Ivan Demianovych Rubchak (7 March 1874, Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast - 11 May 1952, Lviv) was a Ukrainian bass singer and actor of Galician theatres. He was the husband of Kateryna Rubchakova, father of actresses Yaroslava, Olha, and Nadiia Rubchakivna, and father-in-law of Hnat Yura.
He performed in the theatres of the Ruska Besida Society in Lviv (1894-1914), later in the Ternopil Theatre Evenings, the New Lviv Theatre, the Theatre of the UGA Command and the Theatre of the Red Ukrainian Gal. Army (1920), in various companies in Galicia and Carpathian Ukraine (1921-1939, including Bohdan Saramaga's Theatre of Review and Operetta[2]), the Lesia Ukrainka Ukrainian Drama Theatre (1939-1941), the Lviv Opera House (1941-1944), and the Maria Zankovetska Theatre (1944-1952).
Honoured Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1945), winner of the Stalin Prize (1950). Member of the People's Assembly of Western Ukraine (1939).
He was buried at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv next to Solomiya Krushelnytska.
Life path
The Rubchak family was well known in Kalush. The family of the tailor Demian and Yefrozyna was large. They had 15 children: 9 boys and 6 girls, and one of the sisters, Klymentyna, was also an actress. To support the large family, the father worked as a shoemaker from early morning until night, while the mother tended the house or worked in the field. Ivan was the 4th child. No one suspected that he would become a singer.
As a child, he stood out for his strong voice and good ear. While studying at school, he sang in the school choir from the age of 12. Under the influence of amateur performances at the People's House, young Rubchak developed a passion for the stage. "I fell in love with performances and the stage from an early age," Ivan Rubchak later wrote in his memoirs.
After graduating from school in Kalush, he entered the Stanislav Gymnasium, where he was taught in Polish. Ukrainians were treated with contempt here, but Ivan studied despite the ridicule. During vacations, he sang in the Kalush choir "Rannia Zoria" and acted in amateur performances.
After graduating from the gymnasium in 1893, Ivan Rubchak had the opportunity to enter the theological seminary. His father encouraged him to do so, but he refused. In the same year, he became the director of an amateur choir in Kalush.
Rubchak's dream of theatre came true in 1894, when a Ukrainian theatre came to Stanisław on tour. Out of dozens of applicants, the commission selected two: Yosyp Stadnyk (later a famous theatre worker) and Ivan Rubchak. Thus, at the age of 20, Ivan began his career as an actor and singer.
About Rubchak's work
In 1894-1914, he performed (first as a chorister, later as a leading actor) at the Lviv Ukrainian Theatre of the Ruska Besida Society. He studied singing with M. Kosak at the music and drama school at the theatre. At first, Ivan Rubchak was assigned episodic roles: a peasant in Ivan Franko's "Ryabina", a juror in "Lost Happiness" by by Denys Lukianovych. In 1895, one of the reviewers of Dil noted that "the young actor Rubchak stands out for his good bass voice...".
The famous Ivan Karas was Rubchak's first major stage work and the crown jewel of his entire amateur life (Rubchak made over 1200 performances as Karas). A reviewer of Hulak-Artemovsky's opera, performed in Lviv in 1903, noted: "The first place, of course, must be given to Mr I. Rubchak. His strong voice... in the role of Karas is artistic...". Rubchak was also noted for his outstanding comedic skills.
In 1896-1897, Ivan Rubchak served in the Austrian army.
At the end of 1897, Rubchak returned to the stage. The information about the concert of the Ukrainian theatre in Berezhany read: "The evening began with Verbytskyi's 'Zavishchennia' with a baritone solo, which was beautifully sung by I. Rubchak... The audience warmly welcomed his return from the army to the stage and applauded the artist generously...".
He was the first to perform the role of Maksym ("The Witch" by Y. Yaroslavenko) in Uzhhorod. He performed as a chamber singer. With a special talent, he performed works by Mykola Lysenko and Ukrainian folk songs. He took part in concerts dedicated to Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko, performed in operettas and dramatic performances.
Ivan Rubchak also became known for other roles: in particular, the Cossack Kabitsa from Mykola Lysenko's operetta The Black Sea People, Vybornyi from Natalka Poltavka, Kandziuba from Matchmaking at Goncharivka, and Zhupan from Johann Strauss's The Gypsy Baron. "He is good in all roles and can do all sorts of things... In addition to his artistic talent, Mr Rubchak has... a warm, devoted heart for the people's cause... A joker. His friends called Ivan simply "our Rubtsio...", wrote one of the reviewers.
Among the memorable events in the life of the Galician theatre at that time were its tours throughout Ukraine: In 1902 - in Kamianets-Podilskyi, in 1903 - in Zhmerynka (Vinnytsia region) and Zhytomyr.
The author of an article about the theatre's performances in Buchach, Ternopil region, in autumn 1906 wrote: "Among the men in the theatre that gives performances here, the first place belongs to I. Rubchak; he is a perfect artist, whom no stage would be ashamed of...".
At the same time, Rubchak also performed in the dramatic repertoire: in particular, the roles of Savka (One Hundred Thousand by Ivan Karpenko-Kary), Protasii (Martin Borulia by the same author), and Koliia (Marusia Bohuslavka by Mykhailo Starytskyi).
With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Galicia was captured by Russian troops. At that time, the theatre was located in Ternopil. One September day, the audience was made up of Kuban Cossacks, because their colonel asked them to perform a play - something from the classics. The theatre's management decided to perform The Slave (starring Ivan Rubchak as the bandura player Nedobytyi).
Ivan Demianovych later recalled: "The Slave was in full swing, then the song 'About Ukraine' came on, and then I reminded them that although there were Cossacks from the Kuban in the audience, they were part of the Russian army. What to do, because the song is banned in Russia. There was no time to think. So I sang "about Ukraine, freedom, and its heroes...". I looked at the Kuban people and saw tears in their eyes. And especially the colonel... I finished singing with the words: "...and Ukraine, God, grant freedom". The performance was over. The colonel came up on stage, behind the canopy, and shook my right hand: "God grant it to come true!".
In 1918-19, he was the organiser of the Ukrainian Theatre and the New Lviv Theatre. Later he performed until 1939 in Ukrainian troupes (Galicia, Transcarpathia). In 1939-41, he was an actor at the Ukrainian Drama Theatre named after L. Ukrainka (Lviv), and in 1944-52 - at the Lviv Theatre named after M. Zankovetska. No other Ukrainian actor has ever gained such popularity and love of the widest circles of fans of Ukrainian theatre as Rubchak. Vladimir Blavatsky wrote: "A very prominent figure in the ensemble of Kossak's actors was, perhaps, the most popular of the Galician actors, Ivan Rubchak. He was a special and peculiar actor's personality. A great voice that was not used properly due to the lack of technical training, certainly a great acting talent that was not developed more widely due to the lack of deeper education and the general poverty of the Ukrainian theatre of the time... Rubchak could play a role poorly, he could sing his part (especially now that he is already in his seventies) not quite right, and yet the audience was fascinated by him. There have been cases when another experienced and very good artist has duplicated the same role with Rubchak, and he has played it and sung it better, but the audience still preferred Rubchak. This cannot be explained only by the sentiment of our audience for the personality of the old coryphaeus of the stage, for I have noticed the same phenomenon among foreigners... The reason for this is the enormous, God-given charm of Rubchak's appearance on stage. He has already become a legendary figure in artistic circles."
Opera and operetta roles
Karas (The Cossack Beyond the Danube by S. Hulak-Artemovsky)
Girey (Roksolana by D. Sichynsky)
Cardinal de Brony (The Jewess by G. Halévy)
Ketsal (The Sold Bride by B. Smetana)
Zeus (Orpheus in Hell by J. Offenbach)
Kalman Zhupan (The Gypsy Baron by J. Stravs) and others.
Rubchak was very popular in comic and character roles:
Khoma ("Oh, Don't Go, Hrytsia" by M. Starytskyi)
Omelko, Tereshko, Likhtarenko (Martin Borulia, Vanity, The Master by I. Karpenko-Kary) and others.
