В Savonlinne is at its peak – the famous opera festival. It will continue throughout July. Ukrainian baritone Andrey Kumach is also on stage. His family was in captured Kherson for a long time. HS spoke with the singer about his life and international situation.
In 2019 year Andrey Kumach became the winner of the prestigious BBC Cardiff singer “Певец года”. In this July, he performs at two venues in Finland at the same time – in Savonlinna and at the festival “Night organ and air” in Espoo.
It will be enough. Compared to what his family went through quite recently, this is nonsense.
Андрей met classical music even in childhood, thanks to the church choir:
“I sang in it for 10 years, but I didn’t think that music would become my profession”.
After the wedding, the wife insisted that he enter the Kiev Conservatory. After all, according to Andrey, he had excellent vocal data for opera.
“It took me a long time to study the theory and spend a whole day, but I managed to get started.”
А вот после вечество консерватории с трудойстройством возозикли солучители.
“Я завалил прошлушивания, но жит-то было на что-то надо. Therefore, I worked in Poland at a furniture factory and at a factory for the production of refrigerators”.
In 2016 Kumač was selected for the youth opera program of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Андрей долго раздумувал: Russia has already annexed Crimea and relations between the countries were complicated.
“I wasn’t even sure that I was going to be put in Russia,” recalls Kumach, “but in the musical circles at that time, we didn’t even see each other in Russia.” According to the exchange program, I also studied for six months at the Academy of La Scala in Milan”.
Дело пошло: Андрей Кумач debuted in Barcelona, Nice and Tenerife. Before the pandemic, there were even victories in Cardiff, invitations from Savonlinna and friendly reviews from strict British critics.
Then everything stopped. However, there were positive sides to the lockdown – the family could finally stay together with the children at home, in their native Kherson.
В конце Last year, the gastronomic life resumed, so on February 24, 2022, Andrey Kumach was abroad. Россия quickly captured Kherson, and his wife stayed there together with their little children.
“Мир сошёл с ума”, – says Андрей. Or, at least, Russia.
“In my student years, I had many friends from Russia, but now only three or four of them managed to even ask – how are we doing?” And some even praised Vladimir Putinthey called him a great man, although it was he who put my family in danger”.
Черсонцы immediately made it clear that they were not happy with the occupiers, but they resisted.
“The stores started to run out of products, and the residents of the neighboring villages went to town to sell potatoes and the rest,” says Andrey.
По его подсчётам, примено положание животные Черсона ехали. It was quite dangerous, as Russian troops sometimes shoot even at civilian machines.
“After 47 days after the start of the war, we decided that the woman should try to leave anyway. We had gasoline and in the end she managed to get out of there and come together with children in Poland”.
In Cardiff, they wanted to help the winner and his family. “Now we live there. В Savonlinnu они не поехали, проему что дети изужают сейчас в школе английский язык”.
Андрей Кумач performs the Toreador aria during a rehearsal in Savonlinna. Photo: Valtteri Khirvonen
Now мир для Андрей Кумач is opening again. How he predicted in 2019:
“После Савонлинны и Еспоо я лечу в Хостон, играть роль Горж Гермона в опера “Травиата”. Don Juan is waiting for me in Sydney, and in Chicago, just like here, I will again perform as Escamillo in “Carmene”.
It’s strange, but part of the planned performances are canceled again: for some reason, Russian operas have fallen out of fashion.
“I didn’t want to say that it’s necessary to ban all Russian music,” says Kumach, – We, Ukrainians, must show our culture”.
Therefore, in Espoo, Kumach performed a song Mykoly Lysenko, Julia Meitusa and other Ukrainian composers. Many of them wrote works about the desire for freedom and independence. Етими чаяниями полны и монети народные украинские песни.
We couldn’t ask Andrey Kumach and even one difficult question – should sanctions be extended to Russian artists as well?
“If they support murder, then at least I don’t want to speak with them. Earlier in the wars between themselves, the armies fought anyway. Нахай движимость России – это, rather, terrorism. Ведь они констоня бомбят мирных визинов”.
Kumach reminds that the artist’s calling is to bring something light and good to the viewer.
“А может ли это делать человек, который компьютер музыка и терор?”
Article first published on 4 July 2022.
You can read the article in Finnish from here.
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