Creative biography of Ukrainian singer Oleksandr Herasymenko (source-science aspect)

Abstract

The article highlights the data about life and creative activity of the Ukrainian opera singer of the end of 19^th – beginning of 20^th century – Oleksandr Нerasymenko, bright representative of the Ukrainian classic vocal art, whose creative formation took place in Italy under the influence of the Italian school and stage. Available information about the artist’s activities was analyzed: inaccuracies in the chronology of the opera singer’s performances were found, corrected and clarified in the article. On the basis of the Italian and domestic theatrical and socio-political press, the stage performance activity of Нerasymenko was studied and reconstructed, the artist’s repertoire was considered, periodization of his creative activity was carried out. In the article, for the first time, music and journalistic publications containing various assessments of the professional growth of the artist were used: a detailed analysis was carried out, examples given and reviews from various newspaper sources and the artist’s opera performances compared. The interaction of the singer with famous musicians of that time, such as A. Toscanini, A. Borgi, G. Sünerberg,                  O. Klyamzhynska, O. Antonovsky and others, was traced, their joint performances were described; the circumstances of the artist’s growing popularity, which expressed in numerous offered contracts, were revealed (and, accordingly, the ability to choose the best among them) as well active touring activities and great press attention to the figure of the Ukrainian baritone-soloist of opera companies. The research possibilities of biographical, bio-bibliographic, source studies, retrospective, analytical-descriptive and systematization methods were used. It was emphasized that the milestones of O. Нerasymenko’s creative biography testified to the successful formation of the singer’s performance style in the artistic space of Italian and Ukrainian vocal cultures. The effectiveness and organic influence of the Italian vocal school on the formation of the traditions of the Ukrainian vocal school at the turn of                      19-20 centuries have been proven.