Volodymyr Ivanovych Vdovychengko (* 22 August 1921, Yaropovychi, Andrushiv district, Zhytomyr region - † 5 December 2002, Kyiv) was a bassoonist, teacher at the Kyiv National Music Academy, soloist of the symphony orchestra of the Taras Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine.
Life path
Volodymyr Vdovychenko's fate was such that he had to spend his best young years in the trenches of the Second World War. At first, it was the front line with fighting, wounds, and then a military front-line brass band. Only in 1951, V. Vdovychenko graduated from the Tchaikovsky Kyiv State Conservatory, majoring in bassoon (class of Oleksandr Lytvynov).
Creative work
In 1949-52 he worked as a soloist of the Symphony Orchestra of the Radio of Ukraine, 1952-1956 - soloist of the Symphony State Orchestra of Ukraine. Since 1956, he has been a soloist of the symphony orchestra of the Taras Shevchenko State Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine. Since the mid-70s, he has been a teacher at the Tchaikovsky Kyiv Conservatory. During his many years of work in the symphony orchestra of the theatre, V. Vdovychenko gained extensive orchestral practice and reached the heights of performing skills. His repertoire included hundreds of musical pieces which he conveyed with brilliant skill to the audience in his solo parts. Describing his performing skills, I would especially like to note his bright, expressive and at the same time quite soft sound.
According to his colleagues in the orchestra, there were no technical barriers for him. He had a brilliant and quite light technique. He always felt the musical palette of the orchestra, his solos always had a specific logical complete phrase with quite expressive dynamics. He was an unsurpassed performer in the orchestra.
Pedagogical work
The teacher was quite responsible and had good relations with students. He was a friendly person in everyday life. When working on pieces in the chamber ensemble class, he always directed students to play softly and easily. He skilfully helped the performers find the sound and touches for a particular piece of music.
He was a particularly skilful soloist in operas by W. A. Mozart, B. Smetana, D. Rossini, D. Shostakovich, and P. I. Tchaikovsky. Throughout his orchestral career, he played in various chamber orchestras and ensembles. He collaborated with musical groups that took part in recording music on the Ukrainian Radio and at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko Kyiv Film Studio. Together with the teaching staff of the department, he took an active part in the creation of the State Brass Band of Ukraine, participated in methodological professional developments in the theory of teaching and performance of bassoon playing, chamber ensembles. He actively assisted in the preparation and holding of the Ukrainian Republican competitions for wind and percussion players. During his many years of creative work, he worked with prominent musicians and conductors of the second half of the 20th century, such as: Kanarstein M. M., Kolesa M. F., Tolba V. S., Rakhlin N. G., Simeonov K. A., Turchak S. V., Hnedash V. B., Blazhkov I. I., Kozhukhar V. M., Rozhdestvensky G., Glushchenko F. I., Gamkalo I., A. Vlasenko, Ryabov and others.
