The CD with the first Ukrainian rock opera Aeneid was played at a presentation at the Deja Vu Restaurant on February 3, and the whole affair had every hallmark of the Event of the Year. Small wonder, as the opera had been expected for almost fifteen years. In 1986, Aeneid was first staged by Serhiy Danchenko at the Ivan Franko Theater and has stayed on the repertory. Serhiy Bedusenko’s rock version of the opera, released by Ukrainian Records on two CDs, was taped in 1991. It is a new interpretation starring leading Ukrainian actors B. Stupka, N. Sumska, V. Bilonozhko, A. Khostikoev, L. Sandulesa, T. Povaliy, A. Matviychuk, B. Beniuk. I. Bobul, et al. Unfortunately, noted singers such as V. Udovychenko and O. Kulyk did not live to see the CD release.
It is profoundly symbolic that Aeneid is the first Ukrainian rock opera, because Kotliarevsky’s satire of the same name was also one of the first Ukrainian classics. The innovative spirit and getting back to history, harmoniously combined in creation of our great compatriots, were the creative guidelines for Serhiy Bedusenko. He wanted to prove that Ukrainian melodies are relevant material for modern compositions. The composer worked into his rock opera the Ukrainian burlesque and Italian opera seria traditions, rock and pop music. Jazz and blues lovers will also find enough to listen to and enjoy. The composer said he enjoyed working with noted Ukrainian singers and actors.
A host of celebrities were on hand at the presentation. Apart from musicians as project participants, those present saw and heard the underground group Mandry with Katia Chili whose folk style was a natural addition to the soiree concept. The chamber atmosphere was emphasized by Kyrylo Stetsenko’s violin. And the distinguished Aeneid illustrator Anatoly Bazylevych was among the guests of honor.
Talking to the press, the actors constantly stressed the epochal nature of the event and willingly shared their experiences when working on the opera. Tayisiya Povaliy told The Day that in 1991 as a young and little known singer, she was eager to project. “Those were my first tentative steps onstage, and I wanted to do my best, the more so that the project involved domestic pop stars, so I tried to measure up.” The project organizers said — jokingly or seriously, it was hard to tell — that Aeneid was a Ukrainian response to Lloyd Webber’s famous Jesus Christ Superstar, written over thirty years ago.
True, lost in the euphoria, everyone seemed to forget that the new CD was actually a remake of a 1991 audio cassette. At the time, M. Didyk’s Audio Ukraine Studio made the lion’s share of what would be completed by the Interval Studio in collaboration with Ukrainian Records in 2001. Also, by and large, the album’s audio characteristics remain at the early 1990s level. Some of the musical approaches quite relevant at the time are not so these days. In fact, the first thing one notices is the absence of fresh and original arrangements. Aeneid is a poem, a classic work that remains topical by definition. Thus I think it would be logical to bring the music more up to date. There was lobby talk about rewriting the score, casting new performers, make it sound new, so it could be considered a serious challenge to Lloyd Webber’s musical. On the other hand, even this somewhat outdated attempt remains interesting, even if from the point of view of the history of contemporary culture. Both the singers and actors like Beniuk and Stupka came out with colorful and undoubtedly original performances, making it possible for one to appreciate the principal values of Ukrainian culture whose permanently complex situation has extended for more than one century.
The rock opera Aeneid makes obvious the fact that a different kind of music is characteristic of every new generation. “Young people aren’t going to buy it, let’s face it,” said Taras Petrynenko, “but it’s a retrospective project and another reason to remind ourselves that there were always people who took serious music seriously in Ukraine.”
