| Musia Totibadze | |
| Image Upright: | 1.1 |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Birth Name: | Maria Konstantinovna Totibadze (Georgian: მარია კონსტანტინოვნა თოთიბაძე, Russian: Мария Константиновна Тотибадзе) |
| Birth Date: | 12 March 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Moscow, Russia |
| Origin: | Georgian |
| Years Active: | 2014–present |
Maria Konstantinovna Totibadze (born 12 March 1996), known professionally as Musia Totibadze is a Russian-born Georgian singer and actress.
Musia Totibadze was born on 12 March 1996 into a large family. Her father is Konstantin Georgievich Totibadze, is a Georgian painter. Her mother is Olga Nikolaevna Shesterikova.
After graduating from the Orthodox Gymnasium, she entered the acting department at the Moscow Art Theatre School (course of Igor Zolotovitsky), but later transferred to the directing department at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (course of Oleg Kudryashov).
In 2014, Musia Totibadze made her debut as a singer with the song The Truth About Love (Russian: Правда о любви), which was written by the lead singer of the Korabl band Aleksandr Shirnin and visualised by director Grigory Konstantinopolsky.[1]
In February 2015, she presented the music video for the song Radio (Russian: Радио). The author of its idea, producer and director was actor Grigoriy Dobrygin – paired with Aleksandr Pal, they give aerobics lessons in the footage.[2] [3]
After the 2015 release of director Aleksandr Melnik's feature film Territory, composer Stanislav Pozhlakov's song Ballad of the Children of the Big Dipper (Russian: Баллада о детях Большой Медведицы) from the 1972 film Going Beyond the Horizon (in a new symphonic orchestration by contemporary Finnish composer Tuomas Kantelinen) became a hit song performed by Musia Totibadze.[4]
At the end of 2016, Musia Totibadze released a music video for the song Dance, Vitalik! (Russian: Танцуй, Виталик!). The video, made in the style of 1970s disco, was directed by Grigoriy Dobrygin and choreographed by Oleg Glushkov. Two dozen actors from the theatre took part in the filming, as well as DJ Vitaly Kozak. Musia Totibadze herself appeared in the music video as a young Alla Pugacheva from the time of Arlekino.[5] [6]
In 2018, she re-sang Natalya Vetlitskaya's song I'll Stay with You (Russian: Останусь с тобой) and released a music video for it.[7]
On 24 May 2019, Musya releases her first solo album, Boy (Russian: Мальчик), which consists of seven electropop tracks: Sea (Russian: Море), Birds (Russian: Птицы), 'Scattered (Russian: Разбегаюсь), I'll Stay with You (Russian: Останусь с тобой), Fly (Russian: Лети), Boy (Russian: Мальчик) and Night (Russian: Ночь).[8] [9] The singer authored most of the songs. The exception was the tracks I'll Stay with You and Birds, the lyrics for which were written by Ilya Shapovalov. The sound producers of the album were Ivan Lubennikov and Igor Vdovin (track Birds). Musicians Sergey Govorun and Gleb Merkulov also took part in the recording of the record, and the track Boy was recorded together with the children's vocal and choral ensemble of the G. A. Struve Children's Vocal and Choir School “Pioneria”.
On 31 May 2019, the music video for the song Scattered (Russian: Разбегаюсь) premiered.[10] The video was filmed with the participation of comedian Aleksandr Gudkov, dancer Sergei Polunin, theatre critic and actor Nikolai Berman, as well as actors Vladimir Svirsky (Fomenko Workshop), Nikita Kukushkin (Gogol Centre), Alexander Alyabiev (Praktika Theatre) and many others. The music video was directed by Grigoriy Dobrygin.[11]
On 5 July, the singer's first solo concert was held in the space of the Strelka Institute, which gathered more than one and a half thousand people.[12]
On 6 December 2019, a new music video Who Will Stop This Rain (Russian: Кто остановит этот дождь) is released, the shooting of which took place in Berlin. Working on the new music video were directors Nina Guseva and Oleg Glushkov, who was also responsible for the choreography.[13] [14]
On 12 December 2019, the singer's second big concert was held in St. Petersburg at the Cosmonaut club.[15]
In 2020, during self-isolation, the singer managed to release another music video for the song You (Russian: Тебя).[16] The lyrics are by the singer, the music is by her together with guitarist and keyboardist Gleb Merkulov, and the arrangement is by Ivan Lubennikov.[17]
On 10 August 2020, the singer presented a live video for Song about Freedom (DDT cover), written by Yuri Shevchuk for the album Otherwise. The track performed by Musia Totibadze was included in the tribute DDT Territory, a collection of songs recorded by various artists as a tribute in honour of the band's 40th anniversary.
On 20 November 2020, the singer releases another music video for the song V.O.L.K. (Russian: В.О.Л.К. an abbreviation of Russian: Вот она любовь какая).[18] The singer borrowed the title from Svetlana Zemlyakova, the director who staged a play of the same name at the Mayakovsky Theatre in 2014. The storyline is based on an exciting and disturbing interpretation of the famous The Tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The new video starred Musia Totibadze herself and Aleksandr Gudkov.[19] The new music video was directed by Nina Guseva and choreographed by Oleg Glushkov. The film was shot in picturesque courtyards/forests in the Moscow Oblast.[20]
On 11 December 2020, the singer will present a new album, Youth (Russian: Молодость).[21] The record includes 8 compositions authored by the singer herself.[22] The sound producer and composer is Ivan Lubennikov. Musicians Gleb Merkulov and Maxim Voitov also took part in the creation of the album.
In June 2023, she released the album Long Time I Didn't Dance (Russian: Давно не танцевала), which was written in Tbilisi but recorded in Moscow. The album differs from her previous works by its more electronic sound, collected lyrics and melancholic tone.[23]
In 2017, Musia Totibadze made her debut as an actress, playing in the play Hypnos (Russian: Гипнос) at the Praktika Theatre. A little later, she received a role in the musical Blue Blue Bird (Russian: Синяя синяя птица) on the stage of the Theatre of Nations and completed work in the project in the spring of the following year. Then in 2018, Musia Totibadze gets another role in the play Mistresses (Russian: Любовницы) at the Theatre of Nations.
Her next notable work was the lead role in Andrey Moguchy's The Tale of the Last Angel at the Theatre of Nations, which premiered on 1 November 2019.[24]
In 2020, Totibadze was invited to play the lead role in the play Juliet (Russian: Джульетта), staged by Estonian directors and artists Tiit Ojasoo and Ene-Liis Semper at the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater in St. Petersburg. The play premiered on 24 November.[25]
Musia Totibadze was born into a large family: she has five siblings (Anton, Nina, Tamara, David and Giorgi).