OUR THEATRE OPENS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY THEATRICAL SEASON
The golden colors of the autumn announced about the opening of a new theatrical season.
This year is the 75th anniversary for Donetsk state academic opera and ballet theatre A. Solovyanenko.
The right to step first to the stage belongs to the ballet company and the participants of the World Ballet Stars according to our tradition. Donetsk receives hospitably famous dancers, opens new ballet collectives, and welcomes good friends for the 13th time.
The program of the XIIIth International Festival World Ballet Stars is not an exception. Moreover, the Donetsk balletomanes will become witnesses of many revelations, pleasant unexpectedness and surprises from October, 1. The Gala-concert of World Ballet Stars will be a culmination of the XIII th International Festival World Ballet Stars and will begin a counting out time of the preparing of the new XVI th festival of the Terpsihore’s acolytes.
All our habitues and everyone who just begins to join opera art connoisseurs will be able to enjoy the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Falstaff. The leading party will sing the baritone from Swiss Ivan Konsulov. The rest of the parts will be performed by the soloists of the Donetsk theatre. Our production of this opera had great success in cultural centers of Germany and Swiss this summer.
Devoting to the 150th anniversary of the great Ukrainian poet, publicist, dramatist and philosopher Ivan Franko our theatre prepared for the children a fairytale on the popular composer I. Poklad’s music How the Cossacks tamed the snake. The premiere will take place on October, 8.
The Donetsk State Academic Theater of opera and ballet A. Solovyanenko went successfully on tour to Germany, Spain and China in May 2006 where we presented the Ukrainian art with dignity.
For the first time our company presented with the great success the last Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Falstaff – one the most difficult works of the composer – in the German and Swiss cities Schweinfurt, Fulda, Dueren, Ruesselheim, Vevey and Zug. The symphonic orchestra of the theatre conquered the restrained German spectators with its marvelous performance and the fairy singing of the most difficult parts by the soloists caused storm of applauses.
Traditionally our opera company participated in the festival of opera art in Spain. There were presented also with great success operas Tosca of Puccini, L’ Elisir d’ Amore of Donizetti, Rigoletto and Othello of Verdi. Our soloists Yuriy Alexeichuk, Maksim Ivashchuk, Anna Maksudova, Fatima Kasyanenko, Anna Usova, Oksana Antonenko and Pavel Naumenko demonstrated the mastership of the Ukrainian artists.
The ballet company again conquered East in the largest china cities – Peking, Shanghai, Fuchjou.
The ballets Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty of P. Tchaikovsky had great success in overfilled theatres.
Our soloists Yulia Polgorodnik (the laureate of international contests), Ekaterina Demyanova, Yulia Safonova, Miroslav Grabovskiy, Yoshito Kinosito got a lot of applauses, had many curtain calls. It is considered that gaining recognition in the Country of rising sun the dancer will be received in all the world.
THE PREMIERE OF OPERA "FALSTAFF" IN UKRAINE
The premiere will take place on March 3. Many-sided portret of an old philanderer Falstaff is created
on the base of two dramatic Shakespear's works. The libretto is created by the famous composer A. Borto.
The last work of the great composer attracts with its artful design of the musical dramaturgy, admirable and dynamic action,
a quantity of comedic situation. The producing of Falstaff in Donetsk opera is realized by:
Director-producer Vasyl Vasylenko, Honored art worker of Ukraine;
Directors of the orchestra Vladimir Vrublevskiy, Vadim Munster(Germany);
Stage director Alexander Lebedev (Sankt-Peterburg, Russia);
Stage director's assistant Valentina Kurkchi-Maksina;
Choirmaster Liudmila Streltsova, People's artist of Ukraine;
Decoration and costume designer Razvan Draganescu (Romania).
The leading parts of the opera will be sung by the invited soloists and our soloists as well.
CONGRATULATIONS!
We felicitate the director of our theatre Ryabenkyy Vasyl on the honorary title of Honoured culture worker of Ukraine,
the chief orchestra director of the theatre Vasylenko Vasyl on the President’s reward Order of Merit,
the opera soloists Alekseychuk Yuriy, Gontovoy Sergey, Zhuk Viktor on the conferment of title the Honored artist of Ukraine.
The Triumph of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy on the Unification Day of Ukraine
The Donetsk opera and ballet theatre A. Solovyanenko presented to the Kiev citizens its grand project the K. Dankevich’s opera Bogdan Khmelnitskiy on the Unification Day of Ukraine.
A different audience came to the National Opera theatre to the Donetsk’s performance: from art workers to the first persons of the country. There were President couple Viktor and Katherine Yushchenko, Prime minister Yuriy Ekhanurov, the Speaker of Verkhovnaya Rada Vladimir Litvin, etc.
Prime minister Yuriy Ekhanurov said: It’s wonderful that Donetsk theatre produced such a grand opera of Ukrainian composer K. Dankevich. I liked the decoration (huge map of Ukraine, arms and standards of our hetman Bogdan Khmelnitskiy) that transmits the Ukrainian spirit. Magnificent music and actors’ performance – well done!
It’s very pleasant that they revive operas which were in an oblivion a long time, underscore the composer Miroslav Skorik. Unfortunately, the works of K. Dankevich are not well known to the public and almost forgotten. It seems to me that this opera will be a great event for our society. I wish a long creative life to this opera.
Bright and talented works do not die, said the professor of the National musical academy Marianna Kopytsya. It is excellently that the Dankevich’s name returned to the stage. Though Bogdan Khmelnitskiy is considered to be one of the best operas of the XX century, it was not in the theatre repertoire lists. This evening we made sure that the opera written in 1951 even today is listened to with great pleasure. Its music excite people’s hearts. The opera is no ordinary and it’s wonderful that the Donetsk theatre gave a new life to this bright creation. One of the advantages is the brilliant scenery made by Lvov stage decorators Tadey and Michael Ryndzak, marvelous costumes of Oksana Zinchenko.
THE TOUR IN LONDON
The ballet company of our theatre was on tour in London from 19.12.2005 till 15.01.2006,
where almost all the ballet staff of the Donetsk theatre appeared on stage, the special stress was laid on the young artists.
There were shown the plays Prokofiev’s Cinderella, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
In addition, two events make this tour in Britain symbolic one. The Donetsk ballet company was first Ukrainian ballet troupe to
appear on the London stage and the play Cinderella can be marked as premiered in Great Britain.
The first-night of this ballet on the native stage will be performed after the conquest of the foggy Albion.
ALL UKRAINIAN PREMIERE OF THE OPERA BOGDAN KHMELNITSKIY
The opera of the Ukrainian classic composer Constantine Dankevich Bogdan Khmelnitskiy got its scenic incarnation after semi-centennial oblivion. The 24th and 25th of December 2005 was held the All Ukrainian premiere of this epic historical musical composition in the Donetsk academic opera and ballet theatre A. Solovyanenko. The first-night was date for the centennial of composer’s birth and 410th anniversary of Ukrainian Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitskiy’s birth. The new musical redaction of the opera was made by the chief orchestra director Vasyl Vasylenko and musical version of the opera final was written by the modern Ukrainian composer Evgeniy Stankovich. The best creative forces of our country were engaged in the opera production. With the decorations and costumes were charged the costume and stage designers from Lvov, who are the pupils of the most prominent Ukrainian theatre scenograph Evgeniy Lysik (the Khachaturyan’s ballet Spartacus was produced in our theatre with the decorations restored by this genius), brothers Tadey and Michael Ryndzak and Lysik’s widow. Their high professionalism, perfect knowledge of the historical material incarnated in the imagery and ethnographic plan of the extremely precise opera setting. The People’s artist of Ukraine, ballet-master Viktor Pokhilenko was invited in order to produce Cossack battle dances and central play scene – battle with the Polish army. The production was realized by one of the most outstanding producers in Ukraine Vasiliy Vovkun.
The soloist of the Washington Opera, the Honored artist of Ukraine Stephan Pyatnichko was invited to sing the principal part in first-night opera. The rest of the parts were sung by the soloists of our theatre:
Varvara – Lyudmila Shemchuk (the Honored artist of Russia)
Colonel Krivonos – Yuriy Alekseichuk
Colonel Bogun – Vitaliy Dudkin
Solomia – Tatiana Savvina
Helena – Anna Usova
Their solos, duets and ensembles with the choir were multitudinously awarded by the storm of applause.
An equal participant of the show was the orchestra that successfully transmitted all the inflexional richness and folkloric beauty of music.
About 700000 grivnas were spent to produce this masterpiece. 250 artists were engaged in this production. A lot of mass media representatives and important politicians were present at the premiere.
Reviving the best Dankevich’s opera our theatre demonstrates not only the richness of Ukrainian heritage but also takes over the task to raise our national-classical repertoire to the world recognition level, told Vasyl Vasylenko.
The All Ukrainian premiere of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy were held on the stage of the National Opera of Ukraine (Kiev) on January, the 22nd, the Unification Day of Ukraine.
