Education of a Singer-Actor in the Context of the Ukrainian Opera School

Abstract

The article examines the process of formation of the Ukrainian national opera school, establishing its fundamental principles in the context of the successive activities of several generations of vocal teachers. The author substantiates in detail the necessity of training a universal opera singer with fluency in the vocal technique of performing the Ukrainian and foreign repertoire in the original language. The specificity of the training of a singer-actor of the opera genre is determined in the context of the integrative interaction of domestic and foreign vocal systems. The algorithm of this study consists in clarifying the prerequisites and sources of the formation of the Ukrainian national opera school, as well as in the analysis of the formation of its fundamental principles through the prism of the activities of outstanding teachers. The author outlines the definition of the concept of training opera singers in today's realities. The prerequisites for the formation of domestic professional vocal education have been revealed, which consist in the pedagogical activities of the music classes at the Kyiv branch of the Russian Music Society (reformed into the Kyiv Music School), the M. Lysenko Music and Drama School (reorganized into the M. Lysenko Music and Drama Institute), which laid the foundation for the opera training of singers at the Kyiv Conservatory. It was found that the Ukrainian national opera school was formed on the basis of an organic synthesis of national church and folk singing and creatively reinterpreted various European vocal systems. The analysis of the formation of the Ukrainian opera school was carried out. It is proved that it is based mainly on the Italian vocal tradition, developed on domestic soil by O. Muravyova with the participation of O. Filippi-Mishuga. The concept of training a singer-actor in the context of the modern assets of the Ukrainian opera school is argued, it involves the integration of various means of expressiveness in the creation of a complete vocal and stage image of a character. Prospects for further research in the aspect of integrating techniques of different vocal systems with their gradual convergence and assimilation are predicted.