Vasyl Yaroslavovych Slipak (; 20 December 1974 – 29 June 2016) was a Ukrainian baritone opera singer. From 1994 he frequently performed in France at such venues as Paris Opera and Opéra Bastille., 112 Ukraine (25 September 2019) For his opera performance, Slipak received several awards, including "Best Male Performance" for the Toreador Song. A volunteer in the Ukrainian army, Slipak was killed during the war in Donbas by a Russian sniper near the village of Luhanske, in Bakhmut region. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine for his work as a volunteer soldier.
Early life Vasyl was born in the city of Lviv on 20 December 1974. He started singing early. Like any child, he was present at all home holiday parties, which did not do without songs. He fell in love with these melodies, they stuck in his soul. At the age of six, at a village wedding, he sang the song by the Marenich trio "Tysha navkrugy" (lyrics and music by Oleksandr Bogachuk).
No one in the family was professionally connected with music. Mother Nadiya Vasylivna worked in a design office, father Yaroslav Volodymyrovych was a specialist in the production unit, and older brother Orest Yaroslavovych, a doctor by education. But the grandfather, after whom the parents named their son, had a unique voice. Therefore, it is believed that Vasyl's talent comes from him. From 1981 to 1991, he studied at Lviv School No. 46.
Career
Choir Chapel "Dudaryk" Everything in his life was connected with singing. In 1983, when he was 9 years old, his older brother Orest took him to the Lviv Choir Chapel "Dudaryk", where Vasyl sang until 1994. It was Mykola Katsal, the head of the chapel, who became the first iconic figure in the work of Vasyl Slipak.
The worldview and taste of the future opera singer was shaped by the repertoire works of Ukrainian composers, which represent the "golden age" of the development of the a capella choral concert genre of the second half of the seventeenth - the first half of the eighteenth century, namely: concerts by Dmytro Bortnyansky, Artem Vedel, Maksym Berezovsky; Christmas carols and Christmas carols arranged by Ukrainian composers — Mykola Lysenko, Mykola Leontovych, Kyril Stetsenko, Oleksandr Koshyts. "Dudaryk" also performed "Stabat Mater" by J. Pergolesi, "Carmina Burana" by K. Orff, Requiem by V. A. Mozart, IX Symphony by L. V. Beethoven, III Symphony Kaddish ("Kaddish") by L. Bernstein and many oratorios.
"Dudaryk" recorded several records, CDs, and CDs, as well as dozens of concert programs on radio and television. In 1989 the team was awarded the Shevchenko Prize.
Vasyl Slipak's formation as an opera singer took place surrounded by professionals, which is an important component of the professional training system, contributing to the formation of the manner of performance and personality development.
In particular, on 19 May 1985, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of J. S. Bach, a joint concert "Dudaryk" was held at the Lviv Regional Philharmonic with Lyudmila Bozhko (soprano), People's Artist of Ukraine, Natalya Svoboda (mezzo-soprano), Honored Artist of Ukraine, Volodymyr Ignatenko (tenor), Honored Artist of Ukraine.
On 1 and 2 February 1986 joint concerts of "Dudaryk" with Nina Matvienko, People's Artist of Ukraine, V. Kovalska, and V. Pivnov, laureates of republican competitions.
On 13 November 1987, "Dudaryk" together with Nina Matvienko made a stock recording of Ukrainian folk lullabies at the Ukrainian Radio Sound Recording House.
30 December 1988, 5 January 1989, at the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater named after I. Franko (now the Lviv National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet named after Solomiya Krushelnytska) and on 14 January 1989, in the Column Hall of the Kyiv State Philharmonic, choir chapel concerts were held together with Nina Matvienko and the trio "Golden Keys".
In June–July 1990, the band with soloist V.Slipak went on a tour of the cities of the USA — Detroit, Rochester (New York), Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Kergonkson (performance in the center of Soyuzivka), Chicago, Minneapolis, and also Canada.
On 18 June 1990, in Carnegie Hall (New York, USA) together with the famous soloist of the Metropolitan Opera bass Pavel Plishka, they performed "The Boundless Field" based on a poem by Ivan Franko, music by Mykola Lysenko, the prayer "Lord of Heaven and land" from Semen Hulak-Artemovsky's opera "Zaporozhets za Danube", a cantata about the Pochaiv Mother of God, "You hear, my brother" based on a poem by Bohdan Lepky, music by Levko Lepky, arrangement by Kyryll Stetsenko, "For you, Ukraine" by Stanislav Ludkevich.
"Dudaryk" took part in the International Choral Festival (2–8 July) in Powell River (Canada, British Columbia) and on 9 July 1990 in the International Festival in Vancouver (Canada Place).
As part of the VI World Youth Day on 15 August 1991, in Częstochowa (Poland), a concert of the "Dudaryk" chapel took place, attended by Pope John Paul II.
In 1992, "Dudaryk" took part in the 2nd International Sacred Music Festival "Gaude Mater", which took place from 1 to 6 May in Częstochowa (Poland), performed "Canto about the Pochaiv Mother of God" by Mykola Leontovych, carol "Oh there on the river, there on the Jordan", arranged by Kyril Stetsenko, Cherub Song, A minor, by Artem Vedel, "Hallelujah" by Mykhailo Verbytskyi.
Vasyl Slipak, as part of the choir, performed in the most prestigious concert halls of Ukraine and the world: the National Opera of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the National Palace of Arts Ukraine, Carnegie Hall (New York, USA, 1990), Notre Dame Cathedral (France ), West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton, Canada), Vancouver Air Place (Canada, 1990), Warsaw Philharmonic (Poland, 1991, 1992, 1994), Dome Cathedral (Latvia, Riga), as well as in Lithuania, Estonia (1987, 1991), Belarus, Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia (1993, 1994), Austria (1993), Italy, the Vatican, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland (1993).
Student years Despite his rare voice (countertenor), he did not immediately enter the Lviv Higher State Music Institute named after M. V. Lysenko (now the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Academy of Music). But then he performed a lot, and toured. Met many conductors and composers — Myroslav Skoryk, Volodymyr Sirenko, Igor Andrievskyi, Artur Mykytka.
Only in 1992, did he become a student in the solo singing class of People's Artist of Ukraine (1979), laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (1976), Professor Baiko Maria Yakivna, under whose guidance he mastered a significant repertoire of works by Ukrainian and Western European composers. Performed the parts of Alkid from the opera of the same name by Dmytro Bortnyansky and Lebed in "Carmine Buran" by Karl Orff. He took an active part in student concerts, and already then distinguished himself as a talented and promising performer. While studying at the institute (1992-1996), he continued his concert activities. He performed the works of G. Caccini, A. Falconieri, A. Scarlatti, A. Stefani, A. Vivaldi, A. Tenaglia, L. Vinci, A. Stradella, A. Lotti, V. A. Mozart, M. Berezovsky, and other composers. He sang in the hall of the Solomiya Krushelnytska Memorial Music Museum.
He was the first performer of Oleksandr Kozarenko's chamber cantata for countertenor and the instrumental ensemble "Pierro mertvpetlyuye", which premiered in 1994 in Lviv. Vasyl Slipak announced himself as a contemporary music performer.
In 1994, the older brother, a postgraduate student at the medical institute, while attending a congress of cardiologists in France, met Fr. Pavel Kogut, who directed him to the editorial office of "Ukrainian Word" in Paris, where he met the director of the weekly Yaroslav Musyanovych, doctor of medicine. The professor, receiving Orest in his own home, talked about culture and Parisian life, introduced him to the composer of Ukrainian origin Maryan Kuzan, and strongly recommended to leave the cassette with Vasyl's recording to the composer. Within a month, Vasyl Slipak received an invitation from the organizing committee of one of the largest music festivals in Clermont-Ferrand (France).
Within a three-month period, Vasyl prepared a concert programme that included The Passion according to St Matthew and The Passion according to St John by Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as cantatas by George Frideric Handel. He also performed German and French songs and Italian arias in their original languages.
At the 10th International Oratorio and Song Contest “Grand Prix France Telecom” (1994) in Clermont-Ferrand, France, he was the only participant to perform songs from his native repertoire, arranged by Levko Revutskyi and Mykola Lysenko. He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Audience Prize.
His performance at the competition, together with subsequent auditions with specialists from the Paris Conservatoire, marked an important stage in his early career and contributed to discussions regarding his vocal range, including his performance as both a countertenor and a baritone.
Vasyl Slipak was given the right to present his program in Paris. In 1994, the young baritone gave a solo concert at the Vichy Opera (France) — a concert of works of Ukrainian folk music.
As part of the Fifth International Ukrainian Music Festival "Kyiv Music Fest'94", on 3 October 1994, in the hall of the House of Scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, accompanied by the chamber orchestra "ARCHI" (conductor - Ihor Andriyevsky), O. Kozarenko's chamber cantata "Pierro's Dead Loop" was performed. The audience called V.Slipak for an encore, which was the first time at a concert of modern chamber music.
On 15 April 1995, in Odesa at the forty-eight-hour musical marathon of the First International Festival of Contemporary Art "Two Days and Two Nights of New Music" in the presence of the president of the festival, Professor Bernhard Wolff, one of the recognized leaders of "new music", vice-rector of the Higher School of music in Freiburg (Germany), performed O. Kozarenko's cantata "Pierro is dying." Success was repeated, as in Lviv. The cantata was played twice.
In April 1995, he took part in the television program "Classic Premier", the filming took place in the National Palace of Arts "Ukraine". He performed Cherubino's arioso from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" accompanied by the honored academic symphony orchestra of the National Radio Company of Ukraine, conducted by Volodymyr Sirenko.
In 1995, he participated in the V International Festival of Concert Art in Žilina (Slovakia), where he performed a program of baroque arias accompanied by the harpsichord. The performance concert lasted an hour, during which eleven works were performed.
On 16 May 1995, a solo concert was held in Kyiv within the framework of the Fourth International Youth Music Forum, in the first part of which modern music was performed, and in the second part - baroque, in particular, Maryna Denysenko's work "Three Fragments from an Ancient Suite" (1991) to words Joachim du Belle for chamber ensemble and countertenor, which was written at Vasyl Slipak's suggestion. He became its first executor. The piece is dedicated to Vasyl Slipak, and it was in his performance (second edition, 1994) together with the chamber orchestra "Ukrainian Heritage" (artistic director and conductor - O. Andreev) that the composition was performed in a chamber concert.