DATELINE NEW YORK: A new season beckons (10/04/98)

DATELINE NEW YORK: A new season beckons

by Helen Smindak

The Ukrainian cultural season of 1998-1999, which promises a host of interesting events, was launched last month with two outstanding presentations. The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the only private choral-orchestral group in Ukraine, performed for the first time at Carnegie Hall, appearing there on September 15. An exhibition of selected portraits by one of our most distinguished artists, Jacques Hnizdovsky, previewed on September 24 at the Ukrainian Institute of America before beginning a 10-day public showing.

During the autumn months, coming events will bring Paul Plishka to the Metropolitan Opera stage in "Aida" and Vladimir Grishko in "La Bohème." They are scheduled to return in 1999, with Mr. Plishka performing in "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Il Trovatore" and "Simon Boccanegra," and Mr. Grishko in "Khovanschina," whose cast at some point will also include Vladimir Ognovenko. Maria Guleghina, who is of part-Ukrainian-ancestry, is currently appearing at the Met in "Aida"; later in the season she will take on a role in "Tosca."

In her sixth season at the New York City Opera, Oksana Krovytska will sing the title role in a brand-new production of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" that will open on November 17.

Bass Vassili Gerello, who appeared here last May with the Kirov Opera in "Mazeppa" and "Prince Igor," will be in New York on November 8 when the Kirov Orchestra and Opera Chorus present Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta," Op. 69, at Carnegie Hall. He is expected to sing also with the Kirov Opera Chorus when it presents Rachmaninoff's "Vespers" at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on November 6.

This season's Bard Music Festival at Alice Tully Hall will focus on "Pyotr Tchaikovsky and His World" on October 31. Part of a package are a morning symposium, afternoon lecture and chamber music concert, and an 8 p.m. concert by the American Symphony Orchestra, all reassessing this romantic composer. For specific information on the Great Performers series, call Lincoln Center at (212) 875-5020, 5030 or 5050.

The Duquesne University Tamburitzans, returning to New York City on October 17 with their annual celebration of Central and East European folk music, dances and traditions, will perform a suite of Hutsul dances, including the line dance "Arkan," a ritual walking dance or "khorovid" and the traditional Hutsul "Kolomyika." Their concert begins at 8 p.m. at the Haft Auditorium, Fashion Institute of Technology, 227 W. 27th St.

Ballet dancers Vladimir Malakhov and Maxim Belotserkovsky are scheduled to appear in the American Ballet Theater's opening night gala at the City Center on October 27. They will perform in the revival of Anton Dolin's "Variations for Four."

While The Ukrainian Museum's folk art exhibition spotlighting the village of Uhryniv in the Sokal region continues through November 1, its autumn program begins in earnest on October 11 with the opening of an exhibition of works by two Ukrainian-born artists, Volodymyr Makarenko and Petro Kapschutschenko. Mr. Makarenko, a resident of Paris, specializes in surrealist paintings, while Mr. Kapschutschenko, a longtime resident of Argentina now living in New Jersey, is a sculptor whose work includes the statue of Princess Olha in South Bound Brook, N.J., at the Ukrainian Orthodox complex.

Other events at The Ukrainian Museum will include a lecture/slide presentation on Ukrainians in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and the Solovetsky Islands by John Luchechko, a former president of the museum; a lecture on medieval Khersones by Dr. Olenka Pevny of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and a silent auction to be held October 18 at the Ramada Inn in East Hanover, N.J., with the Eric Mintel Jazz Trio featuring George Hrab Jr.; a humoresque presented by the Lydia Krushelnytsky Drama Studio; art exhibitions and the annual Christmas bazaar.

The Ukrainian Institute of America, which began commemorating its 50th birthday and the 100th anniversary of its landmark building last spring, is extending this observance to the end of the year. A season-opening black-tie reception takes place this very weekend (October 3). The institute board, with Walter Nazarewicz at the helm, has given the go-ahead to exciting fall events: the Music at the Institute series (the first concert is scheduled for the 24th of this month), café sessions (a new idea) on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, art exhibits, the popular Christmas Around the World bazaar in December, and a New Year's Eve gala.

Having mentioned the institute's anniversaries, it behooves me to note anniversaries marked in recent months by a number of other Ukrainian organizations in New York. The Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences, for instance, recently pointed with pride to the 100th anniversary of its headquarters at 260 W. 100th St. Built in 1898 as a branch of the New York Public Library, nine years ago the building was designated a landmark by the City of New York Landmarks Preservations Committee.

Two other well-known institutions observed anniversaries in the past year. The Ukrainian Music Institute of America, founded in New York City by Roman Sawycky Sr. and Melanie Baylova, celebrated its 45th birthday and the Promin Vocal Ensemble's 25th with a gala concert at the Ukrainian National Home. Among the numerous performers were pianist Thomas Hrynkiw, president of UMI's New York branch, which hosted the celebration, Oles Kuzyszyn, Andriy Dobriansky Jr., Halyna Kolessa and the Promin ensemble, directed by Bohdanna Wolansky.

The Shevchenko Scientific Society is commemorating its 125th anniversary. A daylong conference at Columbia University on October 2 is to be followed by more sessions on October 3 at its building at 63 Fourth Ave. and a festive banquet on October 4.

Making music at Carnegie

It may not be lauded as the grandest moment of Ukrainian musical history at Carnegie Hall, but the concert presented by the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (KSOC) was quite dramatic and awe-inspiring in its breadth and intensity. Encompassing great works of Ukrainian, Russian and Western composers, as well as popular American classics and Ukrainian folk music, the two-and-a-half hour program was offered by a 100-piece orchestra and a 60-voice choir that seemed to put everything it had into the performance.

Roger G. McMurrin, the company's founder and artistic director, conducted most of the program and offered commentary throughout the evening. Victor Skromney, conductor of the Ukrainian National Radio Company Choir, took the podium as guest conductor for Rachmaninoff's "Solemn Vespers," a piece that brought to mind ancient singing styles. Edward Senko, KSOC's manager, and assistant choral conductors Helen Sedikh, Vika Konchakovska and Taras Mironiuk directed other choral selections.

Though the concert had its glorious moments, it did not quite match the exhilarating experience provided by Mr. McMurrin's company two years ago at Riverside Church. There, a slow, dignified processional by the choristers along two aisles, a nice blending of choral and orchestral music, a brief segment of Ukrainian folk music and some Gershwin favorites enthralled the audience.

A similar recipe this time around drew sustained applause and cheers from the Carnegie Hall audience, encouraging Mr. McMurrin to extend the program with several encores. However, many in the audience said they were not uplifted, citing such deficiencies as an uneven performance quality, overuse of percussion instruments, over-amplification of some male solo voices, a meagerness of Ukrainian operatic music, and a jarring combination of hymns at the concert's end (the reverential hymn "Bozhe Velykyi, Yedynyi" was followed by a booming version of the patriotic hymn "America the Beautiful").

A few found fault with the "hayseed" characterization of the singers and musicians who came on stage in village dress with a segment of Ukrainian folk melodies and the popular Hryts and Odarka duet from the opera "Zaporozhets za Dunayem."

Though the concert had its imperfections (perhaps due to the fact this was a much larger company of musicians, many of whom seemed to be fresh out of conservatory), the overall sound of thunderous music, dramatic drum rolls and clashing cymbals, as heard in Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" Suite and the "Hallelujah Chorus" was pleasing to most in attendance.

The chorus was excellent, especially in such a capella Ukrainian classics as Leontovych's profoundly sacred "Viruiu" (The Nicene Creed) and Bortniansky's Easter anthem, which forms the second section of the three-part Sacred Concerto No. 15. Also top-notch was the choral treatment of Ukrainian folk music - the wondrous "Carol of the Bells" and Rakov's arrangement of the merry folksong "Dub Duba."

Basso-profundo Vladlen Gritsiuk was highly impressive as the soloist in The Nicene Creed, the chorus holding long drawn-out hushed phrases of "Viruiu" in the background. Fine solo performances were also turned in by soprano Irina Vezhnevets, tenor Genna Briginets, alto Luba Kanuka and baritone Dmitri Ageev. Soprano Ludmilla Tretjak, whose voice had a slightly dusky quality, offered a touching rendition of the "Summertime" lullaby from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess." On the other hand, tenor Anatoly Glavin and baritone Yuri Mamchuk belted out Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" with so much energy that the sound was almost deafening.

Mr. McMurrin, a handsome, silver-haired gentleman with a dignified bearing, used his mellifluous speaking voice to acquaint the audience with Ukraine's musical riches and economic poverty. He took time to acknowledge the presence of several tour benefactors and to introduce a guest speaker, Oleg Timoshenko, rector of the National Ukrainian Music Academy (the Ukrainian translator, unfortunately, was not completely successful in repeating Mr. Timoshenko's remarks in English).

A college professor in Ohio, the conductor spent 23 years in the world of church music, serving large Presbyterian churches in the United States before moving to Kyiv in 1993 with his wife, Diane, and son, Marc, to establish a tax-exempt charity, Music Mission Kyiv. Registered in the state of Florida, the mission is funded through gifts from friends and churches in America and other countries, financing the work of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and an independent church, the Church of the Holy Trinity. (A scale model of a proposed church center, including a fellowship hall, gymnasium, facilities for day-school, Bible college and seminary, and a hospital was displayed in the Carnegie Hall lobby for all to view.)

While KSOC members also work in state professional orchestras and choirs, Mr. McMurrin lectures at the Ukrainian Academy of Music (Tchaikovsky Conservatory) and devotes time to humanitarian work - a widows' charity and orphanage assistance - and to adult and children's Christian education and a youth ministry. A book relating the adventures of Roger and Diane McMurrin in Kyiv, written by Mrs. McMurrin and titled "The Splendor of His Music," was offered for sale during intermission along with five new KSOC recordings.

The art of Hnizdovsky

The work of woodcut master and oil painter Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915-1985) can be found in the permanent collections of many galleries and museums in the United States, including the White House, the Library of Congress and the National Museum of American Art in Washington. Woodcut prints and oil paintings by Mr. Hnizdovsky are prized by many collectors.

Yet a showing of Hnizdovsky art can always draw an animated crowd of admirers and devotees, as happened a few weeks ago at the Ukrainian Institute of America. Here, on creamy white walls in newly renovated rooms, were hung 17 oil paintings, 20 intriguing black-and-white woodcut prints and etchings, and three large tapestries woven by Barbara Corbett to Mr. Hnizdovsky's designs, each work appealing to be examined, studied and praised for its rich and original imagery.

The 10-day exhibition, curated by The Ukrainian Museum director Maria Shust and titled "Jacques Hnizdovsky - Selected Portraits," focused on portraits - studies of people, as well as of animals and forms in nature. Among the oil paintings were two portraits of the artist's wide-eyed daughter, a 1965 study of Harry Salpeter writing at a small table, and a 1960 view of Guggenheim Museum visitors viewing art work on several levels of the museum's spiral ramp. The artist's wife, Stephanie, known as Fanny, is seen in a 1961 silhouette, seated at work with needle, thread and cloth in hand.

Although Mr. Hnizdovsky explored various art forms, he developed his reputation as a printmaker in the woodcut medium. While still in art school in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, he conceived the notion of creating a series of tree portraits in woodcut. The idea resulted in one of his first woodcuts, the 1944 work "Bush," on display at the institute.

Ms. Shust, who was present at the opening, pointed out the majesty of the ancient oak reflected in the 1974 work "Suicide Oak, New Orleans" and the gentle humor in the artist's 1961 interpretation of the large, woolly "Ram" with its curled horns and tiny legs as it gazes calmly at the viewer.

In her commentary on Hnizdovsky portraits, Ms. Shust explained that many elements influence an artist's work - his background, the circumstances of his life, the works of other artists, philosophers and authors that have touched his soul, and the epoch in which he lived. The rest, in Hnizdovsky's words, remains a mystery of the artistic personality and the creative process.

Ms. Shust wrote: "One can trace influences that formed Hnizdovsky as an artist - his childhood years spent in the village of his birth, among rolling hills and open fields that instilled in him his deep bond with nature; the rich folk art traditions of his native Borschiv region with their beautifully designed and exquisitely rendered embroideries and weavings, characterized by black color schemes often highlighted with small splashes of vivid color." She said these elements reverberate in Hnizdovsky's strong sense of special design, the intricacy and attention to detail, his use of color, particularly the incorporation of black into many of his paintings, and his affinity to the works of Dürer, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and El Greco.

Most of the work on display came from the private collection of Mrs. Hnizdovsky, who said that a traveling exhibit of Hnizdovsky art has been working its way across Ukraine for the past two years.

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