NEW YORK – After a much-too-long absence from the New York scene, Mariana Sadovska returned in mid-December with the premiere of her latest work “The Night Is Just Beginning.” The Ukrainian Museum and the Yara Arts Group presented the work on December 16 and 17, 2016, at The Ukrainian Museum.
The work was directed by Virlana Tkach, the award-winning artistic director of Yara Arts Group. The evening featured Ms. Sadovska on vocals, piano, harmonium and recorded synths, and Julian Kytasty on bandura and vocals. The piece featured the multimedia projections by Waldemart Klyuzko of his and Evgeniy Maloletka’s photos and imagery.
In effect, Kr. Klyuzko was the unannounced third artist. Utilizing two huge old windows re-purposed from an East Village apartment, he made them serve as the windows of a village home and as projection screens. These, in turn, presented a duality for the audience as windows to look out of, or to look in through. This brilliant design and his carefully choreographed imagery provided the supervisual component to the pieces performed by Ms. Sadovska and Mr. Kytasty.
Providing a backdrop for the event was the wall-encompassing “Chem Trails – Houston/Bowery, NYC” by Maya Hayuk, one of the works that was part of the ongoing “CIM” exhibit at The Ukrainian Museum. Its colors and patterns, suggestive of colorful embroidery, and the two windows, reminiscent of those seen in villages, declared this was about Ukraine – all of Ukraine.
The evening opened with “Love” by Ms. Sadovska and its lilting vocal theme, her voice floating and ever-changing in contrast to her almost hypnotic piano playing. She began to sing the verses of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (“Love is patient, love is kind…”) and was joined by Mr. Kytasty, who added melodic ripples with his bandura.
Ms. Sadovska introduced “Archangels,” a koliada from Zlatoustivka, Donetsk, with the dialogue uttered when she was in the village, asking, “Tell us, please, what do you sing at Christmas, what koliady?” The response from the elderly ladies, or “babuni,” was this unusual and unique one, in which the Archangel Gabriel, sounding his horn, summons all the peoples; the Lord divides them, and then “the good will sing, the sinners will weep and cry, and curse their mothers and fathers.” Harsher punishment for one’s misdeeds cannot be imagined.
“Fear” (Strakh) featured Ms. Sadovska’s processed voice played over her anxiety-raising piano riffs, and Mr. Kytasty on bandura adding to the increasingly discomforting and ominous tone of the work. That was the exactly appropriate prelude for “Vizmy Lyshe Naivazhlyvishe (Take Only What Is Most Important)” by Serhiy Zhadan with foreboding music by Ms. Sadovska. The immediacy faced by someone who must pack and flee as a refugee was shattered when she sang the almost lullaby-like “Rosty Miy Orishenku,” a traditional wedding song from that region. In it, the bride plants a nut tree in her father’s garden, urging it to grow and take root, as she herself is leaving. The feeling was one of hope, that there will be growth and life even as you are forced to leave.
For “Road to Volnovakha,” the calming improvisational themes by Mr. Kytasty reflected the projected imagery of Waldemart Klyuzko – the journey to the village, the leaves on the trees flashing by, the wide open fields, people walking, the vastness of the region. “Dream” was a musical collage of material from the villages of Yehorivka, Zlatoustivka, Kalynivka, Dmytrivka, Khlibodarivka, and the town of Volnovakha. In her travels, Ms. Sadovska is partly an ethnographer, collecting these traditional and ritual songs of eastern Ukraine. This evening, she was also one of the babuni, singing the songs to us and for us. With these snippets, she aroused a passionate desire to hear more of the rich Ukrainian vocal traditions of this region. Here, as throughout the evening, Ms. Sadovska demonstrated her vocal range, technique and control, when, before the audience’s eyes, she transformed her voice to that of the elderly women, her voice indistinguishable from theirs.
“Zvidky Ty, Chorna Valko (Where Are You Coming From)” by Mr. Zhadan featured Ms. Sadovska on harmonium. As the poem grew in fervor, her rhythm became more intense, contrasted by the delicate accompaniment by Mr. Kytasty. Swiftly switching with each verse, her voice changed, becoming more and more what can only be described as enraged and emotional.
That was followed by two poems by Lyubov Yakimchuk. In “Shram” (Scar), the poetess explores the dichotomy that the Ukrainian word “marsh” (go, get out!) when reversed, forms “shram” (scar), which is what one ends up with, whether physical or emotional, when forced from one’s home. The music by Ms. Sadovska and Mr. Kytasty expressed the chaos of forced evacuation. With “Rozkladannia” (Decomposition) she examined how names of the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk can be manipulated and decomposed, how emphasizing different parts of words and phrases gives them different meanings and emotions. The piece ended with a peaceful soliloquy on piano that led to “Moya Pozytsiya,” a raging outburst or a statement of deep patriotism, depending on one’s point of view. Ms. Sadovska again demonstrated the extent of her training and voice control by transforming her voice into the intensity expressed by the speaker.
The opening of “Magdalyno” (Magdalene) by Mr. Zhadan had Mr. Kytasty continue the calming themes he explored earlier. Ms. Sadovska’s voice was as delicate as a songbird’s, slowly advancing to the anxious emotion felt by the woman in the song on Christmas Eve, then returning to a dream-like waltz.
The evening ended with a recording of the humorous village song “Ne Shukayte Ameryky.” In it, a woman looking for a better life begins a journey to America, has numerous troubles along the way, returns home, finds that a young woman is now firmly ensconced with her husband, and advises the listeners to be happy and to stay home with their men.
The audience at this sold-out event responded with numerous acclaims of “Brava! Bravo!” amidst a standing ovation. The evening, a cavalcade of unfettered emotions – joy, rage, wonderment at what life brings – left more than one person teary-eyed.