Opening the gala evening, museum director Liudmyla Hubianuri said: “Bulgakov’s name is inextricably linked with Kyiv. On The Day of the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of our city, we invited people who protect our capital here on earth and help to keep the Andriivsky Uzviz and our home. Worldwide many museums have like-minded friends. Thus, we decided to create a club of ‘Friends of Bulgakov Museum.’”
First membership cards of our new club went to Kyiv historians Vladyslav Osmak, Mykhailo Kalnytsky, Vitalii Kovalynsky, director of the Museum of One Street Dmytro Shlensky, artistic director of the ‘Wheel’ Theater Iryna Klyshchevska, chief editor of the publishing house ‘Varto’ Olena Nasyrova, director of the publishing house ‘Adef’ Ihor Shpak, head of the South-Western Railway Oleksii Kryvopyshyn, lawyer Maryna Soloviova (she won a lawsuit on protection of the Peizazhna Alley and stopped the illegal construction works in the area of Saint Sophia Cathedral), as well as to patrons Oleksii Oleksandrov, Oleksandr Krylov, and Liudmyla Sasina. A guest from Moscow Lyudmila Evdokimova was also solemnly made a friend of the museum the way they make knights. Evdokimova is a Doctor of Philology and a granddaughter of Nadezhda Bulgakova, author’s sister, daughter of Elena Zemskaya, Bulgakov’s niece and goddaughter.
“Musical Journey with Mikhail Bulgakov” prepared by a film director Larysa Levanova also had surprises. The route was chosen by the audience: people randomly pulled a piece of paper with a name of a country and then the road led to... Italy, Spain, Germany, and France, as well as to the magical world of early music, where they could listen to the musical masterpieces of the past centuries, performed by accompanist Olena Zhukova on a white piano and the harpsichord. The audience was also charmed with the performance of soloists of Kyiv theaters: Myroslava Havryliuk (mezzo-soprano), Valeria Tulis (soprano), and Maksym Kutsenko (tenor). They performed the duet of Mallika and Lakme from the opera Lakme by Leo Delibes, duet of Faust and Marguerite from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod, Habanera from George Bizet’s opera Carmen, arias by Antonio Vivaldi, Robert Schumann, and Edvard Grieg. Voices of young singers sounded magnificent in the museum space.
The concert was completed with the Table Song by Issak Dunaevsky and Polka, composed by Bulgakov himself. Recently, composer and musicologist Naum Shafer, professor of Pavlodar Pedagogical Institute (Kazakhstan) presented the museum with a gift of a music collection “Isaak Dunaevsky Visiting Mikhail Bulgakov” with piano works by Dunaevsky – Bulgakov loved to listen to the author’s performance of that music. Especially for Dunaevsky, who never composed operas, Bulgakov wrote the opera libretto Rachel, based on a story by Guy de Maupassant Mademoiselle Fifi. From the diary of Elena Bulgakova we know about the feast of music that would begin in the house when Dunaevsky came to visit them: “Dunaevsky played, improvised polka, based on several measures, which Bulgakov made up as a joke…”
In old days there was a tradition to dance polka and eat cakes at birthday celebration. Museum’s friend Liudmyla Posnyk, literary editor and master of “zhurfiksovsky” cakes, this time made a wonder cake in the shape of a guitar decorated with the name Mikhail. The dress code of the evening was a favorite accessory of Bulgakov – bow ties, made especially for the museum by the designer Fedir Vozianov. Guests wore those bow ties as in the good old days.
