Viktoria LUKIANETS: You should set a high standard for yourself. Always, even if something goes wrong at first

This singer’s name is now Ukraine’s national brand. Lukianets proudly represents our culture at the world’s most prestigious opera stages. For 16 years now, Viktoria has been residing in Vienna, but she does not forget about her Fatherland either. The singer admits that she sings encores only in her native Ukrainian. Although she is booked several years in advance, each year Viktoria comes to Ukraine, not just to see her family and friends, but please her fellow-countrymen with her performances. Besides her beautiful voice, Lukianets has another, no less unique, gift: she is an apt communicator, and she is benevolent, open and extremely attentive to her interlocutor. Our meeting took place in the singer’s Kyiv apartment, in the Troieshchyna District, where she regularly stops on her visits to Kyiv. Recently Viktoria has performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s romances at the Bulgakov House. In January the singer suffered a personal loss: her father died.

Ivan Lukianets’ photo portrait stands on the piano, and a black-and-white photo in which Viktoria is a two-year-old girl with a Teddy bear in her hands, stands nearby; behind the photo are her father’s words written in ink, an autograph dear to her heart. And the candle is burning, may his memory live forever.

REREADING BULGAKOV

“I wanted to start the concert in the Bulgakov Museum from the romance ‘It is Good Here’ but I performed Vocalise. My father died, and when a dear person dies, you immediately reappraise your values. ‘It is Good Here’ does not sound appropriate in our earthly understanding. I read the same text, and the same poetry seems to me a different world, can you believe this? Such things happen in certain moments of life.”

Viktoria, why do people say that Rachmaninoff’s cycle of romances, Opus 38, is unusual, magical — does it have some mystery?

“It was the last one, the composer did not create romances after 1916 (Rachmaninoff died in 1943). Besides every verse in the cycle is an entire world. His last romance ‘A dream’ is the closest to me, [it is based] on Solohub’s verses, and is wonderful. Dream as paradise, can you imagine that? After reading it deeply, I understood that there were plenty of facets to reveal. That was the Silver Age, never after were so many genius works, either in music or literature, written. I have sung three romances from this Opus at concerts in Moscow and Kyiv in the 1990s, with Vazha Chachava. I really wanted to finally do this cycle. This opus is unique, because Rachmaninoff composed it for the singer Nina Koshetz. I have seen the program of the concert where he himself accompanied her. I think he loved this woman; it seems to me that was a very mystical sympathy, because he performs the works for the first time, and dedicates them to her. When I reread The Days of The Turbins, about the living room, the grand piano, I saw how much Rachmaninoff and his last opus is unanimous with the atmosphere of the Museum of Bulgakov. I think if Bulgakov’s spirit or that of his mother is living in the house, they would agree that namely this music should be heard there.”

How did your idea to sing in the museum emerge?

“In fall I was in Podil in the Church of Protection of Holy Mother of God, where my mother christened me, and I walked along Andriivsky uzviz. I entered the Bulgakov Museum and felt that it was not simply a museum, but the house he was living in. My husband and daughter have many times told me, ‘You are our great mystic.’ Maybe it is true. Moreover, that was an amazing meeting. The employees recognized me and organized an amazing excursion around the museum. And I understood that nothing happens by accident, therefore I said: ‘May I help you? I can organize a soiree, where I will sing, and I don’t need to be paid for this.’ But this was not the end, as I received an impetus to reread all works by Bulgakov. This is the effect the atmosphere of this house has on people. This time I read Bulgakov’s works in a much different way than previously: I felt everything. I think to understand Bulgakov you should be mature, both personally and professionally.”

What work did you like the most?

“The Master and Margarita. I very much liked his Life of Mr. de Moliere, and I even noted some philosophical moments; they are so important now for our actors’ community.”

Please tell us about your participation in The Days of Ukrainian Culture in Munich last year.

“My program ‘The Pearls of Ukrainian Contemporary Music’ included 23 new works. I sang three miniatures by Valentyn Sylvestrov with verse by Ivan Franko. The pianist Taras Yashchenko invited Myroslav Skoryk to transpose his ‘Melody’ for me, and I performed it for the first time in Munich. For example, Lesia Dychko sent the romance ‘Evening’ with words by Pavlo Tychyna one day prior to the concert and I sang it as well. ‘Gray Cat’ by Levko Kolodub is beautiful, and Borys Liatoshynsky’s ‘Prelude’ and ‘Shadows’ are just wonderful. You see I wanted to show that this lyric poetry is of the highest level. Taras Yashchenko also has wonderful works: we made a cycle containing six of his works, both jazz and modern. And Oleksandr Kozarenko’s ‘Lullaby’. I performed two concerts in the Munich Conservatoire, both times to full houses. On the third day we recorded everything in a studio, the disc is being prepared at the moment, maybe there are people eager to support, to assist in this. I feel that I should do this, not to earn money, but to preserve these things.”

Ukrainians love you a lot, they remember each concert you have given in your fatherland.

“This is amazing!”

And your concert in a salt mine.

“Even this one?”

And in Lviv on the Rynok Square.

“You know they say, ‘Your performance was the first one, now following your example, concerts are regularly taking place on the Rynok Square. It is very gratifying that an audacious initiative, if it is true, is continued, and lives on.’”

You have performed at the Lviv Virtuosi Festival in summer 2010.

“Yes, there I sang mazurkas for the first time — Chopin’s works transposed by Polina Viardo.”

LUCIA WEARING RED SWEATER

Tell us about your latest opera part.

“I sang in Lucia di Lammermoor in Hannover — it was an absolutely incredible modern production, it was raining on stage; there is a video on the Internet, you should watch it. My Lucia was wearing a short red sweater and black tights. They said that the theater needed Rosalinda and Cleopatra. But when I came to Hannover, the head of the theater said, ‘We like your Lucia, we want to hear it.’ I sang this aria for them. And in one and a half months my manager called me and said, ‘You’re invited to sing Lucia’s part.’ Me?! I have never hidden the fact that it is 21 years now that I have been on stage, I even thought then: now a great appraisal of values is going on in the West, and they consider that Lucia should be 16-year-old, and Traviata — 20 years old. There are no singers of my generation, and those with whom I started at the Maria Callas Competition or Mozart Competition do not sing anymore. I agreed, and everything went perfect. All the performers were young, and the director was a 20-year-old Austrian.”

Why are you attracted to experiments in operatic art? Not all people like bold modernizations of classical works.

“You might have heard about my Traviata part, that I sang on a tennis court in Cologne. It has always been interesting for me to listen to a director, when he presents his idea. Most importantly, it should contain some sense. I have sang over 300 Traviatas, including 17 new productions (only in Cologne there have been 35 performances). Maybe it would be boring to continue to sing only in crinoline.”

How does the audience accept the innovations?

“Strange as it may seem, the production has been accepted, even the Lucia. I was singing the craziness aria under pouring rain and thought: ‘good, I don’t need makeup.’ But indeed there is a lot of strong, real things in those images. Once I saw Edgar’s famous scene — a handsome boy, American Korean, sang, and several Lucias were passing in front of him. One of them cut her hand, it was bandaged. And the entire chorus in Edgar’s scene is wearing red pullovers with pompons and black tights, and every singer in the chorus repeated what happens with Lucia during the opera. One should lend an ear to the young generation, not consider them fools, they simple have their own views. You know, opera shows a disease that is common among our children aged 16-17, when they hurt themselves, especially in seemingly positive and problem-free European societies.”

Why?

“It seems to me they are zu gluecklich (too happy) as my Japanese pianist said; it is too happy a society, and for this reason big problems emerge on a deep level.”

“I STUDY TOGETHER WITH MY STUDENTS”

At the moment you are a professor at the Vienna Conservatory. How many students do you have?

“I teach 15 girls and a singer older than me. He is from Graz, he sings in a chorus, but he wants to get a diploma; he studied earlier, dropped out and now he covers a two-hour way to Vienna each time for my lessons in the conservatory. This year I understood how deeply I love my students; it is a great luck to be involved not only in my own life. I am studying with them. It seems to me that I would not have done so many new things and sounded so good as a singer, if not for my students. It is important to discover a creative individuality. For everyone is God’s gift, in their own way, without repetition. ‘Uniqueness,’ remember Lina Kostenko’s words? For me the most important thing is to discover a singer and help him or her. They all come on time to my lessons. And girls, who would come late earlier and sometimes missed my classes, now come even earlier — they are changing.”

You must have taken much from your teachers, Ivan Palyvoda and Yelyzaveta Chavdar.

“I recall them every day, I thank them, I talk to them. At home in Vienna I have photos of Palyvoda, Liza, Eteris Shpyliuk at the instrument. I prepared all of my works with her. I never get tired to say: we should honor and bow low before our teachers. They were not well-off, but what brilliant teachers they were! And Arkhypova! She has done so much for me! She heard me and said, ‘You are my bird, my gift given by the Lord.’ Our voices instrumentally combined, and we started to go to concerts and competitions together. Everyone thought she was teaching me, but she said: ‘You don’t need anyone’s tutorship, go your own way, and everything will be fine.’”

What should our performers, who come to the West, learn first and foremost?

“They should learn style, plasticity, etiquette, and manners of behavior; the skill to lead business talks, present themselves, behave in a more restrained manner, when you come for an audition to an impresario for the first time. For people from Lviv and Moscow come to my master classes. I want to warn our singers: ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do.’ During the first talk you should make a tiny step backwards. I will share my experience. In 1999 my Traviata was directed by a young, and now very famous, Italian Renato Palumbo. Can you imagine, after the premiere he confessed, ‘You know, Viktoria, during our first rehearsals I felt antipathy to you.’ ‘How? Why?’ ‘Because you were always ready, like a soldier — I am always ready, I’ve learned everything, I can do everything!’ You don’t have to shout in your manner of singing — this is too much for the West. Our emotionality, boundless voice, movements, arm swinging is too much for them. Only your versatility can impress them. Piano, knowledge of style, transitioning from note to note: our singers lack this. I also learned a lot there. It is good that I learned the piano culture already here, in the conservatory, and the late singer Natalia Troitska, who started to take care of me in Moscow and introduced me to the West, said, ‘Viktoria, with your piano you will earn more money than with forte.’

“The piano culture is when a singer has such a good control of his/her voice that s/he manages her breath, like when singing at the highest tone to make his/her voice produce the most refined sounding, like an instrument, a flute or a violin, in the subtlest nuances. Luciano Pavarotti wrote this in his book. Can you imagine, for this famed tenor Rodolfo’s aria was always a stumbling stone, because piano should be pronounced in such a way that it was rich, and very few singers are capable of this. So, when a performer with such skills comes, s/he immediately captures the European audience. It would be even better, as one part says, when the upper note ‘ci Bemolle’ is in pianissimo, and in the same tact the two-forte arrow is fortissimo, on one note. This requires certain skills. And one should make many efforts. One should set a high standard for yourself. Always, even if something goes wrong at first.”

Do you always set a high standard for yourself?

“Yes. And I’m also the kind of person who likes very much to take up a lot of work.”

A COMPLIMENT FROM AN EMPEROR

Please tell us about your meeting with Japan’s Emperor Akihito.

“It took place in Tokyo, at the New National Theater, where we performed Lucia di Lammermoor. We did not know that the emperor’s family was among the audience, and I could not understand why, when coming out for applause, the audience turned their backs to me, only then turning to the stage and applauding. After the performance I was told, ‘Viktoria, don’t change, we have a great event: the emperor, His Majesty, is awaiting all the performers.’ We were brought to some room, they made us stand in a rank. Emperor came with his wife, a charming woman. At first she said, ‘I’ve never heard anything more beautiful than the cadence with a flute’ and thanked us. And I got carried away, ‘Thank you! I’m so happy that your granddaughter Aiko was born recently!’ They wondered, ‘How do you know?’ then smiled and we talked for some 25 minutes. Before the trip to Japan my mom told me that Japan’s Embassy to Ukraine renders support for Chornobyl children, bring medical equipment. I said, ‘Thank you for helping our children and doing many good things.’ The emperor thanked me for taking interest in Japanese culture. I very much like this wonderful country and I learned a lot from it. I have many friends, not just acquaintances, in Japan. I have visited it six times since 1999 — my first Traviata. After meeting with the emperor and his wife I was told by an employee of the theater, ‘You know, Viktoria, we are afraid to raise eyes and look at the emperor.’ The emperor is the Sun, the embodiment of God. I apologized.”

FROM VIENNA TO TROIESHCHYNA

What does your husband and daughter do?

“My husband sings at the chorus of the Vienna Stats-Opera, where the preparation of the premiere of the opera Billy Bud by Benjamin Britten is underway. He is a lecturer at the conservatory, and has 13 students. Darusia is 22, she is a student at the philosophy department and a rock singer, she speaks five languages. She writes lyrics for her band on philosophical topics. When we were shooting Bach’s aria in Lviv, in October, in order to render financial support for the Pidhirtsi Castle, I bought Berdiaiev’s book Spirit and Reality there. I dream that Darusia brings it to the Germans and Austrians, they hardly know anything about Berdiaiev.”

How do you like your Vienna house?

“I love it so much! My father joked, ‘You are living on the roof, like Karlsson.’ By Kyiv measures, it is high fourth floor. We bought an old attic with thick walls, built mansards there, and there are only stars and the sky above. There is so much sun light, I can sing there, I grow flowers there. Of course, this is the ‘house that Jack built,’ the house that will always be with us.”

How does your day begin?

“I like mornings very much, when it is calm and fresh. I wake up early, make green tea — this is a ritual, when it is warm, I go to the terrace with the tea, look at how everything wakes up. Then the sports part of my day begins: I make physical exercises, jog in the Augarten Park. It is located nearby, across the channel: this is a famed park from Mozart’s time. After the exercises I have breakfast, at noon, like today. But there may be different versions. If I have rehearsals, I wake up even earlier, to jog, then I have some coffee, fresh juice — then I can work and train.”

Don’t you forget about your Kyiv home?

“It seems that there is nothing here, in this apartment, but I feel good here. It is cozy and spacious. When I come here, it feels like home. Darusia started walking here at the age of 10 months. How can I forget this? Now mother is alone, and she wants to come and live here, so there is something good in this concrete atmosphere. Something living, filled with what used to happen here. I am standing at the window here, watching the windows lit in the houses, it’s 7 a.m. and people are already awake, like bees. And I think, ‘Oh my dear people! My Troieshchyna is waking up.’”