Ukraine has always been famous for its singers, and the National Opera for its constellation of first-class vocalists. Here, for more than four decades, the unique talent of the prima donna of the theater, People's Artist of Ukraine and the USSR, laureate of the National Prize. Taras Shevchenko and the State Prize of the USSR, Hero of Ukraine - Yevgeny Miroshnichenko. In the summer of 2011, Ukraine celebrated the 80th anniversary of the birth of the legend of the national opera scene. In the same year, the first monograph about her life and work was published.
She was an ornament and a symbol of Ukrainian opera in the second half of the XNUMXth century. The world fame of the national vocal school is associated with her art. A beautiful original voice - the lyric-coloratura soprano Evgenia Miroshnichenko will never be confused. The singer masterfully mastered vocal techniques, powerful forte, transparent pianissimo, fine sounding, and bright acting talent. All this has always been subordinated to the creation of excellent vocal and stage images.
Ivan Kozlovsky said that Miroshnichenko is not only a singer from God, but also a real actress. This combination is very rare. Only the legendary Maria Callas had it. In 1960, when opera artists from the Soviet Union first went on an internship at the La Scala Theatre, Evgenia improved her vocal skills and prepared the part of Lucia with her teacher Elvira de Hidalgo.
The childhood and youth of the singer Yevgeny Miroshnichenko
The future singer was born on June 12, 1931 in the small village of Pervoi Sovetsky, Kharkov region. Parents - Semyon and Susanna Miroshnichenko. The family with great difficulty survived the military "hard times". The father died at the front, and the mother was left alone with three children - Lucy, Zhenya and Zoya.
After the liberation of Kharkov in 1943, Lyusya and Zhenya were included in a specialized women's vocational radio school. Zhenya studied as a fitter, Lucy soon returned home. There, the girl participated in amateur performances. At first she danced, then she sang in the choir, led by the choirmaster and composer Zinovy Zagranichny. He was the first to see the talent of the young pupil.
After graduating from college, Evgenia worked as a first-class fitter at the Kharkov Electromechanical Plant. But she was often invited to perform in Kyiv. Only in 1951 she entered the Kyiv Conservatory in the class of an experienced teacher Maria Donets-Tesseir.
A woman of high culture, encyclopedic knowledge, the professor spoke French, Italian, German, Polish. She also trained highly professional cadres of opera theater and chamber singers. Maria Eduardovna became the second mother for Evgenia.
She taught her to sing, influenced the formation of her personality, advised, supported morally, even financially. The professor prepared Evgenia Miroshnichenko for the International Vocal Competition in Toulouse (France). There she became a laureate, received the Grand Prize and the Cup of the city of Paris.
The final exam at the conservatory was the debut of Evgenia Miroshnichenko on the stage of the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theatre. Evgenia sang the role of Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata and charmed with her beautiful voice and subtle sense of composer's style. And flexible Verdi cantilena, and most importantly - sincerity and truthfulness in conveying the deep feelings of the heroine.
Work at the Kiev Opera Theater
There are almost no cases in the history of world opera performance when a favorite vocal part adorned the artist's repertoire for four decades. Boast of this, except for Evgenia Miroshnichenko, could be the Italian singer Adeline Patti. Her fantastic vocal experience was more than half a century.
Yevgenia Miroshnichenko's career began in Kyiv - she became a soloist of the Kyiv Opera. Worked with the singer: Boris Gmyrya, Mikhail Grishko, Nikolai Vorvulev, Yuri Gulyaev, Elizaveta Chavdar, Larisa Rudenko.
Evgenia Miroshnichenko was very lucky because she met experienced directors in the Kiev theater. Including Mikhail Stefanovich, Vladimir Sklyarenko, Dmitry Smolich, Irina Molostova. Also conductors are Alexander Klimov, Veniamin Tolbu, Stefan Turchak.
It was in collaboration with them that she improved her performing skills. The artist's repertoire included the roles of Venus (Aeneid by Nikolai Lysenko), Musetta (La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini). As well as Stasi (First Spring by German Zhukovsky), Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Zerlina (Fra-Devil by Daniel Aubert), Leila (The Pearl Seekers by Georges Bizet).
In an interview for the Music magazine, Evgenia Miroshnichenko said: “I associate my birth as a singer, first of all, with La Traviata, this masterpiece of Giuseppe Verdi. It was there that my artistic formation took place. And the tragic and beautiful Violetta is my true and sincere love.”
Premiere of the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor"
In 1962-1963. Eugenia's dream came true - the premiere of the opera Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti) took place. She created the perfect image of the heroine not only thanks to her vocals, but also as a talented actress. During an internship in Italy, the singer attended rehearsals at La Scala, when Joan Sutherland worked on the part of Lucia.
She considered her singing the pinnacle of art, her talent amazed the young Ukrainian artist. The part of Lucia, the music of the opera excited her so much that she lost her composure. She immediately wrote a letter to Kyiv. Miroshnichenko had a desire and faith in success that the theater management would include the opera in the repertory plan.
The play, staged by director Irina Molostova and conductor Oleg Ryabov, was shown on the Kyiv stage for almost 50 years. Irina Molostova found the best stage solution for the performance. She revealed the idea of true and all-conquering love laid down by the composer and librettist. Yevgenia Miroshnichenko rose to tragic heights in the scene of Lucia's madness. In the “Aria with a Flute”, the singer demonstrated a virtuoso voice, a flexible cantilena, competing with the instrument. But she also conveyed the subtle nuances of the feelings of the sufferer.
In the operas La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor, Eugenia often resorted to improvisation. She found figurative shades in musical phrases, experiencing new mise-en-scenes. Acting intuition helped her to respond to the individuality of her partner, to enrich the well-known image with new colors.
La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor are operas in which the singer reached the pinnacle of skill and poetic development.
Evgenia Miroshnichenko and her other works
The touching image of the Russian girl Martha in the opera The Tsar's Bride (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) is very close to the creative personality of the artist. In this party there was a breadth of range, extreme flexibility, warmth of timbre. And also impeccable articulation, when every word was heard even on the pianissimo.
"Ukrainian Nightingale" was popularly called Evgenia Miroshnichenko. Unfortunately, this definition, which is very often found in articles about singers, is now devalued. She was the prima donna of the Ukrainian opera scene with a crystal-clear voice of a range of four octaves. Only two vocalists in the world had a voice of a unique range - the famous Italian singer of the XNUMXth century Lucrezia Aguiari and the Frenchwoman Robin Mado.
Evgenia was a remarkable performer of chamber works. In addition to arias from operas, she sang excerpts from the operas "Ernani" and "Sicilian Vespers" in concerts. As well as "Mignon", "Linda di Chamouni", romances by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Caesar Cui. And compositions by foreign authors - Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonin Dvorak, Camille Saint-Saens, Jules Massenet, Stanislav Moniuszko, Edvard Grieg, Ukrainian composers - Julius Meitus, Platon Maiboroda, Igor Shamo, Alexander Bilash.
Ukrainian folk songs occupied a special place in her repertoire. Evgenia Semyonovna is one of the best performers of "Concerto for Voice and Orchestra" (Reingold Gliere).
Musical pedagogical activity
Evgenia Miroshnichenko has become a wonderful teacher. For teaching work, performing experience and technical skills are not enough; special abilities and vocation are needed. These features were inherent in Evgenia Semyonovna. She created a vocal school, organically combining the traditions of Ukrainian and Italian performance.
Only for her native theater she prepared 13 soloists, who took the main places in the team. In particular, these are Valentina Stepovaya, Olga Nagornaya, Susanna Chakhoyan, Ekaterina Strashchenko, Tatyana Ganina, Oksana Tereshchenko. And how many winners of all-Ukrainian and international vocal competitions successfully work in theaters in Poland - Valentina Pasechnik and Svetlana Kalinichenko, in Germany - Elena Belkina, in Japan - Oksana Verba, in France - Elena Savchenko and Ruslana Kulinyak, in the USA - Mikhail Didyk and Svetlana Merlichenko.
For almost 30 years, the artist has devoted teaching at the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after. Pyotr Tchaikovsky. She patiently and lovingly raised her students and instilled in them high moral ideals. And not only taught the profession of a singer, but also “lit sparks” of inspiration in the souls of young performers. She also instilled in them the desire to never stop, but always go forward to creative heights. Evgenia Miroshnichenko spoke with sincere excitement about the future fate of young talents. She dreamed of creating a Small Opera House in Kyiv, where Ukrainian singers could work, and not travel abroad.
Completion of a creative career
Yevgenia Miroshnichenko completed her career at the National Opera with the role of Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti). No one announced, did not write on the poster that this was the last performance of the brilliant singer. But her fans felt it. The hall was packed. Evgenia performed in the performance with Mikhail Didyk, with whom she prepared the role of Alfred.
Back in June 2004, the Small Opera was created by a resolution of the Kyiv City Council. Miroshnichenko believed that the capital should have a chamber opera house. Therefore, she knocked on all the doors of the offices of officials, but it was useless. Unfortunately, the services to Ukraine, the authority of the brilliant singer did not affect the officials. They did not support her idea. So she passed away without realizing her cherished dream.
In recent years, Evgenia Semyonovna often met with journalists, recalled interesting episodes from her childhood. As well as the difficult post-war years, training at the Kharkov vocational school. On April 27, 2009, the brilliant singer died. Her original art has forever entered the history of European and world opera music.
