DATELINE NEW YORK: Krovytska guest-stars at Ukrainian Institute (06/18/00)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Krovytska guest-stars at Ukrainian Institute

by Helen Smindak

Radiant in a gown of claret red with black-bead embroidery and matching stole, soprano Oksana Krovytska brought her lyric voice to the Ukrainian Institute of America on May 21 for this season's gala concert and reception benefiting the institute's Crown Jewel Endowment fund and the Daria Hoydysh Endowment for the Arts. An enthusiastic audience greeted the New York City Opera diva with hearty applause.

The fund-raising event, initiated last year with an appearance by Met Opera bass Paul Plishka, affords music lovers an opportunity to become an event sponsor at three donation levels - platinum ($10,000), gold ($5,000) and silver ($1,000). All donors receive reserved seats, autographed concert programs and recognition in the concert program. Gold and platinum donors are also granted a private photo opportunity with the guest star; platinum donors receive an additional bonus: the use of the institute's second floor for a day or evening to hold a corporate or personal party.

Ms. Krovytska opened the program with jewels of music by the Ukrainian composers Stanyslav Liudkevych and Vasyl Barvinsky, pouring out glorious sound in Liudkevych's "Odna Pisnia Holosnenka" (Loud Song) and "Taina" (Mystery) and Barvinsky's "Misatsiu Kniaziu" (Prince Moon). She was ably backed throughout the evening by the refined, intelligent accompaniment of pianist Vyacheslav Bakis.

With Liszt's "Tri Sonetti di Petrarca" (Three Sonnets of Petrarch), Ms. Krovytska demonstrated that her voice has become richer and more powerful. Her superb command of phrasing heightened the solemn "Pace non trove" and the poignant strains of the sonnet "Benedetto sia'l giorno," while her consummate artistry and quicksilver notes conveyed intense beauty in "I vidi in terra."

Following intermission, Ms. Krovytska sang arias from a number of operas that offer great terrain for a soprano, including Dvorak's "Rusalka," Janacek's "Katya Kabanova," Umberto Giordano's "Fedora," Francesco Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur," and Puccini"s "La Bohème" and "La Rondine."

In Fedora's opening aria she interpreted the role with the same artistry she showed in a recent appearance with the Palm Beach Opera, a performance that netted this review from Opera News of New York: "Oksana Krovytska proved a natural in her first attempt at the title role ... The soprano used (her voice) with great intelligence and expressive intent. Her acting, too, was impressive and involving, easily suggesting Fedora's aristrocratic bearing, as well as her emotional vulnerability."

Ms. Krovytsky's concluding arias - Cio-Cio San's entrance aria, a sweetly modulated "Un bel di," and the final scene from "Madama Butterfly" - were invested with the same emotional energy she gave to Puccini's heroine in City Opera performances over the past four seasons. An impassioned and vulnerable Cio-Cio San, Ms. Krovytska prompted a standing ovation from the audience, just as she did at the City Opera.

Called back for an encore, she responded with Puccini's touching aria "O mio babbino caro" from the opera "Gianni Schicchi" and Kupchynsky's "Oy u Poli Tykhyi Viter Viye."

Though still recuperating from a respiratory illness, the singer was gracious as always and took time after the performance to meet and greet her fans individually before retiring to a third-floor room for private photo sessions with benefactors. She posed with platinum donors Joseph and Magda Gagliano, Dr. Walter Hoydysh and Mary E. Pressey, and gold donors Ostap and Ursula Balaban. Meanwhile, guests moved to the dining room to sample gourmet dishes and luscious desserts.

Benefactors for this fund-raiser also included Maria Olenska (platinum donor, in kind) and silver donors Drs. Adrian and Larissa Dolynsky, Zwen Goy, Myron and Olha Hnateyko, Dr. Zenovia Kuncio, Walter and Frances Nazarewicz, Andrij and Larysa Paschuk, Peter and Ilona Shyprykewich, Mykola and Valida Suk, Lydia Zaininger, and Olha and Teodosij Zazula.

Confiding to "Dateline that she has been studying "with great coaches" and taking master classes with Renata Scotto, Ms. Krovytska said she will be spending a lot of time on study in coming months. During the 2000-2001 season she is scheduled to sing the title role in Janacek's "Katya Kabanova" in Montreal and Miami, Amelia in Verdi's "Un ballo in maschera" with the Palm Beach Opera and the Schumann "Requiem" with the National Orchestra of France in Paris. Returning to the New York City Opera for her eighth consecutive season, she will appear as Donna Elvira in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in March 2001.

Mr. Bakis, who is German-born, studied at the Chernivtsi Music College and Kyiv Conservatory in Ukraine. An accomplished chamber musician, he was a member of a trio that took the grand prix in the Kyiv Chamber Competition. He was artistic director and conductor of the Donetsk Chamber Orchestra and was designated a Distinguished Artist of Ukraine before emigrating to the United States in 1993. Based in New York, he has gained a reputation as an accomplished performer in chamber and recital venues.

On their toes

The American Ballet Theater's Ukrainian foursome continues to win raves from critics as the ABT season continues. Reviewing Harold Lander's "Études" in The New York Times, Jennifer Dunning touts the work of Maxim Belotserkovsky, who headed the matinee cast with Amanda McKerrow and Marcelo Gomes on June 7, and Irina Dvorovenko and Vladimir Malakhov, who performed with José Manuel Carreno in the evening's lead cast.

Ms. Dunning felt that Ms. Dvorovenko's dancing had a weight that made it regal, while Mr. Belotserkovsky showed "a winning clarity of line and shape." Mr. Malakhov, in Ms. Dunning's opinion, "could be said to be air" in the cast that "stood out on the whole for the glitter of its performing." He was also complimented for his debut that same evening in Martha Graham's "Diversion of Angels." Wrote Ms. Dunning: "The purest of classicists, Mr. Malakhov has obviously paid close and devoted attention to the distinctive shapes and propulsive quality of the Graham modern-dance technique."

Mr. Belotserkovsky's appearances earlier in the season in "La Sylphide" and "Le Corsaire" also elicited praises from Ms. Dunning, who wrote that "Maxim Belotserkovsky was a figure of heroic vigor as James, the Scotsman whom the sylph loves." In the pirate romp "Le Corsaire," the reviewer opined that "the clarity and amplitude of Maxim Belotserkovsky's dancing, a high point of the afternoon, made the slave dealer Lankendem unusually likable."

NYT dance critic Anna Kisselgoff, reviewing the June 9 opening performance of John Cranko's "The Taming of the Shrew," found Vladislav Kalinin to be marvelous in the leading role of Gremio, becoming "a doddering dolt without overdoing anything."

Ms. Dvorovenko was a principal dancer in the Kyiv Ballet in Ukraine, as was her husband, Mr. Belotserkovsky. Also from Kyiv is Mr. Kalinin. Mr. Malakhov, a native of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, who began his dance training there at the age of 4, appears as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and the Stuttgart Ballet, as well as with the ABT.

Regards to Broadway

Singer/dancer/actress Christina Pawl (Pawlyshyn) has left the cast of the Tony Award-winning production of "Cabaret" to take up serious drama in Denver. Ms. Pawl, who spent more than two years in "Cabaret" as one of the six sinuous Kit-Kat girls, is studying acting and voice during a six-month rehearsal period for the Greek epic "Tantalus." Directed by Sir Peter Hall, the 15-hour production will open in mid-September for a three-month run at the Denver Theater Center, with Ms. Pawl as one of nine Greek women in the chorus. Although she's left the Great White Way, Ms. Pawl is often seen on TV in the original "Cabaret" commercial and in a commercial showing the Kit-Kat girls ballyhooing a product called "Clean and Clear."

The name Mark Setlock sounds very much like Mark Sedlak, and readers have been inquiring whether the star of the Off-Broadway comedy "Fully Committed," playing at the Cherry Lane Theater, is Ukrainian. Mr. Setlock plays the chef and everyone else in this one-man show, described by Peter Marks in The New York Times as "a mocking dismantlement of megalomaniacal chefs, coked-up maitres d'hotel, food-averse VIPs, strung-out publicity agents and customers with exploding bowels." Besides the Slavic name, the 31-year-old actor seems to have some of the requirements of Ukrainian ethnicity: he grew up in a middle-class Cleveland neighborhood and settled into a small apartment in the East Village when he came to New York in 1992. Reached by fax, Mr. Setlock responded with this courteous note: "Thanks for your interest, but I am Polish, not Ukrainian. I do, however, love Ukrainian food!"

Television highlights

Natalia Shvachko, 23, represented Ukraine in the 49th annual Miss Universe Pageant, held last month in Cyprus and broadcast by CBS-TV. The 5-foot-10-inch brown-eyed beauty says her proudest personal accomplishment is running for membership in the Ukrainian Parliament and placing third out of 19 candidates. Ms. Shvachko, who feels that pageants broaden horizons, stature and exposure to more diverse cultures, intends to run again for political office in the future. Despite geographical barriers, she maintains frequent and close contact with her mother, older brother and sister (her father died when she was a child), and is grateful for her relationship with her mother and "how much she sacrificed for me." Fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English, French and Polish, she lists art, music, travel, literature and athletics among her leading interests.

Some of the music heard on the soundtracks of several highly popular TV shows is the work of Ukrainian performers. "Dawson's Creek," for instance, carries significant contributions from Winnipeg-born pop music star Chantal Krevaziuk, winner of the Best Female Artist prize (beating out Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette) and Best Pop/Adult Album prize at the Juno Awards (Canada's version of the Grammy) last March. CBS-TV's "JAG" and NBC-TV's "Providence" and "Sunset Beach" have carried the musical stamp of the Baltimore-based band "Love Riot," fronted by New York-born singer Lisa Kruk Mathews. MTV's "Undressed" and "Making the Video" also featured music by "Love Riot," and the new women's network Oxygen licensed the band's entire CD "Heaven Can Wait" for use on its programming this year.

Notes on music

Conducted by Leon Botstein at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, the American Symphony Orchestra ended its 1999-2000 season in grand fashion with a performance of Reinhold Glière's Symphony No. 3, "Ilya Muramets," Op. 42, featuring lush harmonies and triumphal string writing. The subject of Glière's last symphony - an epic work that may never have been performed before in its entirety in this country - is Ilya Muramets, known to Ukrainians as Illia Muromets of Chernihiv, the hero of the Kyiv bylyna cycle.

In essays included in the concert program guide, Mr. Botstein, Anthony Burton and Robert McColley refer to the composer as Russian and his work as part of the Russian culture; they do, however, praise the symphony in glowing terms and describe Muramets as a "bogatyr" or knight errant of the 10th century court of Vladimir I of Kyiv who is also given a role in the 13th century battles between Christian Kyiv-Rus' and the Golden Horde of the Mongol Tatars.

Glière, of Belgian Jewish descent, was born in Kyiv in 1875 and composed over 500 works in a variety of genres, including the symphonic tableau "Zaporozhtsi" inspired by Ilya Repin's painting, the symphonic poem "Zapovit" dedicated to Taras Shevcheno, and the ballet "Taras Bulba."

During a recent Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast, the illustrious Ukrainian tenor Ivan Kozlovsky was the subject of highly complimentary remarks by Henry Fogel, president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in the intermission feature "Singers Hall of Fame." Referring to Kozlovsky, who was born in the Kyiv area in 1900 and sang to age 72, as "a throwback to the pre-Caruso era, with a stunning variety of innuendos," Mr. Fogel used the second half of the aria "Pourquoi me reveiller" from "Werther" to demonstrate Kozlovsky's remarkable voice.

Kyiv Opera soloist Vladimir Grishko, who appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in "La Bohème" and "Khovanschina" this past season, will sing the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's timeless tear-jerker "Madama Butterfly" during the Met Opera's annual free series in the parks this summer. With Julius Rudel conducting, Mr. Grishko will appear with Cynthia Lawrence, Wendy White and William Stone in a concert version of "Butterfly" (no sets or staging) at Miller Field in the Gateway National Recreation Area, Staten Island, on Tuesday, June 27, at 8 p.m. (rain date: Thursday, June 29, at 8 p.m.).

Ukrainian baritones Georgy Zastavny and Vassily Gerello, and bass Paul Plishka will be featured in upcoming TV and radio broadcasts. Mr. Zastavny, a member of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater since 1973, will be seen and heard in a PBS telecast on June 28 as Fra Melitone in Verdi's "La forza del destino." National Public Radio's World of Opera broadcasts will feature Mr. Gerello, a native of the Chernivtsi region who sings with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater, as Tomsky in a July 8 broadcast of Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades." Mr. Plishka's performance as Don Silva in Verdi's "Ernani" with the Opera Orchestra of New York is scheduled for NPR broadcast on September 16.

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