Kyiv Music Fest Holds the Fort
This 13th festival stood out not only because of the number of concerts, but also because of record audiences. The trend began with a press conference, held with standing room only for the first time in thirteen years, and ended with a proverbial packed houses for the finale concert that left the staff of the concert’s venue – the Lysenko Hall of Columns – to secure all entrance doors for the performance of the symphony orchestra of the National Music Academy of Ukraine, conducted by Roman Kofman. Such popularity is without doubt largely due to the festival’s creative management – Myroslav Skoryk, Kyrylo Karabyts, and Olha Holynska – and their ability to put together a program boasting spectacular compositions and star performers, all of whom make every effort to hold the fort of modern Ukrainian academic music, doing so in conditions that were more often than not adverse, to say the least.
This music fest commemorated Ivan Karabyts, a well- known Ukrainian composer and cultural figure. Just as his blessed energy had nourished all the previous such festivals, so from the outset, did his lasting memory excite the hearts of all those who had known him personally and those who cherished good memories about him. Put together, this created a particular aura that was present at each of the concerts. Ivan Karabyts’ symphony pieces were performed at the House of Columns of the Kyiv Philharmonic during the festival’s opening concert. The orchestra was conducted by the composer’s son, Kyrylo Karabyts, a rising Ukrainian star, already acknowledged as a gifted musician in many countries. The music fest also demonstrated one of his latest projects, a series of liturgical concerts composed for various confessions (e.g., A. Wedel’s and K. Stetsenko’s Orthodox Liturgies, C.P.E. Bach’s St. John’s Passions – last performed in 1784 – and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms).
Also, there were a number of premieres, including composers such as V. Sylvestrov, I. Shcherbakov, Yu. Ishchenko, L. Kolodub, L. Dychko, B. Filts, as well as young composers and those from Norway, Finland, and the United States.
As for the festival’s choral events, composer Lesia Dychko said at a press conference that there was a “broad range of sympathies” this year. She believed that the choral concerts formed the most democratic trend in modern academic art; that through them the festival could become not only an acknowledged, but also a nationwide cultural event. Indeed, the concerts held at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral served as eloquent evidence of her claims.
The organizing committee wanted the festival to represent performing groups varying in professional skill, including student choirs, professional ones, including some of the very best. The student division was represented by the Molod Sicheslava Choir from the Dnipropetrovsk college of music, conducted by Viacheslav Taran; the women’s choir of the Drahomanov Pedagogical University, conducted by Polyna Mykolayenko; the choir of the National Culture and Art University, conducted by Dmytro Radyk. Each had an interesting concert program, including religious compositions, modern premieres, and classical pieces. The choir Pochaina (“Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” National University; conducted by Oleksandr Zhyhun) deserves special notice. Its renditions were marked by quality and timbre saturation; among its attainments were spectacular interpretations of Ukrainian religious music, ranging from 18th century classics to modern composers. A. Wedel and K. Stetsenko’s ‘Liturgies of John Chrysostom’ allow one to consider Pochaina as not just a student choir, but also a professional performing group cultivating its own creative visage.
Among the professional choirs at the festival were traditional participants; such as Lviv’s Gloria (conducted by Volodymyr Syvokhip) and Khreshchatyk Kyiv’s municipal choir (Larysa Bukhonska). This time the Lviv choir showed true vocal professionalism, intellectual finesse, and praiseworthy inspiration. Khreshchatyk, regrettably, was no match, probably owing to the great strain, having performed in four other festivals, including the exceptionally sophisticated premiere of Lesia Dychko’s Swiss Frescoes Concerto of recitals, mezzo soprano, children’s and mixed choirs, organ, and percussion. The Swiss embassy’s official, attending the concert, noted that, in her opinion, it was the first concert rendition incorporating the four languages spoken in her country: German, French, Italian, and Romansch. On the whole, their performance was strikingly large- scale, marked by profound contrast, made up of components showing varying moods, and a refined choral polyphony peculiar to the modern maestro. Needless to say, the premiere was highlighted by the Children’s Opera from the Creative Children’s House in Podil, Kyiv (directed by Natalia Nekhotiayeva). The young singers bewitched the audience with their innate sincerity and an adult professional level.
The Khreshchatyk and National Philharmonic Society’s orchestra conducted by Roman Kofman made a very good job of Bernstein’s Chychester Psalms (performed as part of the program “Ukraine- US Musical Dialogues”). Among the performers were US soloists Patricia Miller (mezzo soprano) and Stephen Salters (baritone) who conquered their audiences with both vocal skill and emotional ingenuity, rendering old American songs and African-American spirituals.
