Among contemporary Ukrainian opera singers, People's Artist of Ukraine Igor Kushpler has a bright and rich creative destiny. For 40 years of his artistic career, he has played about 50 roles on the stage of the Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. S. Krushelnitskaya.
He was the author and performer of romances, compositions for vocal ensembles and choirs. As well as arrangements of folk songs published in author's collections: "From Deep Sources" (1999), "Look for Love" (2000), "In Anticipation of Spring" (2004), in collections of vocal works by various authors.
Any artist would perceive such a generous artistic "harvest" as the result of professional activity. However, Igor Kushpler did not have such a one-pointedness in the realization of the artistic "I". He had a character not only holistic and positively tuned to the world, but was also filled with enthusiasm and opportunities for creative self-expression. The artist constantly developed in different directions.
The childhood and youth of the artist Igor Kushpler
Igor Kushpler was born on January 2, 1949 in the small village of Pokrovka (Lviv region). Since childhood, he was fond of music and singing. At the age of 14 (in 1963) he entered the Sambir cultural and educational school at the conductor-choir department.
In parallel with his studies, he worked as a soloist of the State Honored Song and Dance Ensemble "Verkhovyna". Here, his first musical mentor was the artistic director, Honored Artist of Ukraine Yulian Korchinsky. From there, Igor Kushpler went to military service. After demobilization, he studied at the Drogobitsy Pedagogical Institute in the class of teacher M. Kopnin, a pupil of the Kharkov vocal school.
at the Lviv State Conservatory. Lysenko Igor Kushpler was educated at two faculties - vocal and conducting. In 1978 he graduated from the vocal faculty. He studied in the class of Professor P. Karmalyuk (1973-1975) and Professor O. Darchuk (1975-1978). And a year later he graduated from the conductor's class (class of Professor Y. Lutsiv).
The beginning of a creative career
From 1978 to 1980 Igor Kushpler was a soloist of the Lviv Philharmonic. And since 1980 - soloist of the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater. S. Krushelnitskaya. In 1998-1999 was also artistic director of the theatre.
Creative activity began with participation in opera festivals in Ukraine (Lvov, Kyiv, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk). And also in Russia (Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Kazan), Poland (Warsaw, Poznan, Sanok, Bytom, Wroclaw). And in the cities of Germany, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Libya, Lebanon, Qatar. His work was very popular with the audience. The artist in a short period of time became recognizable in the world of opera music in the Soviet Union and beyond. His repertoire included about 50 opera parts. Among them: Ostap, Mikhail Gurman, Rigoletto, Nabucco, Iago, Amonasro, Count di Luna, Figaro, Onegin, Robert, Silvio, Germont, Barnaba, Escamillo and others.
The singer toured in many countries of Europe and America. In 1986 and 1987 he performed as part of the Svetlitsa trio at the Folklorama festival in Winnipeg (Canada).
In his professional activities, Igor Kushpler often took unexpected steps, even extravagant ones. For example, already as a recognized young opera singer, he successfully and with great pleasure sang pop songs. Those who remember the Lvov television Sunday concerts to order (early 1980s) will call V. Kaminsky's "Tango of Unexpected Love", to the words of B. Stelmakh. Igor Kushpler and Natalya Voronovskaya not only sang, but also acted out this song as a plot scene.
The talent and skill of the singer Igor Kushpler
The "resistance" of the material, the different artistic level of the music, which he covered during the first years of his activity, prompted him to look for special and new methods of entering the image, even improved his professional skills. Over the years, Igor Kushpler represented the psychology of his characters even more vividly, caring not only for the purity and expressiveness of vocal intonation. But also about what exactly this intonation expresses, what kind of hidden emotional and psychological subtext it has.
In all operas, especially in the works of the beloved Verdi, this approach was fruitful. After all, the heroes of this brilliant Italian composer are revealed not only in dramatic action, but also in music. It is precisely because of the unity of opposites, through the subtle gradation of shades of their complex characters. Therefore, the main soloist of the Lviv Opera, who covered almost the entire Verdi repertoire - Rigoletto and Nabucco in the operas of the same name, Germont (La Traviata), Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Amonasro (Aida) - all his life he knew and reincarnated the endless depths their sufferings, doubts, mistakes and heroic deeds.
Igor Kushpler approached another area of opera art with the same approach - Ukrainian classics. The singer throughout all the decades of his work worked at the Lviv Opera, constantly played in national performances. From the sultan ("Zaporozhets beyond the Danube" by S. Gulak-Artemovsky) to the poet ("Moses" by M. Skorik). Such is the wide range of the Ukrainian repertoire of the famous artist.
He treated each role with love, conviction, looking for accents that made it possible to notice and feel the nature of the national character in music. Therefore, it is significant that for the anniversary benefit performance in 2009, Igor chose the part of Mikhail Gurman in the opera Stolen Happiness (Yu. Meitus based on the play by I. Franko).
The influence of power on the work of the singer
“God forbid you live in a time of change,” said the Chinese sages. But many famous artists paved the way during such times under tight ideological control. This fate did not bypass Igor Kushpler either.
The singer had to get acquainted not only with world masterpieces, but also with custom-made Soviet operas. For example, with M. Karminsky's opera "Ten Days That Shook the World", ideologically motivated by political agitation. In it, Kushpler was appointed to the role of a one-legged sailor. The vocal part was reminiscent of the speeches of communist orators and songs of the Stalin era, than a musical language worthy of modern opera.
Through his controversial artistic practice, he not only immersed himself in the roles for which he felt he was made. But also in those in which he was looking for a "rational grain" of content and created a convincing image. Such a school tempered his professional freedom and developed analytical skills.
Igor Kushpler's benefit performance in the role of Mikhail Gurman symbolically spoke about the main essence of his artistic "ego". This is the versatility, variability of images, sensitivity to the subtlest shades of character, the unity of all components - vocal intonation (as the main element) and movement, gesture, facial expressions.
Musical pedagogical activity
No less successful was Igor Kushpler in the pedagogical field, where the singer shared his rich vocal and stage experience. At the Department of Solo Singing of the Lviv National Musical Academy. M. V. Lysenko artist has been teaching since 1983. Many of its graduates have worked as soloists in opera houses in Lvov, Kyiv, Warsaw, Hamburg, Vienna, Toronto, cities in Europe and around the world.
Pupils of Kushpler became laureates (including first prizes) of prestigious international competitions. Among its graduates: Honored Artists of Ukraine - Laureate of the National Prize of Ukraine named after. T. Shevchenko A. Shkurgan, I. Derda, O. Sidir, soloist of the Vienna Opera Z. Kushpler, soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine (Kyiv) M. Gubchuk. As well as the soloists of the Lviv Opera - Viktor Dudar, V. Zagorbensky, A. Benyuk, T. Vakhnovskaya. O. Sitnitskaya, S. Shuptar, S. Nightingale, S. Slivyanchuk and others work under contracts in opera houses in the USA, Canada, and Italy. Ivan Patorzhinsky awarded Kushpler with the diploma "Best Teacher".
The singer has repeatedly been a member of the jury of singing competitions, in particular the III International Competition. Solomiya Krushelnytska (2003). As well as II and III International Competition. Adam Didura (Poland, 2008, 2012). He systematically held master classes in music schools in Germany and Poland.
Since 2011, Igor Kushpler has been successfully managing the Department of Solo Singing. He was the author and leader of numerous creative projects. And he successfully implemented them together with the teachers of the department.
Returning from the international vocal competition. Adam Didur, where he was a member of the jury, Igor Kushpler died tragically in a car accident near Krakow on April 22, 2012.
The wife of Ada Kushpler, as well as the two daughters of the artist, continue to develop opera music in Ukraine.
