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Unique Church Destroyed
Nahuyevychi. On the night of January 8th, Nahuyevychi's St.
Mykolai's Church (Drohobytskyj Region) was completely devastated
by a fire. Built in 1801, the wooden church was the place where
Ukrainian poet, writer, and polemicist Ivan Franko was baptized
140 years ago. The church housed many personal artifacts of the
Franko family.
--"Vysokyj Zamok".
Winter Festival of New Music
Winnipeg, Canada. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra under the
direction of Bramwell Tovey is internationally known for its
annual New Music Festival, which takes place during Winnipeg's
coldest seasonal period (-30 C!). During the week of January
19-27, the festival will present 50 works, including the world
premiere of Larysa Kuzmenko's Piano Concerto performed by
Christina Petrowska.
--Denis Hlynka, Canada, for UAM.
Dancer of the Year
UNESCO named ballet artist, Vadym Pysaryeva, the best dancer
of 1995. A graduate of the Donetsk School of Ballet, Vadym
Pysaryev is known on stages all across Europe and America.
Unfortunately, because of his world tours, Ukrainian audiences
seldom have the opportunity to appreciate the dancer's artistry
at home. This past year's fall theater season, however, was
an exception. The ballet celebrity was featured at the
international festival "The Stars of World Ballet", which
was organized in Donetsk.
--"Vysokyj Zamok".
Kyiv International '95
Kyiv. At the end of 1995, Ukraine's capital was again the
setting for the annual ballroom dance competition - Kyiv
International '95. Representatives included dance pairs from
Latvia, Russia, Italy, Serbia, Germany, and Ukraine. The
winners of this year's competition were from Germany and
Serbia. The youngest participants, a duo from Kharkiv and
Kyiv, were also prize-winners.
--"Holos Ukrayiny".
Christmas Mystery
Lutsk. Theater companies from England, Germany, Poland, Russia,
and Ukraine showed "Vertep [Christmas]" play productions in the
now traditional and international theater festival "Christmas
Mystery". In conjunction with the winter festival, a scholarly
symposium with the theme "Traditions of Christmas Drama in the
Puppet Theater", presented papers by leading specialists in this
field. Participants of the symposium represented Ukraine,
Bilorus, Poland, and Czechia.
--"Kultura i Zhytia".
Picardy Third
The Ukrainian Arts Monitor would like to congratulate the Lviv
all-male a capella group "Picardy Third" with their triumphant
achievement at the All-Ukrainian Tele-festival "Melodia '95".
A special interview with "Picardy Third" will be published in
the next issues of UAM. Read more information about "Melodia '95"
under the rubric "Music" in this issue of UAM.
--Yaroslav Davydovsky, UAM.
Graphics Artist Honored
Kyiv. The flood of anniversary celebrations continues. It
seems only recently, that the Arts Community celebrated the 100th
anniversaries of Ivan Padalka, Anatolia Petrytskyj, Oksana
Pavlenko, Oleksander Khvostenko-Khvostova, Kyrylo Hvozdyka, and
now a new anniversary. This year marks the 100th birthday
anniversary of Ukraine's distinguished graphics artist and former
professor of the Kyiv State Arts Institute, Vasyl Kasian. Over
one hundred of his works were recently shown in an exhibition at
the National Arts Museum. A catalog of the artist's works will
also be published along with his illustrations of Shevchenko's
"Kobzar".
--"Kultura i Zhytia".
Opera Premiere: Bohema
Lviv. On January 21, the Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet
premiered Giacomo Puccini's opera "Bohema". Special guest
director from Italy, Giuseppe Vishilia, produced this enduring
work. Almost a year ago, Mr. Vishilia admirably directed
Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" with the same theater. This
April, the Lviv Opera Company is making preparations for a
month-long tour in Italy with Verdi's "Aida".
--Antony Potoczniak, UAM.
Karpenko-Karyj's 150th Anniversary
Lviv. The Lviv Academic Theater named after Maria Zankovetskyj
recently hosted a regional theater festival marking the 150th
birthday anniversary of Ukraine's classic playwright, Ivan
Karpenko-Karyj. Several theater companies from Drohobych,
Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Rivne, and Nizhen took
part in the 9-day program (2-10, December) with productions by
Karpenko-Karyj, Fedkovych, and Starytskyj.
This theater festival, the only event of its kind in Ukraine, was
financed largely by local commercial establishments. Sponsors of
the festival included the Lviv Regional Department of Culture,
the Halytska Administration of Lviv, "Kolos", "Svitoch", the
"Lviv Liquor-Spirits Factory", "Halka Ltd.", "Pizza Pronto", and
"Blik". Information sponsors of the festival were the Halytskyj
periodicals Vysokyj Zamok, Moloda Halychyna, and the Ukrainian
Arts Monitor.
--Maya Harbuziuk, for UAM.
Transcarpathian Theater Anniversaries
One of the more brilliant pages in the history of Ukrainian
cultural and national rebirth during the 1920's was the formation
of the first professional Ukrainian theater by the Rus'kyj
Theater Society "Prosvita [Enlightenment]" in Transcarpathian
Ukraine. In January of this year, the theater will celebrate its
75th anniversary.
At that time during the opening ceremonies, the head of the
theater commission, Father Augustine Voloshyno, addressed the
community with the following words of conviction: "In the name of
this "Prosvita" Branch and the theater commission, I christen the
first Rus'kyj Theater and deliver it to the ardent supporters of
our people".
Echoes of Prosvita's activity can also be heard in the formation
of the Transcarpathian musical dramatic theater in 1946. Like its
older relative, the musical theater company will celebrate its
50th anniversary this year.
--"Kultura i Zhytia".
Protracted Reconstruction Completed
Symferopol. On New Year's Eve, after a 16 year hiatus due to
reconstruction, the newly restored Crimean Academic Russian
Dramatic Theater named after Makcym Gorki presented its first
production of Lev Tolstoy's historic play "Tsar Fedir Joanovich".
The play was directed by A.Novykova.
--"Kultura i Zhytia".
Shevchenko's Zapovit
On December 25, 1945, one hundred fifty years ago, Taras
Shevchenko wrote in Pereyaslav "Zapovit [The Last Testament]"
while being very ill, and on an extraordinary day - the day
Jesus Christ was born.
This poem is a unique phenomenon in the history of world
literature. Many Ukrainians accept this testament not only
as a talented piece of literature, but also as a spiritual
symbol of its nation.
--Yaroslav Davydovsky, UAM.
Names: Ivan Drach
Kyiv. "Names" is a new program of creative encounters aimed at
publicizing influential artistic and literary figures in Ukraine.
Initiated by the Ukrainian Television Company, the program's
first guest in the "Ukrayinkyj Dim [Ukrainian Home]" was poet
Ivan Drach.
Enthusiastic devotees of the poet were also able to become
acquainted with a wonderfully illustrated collection of poetry
"Fire from Ashes", which was recently released by Rada
Publishers. The anthology unites the poet's unpublished works
from the last three decades. Some poems are recent compositions;
others from times when, for obvious reasons, such works could not
be published.
--"Uriadovyj Courier".
Grand Prix: Melodia '95
Lviv. Over 200 soloists, ensembles, and instrumentalists from
regions all over Ukraine convened at the Lviv Opera House to take
part in this year's "Melodia '95". Founded by the television
company "Mist", the All-Ukrainian Tele-festival "Melodia '95" is
one of the few regularly televised festivals devoted to
contemporary Ukrainian song.
On January 14th, the laureates of the festival competition were
announced. "Picardy Third" received the Grand Prix Award, which,
perhaps surprised no-one, considering how popular the group's
songs have become in Poland and Ukraine. Other laureates were
named according to three categories: soloist, ensemble, and
instrumental music.
First prizes were awarded to the soloist of the group "Sokoly",
Maria Shalaykevych, Oksana Pekun from Ternopil Region, and the
Lviv groups "Congress" and "Midi". Second prizes were awarded to
Levko Durko, the group "Uran" from Kyiv, and the instrumental
ensemble from the studio "Melos". Laureates of the third prize
were Natalia Pylypiuk from Lviv, Kyiv singer El Kravchuk, and the
Lviv group "Luni Pelen". The jury, headed by Vasyl Zinkevych,
also awarded several additional prizes.
Many guests attended this festival including such distinguished
artists as Ruslana, Grand Prix winner of the first "Melodia",
Natalia Mohylevska, Irchyk from Lviv, Ihor Bohdan, Pavlo
Dvorskyj, Tayisa Povalyj, Taras Petrenenko, and Tetiana Horobets.
--"Moloda Halychyna".
"1+1": Anyone Else?
The natural law that an empty space is never left unoccupied is
the same principle that the new television company "1+1" is now
proposing avid TV viewers of Ukraine's first channel (UT1). For
the last 4 months, the new television studio has piqued viewer
interest with its simple credo to offer movie consumers the best
films available with excellent Ukrainian dubbing. Earlier,
Ukrainian TV disappointed viewers with its unprofessional and
"command-style" programming.
The young television company offers several programs throughout
the week including the "Classics of World Film". Foreign films by
such notable luminaries as Ingmar Bergman, Rainer Werner
Fassbinder, Volker Schlondorff, Michelangelo Antonioni would make
any movie aficionado in the West envious. Difficult and even
controversial films by such directors as Peter Greenaway and Paul
Verhoeven, shown Friday nights in its filial program "Films Not
For Everyone", would have been unimaginable some years ago.
This past year's ambitious project to show the best of TV can
also be witnessed in the "marathon" showing of the American TV
serial "Dynasty". Studio "1+1" has gone out its way to purchase
the complete rights from "20th Century Fox" to televise this
serial. One of the main principles of this studio is to secure
and preserve all copyright regulations for the broadcast of
foreign films - a policy still uncommon in today's post-Soviet
period.
In an attempt to chronicle the preceeding epoch, "1+1" will
present a new rubric this year - "The Old House" - which
anticipates greater viewer popularity. The program will feature
the most popular films produced during the Soviet period and
include interviews with artists in a two-hour program. Similarly,
Studio "1+1" has made its primary professional duty to show films
produced in Ukraine with the purchase of 63 films from the
Ukrainian National Film Studio named after Ukrainian film
director, Oleksander Dovzhenko. In order to appraise the past,
people need to know what they have.
--"Kultura i Zhytia".
The Ukrainian Arts Monitor is a sponsorship supported publication.
Without public support this publication would not be possible.
If your organization would like to support U.A.Monitor Project
please write to UAM@ukrainet.lviv.ua.
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