Femelidi Volodymyr Oleksandrovych (29 July 1905, Odesa - 30 October 1931, Odesa) was a Ukrainian composer of Greek origin, conductor, one of the founders of Ukrainian opera and ballet.
He was born on 29 July (June?) 1905 into an intelligent, aristocratic family. The future composer's mother, Olena Oleksandrivna Lebedynska (1877-1957), came from the Kharkiv region, from a Ukrainian noble family. She played the piano and had a beautiful voice. It was her mother who noticed her son's musical abilities. Volodymyr's grandfather, Mykhailo Konstantinovych Femelidi, a Greek by birth, merchant, shipowner, philanthropist, mayor, and honorary citizen of Akkerman (now Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi), was a wealthy and influential man. Her father, Oleksandr Mykhailovych Femelidi (1872-1937), was a well-known Odesa lawyer, a member of the district court with the rank of general, author of the fundamental monograph "Russian Notary" (Russian: Русский нотариат. "Russian Notariat", St. Petersburg, 1902) - was a highly educated and talented man: he spoke many foreign languages, was the first author in European literary studies to write a monograph on the work of G. Senkevych (Odesa, 1904), translated ancient Roman poets, and worked for more than 20 years on the Encyclopedia of Fiction and Art.
Volodymyr grew up as a lively, inquisitive child, had a phenomenal memory, a great ear for music, played the piano, wrote poetry, and was fond of theatre.
In 1921, he became a student of the History Department of Odesa University. He was interested in history, archeology, literature, and fine arts. But his love for music prevailed. In 1924, he left the university and entered the Odesa Music and Drama Institute, studying at two faculties at the same time - the composer and conductor's faculties. Volodymyr Femelidi's teachers were professors V. Zolotaryov and P. Molchanov (composition theory) and G. Stolyarov (conducting). During this period, the young composer's first compositional attempts appeared: piano and vocal miniatures, chamber and instrumental works (piano sonata, piano trio, string quartet) and vocal works. Gradually, working hard, Femelidi approaches larger-scale works: a violin concerto, a piano concerto, and vocal and symphonic poems.
In 1927, the 22-year-old composer composed the Jubilee Symphony, dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, one of the first symphonic attempts in Ukrainian music to address the revolutionary theme. In the same year, Femelidi made his first public appearance as a conductor at a concert-report of the students of Professor H. Stolyarov's conducting class.
In 1928, the young composer created a number of new works: "Classical Symphony" (in the style of the eighteenth century) No. 2, the vocal cycle "Eight Songs on Jewish Themes", music for the play "Game of Interests" by J. Benavente.
In 1929, Femelidi composed the opera "The Rift" based on the play of the same name by B. Lavrenov. The premiere of the work took place on 7 November of the same year in Odesa (conductor S. Stolerman, director Y. Hrechnev, artist G. Pavlova). The leading actors of the Ukrainian Drama Theatre, which was performing the play by V. Lavrenov, Y. Shumsky, A. Buchma, and others, provided great assistance in staging the opera.
In January 1930, the opera "The Rift" was successfully staged in Baku, with the composer himself taking an active part in its preparation.
In 1930, Femelidi created one of the first Ukrainian ballets, Carmagnola. It is based on the theme of the French Revolution of 1789-1794. The composer depicts the experiences of a young Frenchwoman Carmagnola, who was wronged by a noble marquis. Her patriotic impulses became a symbol of the people's struggle against the king and the nobility.
The premiere of the ballet Carmagnola took place on 17 October 1930 at the Odesa Theatre (librettist P. Kryven, director M. Moiseev, conductor M. Pokrovsky, artist I. Nazarov). The score of the ballet introduced new expressive means for the Ukrainian ballet theatre (prose dialogues, exclamations, chorus). During the winter season of 1930-1931, the ballet was performed 40 times with great success at the theatre.
At the end of 1930, Femelidi works on three operas: he composes the radio opera "Potemkin the Shell", which premiered on Odesa radio on 27 June 1931, and the opera "The Petrel" based on the same story. Together with his father, he created the libretto of Caesar and Cleopatra based on the play by B. Shaw and the first scenes of this opera.
His untimely death cut short the intense creative work of the young artist. Volodymyr Femelidi caught a cold at a performance while conducting Carmagnola, which led to a severe lung disease. The young composer passed away on 3 October 1931.
Composer D. Shostakovich, who knew Vladimir Femelidi, wrote:
"He was a surprisingly nice and friendly person. He had a very great compositional talent. His ballet Carmagnola has a lot of wonderful music. He wrote very quickly and very skilfully. For the most part, he did not write sketches or drafts, he wrote the score directly. Soviet music lost an outstanding composer in his person. If he had lived, he would have created many wonderful works. "
The opera The Rift and the ballet Carmagnola were successfully staged in Ukraine and other republics even after the composer's death.
In April 1932[9], Ukrainian choreographers P. Virsky and M. Bolotov staged Carmagnola at the Moscow Artistic Ballet Theatre, directed by Viktorina Krieger.
In 1932, the Kyiv Opera House staged the opera The Rift (conducted by O. Bron, directed by V. Manzii, with artists I. Kurochka-Armashevskyi and N. Alekseeva).
In the season of 1932-1933, the opera "The Rift" was staged by the Kharkiv Opera and Ballet Theatre (conducted by A. Margulian). Among the performers were well-known opera singers Y. Kyporenko-Domanskyi as Godun, M. Hryshko as Stube, and Z. Haidai as Ksenia.
Works
Concerto for violin and orchestra (1926)
Concerto for piano and orchestra (1926)
Vocal and Symphonic Poem based on lyrics by V. Zhukovsky "Undina" (1926)
Sonata for piano (1927)
Trio for piano, violin, cello (1927)
String Quartet (1927)
"Danza exotica (Exotic Dance) for string quartet (1927)
Three romances for soprano accompanied by a chamber ensemble (1927):
"The Star of the Myrrh", words by C. Balmont;
"Elegy", words by A. Pushkin;
"Spring. Monastery", words by S. Gorodetsky.
First Symphony "Jubilee" (1927)
"At the Orderly Gate" - a vocal and orchestral scene for soprano or tenor and baritone with orchestra to words by A. Tolstoy (1927-1928)
"Lukomorye" ("Saying") - a poem for voice and orchestra based on the words of Alexander Pushkin (1927-1928)
Second Symphony "Classical" (in the style of the eighteenth century) (1928)
"Eight Songs on Jewish Themes" for voice and piano (1928)
Music for the play "Game of Interests" by J. Benavente (1928)
"The Rift" - a heroic revolutionary drama based on the play by B. Lavrenov (1929)
"Carmagnola - pantomime-drama, ballet (1930)
"Potemkin the Shell" - radio opera (1930)
"The Petrel" - heroic epic (sketches) (1931)
"Caesar and Cleopatra" - opera based on the play by B. Shaw (sketches) (1931)
