On April 15, spectators at the National Opera of Ukraine witnessed the revival of The Secret Marriage, a comic opera by popular Italian composer Domenico Cimarosa.
On the Ukrainian stage, this opera was for the first time produced by Iryna Molostova in 1984, and for many years enjoyed great success both with the audience and the performers of the leading parts. The Secret Marriage is sometimes called a school for beginning actors. Because it enables them to master acting techniques, trying themselves in refrains and arias; moreover, the composer employed the method of correlation of several voices in ensembles — trios, quartets, and full-scale finales. Although the plot is light and simple, in addition to vocal skills, it requires from the performers the ability to play up the collisions of intrigue, and serious dramatic efforts to show jealousy, calculation, craft, and passionate love.
In her time, Valentyna Reka also passed through the school of The Secret Marriage. She not only assisted Molostova, but also performed the role of ridiculous Aunt Fidalma. This time, she directs the resurrected play. “We worked at a brisk pace. It took us only one month to revive the play,” Ms. Reka relates. “We restored a little the props and costumes. It didn’t require much cost, for only six persons are involved in the play, the music is provided by a reduced number of musicians (conducted by Alla Kulbaba) with no choir at all.” Svitlana Kysla (Fidalma), Liudmyla Semenenko (Lizetta) and Bohdan Taras (Jeronimo) had only to recall their parts, in which they were brilliant in the past. This team was soon joined by Dmytro Aheyev (Count Robinson), Hennady Vasko (Paolino) and Kateryna Abdullina (Carolina).
Incidentally, Kateryna, a third year student at the conservatory and Yevheniya Myroshnychenko’s pupil, performed her role brilliantly. She is pretty, lively, artistic, and her voice resounded like a little bell. Yevheniya admitted, “I am glad for Katiusha [a pet name for Kateryna]. But for me it is still too little. Everything is wrong. It could have been better! We will work out all the kinks in rehearsal. You know, the profession of the opera singer is composed of little things which cannot just be waved aside. In the next play, another pupil of mine, Oksana Yarova, will make her debut as Lizetta.”
The performance was pleasing in every respect. It is in Ukrainian. As the opera was going on, the auditorium was periodically shaken with laughter. It means that The Secret Marriage-2 has succeeded in gaining the public’s favor.
