Interpretation of Taras’ character in M. Lysenko’s opera “Taras Bulba” as an integral part of the national cultural code
Authors: Dmytro Makliuk 
Published: May 2022

Statement of the problem. Mykola Lysenko’s opera “TarasBulba”, first staged in 1924, has confidently become a theatrical repertoire and a significant event in the national art. The opera has an outstanding spiritual value, in addition to its artistic one. For the first time, the opera genre manifested the idea of national identity, the embodiment of which for the Ukrainians is the image of the Cossack ataman Taras Bulba. Even after Ukraine gained independence, the issue of national identity remained under discussion, becoming even more debatable after the events of 2014. This issue is directly related to the phenomenon of the national cultural code – the mental information dimension that forms the nation. The purpose of the article is to characterize the image of Taras Bulba from Lysenko’s opera of the same name, revealing its belonging to the national cultural code and the relevance that this image still has. The following scientific methods were used: a culturological approach to identify the place of the image of Taras in the phenomenon of the “national-cultural code”, a historical method to trace the origin of this phenomenon components and a comparative analysis to determine the features of the image of Taras implemented in vocal interpretations. Despite the fact that a significant number of the scientific works are devoted to Lysenko’s work, in fact there is no interpretive analysis of the image of Taras Bulba in the context of its belonging to the nationalcultural code, which is the scientific novelty of the research. Results and conclusions. The selected definitions of “cultural code” (Habermas, 2001; Klymenkova, 2012; Andreichuk, 2009) indicate the scope of its functioning and its relation to the subject under consideration – the image of Taras Bulba as interpreted by the leading Ukrainian singers T. Shtonda, S. Mahera, V. Dutchak. The opera’s culminating scene contains an extremely important semantic moment for understanding its idea, which is key in the musical characterization of Taras – his song “Hey, the eagle flies”. Its generalizing function is to create a symbolic image of a Cossack – brave, free, cheerful, personifying the character of Taras himself and the entire Ukrainian people. This task is brilliantly accomplished by the singers T. Shtonda and S. Mahera, not only through the soulful intonation and masterful agogics, but also through the use of minimalistic but expressive stage gestures, which become an additional means of articulation and communication. Therefore, the image of Taras, created by V. Dutchak with great artistic skills, is less convincing, since the singer lacks stage mobility and plasticity. Thus, we can confidently say that largely due to the thoughtful interpretive work of the singers, the image of the Zaporizkyi Cossack has become the holder of a freedom-loving idea vital for all people. Proclaimed by the main character, the leader of the Cossacks, the idea of liberation from the invaders gains a powerful and meaningful rotation on the mental level. The opera character itself has become a symbolic sign that embodies this idea, and thus an integral and relevant part of the national cultural code.