Just a few words to add to my initial impressions of Moses. I found the
opera/oratorio engrossing, powerful, absorbing and emotional. Maestro
Skoryk has skillfully blended Franko's epic poem with his own creative
score. The union of the two masters make Franko's words come alive with
heightened and intensified meaning. The music, be it at times classical
romantic, Wagnerian, or even with hints of Ukrainian folk tunes, and the
words are so well integrated that they appear they were meant for each
other, although created a century apart.


Performance-wise, Oleksander Hromysh portrays Moses in moving detail, at
times forceful. at times benign and finally dejected, broken in spirit.The
scene with his spirit/mother Yahoveda (Natalia Scvoboda) is gripping,
especially the opening phrases "bidny, bidny, mij sehnu" reminds me of
"stradal'na matir". The other soloists are excellent, especially Ihor
Kushplir in the role of the "Narrator" singing with fervor and intensity.
The real star of Moses is the chorus with its musical outpourings. The
choral numbers are both sensitive and powerful. Skoryk was superb in his
choral writing.


Being a tenore fanaticus, I was hoping that there might be some memorable
tenor aria with ringing hign Cs. Also I expected a more robust ending like
in Maiboroda's "Yaroslav Mudry". But Skoryk knows best.


One of our musical entrepreneurs should try to bring the production to the
USA and Canada even if in concert form. A libretto in Ukrainian and
especially in good english is a requisite. In case of translation needs
Professor Halyna Hryn at Yale would be an excellent choice. Some of the
recent translations coming out of Ukraine are not good examples, e.g., the
translation used in the Lviv Opera history. In it it looks like the
translator used an elementary translation program.


A suggestive start for an American production is with Eve Queler Opera of
New York. She leads concert performances. Paul Plishka has sung with her
a number of times and might be a great Moses. More recently Queler used a
Ukrainian bass (new to me) Vitaly Kowaljow in his New York debut, whose
bass outpouring was noted to be "like rolling thunder".


The Tanglewood summer festival would be another great location , concert
or semi-staged. Edmonton in Canada seems to have a knack for making
such presentations.


Enough for now.


Best regards,
Joseph Levitzky

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