Who composed the theme music for the Soviet New Year's Eve film The Irony of Fate?

Mikael Tariverdiev composed the theme music for the Soviet New Year's Eve film The Irony of Fate.

Tariverdiev wrote the film's musical score for Eldar Ryazanov's 1975 television production. Rather than treating it as a straightforward comedy score, he approached the project like a Christmas fairy tale and selected a group of lyrical romances about love, happiness, jealousy, and the desire to be understood.

The music became nearly as famous as the film itself. Much of the soundtrack was performed vocally by Sergey Nikitin and Alla Pugacheva, but the singers did not compose it. The soundtrack was partly issued on a Melodiya LP in 1976, while a complete soundtrack appeared much later.

A common mix-up is to credit the songs to the performers or to another major Soviet composer such as Eduard Artemyev. Tariverdiev was also known for other screen music, including the score for the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring, but The Irony of Fate remains among his most recognizable works.