Lyudmila Lyadova

Life

Lyudmila Lyadova was born in Sverdlovsk into a family of professional musicians. Her father was Alexei Ivanovich Lyadov, a tenor soloist and violinist of the Sverdlovsk Opera Theatre, and her mother was Julia Petrovna Lyadova (1902-1980) who sang with the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic. Lyudmila took private piano lessons as a child, studying with Vanda Bernhard-Trzaska. At the age of 10, she entered the Sverdlovsk Conservatory where she studied with Bertha Marants and Victor Trambitsky. At the age of 14 she made her debut with the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic conducted by Mark Paverman.

During World War II, Lyadova and her mother became active in concert brigades to entertain the troops, where Lyudmila played and sang popular songs. By November 1943, she had already written a children's miniature on poems by Agniya Barto and Petrovsky and other works including a piano sonata. She appeared in Moscow in a showcase for young talent, and two years later won a performance prize in Moscow for a duet with Nina Panteleeva. The duo went on to tour successfully and participated in variety shows and summer theater.

In February 1951 Lyadova was admitted to the Union of Soviet Composers, and soon afterward the duo broke up as she spent more time working as a composer. She collaborated with poet Georgy Hodosov to produce about one hundred songs, and also worked with poets Sergey Mikhalkov, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Nikolay Dorizo, Lucia Zubkova, Boris Bryansky, Vladimir Petrov, Tamara Ponomareva and others.

She married Alexander Fedorovich.

Honors and awards

Works

Lyadova is noted for operettas and theater for children. Selected works include:

Her music has been used in films, including:

Lyadova has also published a collection of nursery rhymes entitled Pochemuchka.