Liudmyla Monastyrska (maiden name Povstenko, Latin: Liudmyla Monastyrska, * 1975, Irkliyiv, Cherkasy region, Ukraine) is a leading Ukrainian opera singer, soprano (spinto soprano), soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine, winner of the 2014 Shevchenko National Prize for vocal parts in opera performances. In 2015, she was awarded the Order of the Stars of Italy, a state award of the Italian Republic, for developing ties with Italy. She was named People's Artist of Ukraine in 2017. She sings on the most prestigious opera stages in the world: "La Scala in Milan, the Royal Covent Garden Theatre in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and others.
Biography.
Liudmyla Monastyrska was born into a family where her parents had no interest in theatre and music. As the singer herself said in an interview with the Day newspaper, her father was a businessman and her mother was a philology teacher, but there was always music in the house, in particular, folk songs sung by her mother, which became very important to Monastyrska. Liudmyla studied piano at a music school. Lyudmyla inherited her love of singing from her mother, for whom "singing is like breathing!"[4], so she continued her education in vocal performance.
At the age of 15, she began to study singing at the Glier Music School in Kyiv with Ivan Palyvoda. In 2000, she graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory (now the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine), where she studied vocals with Diana Petrynenko.
In 1996, she began singing at the opera studio of the Kyiv Conservatory. Here she made her debut as Natalka Poltavka in Mykola Lysenko's opera Natalka Poltavka. Then she sang the role of Tatiana in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, and after graduating from the Conservatoire she became a soloist at the studio. In 1997, she won the first prize (Grand Prix) at the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition.
Nuvola apps kview.svg External images
Searchtool.svg In the opera "Rural Honour"
Searchtool.svg Her work is honoured all over the world
Searchtool.svg Another rehearsal
Searchtool.svg Recital of the opera prima donna
She made her debut at the National Opera of Ukraine in 2008 in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, where she performed the role of Aida. At the National Opera she sang the leading roles for dramatic soprano: Gioconda ("La Gioconda"), Santuzza ("La Dolce Vita"), Amelia ("La Masquerade Ball").
Her first performance abroad was a concert performance of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca in Trondheim, Norway.
In 2010, she performed the title role of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, which led her to the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Vireggio, Italy, conducted by Alberto Veronesi.
In 2011, she sang the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi's opera Macbeth at Covent Garden Theatre in London, conducted by Antonio Pappano. The role of Macbeth was performed by the famous British baritone Simon Keenlyside. A video recording of the performance of Macbeth was released on DVD. In the same year, she sang concerts in America, and in 2012 she signed a major contract with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In February 2012, she sang the role of Aida at one of the world's leading opera houses, La Scala in Milan.
On 23 November 2012, she performed the title role of Aida in Giuseppe Verdi's opera of the same name at the Metropolitan Opera and won acclaim from both audiences and music critics. The New York Times music critic Corina da Fonseca-Wolheim wrote:
Ms Monastyrska, from Kyiv, Ukraine, an acclaimed star of that city's opera house, came to the Metropolitan Opera as a fully mature artist. She is gifted with a luscious, rounded soprano that retains its brightness even on the most delicate notes. Her "O patria mia" was beautifully drawn and coloured with dark intonations that added dramatic intensity.
Her partner on stage was Roberto Alagna, who sang the role of Radames. This version of Aida was broadcast live from the Metropolitan Theatre on high-definition television to the world, including cinemas.
In 2013, she sang alongside Leo Nucci and Plácido Domingo at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden in Verdi's Nabucco, where she performed the role of Abigail. This performance was widely broadcast via the Royal Opera House Cinema.
In 2015, in Valencia, Liudmyla Monastyrska, together with Placido Domingo and conductor Zubin Meta, sang seven performances of Verdi's La forza del Destino, in which she created the role of Leonora.
Performing on world stages, the singer does not forget about her roots, about Ukrainian folk songs. She performs at the National Opera of Ukraine and gives concerts at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. In addition to opera performances, she sings Ukrainian songs. Among her favourite ones:
Don't ask me why my eyes are crying;
Why do I have black eyebrows, why do I have brown eyes?
Oh, my dear, I pray to you, the dawn has risen, let me in.
"I am very proud to be Ukrainian! Thank God, I have the opportunity to represent the Ukrainian vocal school in the best theatres in the world. No matter where I sing or what country I am in, I always remember where I come from and where my roots are. This thought inspires me to work, to create, to live!"
Critics' reviews
According to music critic Larysa Tarasenko in the newspaper "Day", foreign critics call her a star of world vocals, a successor to the traditions of S. Krushelnytska, M. Kallas, M. Caballé. According to opera singer and teacher Maria Stefiuk:
"When I first listened to her, I was incredibly impressed. After all, Liudmyla Monastyrska has a fantastic timbre of voice (a powerful dramatic soprano)...
The chief music critic of The New York Times, Anthony Tomassini, called her voice "a rarity in opera, a true lirico spinto, a soprano whose voice combines lyrical softness with a soft, full-bodied sound. He is capable of both the sonorous highs of a lyric soprano and the dramatic "thicker" sound in the middle register. This spring, the singer was nominated for the prestigious International Opera Awards-2015 and was ranked among the world's best vocalists.
Personal life.
She has two children: daughter Anna (born in 1998) and son Andriy (born in 1999). She was married to Oleksandr Monastyrskyi, a soloist of the Kyiv Municipal Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre for Children and Youth.
Liudmyla Monastyrska singing Ukrainian songs
The recording house of the National Radio Company of Ukraine (NRCU). The Orchestra of Folk and Popular Music of the National Radio Company of Ukraine, conducted by S. Lytvynenko. 2012:
"Zhuravka" [Archived 27 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine] // youtube (O. Bilash / V. Yukhymovych, 3:13)
"Oh don't light the moon" [Archived 30 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine] // youtube (2:48)
"Gandzya" [Archived 6 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine] // youtube (D. Bonkovsky, 2:55)
"Don't ask" // youtube (by L. Revutsky, 3:43)
"Four oxen I'm herding" [Archived 30 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine] // youtube (by A. Kos-Anatolsky, 4:10)
"I don't feel like sleeping" // youtube (mus. by S. Hulak-Artemovsky, 2:44)
"Why do I need black eyebrows" [Archived 3 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine] // youtube (based on Taras Shevchenko's poem, 3:24)
Honours and awards
"Grand Prix" of the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition (1997)
Laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2014)
People's Artist of Ukraine (2017)
Order of Princess Olga, III degree
