Ukraine’s capital ends week-long Ave Verdi Opera Festival

On January 27, 1901, the heart of the great Giuseppe Verdi’s heart stopped beating. “He went like a warrior, solemnly and quietly,” wrote a newspapers of the time. The composer was buried in accordance with his will next to his wife Giuseppina. He died at the age of 88.

It is symbolic that the day of the centennial of the great Italian composer’s death heard his Requiem performed by the Italian and Ukrainian artists: Carmela Apollonio (soprano), Marilena Montuoro (mezzo-soprano), Mykhailo Didyk (tenor), Taras Shtonda (bass), and Alessio Vlad (conductor), along with choristers and musicians of the National Opera of Ukraine. The theater’s stage had been re-equipped, with the symphony orchestra being raised from the pit. This helped make it possible to find a sonic balance of the chorus, the soloists, and musicians. It is worth mentioning that, simultaneously with being sung on the Kyiv stage, Requiem was also performed in all the world’s leading opera houses. For example, at La Scala the soprano part was sung by Francesca Scaini, the singer who made a triumphal show in Kyiv at the opening of the Ave Verdi festival. “We do not want to speak about death because for us Verdi is alive, and this is confirmed by his wonderful music played for over a century,” noted National Opera of Ukraine General Director Petro Chupryna.

The National Opera of Ukraine workers carried out titanic work to make this feast of music possible. They managed to invite remarkable conductors and soloists. Great assistance was rendered by the Italian Cultural Center and Embassy of Italy in Ukraine. During the festival week, audiences saw Giuseppe Verdi’s five operas: La Traviata, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Aїda, and Nabucco. They had been staged at different times, with A ї da being an updated version produced by Dmytro Hnatiuk last year.

MODEST STAGE SETTING IS NO CRIME

“Voice and harmony,” Verdi used to say, “will always be the main thing for me.”

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What is very important in the maestro’s operas is the synthesis of the orchestral performance, the vocal and artistic mastery of soloists, and the tremendous role of the chorus. The National Opera chorus is in good professional shape, with its personnel constantly updated. According to chief choirmaster Lev Venedyktov, hearts bleed when the collective bids farewell to its veterans. But this is inevitable: otherwise, they will end up with a Starokyivsky district veterans’ choir. Now they have raised the bar on admission standards. As a result, 60% of the 120 chorus singers have higher musical education.

“Ave Verdi is our first attempt to organize this kind of international function,” Mr. Venedyktov says. “Now we see that good artistes will come if they are adequately paid. Our main task was to induce potential sponsors to help the Kyiv theater. Great assistance was rendered by the Italian Embassy, which took upon itself all financial matters and inviting soloists and conductors to Kyiv. They have our heartfelt thanks for this, but if we also had money of our own, we would be invited those we think we need, not those we are offered. I hope we will be able in the future to afford to invite the world’s leading singers, and then this will be a majestic festival for music buffs. On the other hand, the experience of Aїda showed that Ukrainian soloists are better. Seeing the long ticket lines and a full house warms my heart: interest in opera is back!”

The opera, Nabucco, has long been on the theater’s repertoire. And although there was an interesting original idea that austere scenery should enable the audience not to distract themselves and concentrate on the singing, one day the production seemed to have turned into something of a slow-motion concert. The festival attached new colors to this. Nabucco showed a mixed artistic and musical cast: Ukrainian soloists Ivan Ponomarenko (Nabucco, King of Babylon), Taras Shtonda (Zaccaria, a Judaic priest), Italian singers Maurizio Saltarin (Ismaele), Nausicaa Policicchio (Abigaille), and conductor Nicola Cobianchi. After the play ended, Rome Opera soloist Policicchio told us she had been to Ukraine for the first time two years ago, singing in a Dnipropetrovsk gala. “This time I’ve failed to see Kyiv because it is very cold and I’m afraid to catch cold,” Nausicaa says, huddling and laughing, “but, despite the frost, I got a very warm reception and felt myself at home. I would like to express special words of thanks to the National Opera orchestra players. I have had the part of Abigaille on my repertoire for several years. I made my operatic debut in Macbeth. The operas Nabucco and Macbeth resemble each other very much. I liked the austere stage setting in your theater’s production of Nabucco. I think music should reign supreme onstage, but our theaters put up very sophisticated scenery and costumes. This is very nice to look at but distracts you from music, the main thing.”

“Verdi proved to be the best at this festival,” Mr. Venedyktov believes. “I hope we will also take on other operas of this composer.

LET US SING, FRIENDS, OR LOOK BACKSTAGE

“The work of a composer is hard and exhausting. It is difficult to find singers who suit me,” Giuseppe Verdi wrote in 1871.

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Out of Verdi’s five operas presented at the festival, the revamped Aїda can be considered an unequivocal success. It became a true spectacle, for which we must give tremendous credit to stage director Dmytro Hnatiuk, production designers Tadei and Mykhailo Ryndzak, and the whole artistic team involved in this production. The orchestra conducted by Volodymyr Kozhukhar; the soloists Svitlana Dobronravova (A ї da), Taras Shtonda (the Pharaoh), Liudmyla Yurchenko (Amneris), Ivan Ponomarenko (Amonasro), and the choristers were more than adequate to the task. Although tenor Oleg Videman (Radames) from Novosibirsk was also good, you could still feel that he was uneasy, and it could not escape your notice that the artiste’s dramatic abilities are so far very much inferior to his vocal qualities. But, in spite of some shortcomings, the production was a success.

Dmytro Hnatiuk had been singing in Verdi’s operas for many years. “ Aїda has nothing but divine music,” he says. “This is the Kyiv theater’s third production in my memory. I wanted our show to be modern in spite of its historical plot. Volodymyr Kozhukhar made the most of the musical score. Our Aїda comprises artists of various ages, which means the production will not go out of date very soon. Our theater is strong not only in terms of its divas and male leads but also its young reserve. You can’t do sloppy work with Aїda. It is very important how the choristers sing and the actors interact. I am pleased that our chorus is one of the best in Europe.”

The production of Il Trovatore was looked forward to with anticipation not only by ordinary spectators but also by National Opera tenors. For the part of Manrico was slated to be sung by Bruno Sebastian. The Italian singer sang at La Scala and is making many tours around the world. Last summer he sang at the opera festival in Odesa. The star was left dissatisfied with our theater’s acoustics. “Everything was fine during the rehearsal,” Mr. Sebastian looks puzzled, “but I was in for an unpleasant surprise during the show, with the stage set and the floor carpeted: I didn’t hear the orchestra and had the feeling of singing with my mouth closed. It was the first time in my life that I experienced such a shock. I had only coped with my vocal part by the finale. It’s a great pity, for I’ve been singing Manrico for over twenty years, in fact since the beginning of my operatic career. I once saw Monserrat Cabalie come into a Barcelona hall, clap her hands and say she won’t sing there. It seemed to me the prima donna was being capricious, but now I see the point: the acoustics did not suit her. I sing from the bottom of my heart on stage, and if the production failed I am seething with anger. I won’t hide that I am going to Prague with a heavy heart. I will also sing in Aїda there. Should I come to your capital again, I’ll sing in a different hall.”

On the other hand, the audiences gave a big hand to our diva Lidiya Zabiliasta (Leonora) and the Lviv-based singer Ihor Kushpler (Count di Luna). They were brilliant in their roles.

The production of Rigoletto is the latest work of excellent stage director Iryna Molostova. The opera is still up to date and beloved as always by performers and audiences alike. The orchestra conducted by Mykola Diadiura played expressively and brightly. Andriy Romanenko created a true-to-life image of the Duke, a philanderer yearning for new adventures. Olha Nahorna’s Gilda was passionate and gentle. A very convincing image of jester Rigoletto was created by Kharkiv’s Mykola Koval who managed to convey the sarcasm, lyricism, and drama of his character. The small part of Maddalena was sung by Italian singer Marilena Montuoro. This show was only a prelude for her, because on the next day, in the festival’s finale, she sang the mezzo- soprano part in Requiem. It is there that Marilena fully revealed her powerful voice, thus becoming a gem in the international quartet of soloists.

Summing up the festival, one can say that the feast of music was a success and, although, to quote a Soviet clichО, friendship was victorious, we should admit in our heart that our soloists were, as a whole, superior to the foreign artists.

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Italy’s Ambassador to Ukraine Iolanda Brunetti-Goetz who attended practically all shows, did not conceal she was pleased with the results of the Verdi festival. “Fantastic shows, beautiful finale,” Madam Ambassador emphasized. “I have only recently come to Ukraine but have already begun, in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Center, to organize numerous functions. I hope there will be other high-profile projects like Ave Verdi in the future.”