Dmytro Hnatiuk has spent over 60 years on stage, creating a set of unique vocal images both in the national and world operas. The singer’s chamber repertoire was famous for his unsurpassable vocal culture. Hnatiuk is a brilliant performer of Ukrainian folk songs and solos by Ukrainian composers, bringing our national music culture to Europe, America, Asia, and Australia.
International music critics place Hnatiuk among the world’s best baritones. Over the past three decades he has become a successful producer, his service record at the National Opera includes such landmark productions as Prince Ihor, Taras Bulba, Zaporozhian Cossack Beyond the Danube, Natalka Poltavka, Zakhar Berkut, Mazepa, Queen of Spades, La Traviata, Aida, War and Peace, Tosca, The Fair at Sorochyntsi, Boris Godunov, etc.
“Art requires iron discipline,” believes Hnatiuk. “I would have achieved nothing if I had just wasted my time. It is way too expensive. If you do not do something today, it may be too late tomorrow,” he confessed.
The artist found the time for an interview with The Day and shared his thoughts about art and life.
ON THE CLEAR A
“He [a singer] has to have more than just a voice. A command of stage mastery and stage culture is necessary in order to be able to bring an authentic character to life. Moreover, it takes a certain physical energy and stamina to withstand the stress on the vocal chords during a show. And this is far from being a secondary factor.
“It is good if physical training begins in childhood. This was my case. I spent my childhood and teen years in the Ciscarpathian village of Mamaivtsi in Bukovyna. Apart from the beautiful countryside, this also meant hard work in the fields or around the house.
“Walking barefoot on the stubble or cold dew also helped develop a resistance to the cold. The earth gave me strength. Mamaivtsi, 10 kilometers away from the beautiful city of Chernivtsi – nicknamed ‘little Paris,’ is my cradle. For me, it is the brightest, sweetest, most charming and beautiful place.
“I thank my lucky stars that since a very young age I have never stopped singing. At seven I started singing in the church choir. At that early age, I was lucky to come across a very talented teacher, our local priest.
“At church he opened a class where we learned to sing and read sheet music. The command of those elements of my art gave me a further impetus in life, since starting from a very young age I was already able to read any music from a sheet.
“My artistic career began in Chernivtsi. When I was demobilized from the army, I did not go to the conservatory straight away, but instead joined the company at the Olha Kobylianska Music and Drama Theater. I worked there for nine months.
“I could withstand extremely high stress levels, and I have preserved this quality throughout my life. I really felt this when I had to sing 20 to 30 solo concerts a month during tours, where the schedule was always pretty full, and I had to appear at the opera (for a month) in 20 productions, such as Verdi’s Rigoletto.
“That is an extremely complicated character. Besides, it was a challenge for me, with my height and physique, to play the short, lame hunchback Rigoletto. Yet what a great soul did this husk conceal, and how much love for his daughter, how much sarcasm and hatred for those who surrounded him! His desire to avenge his child, his desperation when he failed, and the paradoxical solution at the end.
“The last phrase, ‘That’s the old man’s curse...,’ has to be sung in such a way as to make the spectators’ hair stand on end. And one must reach the highest note for a baritone, the clear A. This is a pretty challenging task, but I used to cope with it.
“Something has been devalued on stage nowadays, and it has been a slow, gradual process. The first values were lost in the early 1960s. We were taught that even renowned singers must first of all be good actors. They should aspire not so much to reach a C as to put the climax of the character in it.
“I admire the famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti. But I could only listen to him – I saw neither Alfred nor Radames in him. He failed to convince me on stage, despite his superb singing. I loved the Italian tenor Mario del Monaco. His performances were always harmonious, they combined his unique voice and stage mastery.
“Spectators used to come to see certain singers, and operas were often televised or broadcast on the radio. Now, only the Kultura Channel does this. As a result, we are losing the bulk of our audience.”
ON THE SENSE OF PROPORTION
“Although I am no fan of modernism, I am against stillness on stage. Many young directors are now tempted by modernism and experimentation. However, whatever you do, you must not forget about the sense of proportion, because we can easily lose classics to newfangled innovations.
“For example, in our theater we also have a modernist production of Faustus (staged by the Italian director Mario Corradi in 2005). However, it is contrary to my nature, as I am used to a reverent treatment of classics.
“I have experienced a lot during my life. I have met various masters, from directors to singers to artists. In my opinion, only together can the conductor, director, and choirmaster stage proper opera, and it is the singers and musicians who breathe life into a performance.
“For a director, the main thing is to reveal the dramatic musical concept of the opera on stage. It is of utmost importance not to copy other directors’ productions. The main thing for me in each production has always been the realism of the storyline, of the characters’ behavior and their distinctive features. This is achieved via mastery of acting and musical drama.
“There used to be a great actor and director Krushelnytsky at our theater. I remember him staging Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Not only did he explain the part to the actors, but also made them plunge into history.”
ON SUCCESS, LUCK, AND SECRETARIES GENERAL
“I have never boasted about my success, although I have had a few. The first one was quite curious. As a student, I happened to sing Mykola on the stage of the Kyiv Opera House, when all the leads had fallen ill. For this performance in 1948 I received a present from the House, the vocal score of the opera with an inscription which read, ‘For the brilliant execution of Mykola’s part in Natalka Poltavka’ (it is now on display at the museum).
“Chance always plays a great role. As a conservatory student back in 1949, I came to Moscow with the Hryhorii Veriovka Choir. We arrived to perform at Stalin’s birthday anniversary at the Bolshoi Theater. I remember the box where Stalin was sitting together with Mao Tse Tung. The choir did very well. After the concert an official appeared behind the stage and asked Veriovka if he had by any chance a soloist who could sing a couple of Ukrainian songs for the leader. Veriovka pointed at me.
“Next day a car pulled up in front of the hotel where the singers were staying. I was ordered in without any explanations. They took me to the Kremlin. There I understood what I was supposed to do, and became terribly jumpy.
“I was led down a few long passages and rooms, and stopped before a certain door. There we waited for a couple of hours. Then I was instructed that the moment I entered the room, I should go over to the grand piano and sing Gazing at the Sky. In case Stalin would ask for more, I was told to sing another song, this time Russian.
“Entering the room (it was St. George’s Hall), I saw the familiar faces of the Politbureau members, who were sitting around at tables, and Stalin among them. I was very excited, yet did very well. Stalin wanted another song. When I was done, he beckoned me to come up and asked where I worked. I answered that I was a student.
“When he asked in whose class I was, I replied, ‘Patorzhynski’s.’ ‘A great singer; give him my regards,’ said Stalin, and invited me to join the other singers at the table.
“A decade or so passed. I was a leading baritone at the theater, and a Merited Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. It was the time when Khrushchev was in power. I joined my company on a trip to take part in The Days of Ukrainian Art and Literature in Moscow, where I appeared in plays and concerts.
“Then, during one of them, Khrushchev goes and orders his favorite song, Rushnyk. And I had to sing later in the night! However, I was young and strong, so I sang with full might. Khrushchev said, ‘In 1949, you were a student. Back then, you could not be awarded with the title of the People’s Artist. Now, you can. Tomorrow, I’ll sign the decree awarding you the title.’ This is how I became the People’s Artist of the USSR.”
ON KYIV
“My infatuation with the capital began right after the war, when I arrived in Kyiv to try out for the Kyiv Conservatory. I didn’t know a single soul in the entire city. Kyiv was still in ruins.
“I climbed up Prince Volodymyr Hill. There was a gazebo overlooking the Dnieper. I spent four nights there. Even now I remember the sunrises. First, a tiny segment would come out, and then, it would get bigger and bigger. Volodymyr the Baptist must have enjoyed the same view. Thus, I fell in love with Kyiv once and for all.”
ON WAR AND PEACE AND MAZEPA
“I staged more than 20 productions with the National Opera. The first of them was Borodin’s Prince Ihor in 1975. The operas were very different, each of them having its own peculiarities as to the epoch, the country, the customs and traditions, and the volume of the very ‘material’ that was represented.
“Prokofiev’s War and Peace became a turning point in my life. It was very difficult to stage. You know, you won’t find many companies, both in this country or top world operas, who can boast of having this opera in their repertoire.
“First of all, it is due to the complex musical and dramatic material, and the immense artistic and technical challenges which the producer faces when he attempts to stage such a large-scale production. There are 43 soloists in it! Also, one must add the extensive choral scenes, a dynamic score with symphonic elements, authentic prose from Leo Tolstoy’s novel, and choreographic pieces.
“All in all, there are 140 artists employed in the performance. 400 costumes have to be made. By the way, the full author’s edition of War and Peace is meant for a two-night performance. At our theater, it lasted four hours. The well-known plot was put in a nutshell of 13 scenes.
“It took a very short time, only 1.5 months, to write the opera. It was done on a special order by the Landgraf company and our theater’s Swiss partners. Thus, in March 2003, War and Peace opened our tour in Winterthur, Switzerland.
“It was equally difficult to produce Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazepa, due to the ideological factor. Even now, there are very controversial opinions about this outstanding historical figure. A patriot and an erudite with a brilliant education, the builder of churches and schools, is still anathematized at Russian churches.
“From a Ukrainian patriot’s perspective, Mazepa is a fighter for independence. By the way, neither Pushkin nor Tchaikovsky overlooked this fact. In the scene where Mazepa unveils his plans to Maria, he formulates the struggle for independence as the desire ‘to gain a throne for my land.’
“In order to emphasize Mazepa’s patriotic sentiments in the production, I introduced an episode which interferes neither with the libretto nor with the music, but very aptly conveys the main idea. With the words ‘to gain a throne for my land,’ Mazepa kisses the blue-and-yellow flag. It was a very expressive gesture.
“In Mazepa’s room, where the walls were hung with the hetman’s insignia and weapons, and where the hetman’s banner was kept, such a detail was more than justified. The blue-and-yellow flag covered the hetman’s desk.
“In the 1990s, we showed this opera in Paris, giving 10 performances there, which became box-office hits.
“Besides producing operas, my responsibilities as a director also included upgrading those shows which have been running for years at our theater. At present, I’m working on such operas as Lysenko’s Natalka Poltavka and Taras Bulba, and Hulak-Artemovsky’s Zaporozhian Cossack Beyond the Danube.
“What I would love to work on now is The May Night by Rimsky-Korsakov. Firstly, it is based on a story by Gogol. Secondly, it explores authentic Ukrainian themes. Thirdly, there is the magic Ukrainian music. And finally, the magic of the Ukrainian language. I have already staged this play at the opera’s studio, but right now the administration has no funds. However, I feel like working, working, and working a bit more.”
ON CONCERT TOURS AND “POLITICAL SHELTER”
“I have traveled all over the world on concert tours. I have been to countries with fabulous landscapes, to rich megalopolises, to places with a wonderful climate. However, I have brought back two incontestable truths: first, I love my country above all. I love its vast steppes, its people, and my mother tongue. Ukraine is my life. I have come to realize that I cannot live elsewhere. And second: people all over the world, whatever their race, love songs and music. That makes my job a universal one.
“One would have all sorts of experiences on a tour. I will never forget traveling to Africa, where I took part in hippo hunting. By the way, most of our concerts were in the open. Africans loved our performances. They have a very peculiar way of showing their approval and admiration. There was no applause. When a singer reached a high note or sang forte, the audience would raise a hell of a noise, shouting and yelling at the top of their voices.
“I have been to the USA quite often, too. Perhaps 10 or 11 times. I would travel there just as people now travel to Poland. Once I had to appear in Prince Ihor. I came back home quite happy. Then, all of a sudden, the Soviet embassy in the US sent a dispatch to the Kyiv Opera: ‘Why don’t you check your repertoire? Do you have any idea of what your artists sing abroad? The soloist Hnatiuk implored in front of the entire United States, O give me, give me, give me freedom! What will the Americans think, that we are an unfree nation?’
“They must have thought that I was asking for political shelter in such an extravagant way. At the theater we had a long hearty laugh over it: ‘Why, it was in the time of Ancient Rus’! It is not about Hnatiuk asking for freedom in America! It is Prince Ihor, who was captured by Konchak!’
“As for me, I was worried because I used to take things personally back then. Besides, I had a terrible workload: the actors who came back from tours abroad were supposed to come back to work and start singing at once, or they would not get the right references for another tour.”
ON THE POWER OF PERSUASION
“I am currently teaching the art of directing at the opera’s studio. I show students how to behave on stage and in real life. I demand that they should not ruin their voices by smoking and drinking. You know, we have lost so many young singers due to drinking.
“At the studio, four productions are currently on: Natalka Poltavka, Zaporozhian Cossack Beyond the Danube, The Barber of Seville, and Faustus. All the parts are sung in Ukrainian. In my opinion, the students must first be taught to sing in their mother tongue and, only then, in the original.
“Nowadays, the singers at the National Opera sing their parts in the original. I don’t think it is always the best thing to do. Some actors memorize the text thoughtlessly and do not even understand what they are singing about. It is not always easy to spot in a classical production, but all sorts of linguistic blunders occur in the modernized versions.
“I love Tchaikovsky, Lysenko, Rossini, Puccini, and Verdi. By the way, I believe that Verdi, as far as his musical drama goes, can only be compared to Shakespeare in his literary drama. Those composers have the power of persuasion. The director only needs to connect to the composer’s field of reference, disclose what the author had built in, and explain everything to the singer.”
