FULL LETTERS OF LOVE or TENDERNESS (Vitaly Gubarenko) Chernivtsi 2019 Maina Valenis
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: LETTERS OF LOVE or TENDERNESS
- Composer: Gubarenko Vitaly
- Libretto: based on the novella "Tenderness" by A. Barbus Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Chernivtsi Regional Philharmonic Hall, Ukraine
- Recorded: June 22, 2019
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Maina Valenis
- Conductor:
- Orchestra: Liliya Holomenyuk, PIANO
- Stage Director: Maria Romanova
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Lily Holomenyuk
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Monoopera for soprano and orchestra “Love Letters” (“Tenderness”) was written in 1971. The opera is actually devoid of stage action and external effects. It is based on the vocal monologues of the heroine – four letters that she writes to her beloved Louis after separation. Unable to bear this break, she decides to die. But she must remain alive in the memories of her lover, which is why she dates her letters in the future. He will read these letters after her death – on the second day, a year later, eleven and twenty years later. All attention is focused on the state of mind of the main character. The image of boundless tenderness prevails here, which is full of the entire music of the piece.
The premiere of Gubarenko’s mono-opera “Love Letters” (“Tenderness”) took place on the Kyiv Philharmonic stage in the same year 1971. The first performer was the young Kharkiv singer Valentina Sokolyk, to whom the composer dedicated this work. After the premiere, Gubarenko presented the singer with an opera piano with the inscription: “Oh, Valentina, thank you for this opus!” Later, Valentina Sokolyk will record the opera “Tenderness” together with the State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine under the direction of Stefan Turchak.
There is only one character in the monoopera, only one vocal part, but what a wonderful opportunity it is for any singer to reign on the stage without partners. Only music and you is a great opportunity to show the whole range of your voice, acting talent and the psychological and emotional subtleties of a woman’s nature! Already a year after the premiere in the Kyiv Philharmonic, V. Gubarenko saw the light of the stage of the Kyiv State Opera and Ballet Theater ( On November 29, 1972, the famous Ukrainian singer Yevgenia Miroshnychenko and director V. Begma refuted the doubts of skeptics who claimed that the work could only exist in concert “Love Letters” was performed several times in various theaters of the USSR.