Classical music concert – there surged poignant emotions…

I heard them arguing. Really, I heard. Even though he tried very hard to sneak through the gates and into the house quietly, knowing he was guilty: he hadn't been home for two nights...

... But he couldn't avoid a confrontation with his quarrelsome wife. As soon as he stepped into the yard, it started...

She to him: "Where have you come from? Where have you been all this time? Aren't you afraid of God? Don't you have any shame?" 

And he, still tipsy: "Hey, Odarka, that's enough! Stop shouting already!"

And she to him, falling into tears, despair, and anger: "No, let people hear! No, I will not be silent!"

I think, dear reader, you already understand what argument this is about, and recognize the characters from the famous opera by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky "Zaporozhets za Dunayem."

Yes, it's them – Odarka and Karas, with their family-song dialogues that became the highlight of the classical music concert held at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.

In fact, the term "highlight" can be applied to every number in the concert program.

– We compiled it from works that belong to the treasury of both Ukrainian and world classical music, – says Bohdan Heryavenko, one of the concert organizers. – Because this is truly eternal music. It stirs. It inspires. It awakens the most sincere feelings, experiences, love, dreams, hope. And it's very pleasant that young people are drawn to such music. And it's very pleasant that young people perform it. We see this at our current concert, where alongside experienced performers, we are gifted with creativity by the very young.

Young violinist Yulia Perehozhuk performed a wonderful arrangement of the famous song "Plyve kacha," which today sounds like a hymn of sorrow and remembrance for those who give their lives for the freedom and fate of Ukraine, and "Ukrainian Dance" based on folk melodies (arranged by M. Melnychenko). "Prayer" by Valeriy Kvasnevsky, the song-waltz "Kiss" (Luigi Arditi), "Two Streams from Chornohora" (A. Kos-Anatolsky, M. Petrenko) and "Sail on, Little Rose" (H. Maiboroda, A. Malyshko) flowed to the audience in the melodious soprano of opera singer Halyna Heryavenko, and in a duet with Nazariy Mykhailenko, they passionately performed the romance "When Two Part" (M. Lysenko, H. Heine). Nazariy Mykhailenko (baritone) himself offered the audience a musical journey "To Ukraine" by Ihor Sonevytsky and the meaningful piece "Hard Times Come Again No More" (S. Foster). And Vadym Dubovsky, with his deep velvet baritone, sang about "The Boundless Field" (M. Lysenko, I. Franko). The singers were accompanied by pianist Myroslav Mykhailenko, who also masterfully performed the Sonata in B-flat minor by Frédéric Chopin.

The program concluded with Vadym Dubovsky and Halyna Heryavenko performing the aforementioned song dialogues of Odarka and Karas from the opera "Zaporozhets za Dunayem," eliciting laughter, sadness, and a wave of enthusiastic applause.

Each performance by the talented artists was not just music, but a true delight, an invisible touch to something high and beautiful. 

It was precisely this that Father Petro Zablotsky blessed the attendees with before the concert began.

 And the head of the council of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Orysia Kardoso, emphasized that the institution eagerly supports young talents and promotes Ukrainian visual art, music, literature, and cinema by organizing various creative events.

By the way, the concert was held in support of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, which is celebrating its 55th anniversary this year.

So that it can continue to fulfill its high mission – to be the voice of Ukrainian culture, which holds a worthy place in the global cultural space. And this evening, we were once again convinced of this.

Thank you, creative people!