Larysa Rudenko’s Favorite Part Sung by Her Student

January 19 was the twentieth anniversary of the death of People’s Artiste of Ukraine and the USSR, Professor Larysa Rudenko. Educated by Olena Muraviova, she was one of the brilliant representatives of the Ukrainian vocal school. Larysa Rudenko sang for about thirty seasons on the stage of the Shevchenko Theater of Opera and Ballet, now the National Opera of Ukraine. Her velvet mezzo-soprano was always truly delightful. Many of Ms. Rudenko’s colleagues, renowned opera singers themselves, never hid their rapture when talking about her voice and mastery. Borys Hmyria once wrote, “Only a wonderful and rich nature can create such a beautiful thing as Larysa’s voice.”

Born in Makiyivka, Donetsk oblast, Larysa Rudenko came to Kyiv at the age of 16 and was immediately admitted to the conservatory. At the very outset of her musical journey, she resolutely rejected the lucrative offers to work in Moscow. Even with a Bolshoi Theater identification in hand, the young singer firmly decided to remain in Ukraine, for she was convinced this was her place. Shortly afterward, she sang her first part, Pauline in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, on the Kyiv operatic stage.

As a rule, composers assign tragic roles to mezzo-sopranos. If we recall these roles, we will see a string of passionately enamored, domineering, suffering but strong women. All these shades are represented, in one way or another, in mezzo-soprano characters, who are themselves extraordinary and find themselves in remarkable circumstances where they expose the contradictory traits of their personalities. It goes without saying that the stage interpretation of such roles also requires unusual acting talent and perhaps some special qualities of the performer’s soul. All this can be fully applied to the Rudenko’s career.

Larysa Rudenko always paid a great deal of attention to chamber concerts. Her concert repertoire comprised hundreds of arias, romances, and folk songs (not only Ukrainian but those of many other nations). One can find detailed information about the singer’s repertoire and an enthralling tale of her career in a book by Liudmyla Hrysenko, a musicologist and an old friend of Rudenko’s, published in 1978 by the Muzychna Ukrayina publishing house. This works still remains the most meticulous study of Larysa Rudenko’s art.

It is gratifying that the National Opera does not forget artistes who glorified the Ukrainian operatic art in the past. Larysa Rudenko was commemorated recently by staging Rimsky- Korsakov’s Tsar’s Bride. The part of Liubasha in this opera was one of Rudenko’s most favorite roles. In the show dedicated to the singer’s memory, this part was performed by Svitlana Kysla, Larysa Rudenko’s pupil and soloist with the National Opera of Ukraine.

There is a photo of Larysa Rudenko playing the role of Liubasha. A true Russian beauty is looking at us, with her head bent, but at the same time her facial features display an Ancient Greek perfection. Her glance is tense and concentrated, but her wide-open expressive eyes seem to be looking nowhere, so heavy is the burden of the suffering she endures.

As Svitlana Kysla admitted, she sings the part of Liubasha, accurately keeping in mind all instructions she received in Rudenko’s class. During the lessons, they studied in great detail every phrase, every change of breath, every shade. In this way Larysa Rudenko instilled her love for the role of Liubasha in her pupil. Svitlana Kysla has been singing Liubasha for many years, but her performance in the show dedicated to her mentor proved especially successful. Liubasha’s songs, her duet with Griaznov, the second act aria, and other scenes came off without the slightest slip; her voice sounded even and colorful, all the heroine’s most complex reflections were adequately expressed vocally. Larysa Rudenko’s school has again shown its class.

In February, Kyiv’s Actor’s House is hosting a soiree in memory of Larysa Rudenko, at which Ms. Kysla will sing a duet with her daughter Natalia Kysla, a National Opera trainee (mezzo-soprano). Natalia also participated in the production of Tsar’s Bride, singing the part of Duniasha.