Valentyn Talakh (April 5, 1937, Stovpynka village - October 1, 2008, Cherkasy) was a Ukrainian conductor, composer, arranger, choirmaster, and Honored Artist of Ukraine.
Valentyn Talakh was born in the village of Stovpynka, Olevsk district, Zhytomyr region, on April 5, 1937. Since childhood, he listened to his grandfather play the violin, and music has always been a part of his life. He graduated from a craft school and worked as a painter. He played the trumpet in an amateur brass band. On the advice of the director of this group, the young man entered a music school in Zhytomyr. After graduation, he received a specialty as a choir conductor. In 1953-1957, he studied at the Zhytomyr Music School, majoring in clarinet (teacher Mostovyi I. M.). He devoted all his time to music: he attended concerts and was interested in the works of classical composers. He was a listener at meetings with Sviatoslav Richter, Heinrich Neuhaus, and V. Klymov.
On tour in a northern city, the orchestra was left without a conductor, and Valentyn Talakh was recommended as the best musician. Since 1967, he worked as the head of the musical department and conductor of the Cherkasy Regional Music and Drama Theater named after Taras Shevchenko[1].
Creative work
Valentyn Talakh was a famous conductor who could convey the deepest emotions with a wave of his baton. His professional career as the head of the musical department and choirmaster of the Cherkasy Regional Music and Drama Theater began in 1967. At that time, the young specialist, then conductor of the Zhytomyr Theater, was invited to the position of conductor in order to create a new orchestra and improve the role of the musical department as a whole. As a result, the theater soon had a well-coordinated orchestra, a group of soloists and vocalists, and an acting troupe that was quite perfect for a regional theater. The theater's repertoire included new musical performances: the opera Kateryna by Mykola Arkas, Cossack Beyond the Danube by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, musical dramas On Sunday Morning... by Vitalii Kyreiko, Gypsy Aza and The Night of Ivan Kupala by Mykhailo Staritskyi, operettas Sevastopol Waltz by Kostiantyn Lystov, White Action by Vasyl Soloviov-Sedyi, White Night by Tikhon Khrennykov, and others.
Valentyn Talakh composed his own music for dramatic performances; his arrangements of folk melodies and songs based on the words of young Cherkasy poets are full of his original style. Talakh's work as a theater musician and choirmaster of the theater became successful, as he knew its peculiarities and organically adapted the music to the stage performance. He knew how to express his emotions with the help of his instrument, the conductor's baton and the orchestra. Colleagues recall that when he stood at the conductor's console, he exuded inner concentration, confidence and fortitude. Valentyn Konstantinovich proved himself not only as an excellent conductor, but also as a composer. He wrote about 40 keyboards for various genre performances of the theater, including Emilia Galotti by Gottgold Lessing, The Underdog by by Denis Fonvizin, Chasing Two Hares by Mikhail Staritsky, and others. The Cherkasy Music and Drama Theater's production of The Kaidashev Family, based on the play by Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky, was a real phenomenon, with Ukrainian songs set to music. Imre Kalman's Maritza and Silva and Johann Strauss's Gypsy Baron were performed in a new way on the stage of the Maritza Theater.
During the 10 years of the orchestra's leadership, 3 concert programs have been created, and the choir of World War II veterans of the Officers' House is known far beyond Cherkasy region. Together with the poet Mykola Shaposhnyk, he created the original Cossack song group "Kozak Mamai", which presented Ukrainian songs abroad. In addition to music for theatrical performances, Valentyn Konstantinovych also wrote songs. One of them, "Cherkasy," has been the city's anthem for many years. Even on his grave, the melody of his favorite "Silva" is engraved. His children and grandchildren continue the work started by the talented conductor. His son Kostiantyn and grandsons Volodymyr and Oleksandr became pianists and winners of international competitions.
Works.
As a composer, he wrote music for performances:
"Taras Shevchenko" by A. Malyshko (1970),
"Emilia Galotti by G. Lessing (1975),
"Natalka by D. Fonvizin (1978),
"Wild Angel by O. Kolomiets (1978),
"Duenna by R. B. Sheridan (1992),
"The Last Vagabond by R. Viviani (1993),
"The Antics of Scapin by J. B. Molière (1996).
Music to the anthem of the city of Cherkasy.
Musical performances under the direction of V. Talakh:
"Under a Black Mask" by Lyudmyla Liadova (1972),
"The Wind Rose by Borys Mokrousov (1973),
"Wedding in Malynivka by S. Hulak-Artemovsky (1974),
"Women's Rebellion by Yevhen Ptichkin (1978),
operettas - Maritza by Imre Kalman (1980),
"The Gypsy Baron by Johann Strauss (1982).
"The Kaydashev Family by Ivan Nechuya-Levytsky (1988).
"Operetta, operetta..."
"The Night of Ivan Kupala,
"Nazar Stodolya,
"Chasing Two Hares.
