Maiboroda’s Rhapsody
On December 3 the National Opera of Ukraine hosted a soiree commemorating the famous Ukrainian composers, brothers Heorhy and Platon Maiboroda.
Each has left a sizable creative heritage in the form of compositions that glorify Ukrainian culture. Heorhy Maiboroda specialized in academic music and Platon took to pop music and arrangements of Ukrainian folk tunes. Both were remarkably talented, very close friends, and both were born on the same day, December 1, except that Heorhy was five years Platon’s senior. Both were taught by the same professor at the Kyiv Conservatory of Music, the Ukrainian classic Levko Revutsky, and proved worthy inheritors of his tradition. Their composition do not age, they are still loved by listeners, they are still on the repertoires of numerous performing groups and singers, they are still performed during concerts and recorded on television and radio.
The soiree had two parts. The first consisted of arias and scenes from Heorhy Maiboroda’s operas Yaroslav the Wise, Taras Shevchenko, Arsenal, and Mylana, written specially for the Kyiv Opera. All had premiered on that stage.
The second part featured Platon Maiboroda’s most popular songs. Roman Maiboroda, the composers’ son and nephew, soloist with the National Opera, performed at the soiree. Among those taking the floor was poet Borys Oliynyk, the composers’ sworn brother, author of the lyrics of many of Heorhy Maiboroda’s songs. Anatoly Mokrenko had been the first to perform a number of Maiboroda’s songs. The opera’s symphony orchestra and the Platon Maiboroda Choir of the Ukrainian Radio and Television, Petro and Pavlo Pryimak, Olha Nahirna, Oksana Dyka, conductors Volodymyr Kozhukhar, Ivan Hamkalo, and others appeared on stage.
Prior to the concert, I interviewed Platon Maiboroda’s widow Tetiana.
How did you meet Platon Maiboroda?
Tetyana: By sheer chance, at a caf О , on May 9, 1956. I remember it only too well, for we would from then on always celebrate it as the date of our first meeting. Platon dropped in during a coffee break when shooting the film The Faraway and the Close by. By the way, the soundtrack premiered his song We’ll Go where the Grass is Bent. Later it became very popular. When he learned that I was a singer, he invited me to his concert and then on a concert tour of Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. I hadn’t heard any of his songs previously, as I had just recently come from Leningrad. He gave me the music and lyrics. Poet Andriy Malyshko took part in our rehearsals. Those were beautiful times and the atmosphere was so warm and creative, one felt prepared to move the mountains... Yes, time is running. To think that we first met 47 years ago! Now all I’m left with is memories about Platon. I am happy to hear his songs performed in Ukraine and abroad.
Which of the songs did he like the best?
Tetyana: It’s If You Fall in Love, a choral piece to Nahnybida’s lyrics. There is an excellent recording with the Dumka Choir and orchestra conducted by the famous Kostiantyn Simeonov. By the way, he was the first to conduct Heorhy’s opera Taras Shevchenko in 1964.
How did the brothers feel about each other?
Tetyana: Platon loved and respected his elder brother. They remained close friends all their lives and appreciated each other’s creative attainments. They were very close. Platon was the first to pass away in 1989 and Heorhy lived only three years longer. His son Roman became People’s Artiste, laureate of the Shevchenko Prize, soloist with the National Opera. I think he is the leading baritone of Ukraine.
Poet Leonid Tendiuk (husband of Platon’s regular accompanist Eleonora Piradova) gave me a poem dedicated to my husband. Let me quote these penetrating lines:
Notes on paper, neat and many, like swallows
Nestling in one’s heart, then taking off and singing,
Flying away, never telling where,
Headed for people’s homes to share their joys and sorrows.
Tender swallows, their songs on wings of their own,
Settling in every home,
He who begot them has long been gone,
But his songs are singing, never dying...
