Oksana KROVYTSKA, New York City Opera Star

Last August-September while visiting my former home town, New York, I checked up on most of my musician-friends from the 1989-92 era, when they had just come to the US and had no idea what fate had in store for them. We all became very close at that time and in some cases continue those close ties.

Young soprano Oksana Krovytska came from Lviv where she was “not good enough” for the Lviv Opera House (but was a member of the Philharmonic). A beautiful, powerful soprano, excellent training as musician (piano), lovely appearance, natural dramatic skills and a hard-working personality directed her to a great management company (Thea Dispeaker) who took a great liking to Oksana and, while requiring much additional study from her, gave her singing engagements almost immediately.

Ms. Krovytska is starting her seventh season as the top soloist of the New York City Opera which honored her with its coveted Diva Award. She is identified with the New York City Opera to such an extent that during the summer when the NYC Opera was closed its huge advertising posters depicted none other than Oksana Krovytska in her role as Cio-Cio-San as the NYCO’s symbol. Huge photographs appeared in newspapers and on various programs, as if declaring that Krovytska was the embodiment of New York City Opera. She has her fans — her audience who adores her and because of a unique combination of performing talents she is the darling of the very tough and extremely demanding New York music critics. She opened the New York City Opera fall season and will sing all seven “Butterflies” scheduled. Of last season’s “Butterfly” Allan Kozinn of the New York Times wrote:

“The principal attraction in the current run is Oksana Krovytska, a Ukrainian soprano whose vocal agility, graceful movement and dramatic sensibility make the title character’s ingenuousness both believable and touching. Throughout the performance... Ms. Krovytska sang. with a fluid combination of depth and luster that gave her character dimension. She consistently made Butterfly’s most crucial moments... as revealing and wrenching as they demand to be.”

As one notices, the critics no longer talk at length about her voice, a superb voice with a superb vocal command is taken for granted in the western operatic world. It is the other attributes such as intelligence, dramatic sensibility and judgment, and the ability to make the character believable — these attributes make all the difference. At Ms. Krovytska’ s performance of Cio-Cio-San I felt compelled to believe her every word, her every movement and reveled in the beauty of her voice and her artistry. The very top notes were delivered ultra pianissimo in an absolutely breathless performance. The audience went wild, and a five minute ovation followed at the end of the opera.

Among other roles this season she will also sing Fedora (Giordano) with the Palm Beach Opera, Helena in Boito’s Mefistofele in Montreal, debut at the Florentine Opera in Madama Butterfly, and in the 2000-01 season she will sing the title role in Janacek’s Katya Kabanova with the Miami and Montreal Operas and record Dvorak’s Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony for Denon. Among many engagements that took her to Europe last season was her role as Marie in Smetana’s Bartered Bride with Opera de Monte Carlo and Mimi in La Boheme at the Kamptal Festival in Gars, Austria. Her many roles run the gamut of Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira), Liu in Turandot, Micaela in Carmen, Violetta in La Traviata, Marguerite in Faust and Lisa in Pique Dame (all of which she performed also at the NYCO) to Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth, Verdi’s Requiem, Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14, Strauss’ Four Last Songs, and many others.

But like many other Ukrainian artists who live abroad, Ms. Krovytska longs to perform at home — in Ukraine.