Kharkiv vocal school: on the path of continuity

Statement of the problem. Objectives, methods, novelty of the research. The year 2022, which marked the 105th anniversary of the Kharkiv National University of Arts, became a tragic challenge for the entire Ukrainian public, exacerbating the issue of preserving the country’s cultural traditions and its historical memory. The formation and development of the Kharkiv school of academic vocal art is an integral and bright part of the cultural history of Ukraine, which needs to be highlighted and scientifically understood. Despite the fact that the Kharkiv vocal school has educated a whole galaxy of world-class singers, there is still no fundamental scientific research devoted to it. The purpose of the article is to actualize for our contemporaries the creative achievements of the Kharkiv vocal school, represented now by the Department of Solo Singing and Opera Training of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, to highlight the hereditary ties between the generations of its representatives, some trends in its development and the specifics of its current stage. The combination of historical-biographical, chronological-documentary, analytical, and systemic methods made it possible, based on a brief review of the historical development of the Kharkiv vocal school, to identify some characteristics of it, established in its tradition. Research results and conclusion. A brief overview of the historical development and main achievements of the Kharkiv school of academic singing, the core of which is today the teaching staff of the Department of Solo Singing and Opera Training of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, allows us to identify certain characteristics of it, established in its long-standing tradition. This is an extremely high vocal culture, characteristic of its best representatives, among whom are People’s Artists of the USSR B. Hmyria, M. Reizen, M. Manoilo, N. Surzhina, N. Tkachenko, V. Tretiak, H. Tsypola; People’s Artists of Ukraine and former Soviet republics V. Arkanova, H. Horiushko, O. Vostriakov, I. Zhurina, M.Koval, L. Solianyk, O.Romanenko, V.Rozanov and many others, Honored Artists and laureates and graduates of international and national vocal competitions, who at different times, in different countries, on the most prestigious stages of the world successfully confirmed the high professional status of the Kharkiv vocal school: L. Morozov (Geneva, 1958), Ye. Ivanov (Sofia, 1961) , Bucharest, 1964), V. Trishin (Moscow, 1970), L. Serhienko (Geneva, 1973, Moscow, 1974), H. Tsypola (Tokyo, 1976), V. Boldyrev (Japan, 1990), O. Kramareva ( St. Petersburg, 2005), M. Paster (Moscow, 2007), N. Polikarpova (Finland, 2010), L. Kohan (Finland, 2017), Liu Xia (Italy, 2018), V. Lashko (Czech Republic, 2019) and many others. The components of this culture are perfect technical skill, “inherited” thanks to the tradition of training singers, which comes from the masters of Italian bel canto – the founders of the Kharkiv school, and a deep understanding of the artistic content of music, which is impossible without the constant attention of the teachers to the harmonious education of the students, the expansion of their creative horizons. From the beginning, the Kharkiv vocal school relied on invaluable performance experience – its teachers were usually the recognized masters of opera and chamber singing, and this tradition has been preserved. Today, in the era of the “stage director’s” theater, the concept of complex development of the vocalist has gained new relevance. Currently, the Department of Solo Singing and Opera Training of the Kharkiv National University of Arts carries out the entire complex of professional training of a singer thanks to his close cooperation with the concertmaster, conductor, choirmaster, director, teachers of acting disciplines, stage practice in the Opera Studio. As in the previous stages of its development, the Kharkiv vocal school demonstrates openness, readiness to learn the experience of other Ukrainian and international schools, which is a guarantee of constant growth. In recent decades, the number of honorary and scientific titles, bright victories of Kharkiv singers at prestigious vocal competitions has significantly increased, graduates of the department work on leading opera stages, and successfully tour abroad. With the change of generations, new pedagogical methods, aesthetics and performance styles naturally appear, vocal and technical skills are improved, but awareness of the artistic and aesthetic principles of the Alma Mater vocal school will help its young students to solve difficult professional tasks.