The role and specificity of vocal-performing universalism (on the example of the activity at MC “The Kharkiv Regional Philharmonic Society”)
Authors: Gigolayeva-Yurchenko V. 
Published: June 2019

The relevance of the topic. The dynamics of cultural development in the 21st century sets for the interpreter-vocalist tasks that require a quick and high-quality response to public inquiries (challenges of the time), on which the performing demand at a particular institution directly depends. MC “The Kharkiv Regional Philharmonic Society” is a concert organization, where, unlike the opera theatre, there are not clearly regulated genre priorities. Therefore, opera, jazz and even pop music organically coexist on the same stage. This genre and style diversity entails the need for the soloist to comply with the performing complex, which includes a number of requirements: the vocal-technical and stage freedom, the mastery of the art of improvisation (working with the audience), the vocal endurance, taking into account the repertory load (during one hour and a half). Last but not least, there are such criteria as the vocal-performing aesthetics, the ability for gender-performing transformation and the vocal-figurative reincarnation in one concert, etc. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the role of the phonopedic method for the development of a singing voice for developing the vocal-performing universalism in the conditions of the competition between genre-performing styles and the trends of the modern vocal culture. Analysis of recent research and publications. A great deal of interesting research and biographical works (I. Arkhipova, P. Domingo, S. Lemeshev, E. Nesterenko, B. Hmyrya, T. Madysheva,) is devoted to studying the specifics of the vocal-performing interpretation. The practicing teachers and scientists (L. Dmitriev, J. Lauri-Volpi, I. Nazarenko, V. Yushmanov) reveal the performing secrets, share their stage experience, meticulously identifying the nature and the possibilities of the voice apparatus, make historical excursions and acquaint with the vocal traditions of the past. However, none of the above scientific sources presents a systematic picture reflecting the vocal-performing process as a complex phenomenon. The author sees the indicated problem as relevant and requiring a multilateral discussion of specialists. The presentation of the main material. As of today, the professional activity of a vocal artist, regardless of the genre direction, faces very high requirements, the most important of which is the interpretative universalism. Its fundamental element is the vocal technique, the possession of which is the basic condition that ensures the singer a long and healthy professional life. However, up to the present, it is the vocal technique that continues to be an area of the open problem of the singing instrument, as a sound-forming object used by vocal performers to realize their artistic intentions and tasks. The key issue of the vocal method and one of the fundamental questions of the theory of the singing art, the psychophysics that controls the phonation process remains its unexplored area. According to V.I. Yushmanov, the technically perfect singing (or the vocal school) is a factor by which, first of all, the vocal mastery is evaluated, and the ability to sing, maintaining the phonetic clarity of vocal speech in combination with timbre rich, and at the same time bright, flying sound of the voice, steady dynamically and in the pitch on a range of at least two octaves – is one of the main requirements of the singing profession, the very necessary condition that provides the singer with the opportunity to realize their artistic intentions. But at the same time, the impossibility of separating the singing instrument from the singer himself/herself and the secrecy of the work of the control system of the singing process initially caused the emergence of the persistent illusion that, unlike instrumentalists, singers deal with the voice – perceived only acoustically (by the hearing). In this regard, the development of the vocal technique, called the “singing voice setting” must include a detailed study of the functional structure of the vocal apparatus, as a musical instrument, together with the psychophysical peculiarities. It should be noted that in the gender (male and female) and age (children, adolescents, adults) senses, the psychophysical peculiarities of the management of the vocal phonation process are diametrically opposed and require an individual approach in the vocal pedagogy. The methods of influence on psychophysics, which are responsible for managing the vocal phonation process, the principles of its flexible correction are presented in detail in the field of phonopedia and are successfully applied by vocal phonopedists. Unfortunately, the majority of the vocal-performing and phonopedic practices coexist in parallel and intersect only in critical cases (in case of functional disorders of the vocal apparatus). For ten years of my performing on the stage of the concert organization MC “The Kharkiv Regional Philharmonic Society” I have had a unique opportunity to try myself in different vocal genres and vocally reincarnate within the fames of even one concert. Such working conditions discipline, force to develop, and provide the opportunity to experiment and learn the professional foundations of singing with an even new power. And, of course, it would be impossible without the proper vocal and technical foundations, which should be constantly replenished and improved thanks to the knowledge of the phonopedic method of the voice development. The conclusion. On the example of the personal experience in chamber and concert performances it has been shown that the presented issues are relevant and deserve attention. The “tandem” of phonopedia and vocal theory not only opens new horizons for singers in their vocal-performing practice, but also shows the shortest way to mastering the singing and interpretive universalism.