Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre: history in the mirror of the tenor art
Authors: Konorov Oleksiі 
Published: August 2024

Statement of the problem. The tenor is the most demanded voice in the vocal art and is extremely difficult to develop during training. The urgency of our topic is determined by the search for the correspondence of historical and theoretical sources regarding the nature of the singing voice and the modern performing practice of tenors. Although there is a basis of methodical literature devoted to singing, but in musicology the art of tenors is not a dominant strategy. Therefore, the theory of tenor performance should fill the “gap” existing between the singer’s creativity and scientific reflection on it. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is the experience of compiling an “anthology” of outstanding tenors as part of the “cultural and stylistic landscape” of Ukrainian art (on the example of the activities of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after M. Lysenko). The concept of the work is based on the works of V. Antoniuk, O. Shuliar, L. Derkach & T. Madysheva, Yu. Komarnitskyi, A. Chernenko. Of special interest is the semiotics of the vocal: E. Avramenko, O. Ohanezova-Hryhorenko, Zhang Xiaohao. O. Chepalov’s “The Notes by the ‘Phantom of the Opera’” served as a valuable source of historiography of the Kharkiv Opera and Ballet Theatre. As the research methods historical-biographical, system-functional, genre-stylistic, interpretative were used. The scientific novelty of the study lies in actualizing attention to the phenomenon of tenor art as a component of the cultural and stylistic landscape of musical Ukraine through the compilation of an anthology of outstanding tenors who have entered the history of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after M. Lysenko Results and conclusion. The presentation of the main material contains two dimensions: the first is theoretical; the second is an “anthology” of outstanding tenors of Kharkiv Opera. The aesthetics of tenor singing in the European tradition is a unique palette of the figurative and psychological world of male heroes in the best opera plots (Othello, Manrico, Duke, Cavaradossi, Andrii, Petro, Levko and other) who still make up the classical tenor repertoire. The timbre of the singing voice is a way of individualization in chamber singing and the personification of the opera hero. Therefore, the role of the tenor is based on the expression and natural beauty of this type of voice, which should be distinguished by a unique timbre, elevated intonation, cantilena nature (bel canto). The strategy of the tenor’s performance is the European opera style, which gravitates towards the lyrical-dramatic genre. Its mental qualities: a high degree of emotionality, heightened individualism, psychological “modulations” from lyrical to dramatic states. The representatives of the tenor art on the stage of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre are tentatively divided into four generations. The study of the achievements of the young generation of tenors of Kharkiv Opera (I. Bondarenko, M. Vorachek) provides a perspective for further research.