was voted Best Composer of the Year. In 1989 he wrote several songs for the American singer Cindy Lauper. He tried several times to play in a movie, but it was not a great success.

One of his many hits was Мастер и Маргарита [Master i Margarita]. It appeared in 1987 on the album Мельница [Melnitsa] or The Little Mill, and was reissued in 2005 on his compilation CD Лучшне Песни [Luchie Pesni] or Best Songs.