Opera career of Myroslaw Antonowycz: Vienna – Linz – Litzmannstadt

Оперна кар’єра Мирослава Антоновича: «Відень – Лінц – Ліцманштадт»

Abstract

Myroslaw Antonowycz is a famous Ukrainian musicologist and conductor of the Byzantine Choir whose activity played a leading role in Ukrainian musicological environment of the postwar emigration. However, there is one more side of his creative activity connected with opera performance: in 1912–1914 Antonowycz works as a Baritone Soloist at opera houses of Linz (Austria) and Litzmannstadt (Łódź, Poland). The research of the mentioned period discovers circumstances under which European theatres during German occupation worked, and their repertoire. Although, the opera soloist career was short due to the war and circumstances conditioned by the war, it gave a strong impetus to his conductor’s activity: professional understanding of problematic issues connected with voice training, its nature and functioning, theoretical processing of literature on vocal apparatus specific nature, making own methodology of work over the voices. It is professional vocal education as a conductor that has become a key to the great success of the Byzantine Choir in Europe and on the stages of the American continent.