Ivan Mazepa’s personality as a cultural symbol: historicalperforming aspects
Authors: Makliuk D. 
Published: May 2020

Abstract. The article explores the image of I. Mazepa in the context of numerous sources devoted to the personality of the Ukrainian hetman in historical science, literature and music. The analysis shows that the ideas of the great Ukrainian in the works of art evolve: from a traitor to a patriot. If in the 18th – 19th centuries artists created this image being inspired by myths, then from the early 20th century and up to the present time the historical approach has been dominant. In this paper the author suggests performing aspect basing on the vocal and scenic image of I. Mazepa created by him on the stage of Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theater named after M. Lysenko. The interpretation of the extraordinary personality of the Ukrainian hetman gives the audience an opportunity to look at Mazepa from a historical perspective. It is noted that his image in this performance is not limited to a national vision, but acquires a universal character. I. Mazepa’s personality is of great interest to modern Ukrainians living both in their historical homeland and far beyond its borders. At present, contradictory assessments of Mazepa’s role in the chronicle of Ukrainian history require the establishment of historical and artistic truth. P. Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazepa is perceived as a fruitful material to search for a new interpretation of the image. It was first performed on the stage of Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theater named after N. V. Lysenko on July 2, 2017 to mark the 330th anniversary of Ivan Mazepa’s election as hetman of Ukraine. This fact gives a chance to bring into focus a relevant performing interpretation of the image of this outstanding figure in Ukrainian history. Among the numerous historians and literary critics cited in the article, we find a new interpretation of Mazepa’s image in contrast to music studies (N. Lupak’s dissertation). The method of analysis is conditioned by the creative practice of the KhNAOBTh and its own performance experience. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the reinterpretation of Mazepa’s vocal and scenic image in the production of the P. I. Tchaikovsky’s opera of the same name on the stage of KhNAOBTh named after M. Lysenko (2017) basing on the critical analysis of scientific historiography. The attitude towards I. Mazepa as a historical personality and a person has always been ambiguous. He combined the incomparable: on the one hand, he was a great military and political figure who fought for the creation of the Ukrainian state, on the other hand – a treacherous traitor; at his initiative, 26 Orthodox churches were created throughout Ukraine and, at the same time, he was an apostate devotee who took part in the destruction of Ukrainian cities and villages; a person capable of loving in the broadest sense of the word. He had everything that attracted and aroused great interest of writers, composers, artists, directors not only in our country but also far beyond its borders. And each author interpreted the image of Mazepa in their own way. In the 19th century, the image of the Ukrainian hetman fell into the area of artistic interests of M. Staritsky. He, like Voltaire and Byron, used the Western European legend of Mazepa in the novel “Mazepa’s Youth”, which was appropriate for its genre (historical-adventure). Naturally, the idea of “independent Ukraine” did not fit into Russia’s interests. In Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazepa (1883), based on A. Pushkin’s story (libretto by V. P. Burenin) everything is quite complex. It is important to note that many researchers of Tchaikovsky’s creativity believe that in Tchaikovsky’s Mazepa historical facts are sidelined while lyrical love scenes dominate. There were a number of questions when the image of Mazepa was ctreated in the original Ukrainian version of the opera on the stage of Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after N. Lysenko. The main one is how to maintain faithfulness not only to historical but also to the life’s truth? The times of the Hetmanate in Ukraine were silenced for about 300 years, and, in particular, the true life of one of its most famous representatives was unknown. But in order to create an image, it is important to know the smallest shades of your character’s psychotype. As the lyrical scenes of Mary and Mazepa are the central line in the opera, it is necessary to understand what kind of relationship they really had. Kharkiv stage directors of P. Tchaikovsky’s opera (director Armen Kaloyan and conductor People’s Artist of Ukraine Garkusha) sought to convey this very episode from the life of Mazepa, who openly loves his darling and suffers from having to cruelly deal with her father and hurt her badly. In addition, there was created their own version of the text (by Victor Marinchak, Svetlana Oleshko and Mikhail Barbara) and changes were made to the musical dramaturgy of the opera. The main idea of stage directors was to transform the content of the opera into another field – to reveal the image of the hetman as a significant figure in the history of Ukraine, which was much more important for Mazepa than the alliance with Peter I. The difficulty of creating a vocal and scenic image of Mazepa lies in its multi-vector character, which should not interfere with artistic unity and integrity: Mazepa-lover (in the tradition of Western European romanticism), Mazepastatesman (Ukrainian national tradition) and, at the same time, in the interpretation of Kharkiv theatre Mazepa-traitor had to be neutralized (an enemy that is characteristic of Russian imperial thinking). The motives of torments, sorrow and, along with this, the rebellious nature of the protagonist become considerable in the opera, rising to genuine symbolism. Thus, in the vast number of works dedicated to I. Mazepa, his image is not limited to the national framework, but acquires a universal significance. Conclusions. Analysis has shown the evolution of ideas about the great Ukrainian: from traitor to patriot and legendary hetman. If in the 18th century the image of the Ukrainian hero was interpreted in many ways by its creators on the basis of myths, then in the 20th – 21st centuries the historical approach prevails in understanding performing interpretation of Mazepa. The creation of a complex, extraordinary personality on the opera stage requires from the performer, in addition to knowledge of Mazepa’s vocal part, a thorough study of various axiological judgments. The above given interpretations of I. Mazepa’s image reflect the irreconcilable confrontation and “blood” belonging of one or another author to different systems of values of the worldview. Such interpretations indicate that the image of I. Mazepa is interpreted as a symbol, an archetype of the national opera tradition. Undertaking further study of the theme can involve performing analysis of Mazepa’s image on the stages of Kyiv and Odessa opera theaters with a view of understanding the performing principles when teaching young vocalists in the class of solo singing.