Activities of Zoia Haidai on Kyiv Opera Stage during the Period of Late Stalinism (1946-1953)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to investigate the specifics of the activities of singer Z. Haidai on the stage of the Kyiv Opera in 1946–1953, which took place during the period of late Stalinism, in particular, to identify working conditions, opportunities for creative realisation, prospects, as well as to analyse the creative achievements of the famous artist in accordance with the principles of repertoire policy and determine their artistic value in the context of today’s requirements. The methodology of the work consists of the use of source study method to analyse archival documents – reviews of productions, epistolary heritage of Z. Haidai, as well as other materials on the topic of the study, specifically historical – to determine the influence of political processes of the late Stalinist period on the functioning of the Kyiv Opera and the activities of its soloist Z. Haidai, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalisation) – in order to thoroughly study the issue and form a substantiated conclusion. The scientific novelty of the article lies in its examination of the specifics of work of singer Z. Haidai on the stage of the Kyiv Opera during the period of late Stalinism, 1946–1953. Thanks to the processing of archival sources, it was possible to find out what the working conditions were, the possibilities of realising creative potential, prospects for the future, as a result of the issuance of resolutions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks), which influenced the functioning of the theatre and the formation of its repertoire policy. Conclusions. The activities of singer Z. Haidai on the Kyiv Opera stage during the period of late Stalinism (1946–1953) cannot be considered very successful today, because the destructive influence of repressive resolutions of the above-mentioned period on the formation of the theatre’s repertoire policy extremely politicized this process, limiting the right of artists to freedom of creativity and making it impossible to stage the best performances of the Ukrainian and Western European opera repertoire without hindrance. First of all, those performances that fit into the ideological framework of Stalin’s totalitarian regime were staged, although this did not guarantee them stable success with the public. Under such working conditions, Z. Haidai was unable to fully realise her creative potential on the opera stage. Characterising her work of 1946–1953, first of all, participation in premiere performances, the most significant from the point of view of the present were the parts she performed as Manon Lescaut in the opera-montage ‘Manon’ by J. Massenet, Halka in the opera of the same name by S. Moniuszko, and Halia in ‘Drowned’ by M. Lysenko. Within the framework of the decommunisation process, there is no chance for the propaganda operas of the late Stalinism to return to the stages of Ukrainian theatres.