Stetsenko CD Creates Stir

 
By Olena Wawryshyn

The first part of a Ukrainian Art Song Series project, the recording of the works of Ukrainian composer Kyrylo Stetsenko by opera singer Pavlo Hunka, is being hailed as a major historical event. Though the recording has not yet even been completed, it is already creating excitement within the Canadian opera community.

Richard Bradshaw, the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company, told the audience at the annual Altamira opera concert on August 31 that Hunka is recording songs of a Ukrainian composer, that he has heard two of the pieces and thinks they are magnificent. Bradshaw also encouraged the audience to watch out for the CD’s release in the spring.

“The CD is quickly becoming the most important thing I’ve done in my singing career,” says Hunka.  “An enormous amount of work has gone into this, and I’ve had a highly professional group of people around me,” he says.

Working on the project as the CD’s producer is composer Roman Hurko.  “He was an absolutely superb, calming influence,” says Hunka “and drew my attention to various details.”

Other professionals involved are pianist Albert Krywolt, who plays for the COC, and recording technician Doug Doctor, considered by many to be the best in his field. The CD is being recorded at CBC’s Glenn Gould Studios in Toronto. So far, Hunka has recorded 32 songs. A trio with Hunka and international opera stars baritone Russell Braun and tenor Benjamin Butterfield and a piece featuring Hunka and Canadian cellist Roman Borys are scheduled to be recorded.

Hunka’s stature within the opera world has helped to attract these top-notch professionals. To date, Hunka has performed in more than 50 operas, including more than 35 major roles in the world’s leading opera houses, such as Munich, Vienna, Paris and London.

In Canada, he made his debut with the COC in 2004 to great critical acclaim in the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff and has appeared in Wagner’s Die Walkure and Siegfried. This year, he will star in the title roles in two COC productions, Macbeth in September and Wozzeck this spring.  He will also be singing at the opening of Toronto’s new opera house.

With his career firmly established, Hunka, who was born in England to a Ukrainian father and English mother, has become increasingly interested in Ukrainian music. In England in April 2005, the Bulava Chorus, the choir Hunka conducts, premiered a production of Mazepa, a performance of Lord Byron’s poem complemented with Ukrainian classical songs.

In Toronto, Hunka initiated the Ukrainian Art Song Series project. He approached a group he had worked with in organizing Master Classes for local Ukrainian choirs with his idea of documenting Ukrainian art songs.  Hunka wanted to bring these masterpieces, hitherto unknown in the Western world, to the fore.

Hunka’s enthusiasm was infectious and a committee to take the project forward was established, under the umbrella of the Canadian Ukrainian Opera Association.  They chose to first focus on Stetsenko's works. The project was officially launched on April 21 at a party hosted by Sonia Potichnyj at Lemon Meringue, an upscale restaurant she owned and operated with her sister Slava Iwaskykiw.

At the party, donors had a chance to hear Hunka perform a few Stetsenko songs. In attendance were soprano Roksolana Roslak, who offered her best wishes on the project’s commencement, and Roman Hurko, who was the emcee. Thanks to the generous donations and the initiative of Potichnyj, who headed the fundraising committee, the money required for the recording phase of the Stetsenko CD was raised.

Now, the committee is looking for funding for the post-production stage, including the creation of musicological notes, marketing and distribution. As well, Hunka is gearing up for the recording of the works of the next composer in the CD series, Mykola Lysenko, followed by Jakiv Stepoviy, Borys Lyatoshynskiy and Yulij Meytus.

“We Ukrainians are proud trustees of more than 300 dramatic songs,” says Hunka.  “I hope that in the next 10 years the Art Song series will become a true anthology – a documentation of all the songs of our best composers,” says Hunka.