DATELINE NEW YORK: Museum concert spotlights Ukrainian artists (10/13/96)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Museum concert spotlights Ukrainian artists

by Helen Smindak

It's only mid-October, but the Ukrainian cultural season in New York has been in full swing for weeks! This year it began on September 5 at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations, with the official opening of an exhibition of works by eight artists from Kyiv's OR Gallery.

Present at the launching of the exhibit, which was dedicated to the fifth anniversary of Ukraine's independence, were U.N. Ambassador Anatoliy Zlenko; Victor Kryzhanivsky, Ukraine's consul general in New York; Mykola Volha, director of the OR gallery; Marta Kokolska of Verona, N.J., who assisted in organizing the exhibition; and many representatives of other U.N. missions.

In mid-September, the Caelum Gallery in Soho proudly invited the New York public to view the first American show of Ukrainian-born painter and installation artist Taras Potahailo, who now resides in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Mr. Potahailo's fascinating paintings, a homage to a fellow Ukrainian artist, the Suprematist Kazimir Malevich, are on display until October 12.

The operatic season was inaugurated on September 17 by the New York City Opera, where soprano Oksana Krovytska continues to hold membership, together with baritone George Bohachevsky (chorus), Stephanie Godino (corps de ballet) and violinist Helen Strilec (orchestra). Ms. Krovytska is performing the title role in "Madame Butterfly" this month; next spring, she will appear in NYCO's productions of "Don Giovanni" and "Turandot."

The Metropolitan Opera roster now boasts nine Ukrainian artists, seven of them scheduled to sing principal roles and two more standing by in the wings. Odessa-born Maria Guleghina was in the cast of "Andrea Chenier" on opening night (September 30), bass Paul Plishka sang in "The Bartered Bride" the following night, and soprano Victoria Loukianets of Kyiv made her Met debut in "La Traviata" on the third night.

Two musical events that took place earlier this month added further luster to the Ukrainian cultural scene. A concert of contemporary music by composer Myroslav Skoryk of Lviv was held at Weill Recital Hall on October 1. The Kyiv Symphonic Choir and Orchestra, led by their American conductor, Roger G. McMurrin, concluded a six-week tour of the Eastern states with an inspiring concert of religious and folk music at Manhattan's magnificent Riverside Church.

Other stirring events are coming up. The Ukrainian Museum's 20th anniversary luncheon at the Westbury Hotel on October 20 will be animated, as executive officers and members look forward to the completion of the new museum building on East Sixth Street, perhaps by the end of 1997. (Demolition work has begun on the old building and construction of the three-story edifice will soon begin.)

The Tamburitzans of Duquesne University, whose concerts frequently spotlight Ukrainian folk music and dances, will present a special 60th anniversary program on October 26 at the Haft Auditorium, Fashion Institute of Technology, with nine Ukrainian American performers in the company.

The Ukrainian Institute of America, which will open this year's Music At The Institute series on October 19, plans to hold a conference on Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky on November 24, and may also present a theater group from Ukraine around the same time. Arrangements are being finalized for a November exhibit of traditions and foods.

For next spring, anticipate yet more excitement: dancers Vladimir Malakhov and Maxim Belotserkovsky in American Ballet Theater productions; the famous Zankovetsky Theater group of Lviv appearing in New York; and the March 11 opening of the Metropolitan Museum's "Glory of Byzantium" exhibit, with hundreds of Ukrainian relics for all the world to see and admire.

The Met line-up

During October, sopranos Victoria Loukianets and Maria Guleghina and basso Paul Plishka continue their roles in "La Traviata," "Andrea Chenier" and "The Bartered Bride," respectively. Mr. Plishka, considered one of the Met's finest basses, is also booked for "L'Elisir d'Amore" (November), "La Forza de Destino" (February and March) and "Eugene Onegin" (March and April).

Ms. Guleghina has been signed for "Tosca," while tenor Vladimir Grishko will sing in "La Boheme." Productions of both operas will take place in January.

Sergei Koptchak, who returns to the Met on October 30 as Sparafucile in "Rigoletto," is scheduled to sing in Dvorak's "Rusalka" next May.

Baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who will be heard in the Met's "Faust" in March, and basso Vladimir Ognovenko, who will appear in "Eugene Onegin" (March and April), are considered Russians by the Met publicity office. Although Mr. Hvorostovsky was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, and Mr. Ognovenko in Sverdlovsk in Russia's Ural region, their names sound decidedly Ukrainian. Dateline recently learned from Ms. Guleghina (through Svoboda music critic Theodore Teren-Juskiw) that both singers do indeed have Ukrainian backgrounds.

Mezzo-soprano Susanna Poretsky, originally from Lviv and now a resident of Israel, and American-born basso Stefan Szkafarowsky bring the number of Ukrainian Met singers to nine. Both are under cover contract for roles in Giordano's "Fedora" in April.

OR Gallery at Mission

Contemporary and avant-garde paintings, framed agates and enamel creations form the art exhibit that presently graces the elegant first-floor reception rooms of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations. They are the work of eight artists: Oleksandr Borodai, Dmytro Dobrovolsky, Anatoliy Furlet, Ivan Ivko, Mykola Volha and his daughter Olha Volha, all of Kyiv, and Mykhailo Demtsiu and Sergei Hai of Lviv.

These works vibrate with virtuosity and vitality, revealing an ingenious play of strong colors and lines; many show profound insight.

The strong colors and bold forms in Mr. Hai's oil paintings (observed also in Mr. Demtsiu's single entry) elicit joy and respect, while the muted pastel tones and abstract figures of Mr. Furlet's work are at once puzzling and delightful to behold.

There is enchantment in Ms. Volha's summer flowers in a sapphire blue vase, titled "The Apogee of Summer." Mr. Borodai's intriguing enamels depict the seasons and nighttime in the city. Autumn golds, subdued tones and ghostly figures cover Mr. Ivko's canvasses.

Mr. Volha, a master jeweler, architect and artist, displays a special understanding of the nature of color, composition and the correlation of shapes in his beautiful creations of agates and other extraordinary stones.

The artists are all members of the OR Gallery, which was founded by Mr. Volha. The gallery was awarded one of the top prizes in the first international art festival held at the Ukrainian House in Kyiv last spring. Incidentally, the word OR is derived from the Ukrainian word for plowing (oraty) and is also related to Oranta, the ancient spiritual mother of Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian Mission is located at 220 E. 51 St., and the exhibit may be viewed from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Once there, you will have the dual pleasure of viewing the remarkably fine work of Ukrainian artists and admiring the handsome interior of the Ukrainian Mission. You might also come face-to-face with Ambassador Zlenko, as I did when I inspected the artwork two weeks ago. An affable man, he chatted for a few moments and invited me to help myself to the exhibit literature before hurrying off on some business.

Polataiko - an artist to watch

Taras Polataiko, a 30-year-old dual citizen of Ukraine and Canada, has in just five years become one of the most carefully scrutinized artists in Canada. Last year, the influential American art magazine ARTnews picked him as one of 10 artists to watch, world-wide.

Mr. Polataiko might also be called a renegade; he created quite a stir in Saskatoon in 1992 when he put on a performance called "Artist as a Politician: In the Shadow of the Monument." Dressed in a suit and covered with bronze paint and brown makeup, he stood on a pedestal for an hour on seven occasions, imitating the stance of a bronze statue of Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn. Mr. Polataiko was questioning the ideal of monumentalizing Mr. Hnatyshyn as the spirit of Ukrainian Canadian achievement.

Art critics say that everything the artist does draws attention, if not notoriety. In fact, all of his work asks questions about identity and about the role of art.

For his first solo exhibit in the United States, which ran at the Caelum Gallery in Soho from September 17 to October 12, Mr. Polataiko chose to ask questions about the limits of knowledge. The exhibit carried a selection of the artist's "Glare" series, a homage to his fellow Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich, the Suprematist artist and theorist.

Mr. Polataiko bent glossy reproductions of Malevich's paintings, which produced glares, then photographed them and painstakingly painted the images on canvas. The paintings were covered with 20 coats of varnish, superimposing other real glares on the painted once. Scaled to the dimensions of Malevich's original canvasses, the paintings are primarily in black and white.

The Caelum exhibit included 10 such pieces, ranging in price from $3,500 to $4,500, and 20 studies priced at $300 apiece.

A native of Chernivtsi, Mr. Polataiko studied at the Kosiv College of Art in Ukraine and the Stroganov Institute of Fine and Industrial Arts in Moscow, and received his MFA from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. He has had several one-man exhibitions in Canada and has participated in a large number of group shows in Canada, Russia and Ukraine, and one group show in the United States. His artistry has brought him numerous scholarships, awards and grants, while his wit and temperament have served to draw a great deal of media attention.

Skoryk jazzes it up

The distinctive stylings of contemporary composer Myroslav Skoryk of Lviv, who wrote the score for that unforgettable film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors," were heard at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall on October 1.

The varied musical selections, which brought together contemporary, pop and Gypsy music as well as American blues and jazz, were performed by pianists Mykola Suk and Volodymyr Vynnytsky, The Leontovych String Quartet, baritone Oleh Chmyr and cellist Vagram Saradjian. At the end, the composer himself sat down at the piano with Mr. Vynnytsky for a couple of lively numbers, bringing the capacity audience to its feet in unanimous approbation.

Mr. Suk displayed his mastery of the piano in the serious and lyrical work Partita No. 5 for Piano. The Leontovych Quartet interpreted Mr. Skoryk's newest work, Partita No. 6 for String Quartet, consisting of four movements performed without a break, and followed that with Melody for String Quartet. One of the most popular and frequently performed works in Ukraine, this piece is based on Mr. Skoryk's film music; its lyrical, sad and assertive moods reflect the Ukrainian soul and psyche.

The jazz-like quality, rapid fingering and stormy passages of "Burlesque for Piano," written in 1964, were delivered with wonderful expertise by Mr. Vynnytsky.

Mr. Chmyr sensitively handled the spirit of three Ukrainian folk songs arranged by Mr. Skoryk. They included the sad "Dibrova zelena" (a favorite song of Mr. Skoryk's great-aunt, the famous Ukrainian soprano Solomiya Krushelnytska), the jaunty soldier's tale "Oy Huk, Maty, Huk" and the robust drinking song "Oy, Pye Chumak."

Mr. Vynnytsky provided piano accompaniment for Mr. Chmyr, and joined Mr. Saradjian in Skoryk's Aria for Cello and Piano.

With Mr. Skoryk playing the low notes and Mr. Vynnytsky the upper register, the two sat side-by-side at the piano as they delivered Spanish-Mauritanian, stylized American Blues and bouncy Cancan tunes in "Three Extravagant Dances for Piano 4-Hands."

For the finale, they switched places and piano keys, sometimes reaching over into the other's territory as they rendered "Three Jazz Pieces for Piano 4-Hands," a witty and virtuosic synthesis of jazz and contemporary music with allusions to Ukrainian melodies. Their efforts were rewarded with a standing ovation and a bouquet of bright sunflowers for the composer.

The concert was presented by the Music and Art Center of Greene County, whose director is Ihor Sonevytsky of New York, and the Ukrainian Institute of America.