Music of Atonement

The symphony-requiem Babyn Yar was the key event of the soiree at the National Opera to commemorate the massacre. The symphony turned out a grand musical fresco with recital, soloists, choir, and orchestra, composed by Yevhen Stankovych to Dmytro Pavlychko’s lyrics. Since its premiere in 1991, it has not been performed in Ukraine. That evening Kyiv’s music lovers had a rare opportunity to hear one of Stankovych’s best creations.

Of course, performing Babyn Yar was far from easy, not only due to its monumentally complex musical form, but also the responsibility assumed by the stage director and performers, as well as the symphony’s heightened responsibility. In other words, here not even the smallest technical or moral mistake could be permitted. Fortunately, there are performers in Kyiv capable of meeting the challenge. Like ten years ago, the performance was presided over by Volodymyr Syrenko weilding the conductor’s baton. The composition was performed by the National Meritorious Academic Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (choirmaster Viktor Skoromny); soloists Stepan Phitsich (tenor) and Taras Shtonda (bass); recital by Ihor Slavynsky; and stage design by Mariya Levytska. The symphony was accompanied by constantly changing interlude panels which, combined with skillful lighting, created the required atmosphere: grief, wrath, despair, or conciliation. The sixtieth anniversary of Babyn Yar is a truly unbearable date. Those horrible events defy imagination, they are still alive in people’s memories, in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine. For us living in this land, where victims and their executioners once lived and walked, salvation lies in the fact we have people capable of accepting and conveying this pain in their art through the power of their talent.