CONCERT REVIEW: Veriovka ensemble at Kennedy Center (12/17/00)

CONCERT REVIEW: Veriovka ensemble at Kennedy Center

by Helena Lysyj Melnitchenko

WASHINGTON - The Veriovka Ukrainian National Song and Dance Ensemble under the artistic direction of Anatoly Avdyevsky gave a sterling performance to a full house in the elegant Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Sunday, October 29. The group was on tour with 62 performances. "It's a blur," violinist Volodymyr Lytvyn said.

The group's founder, Hryhorii Veriovka, had conceived a musical group that would combine dance, instrumental music, chorus, solos, duets and quartets, as well as pieces from operas and operettas. Although the group was founded in 1943 in Kharkiv, deep in the heartland of Ukraine, its strength and uniqueness lies in unifying the whole country with music and traditional dress from all regions. This company of more than 80 performers also combines youth and vigor in its dancers, with experience and wisdom in some of its older singers and musicians.

In Washington, after the national anthems, the group opened with "Ukrainian Festival Suite," a showcase of music, dancing and costumes from different areas of Ukraine. The multi-colored embroidered shirts and blouses, vests, white trousers and quick-tempo music represented the Carpathian Mountains; the black and red embroidery, colorful wide trousers and skirts and the dynamic Kozak dances characterized the central and the steppe region. The combination of color, light, sound and motion was a feast for the senses and food for the soul.

The first portion of the concert featured the piece "Festival in the Carpathians," combining dance, orchestra and chorus, and "The Fern is Blooming," a representation of the celebration of the pagan midsummer festival of Ivan Kupalo based on Hohol's "May Night." The first half of the program concluded with the showpiece for male dancing in any Ukrainian dance presentation, the heroic Kozak sword dance. Based on another of Hohol's literary masterpieces, "Taras Bulba," it conveyed the characteristics of the Kozaks' courage, optimism and humor.

During the intermission, some of the performers mingled with the audience of all ages under the soaring chandeliered ceilings of the Kennedy Center. It was delightful to see many children dressed in Ukrainian costumes among the fans.

The second half of the program included Taras Shevchenko's poem "Reve ta Stohne Dnipr Shyroky," the strong choral voices conveying the great majestic river. "The Ukrainian Rhapsody," a variation on themes by Liszt and Brahms, gave the concert its classical component, showcasing the violin and tsymbaly, a traditional instrument related to the harp and the xylophone.

The concert show showcased unique Ukrainian instruments - the many stringed bandura, the tsymbaly and the sopilka, a delicate woodwind, as well as Ukrainian voices - full-throated sopranos, deep altos, delicate tenors, and the basses.

The performers conveyed their dramatic skills, a sense of good naturedness as well as humor. In the second half of the program they seemed to relax and enjoy themselves more. This was most evident in a quartet's rendition of "Let's Sing a Merry Song." The concert ended with the vigorous "Hopak," showcasing the "prysiudy" leaps, squats and kicks characteristic of Ukrainian dance.

Veriovka's vision of combining the art of traditional Ukrainian songs, folk dance, instrumental music and even literature became manifest here on the banks of the Potomac. The ensemble was awarded with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

| Home Page |