DATELINE NEW YORK: Memorable evenings, downtown and uptown (02/04/01)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Memorable evenings, downtown and uptown

by Helen Smindak

The stirring poems and the tormented life of the national bard of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko, were brought into breathtaking focus at the Shevchenko Scientific Society recently by Ivan Bernatsky, Ukraine's distinguished interpreter of historical and literary figures. Mr. Bernatsky has been featured since 1976 in films produced by the Alexander Dovzhenko Cinema Studio and the UkrNaukFilm Studio in Kyiv. Since 1980, he has also been active as a dramatic actor in productions of the Maria Zankovetskyi Theater in Lviv.

In measured, resonant tones, Mr. Bernatsky narrated the tribulations and joys of the poet and the man, touching on the poverty and misery of Shevchenko's childhood; his years as a serf, working as a houseboy; then freedom and the pursuit of art studies and his general education in St. Petersburg, and his first collection of poems, "Kobzar," followed by the epic poem "Haidamaky" and the ballad "Hamalia." There were references to his few, and unhappy, interests in the fairer sex.

The profile traced the poet's frequent visits to Ukraine, during which he sketched historical and architectural monuments, collected folkloric and other ethnographic materials, and wrote some of his most satirical and politically subversive poems. His membership in the secret Brotherhood of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Kyiv in 1846 resulted in his arrest and sentencing to military duty in a remote area of the Caspian Sea for 10 years. Released in 1857 but forbidden to return to Ukraine, Shevchenko died at the age of 47 in St. Petersburg in 1861.

Expressed with deep feeling, the narration was animated by dramatic recitations of Shevchenko's poems, echoing the thoughts, sorrows and aspirations of a man who realized the full extent of his country's misfortunes under Russian rule and exhorted his people to stop serving foreign masters, to become honorable and free people, worthy of their history and their heritage, in their own free land. Mr. Bernatsky concluded with the highly moving poetic epistle "I mertvym, i zhyvym ..." (To the dead and the living ...), in which Shevchenko reminded the Ukrainian people that only in "one's own house" is there "one's own truth."

A handsome man with a dignified mien, Mr. Bernatsky made an impressive appearance as he stood next to a Shevchenko bust in a candlelit setting draped with richly embroidered and woven rushnyky (ritual cloths). Like the poet, Mr. Bernatsky is a collector of ethnographic materials, including rushnyky from various regions of Ukraine, which he enjoys using in performance. He began his acting career in 1969 with the Volyn Oblast Music-Drama Theater of Shevchenko and went on to become a film star in Kyiv, winning distinction as a Distinguished Artist of Ukraine (1974) and a National Artist of Ukraine (1991). Still associated with the Kyiv film studios and the Lviv theater, he is presently assisting the Ukrainian Stage Art Ensemble of New York as an actor, choreographer and stage manager and, in line with his interest in the upcoming generation, teaches the 12th grade class of the Selfreliance Society's Ukrainian School in New York.

Mr. Bernatsky was introduced by Larissa Onyshkevych, Shevchenko Society president, who spoke of the current trend in Ukraine to chamber performances, both in small salons or theatres as well as at various institutions and private homes. In this manner, Dr. Onyshkevych pointed out, a performance may be staged with one actor or two to three actors, a plan that is feasible in Ukraine's current economic situation. It also supports the initiative of artistic individuals who can organize and stage a small production but would not be able to do so in larger theaters, which are fewer in number. Welcoming remarks were offered by Anna Procyk, the society's vice-president in charge of conferences and programs.

Premieres galore

A big round of applause is due to Marta and Dr. Ihor Fedoriw of Allentown, Pa., who sponsored January's "Music at the Institute" evening as a tribute to Mrs. Fedoriw's father, the late violinist/conductor/composer Wolodymyr Trytyak, and to Mykola Suk, the hard-working artistic director of the Ukrainian Institute's Chamber Music Society.

The program was a premier offering of world and North American premieres - the debut of several notable compositions superbly presented by outstanding Ukrainian and American performers at the Ukrainian Institute of America. Guests came from such widespread points as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut to take in the January 20 event.

New York City Opera (NYCO) diva Oksana Krovytska, baritone Oleh Chmyr, violinists Peter Krysa and Catherine French, violist Borys Deviatov, pianist Vyacheslav Bakis and cellist Daniel Gaisford were in their prime at this event. Ms. Krovytska's voice, which sounds better at every hearing, rang out with silvery tones, Mr. Chmyr's dark Slavic voice offered a striking contrast, and the musicians provided a marvelous vehicle for the inspired work of Vasyl Barvinsky (1888-1963), Borys Liatoshynsky (1895-1968), Ihor Shamo (1925-1982) and contemporary composers Yuriy Ishchenko of Kyiv and Ihor Sonevytsky of New York.

The depth and richness of Ms. Krovytska's voice, backed by the fine musicianship of Messrs. Krysa and Bakis, shone in Barvinsky's "Song of Songs for Soprano, Violin and Piano," soaring to great heights in the finale. The soprano interpreted Mr. Sonevytsky's lovely "Bohorodytse Divo" (Ave Maria) with reverence; acknowledging audience applause after the piece, she gestured grandly to the composer in the audience, and Mr. Sonevytsky stood up to take a well-deserved bow. With Mr. Bakis at the piano, Ms. Krovytska gave voice later in the evening to Liatoshynky's "Three Songs for Soprano and Piano," defining the composer's images of a seagull flying into a rainbow, of falling in love and black sails.

Mr. Chmyr's distinctive voice showed to great effect in Liatoshynsky's "Three Songs for Bass or Baritone" - the deep and somber "Byl Tsar" (There Was a Tsar), the dark and gloomy "Smert" (Death) and the commanding "Poslanie v Sibir" (Letter to Siberia), the last sung in Russian.

The evening opened with Ishchenko's "Trio for Two Violins and Viola," a chamber work that was at times atonal and dissonant but still a wonder to hear in the capable hands of Mr. Krysa, Ms. French and Mr. Deviatov. Fingering, bowing and pizzicato movements were impeccable as the trio made its way through the work's allegro ecstatico, vivace leggiere and andante sostenuto segments.

Wrapping up the program, Mr. Krysa, Ms. French, Mr. Deviatov and Mr. Gaisford tackled Shamo's String Quartet No.4 and came out victorious in all four segments, beginning with moderato non troppo, then ferociously attacking allegro molto, ferroce, taking a quiet, ponderous approach to lento lugubre, and winding up with a full-bodied treatment of risoluto.

In her ninth consecutive season with the NYCO, Ms. Krovyska returns to the New York opera scene next month as Donna Elvira in Mozart's "Don Giovanni." Critically acclaimed for her recent work in the title role of "Katya Kabanova" with the Montreal and Miami Operas and her role as Amelia in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera," she sang two concerts of Verdi and Puccini favorites at last summer's Italian festivals of San Remo and Albissola. This season, she will record Dvorak's "Spectre's Bride" with the New Jersey Symphony and will appear in Boito's "Mefistofele" at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, "Tosca" at the Opera de Monte Carlo and Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame" at the Opéra de Montréal.

Mr. Chmyr, an award winner in the Glinka and Schumann International Competitions, has performed in major opera houses of Ukraine, Russia and Poland, and has concertized in several European countries. A voice professor at Morris County College in New Jersey, he has brought his fine baritone voice to many American cities in recent years. The special Millennium Concert he gave last spring at Weill Hall, "European Vocal Miniatures," was released as a new CD at the time.

The genius of violinist Peter Krysa has been evident since he began studying violin at age 6 with his father, renowned violinist Oleh Krysa. His solo performances last season included appearances with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, the Lviv Philharmonia and Ukrainian national radio and television, as well as a concert at Alice Tully Hall remembering composer Alfred Schnittke. Co-founder and artistic director of the Lake Winnipesaukee Music Festival and the Winnipesauke Chamber Players with his wife, cellist Rachel Lewis Krysa, Mr. Krysa has recorded with the Winnipesauke Players on the Russian Disc label. He recently joined the Leontovych String Quartet, a leading string quartet from the former Soviet Union.

Mr. Deviatov, winner of several competitions and participant in numerous international festivals, is the former music director, conductor and soloist of the Ivano-Frankivsk Chamber Orchestra. With recordings on several labels to his credit, he is presently the principal violist of the Bacchanalia Chamber Orchestra and the String Orchestra of New York.

A graduate of the Kyiv State Conservatory and the Donetsk Conservatory, the German-born Mr. Bakis served as artistic director and conductor of the Donetsk Chamber Orchestra before his emigration to the United States in 1993. Winner of competitions in Kyiv and Munich in the 1970s and 1980s, he was awarded the title of Distinguished Artist of Ukraine in 1993. New a resident of New York, Mr. Bakis performs as a recitalist and chamber musician.

Ms. French, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's violin section since 1994. She has won Canadian and American competitions, has given recitals on both sides of the border and has debuted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Mr. Gaisford, the recipient of several honors, including first prize in Juilliard's 1986 Shostakovich Cello Competition, has performed extensively with U.S. and Canadian orchestras and participates in numerous music festivals. He has recorded the Michael Hersch "Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello," and performed its New York premiere last month at the 92nd Street Y.

Around town

The 11 p.m. broadcast of WCBS news on December 16 informed viewers about successful brain surgery performed that day on 7-year-old Artem Trok of Ukraine by Dr. Fred Epstein at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan. Contacted by a neurosurgeon in Kyiv, Dr. Epstein's "Save a Child Fund" brought Artem and his mother to New York from Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. Following rare brain surgery to remove a growth the size of a lemon from the back of his head, the young patient was released from the hospital on December 23 and is recuperating until February 6 at the Ronald McDonald House on East 73rd Street, where accommodations and kitchen facilities are provided for him and his mother. Ina Bazylevsky of Bayside, Queens, who visited Artem and his mother, said they "speak beautiful Ukrainian" and were receiving excellent care at the Ronald McDonald House, but were "on their own" as far as food supplies were concerned.

Alex Trebek, longtime host of the highly popular game show "Jeopardy!," who is pictured with "Millionaire" host Regis Philbin on the front cover of the January 27-February 2 issue of TV Guide, is touted as No. 4 in TV Guide's selection of "Hosts We Love The Most." "Jeopardy!" was chosen No. 2 in the Guide's cavalcade of "The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time." Reputedly the most rigorous game show on television, "Jeopardy!" has become a genuine American institution under the all-business demeanor of Mr. Trebek, who has been its host since 1984. The Canadian-born Mr. Trebek, whose father is Ukrainian, spent a decade on Canadian TV before heading south to try his luck on American TV. He made his American debut as host of the short-lived "The Wizard of Odds" and later hosted "High Rollers."

In a January 27 story in The New York Times, Sarah Boxer reported that the Ukrainians and the Russians "are fighting over which country is the true home of masochism." This strange turn of events came to light at the Modern Language Association's annual meeting in December, when three hours were devoted to the subject of masochism, so named by a German psychiatrist after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the author of "Venus in Furs" (1869), a novella about the adventures and fantasies of Severin, a man who loved being whipped. According to Vitaly A. Chernetsky, an assistant professor of Slavic languages at Columbia University, Sacher-Masoch was born in Lemberg [Lviv] in eastern Galicia, and "considered himself a Galician Ukrainian in terms of identity and recalled with fondness his Ukrainian wet nurse." After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia began publishing Sacher-Masoch's works, formerly banned, and in 1995 Aleksandr Etkind published a historical sociology of Sacher-Masoch "and his Russian readers," suggesting that the name Severin has Russian roots and that Sacher-Masoch may have learned the pleasures of flagellation from the Russian sect of "khlysty" or flagellants. Mr. Chernetsky, who said Mr. Etkind was arguing that the Russians are "the original masochists," called the Russian impulse to take credit for masochism a "tortured, post-imperialist, melancholic" fantasy.

| Home Page |