Canadian/Ukrainian opera star celebrates music from ancestral homeland

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This article was published 11/12/2022 (1000 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

World renowned Canadian/Ukrainian opera star Andriana Chuchman returned to her roots Saturday night, with her own curated program for Virtuosi Concerts, “Vinok: The Ukrainian Wreath” celebrating both traditional and contemporary music from her ancestral homeland.

The program sung entirely in Ukrainian also featured the Winnipeg-based artist’s frequent musical collaborator, Grammy award winning pianist/arranger Craig Terry currently based in Chicago, as well as the Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus, not heard since its gala 50th anniversary concert held on the cusp of COVID-19 in December 2019.

Chuchman had appeared as guest artist with the 25-member strong ensemble led by Tadeusz Biernacki during that latter performance; their fruitful collaboration so successful it spawned this latest concert three years later.

The radiant singer who has lit up stages around the world including multiple performances at New York City’s fabled Metropolitan Opera immediately dazzled with “Where are you now?” (all titles translated to English), an unabashedly romantic waltz telling of lost love that showcased Chuchman’s lyrical, spun vocals as golden as a Ukrainian wheat field.

Terry matched her note for note with his own passionate delivery of Ihor Shamo’s sweeping accompaniment. He subsequently treated the audience of 305 to two excerpts: “Duma” and “Dance” from the same composer’s “Ukrainian Suite,” further displaying his dynamic artistry jet fuelled by consummate showmanship.

Other highlights included Chuchman’s heartfelt interpretation of “4 Folksongs” arranged by Mykola Vilinsky; her expressive acting skills nurtured on opera stages holding listeners rapt. An early standout became “Oh willow, willow” infused with harrowing sub-text as she sang her tale of a young girl destined to marry a “cursed drunkard,” in addition to her show-stopping “The rain falls.”

Chuchman joined the Hooslis for Maiboroda’s “White Seagulls,” and “White Chestnut Blossoms,” the latter deeply poignant as she sang of “Kyiv nights…in my heart always.”

The Chorus performed their own crisply executed numbers, including “The Carpathian Mountains Beckon,” and “I Once Had a Girl,” among others, while raising the rafters with “The Steppe Wind,” spotlighting bass soloist Mikhas Chabluk.

The second half of the program featured Ukrainian Christmas carols — no Jingle Bells allowed — that offered a tantalizing taste of the darkly hewn traditional songs on the lips of proud Ukrainians right now around the globe. Highlights included “Basil’s Song,” and “God is Born” performed by Chuchman and the men, as well as an ebullient “Today We Sing” ringing with joy.

“A Wondrous Birth” and “What is this Wonder” also included sensitive accompaniment by violinist Liana Fonseca, who earlier performed Dvorak’s “4 Romantic Pieces” with collaborative pianist Georg Neuhofer as featured guest artists in VC’s ongoing Young Artist Program.

It’s safe to say that many in the house — if not all — has ever heard Handel’s iconic “Hallelujah” chorus performed in a Slavic tongue. The translation of the Baroque composer’s original English text to Ukrainian (with organ accompaniment by Cary Denby), not dissimilar to Canadian opera director Joel Ivany’s multi-lingual, 2019 hit film “Messiah/Complex” proved highly effective, following Chuchman’s sparkling “Alleluja” from Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate, K. 165.”

There’s a tipping point when it comes to programming, and the 270-minute evening (including intermission) could — and should — have been whittled by at least a half hour. Things could also have been tightened up technically, with relatively leisurely set changes only slowing the overall flow of the show. There will also be those who prefer less general talky-talk onstage, letting the music speak for itself.

Nonetheless, the night’s most powerful moment came during finale “Ruler of Heaven and Earth,” with Chuchman’s voice soaring up to heaven itself, in turn grounded by the earthy Hoosli singers. Standing centrestage, this local treasure sang from her heart and soul, offering a prayer that “Ukraine be blessed forever,” inspiring her clearly moved, (now sniffly) listeners to leap to their feet in a show of solidarity and hope for better days ahead.

Holly.harris@shaw.ca

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