NEWTON, Mass. – The Commonwealth Lyric Theater (CLT), an innovative opera company based in the Boston area, has announced that it will be staging the beloved yet rarely performed Ukrainian opera “Zaporozhets za Dunayem” (Kozak beyond the Danube) in four exclusive engagements. The performances will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, May 14 and 15, at the First Baptist Church in Newton, Mass., on Sunday, May 17, at 6 p.m. at the Mandell Jewish Community Center in West Hartford, Conn., and on Friday, May 22, at the SUNY Albany Center for the Performing Arts.
Producer of the “Zaporozhets za Dunayem” performances in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, Alexander Prokhorov.
“This has been a labor of love for our company,” said Olga Lisovska, the Kyiv-born executive director for CLT who will be singing the role of Oksana in the production. “We are delighted to be able to feature world-class artists such as Dmytro Pawliuk, Ukraine’s foremost bass in the role of the wayward Kozak Karas and Adam Klein of the Metropolitan Opera who will be singing the role of Andriy.
The opera chorus will include 20 members of the Yevshan Ukrainian Vocal Ensemble of Hartford, Conn., and members of the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble (in Newton only). The artistic director for the production is Alexander Prokhorov, and the orchestral conductor will be Lidia Yankovskaya, a talented young maestra with family roots in Zaporizhia who currently directs the choir and orchestra at Boston College.
Producer of the “Zaporozhets za Dunayem” performances in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, Lidiya Yankovskaya.
The idea to stage “Zaporozhets” emerged in 2013, when the theater group celebrated the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi and Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, both born in 1813. As Ms. Lisovska explained, “All musical establishments were producing Verdi’s operas and all-Verdi concerts. Our theater, being true to our mission statement to seek out rarely produced Slavic works, put on an opera gala in November, celebrating the 200th anniversaries of Verdi, Dargomyzhsky and Hulak-Artemovsky. When Hulak-Artemovsky’s music began playing, the audience erupted in applause, and when the selection was over, the audience gave us a standing ovation.”
A Boston reviewer called the Ukrainian composer’s music “the highlight of the evening” and suggested, “we want to hear the whole opera.”
This positive review prompted an idea to include the opera in one of CLT’s future seasons. The momentum to stage this production changed dramatically in late 2013 when Ukrainians took to the streets to demand democratic reforms and an end to the corruption of the Yanukovych regime.
Producer of the “Zaporozhets za Dunayem” performances in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, Olha Lisovska.
As Ms. Lisovska explains, “In December of 2013 the whole world was watching the events on the Maidan, and the year of 2014 saw the shocking development of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict. Commonwealth Lyric Theater decided the timing was right to produce the Ukrainian opera, to promote Ukrainian culture, to lift the Ukrainian spirit, to introduce to American audiences this Eastern European operatic gem and, at the same time, to use this production as a means to show that art does indeed transcend politics.”
Ms. Lisovska added: “Our creative team is international. We have Russians and Ukrainians working side by side, creating the labor of love, because we are truly passionate about the beauty of this music and we truly love what we do.”
The artistic director, Mr. Prokhorov wanted to ensure that the opera be an authentic expression of the Ukrainian national spirit. The soloists and chorus have been working diligently to ensure the proper pronunciation of the Ukrainian libretto, and the stage managers are working to feature the richly colored textures and embroidery of Ukrainian folk costumes. Renowned costume and stage designer Nastia Grigorieva is working with CLT’s team to develop the most vibrant, historically accurate and visually compelling backdrop for the opera.
Mr. Prokhorov and Ms. Lisovska have mobilized an impressive array of international stars that will be appearing in this production. Among these will be Mr. Klein, an American tenor (Metropolitan Opera), “whose Ukrainian diction is impeccable” says Ms. Lisovska. “We will also be featuring Mikhail Urusov, a Russian tenor (Bolshoi Theater), who has quite an extensive Ukrainian repertoire and beautiful pronunciation as well; Pawel Izdebski, a bass from Germany who has sung all the Wagnerian bass roles, some of them under the baton of Zubin Mehta; and Galina Ivannikova, an incredible Ukrainian mezzo-soprano from New York. We will even have a real Turkish Sultan in the person of Bülent Güneralp who will be singing his lines in Turkish.”
The highly anticipated production has already received extensive publicity in a lengthy article in Opera World Magazine, and on WGBH – Boston’s pre-eminent public radio station.
The life story of Hulak-Artemovsky and his masterpiece has captured the interest of many opera lovers, including a Belgian television crew, which is preparing a documentary about the opera to be presented at the Brussels Opera House at the end of May. This project is sponsored by the Red Star Line Museum, which has gathered archival information for Ukrainian-Americans whose ancestors may have traveled on the Red Star Line from Europe to the United States.
“Even Ukrainians are not all that familiar with Hulak-Artemovsky’s impressive biography,” said Alexander Kuzma, the music director of the Yevshan Ukrainian Vocal Ensemble. Hulak-Artemovsky was born in 1813 in Horodyshche, a town in central Ukraine. His father was a priest, descending from a long line of Zaporozhian Kozaks. While studying at the Theological Seminary, he was discovered by the famous Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, who traveled to Ukraine, looking for vocal talent to sing the title role in his new opera “Ruslan and Ludmila.”
According to Ms. Lisovska, “Glinka was enthralled by the beauty of Hulak-Artemovsky’s voice; Glinka became his patron, inviting the talented 25-year-old to study voice in St. Petersburg. Young Semen had a warm personality and quickly made many friends; among them – the Ukrainian epic poet and abolitionist Taras Shevchenko. His friends believed that Semen had an outstanding talent, and gathered money for the singer to study in Florence, Italy. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Hulak-Artemovsky began a long career as a soloist at the Imperial Theater.”
At the age of 50, Hulak-Artemovsky composed “Zaporozhets,” which became the first Ukrainian national opera. It continues to delight audiences with its colorful characters, vibrant humor and beautiful melodies, infused with traditional Ukrainian songs. It premiered at the Imperial Opera House in the Russian language, with Hulak-Artemovsky singing the principal role of Karas. After the first few performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow, the opera was taken off the opera stage, due to harsh censure against Ukrainian works in imperial Russia. Twenty years later, however, the opera was staged for the first time in Ukraine, and became a staple in Ukrainian opera houses.
“It’s very impressive that Ukrainians, Russians, Turkish and American singers have joined forces to celebrate the beauty and artistry of Ukrainian music in this way,” said Mr. Kuzma. “This will be the first time that ‘Zaporozhets’ has been staged in Hartford since the mid-1970s, and quite possibly this will be the first production ever in Boston. Ultimately, this is a work about peace and reconciliation, and mutual respect. At a time when Ukraine is undergoing a very painful period in its history, this opera is a lighthearted, yet passionate expression of Ukrainians’ longing to live in harmony with their neighbors without relinquishing their pride or their rich cultural heritage.”
“Hopefully, this will be the just the beginning of an international revival of this opera,” said Ms. Lisovska. In a prelude to the opera, CLT will host a free concert and lecture in collaboration with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute on May 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Department at Harvard, Room 9.
Tickets for Zaporozhets are available online at www.CommonwealthLyric Theater.com, and by calling 1-800-595-4TIX.