Ukrainian National Opera and Ballet

The history of the Ukrainian National Opera and Ballet begins on October 27, 1867, when Ukraine's first opera house opened its doors to the public with the premiere of Oleksiy Verstovsky's "Askold's Tomb" – the first opera set on the Ukrainian National Opera's permanent troupe.  "Askold's Tomb" celebrated an act of great historical significance – Prince Volodymir's christening of Russia in 889 AD, which took place in Kiev and established Christianity as the official state religion in Rus, the territory currently occupied by Russia and the Ukraine.  Previously regarded as a Barbarian community, after adopting Christianity Rus was admitted into the family of civilized nations.  The opening of Ukraine's first opera house echoed the significance of the event celebrated by its first production, as it brought Kiev to the cultural level of Moscow and St. Petersburg – the only two other cities in all of Russian Empire that had opera houses with their own permanent troupes.

The construction of the Kiev Opera Theater did not mark the beginning of opera and ballet in Kiev, a vibrant university city.  Kiev's first theater was built in 1805 and hosted renowned Italian opera troupes touring with productions of Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini and Cerubini, as well as performances of ballet stars, such as Carlotta Grizzi, Adrianov sisters, and the Royal Ballet of Madrid, among many others.  However, touring productions alone did not satisfy the sophisticated Kiev audiences – and in the summer of 1867, Ferdinand Berger, a well-known impresario who had been managing Italian opera seasons in Kiev, created the city's own permanent opera troupe.

The first seasons of the troupe included such opera gems as "The Mermaid" by O. Darhomyzhsky and "Ruslan and Ludmila" by M.Glinka, as well as the first performance of a Ukrainian opera, Mykola Lysenko's "The Christmas Night."  Soon, it gained such a high artistic reputation that even the eminent composer, Peter Tchaikovsky, began staging his works at the Kiev Opera.  His "Oprychnyk" was performed there in 1874 to high praises from the author for artistic direction and the performance itself.  "Oprychnik" was followed by Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" in 1884, "Mazepa" in 1886, and "The Queen of Spades" in 1890, which were all staged during the composer's lifetime.  Tchaikovsky himself conducted two concerts of the Kiev Opera Symphonic Orchestra performing his works.  Other operas by Tchaikovsky, such as "The Shoes," were performed in the beginning of 20th Century.

The 1880-90s was a time when the Theater flourished.  Many fine Russian and foreign classic operas were shown on the now-famous stage.  The repertoire included "May Night" by N. Rimsky-Korsakoff, "The Caucasian Prisoner" by C. Kuyi, "The Maccabees" and "Daemon" by A. Rubinstein, "Carmen" by G. Bizet, "Tannhauser" and "The Flying Dutchman" by R. Wagner, and "The Marriage of Figaro" by W.A. Mozart – all of which were critically acclaimed for their high artistic quality.

On February 4, 1896, after the morning show of "Eugene Onegin," a fire broke out in a dressing room of the theater.  A few hours later, the building burned down to the ground.  The City Council turned to the well-known Russian architect, Viktor Shreter, to design a new building, and on September 16, 1901 Kiev Opera Theater opened once again – this time in a 1,683-seat, modern and comfortable opera house built in the New Renaissance architectural style.  The new building opened with the performance of "Kiev," an appropriately named cantata by Wilhelm Hartweld, celebrating the capital of the Ukraine.

Since 1901, such opera luminaries as Mattia Battistini, Maria Halvani, Adelina Padovani, Lina Cavalieri, Titta Ruffo, Giuseppe Anselmi, Leonid Sobinov, and Olympia Bronat have graced the stage of the new theater.  Special productions of "Prince Igor," "Boris Godunov," "Mozart and Salieri," and "The Mermaid" were staged for Fyodor Shaliapin's guest appearances in 1901-02 opera season.  Also at that time, Kiev Opera Theater began forming its own ballet troupe, which included Bronislava Nijinska, O. Kochetkovsky, and O. Osovska.  Two of Europe's biggest ballet stars of the 20th Century – Vaslav Nijinski and Serge Lifar – were born in Kiev at that time.

The late 1920s and the early 1930s were very important years in the development of the Ukrainian National Opera and Ballet, despite the pressure from communist hard-liners to produce ideological art.  The repertoire of the time included such important works of Ukrainian composers as "Taras Bulba" and "The Christmas Night" by M. Lysenko, "A Zaporozhian Cossack Beyond the Danube" by S. Hulak-Artemovsky, "Karmelyuk" by V. Kostrenko, "The Black Sea Ballad" by B. Janovsky, and "The Golden Hoop" by B. Lyatoshynsky.  The Opera also produced such world masterpieces as "Die Meistersingers" by R. Wagner, "The Golden Rooster" by Rimsky-Korsakoff, "The Queen of Spades" by P. Tchaikovsky, "Othello" by G. Verdi, "Turandot" by G. Puccini, and "Carmen by G. Bizet, as well as E. Kshenek's politically controversial "Johnny Plays."  Guest performances included star turns by I. Kozlovsky, A. Nezhdanova, D. Holovin, M. Maksakova, O. Stepanova, the extraordinary Polish singer E. Bandrowska-Turska, and the German conductor Kurt Adler, who staged "La Traviata" by G. Verdi and "Carmen" by G. Bizet in Kiev in 1934.
 
On October 18, 1931, Ukraine celebrated the birth of its national ballet with the production of the first Ukrainian ballet, "Pan Kanyovsky" ("Mr. Kannyovsky") at the Kiev Opera Theater.  Other interesting and experimental ballet works of the time include S. Prokofiev's "Jester," first staged in Kiev, and D. Shostakovich's "The Golden Age," choreographed by Y. Vigiliev.

World War II somewhat encumbered the creative renaissance of the Kiev Opera and Ballet.  The troupe was evacuated to the town of Ufa, and then to Irkutsk, where it worked until October of 1944.  The post-war years, however, proved to be among the most prolific in the life of the Theater.  A new generation of talented young artists joined the already recognized masters of the stage.  Classical operas and ballets were interpreted in new and exciting ways, and Kiev Opera and Ballet turned into one of the leading experimental and creative labs in Europe.  In 1950s the troupe began touring abroad and enjoyed enormous success in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, France, and other countries.  In 1964, Kiev Ballet received the highest award of the French Academy of Dancing – L'Etoile d'Or, while Dmitry Shostakovich called its interpretation of his" Katerina Izmailova" the most convincing performance of this opera anywhere in the world. 

The rich traditions of Kiev Opera and Ballet were developed by a constellation of star singers and ballet dancers, such as Yevgenia Miroshnichenko, Anatoly Kocherha, Mariya Stefyuk, Anatoliy Mokrenko, Lev Venedyktictov, Tetyana Tayakina, Anatoliy Solovianenko, Halyna Tuftina, Gizela Tsypola, Tetyana Borovyk, Liudmila Yarchenko, Yevdokiya Tsypola, Rayissa Khylko, Liudmila Smorchanova, Lidiya Zabiliasta, Ivan Ponomarenko, Vladlen Hrytsiuk, Valentin Pyvovarov, Mykola Pradchenko, Hanna Kushnirova, Roman Maiboroda, and Victor Yaremenko, whose names are well known  in many countries around the world.

The Opera regularly participates in international music festivals, including those in Madrid (1979 and 1994), Wiesbaden (1982 and1986), Dresden (1988), and Strasbourg (1993).  Opera soloists Yevgenia Miroshnichenko, Halyna Tuftina¸ Lidiya Zabiliasta, Gizela Tsypola, Liudmila Yarchenko, Nadia Kudelia, Valentina Reka, Anatoly Kocherha, Ivan Ponomarenko, Valentin Pyvovarov, Mykola Shopsha , Roman Maiboroda, and Stepan Fitsych have won competitions in Moscow, Sofia, Barcelona, Toulouse, Budapest, and Tokyo.  Dancers of the ballet troupe also receive top prizes at the international ballet competitions.  Recent winners of international competitions include such well-known artists as Tetyana Tayakina, Liudmila Smorchanova, Rayissa Khylko, Mykola Pradchenko, Hanna Kushnirova, Victor Yaremenko, Tetyana Beletska, Irina Zadayanna, Sheriy Lukin, Olena Filipieva, Irina Dvorovenko, and Oleksiy Ratmansky.

In 1992, Kiev Opera and Ballet Theater acquired the official status of the Ukrainian National Opera and Ballet.  It currently continues to develop under the artistic direction of a group of outstanding Ukrainian artists – Volodymir Kozhuar, Chief Conductor; Dmytro  Hnatiuk, Music Director; Lev Venedictov, Chief Choir Master; and Victor Yaremenko, Artistic Director of the ballet troupe.