Lydia Ruslanova piano sheet music of popular songs

Lidia Andreyevna Ruslanova (sometimes spelt Lidiya or Lydia, Russian: Лидия Андреевна Русланова; 27 October 1900 in Saratov Governorate – 21 September 1973 in Moscow) was one of the greatest and best-loved performers of Russian folk songs. She was born in the village of Chernavka near Saratov, into a peasant family, and was baptized as Agafia Leykina (Russian: Агафья Лейкина) By the time she was five, both her parents had died; her father in the Russo-Japanese War and her mother soon after. As a result, she spent most of her childhood in an orphanage. She began singing when she joined the local parish children's choir and soon became a soloist.