The forms of the national opera’s representation in the virtual environment under martial law (on the example of the activities of the opera theatres of Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa in 2022)

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The forms of the national opera's representation in the virtual environment under martial law (on the example of the activities of the opera theatres of Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa in 2022)

Reva Tetiana

PhD in Political studies, associate professor, associate professor of the Department of Cultural studies and Intercultural communications, National Academy of Culture and Arts Management

The purpose of the research is to compare the forms of the representations of the opera houses in the virtual environment under the martial law on the examples of national operas of Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv in 2022. The research methodology is based on the interdisciplinary approach, which includes the knowledge form cultural studies, media studies and management of sociocultural activity. The main method of the article is comperative one because we have tried to show the form of the representation in virtual environment of the opera theatres with the same status - national, academic and being not evacuated. Scientific Novelty. The scientific novelty of the research is the comparative analysis of the forms of the representations of the opera houses in the virtual environment under the martial law on the examples of national operas of Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv in 2022. Conclusions. Basing of the content, highlighted on the researched theatres official websites and mass media, we can distinguish several indicators of the theatres' work, which can be the markers of their virtual activity in the conditions in wartime. So, we can say about the following positions: mentions in foreign mass media, online events, a cultural product of the theatre on international streaming platforms, virtual tours, periodicals and video projects.

Key words: cultural product, virtual environment, opera houses of Ukraine, video project, streaming platform.

representation opera houses virtual environment martial law

Рева Тетяна Сергіївна, кандидат політичних наук, доцент, доцент кафедр культурології та міжкультурних комунікацій Національної академії керівних кадрів культури і мистецтв

Форми репрезентації національних опер у віртуальному середовищі в умовах воєнного стану (на прикладі діяльності оперних театрів Києва, Львова та Одеси у 2022 році)

Метою роботи є порівняння форм репрезентації оперних театрів у віртуальному середовищі в умовах воєнного стану на прикладі національних опер Києва, Одеси та Львова у 2022 році. Методологія роботи ґрунтується на міждисциплінарному підході, що включає знання з культурології, медіа менеджменту та менеджменту соціокультурної діяльності. Основним методом статті є порівняльний, оскільки ми здійснюємо спробу показати форму репрезентації у віртуальному середовищі оперних театрів з однаковим статусом - національний, академічний театр, який не був у евакуації. Наукова новизна роботи полягає у порівняльному аналізі форм репрезентації оперних театрів у віртуальному середовищі в умовах воєнного стану на прикладах національних оперних театрів Києва, Одеси та Львова у 2022 році. Висновки. На основі контенту, висвітленого на офіційних сайтах досліджуваних театрів та у засобах масової інформації, можна виокремити кілька показників роботи театрів, які можуть бути маркерами їхньої віртуальної активності в умовах воєнного часу, а саме згадки в іноземних у засобах масової інформації, онлайн-події, культурний продукт театру на міжнародних стрімінгових платформах, віртуальні екскурсії, періодичні видання та відео-проєкти.

Ключові слова: культурний продукт, віртуальне середовище, оперний театр, відеопроєкт, стримінг-платформа.

Relevance of Research. The difficult social and political processes in the world in 2021 -2022 made many organisations and institutions transform the way of their functioning and search the new form of the interaction between state and civil society. The cultural institutions also should go through the adaptation to the new challenges. According to the Law of Ukraine «About Culture», the theatres belong to such institutions. So, we have tried to analyse some forms of the representations of the music theatres in the virtual reality that promote to research the development of the media content and the immersive technologies on the examples the activities of national operas of Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv in 2022 after the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion.

Analysis of researches and publications. The issues of the world and national creative and cultural practices are highlighted in the researches of O. Kopiievska [4], S. Dychkovskyi, O.Klekovkin [3], L. Zelenska [2], T. Senko [6] and etc. New articles, devoted to the immersive art and cultural practices, belong to Ukrainian cultural scientists S. Rusakov [5] and O. Gubernator [1]. All of this work focuses on the general processes in art and creative industry. This research is an attempt to analyse the activity of the theatres in the virtual environment under the maternal law by the comparing national opera houses of Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv.

The purpose of the research is to compare the forms of the representations of the opera houses in the virtual environment on the examples of national operas of Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv in 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian full-scale invasion made the Ukrainian theatres searching the new forms of their activity by the producing media and video content, aimed to attract to the events in the virtual space.

The Lviv National Opera constantly popularizes its cultural product on international online art platforms - OperaVision, MEGOGO and Dramox. In 2021-the beginning of 2022, the folk opera-spectacular «When the Fern Blooms«» by E. Stankovych and directed by V. Vovkun, was broadcast on the «OperaVision», the European opera streaming platform, which operates with the support of the creative program of the European Union. Also in October, a common video project of the Lviv National Opera artists with their colleagues from the leading opera houses of Finland, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and the USA was presented on this platform. The project is called «The Golden Crown» by B. Lyatoshynskyi and consists of the vocal parts from this opera, performed by artists in Ukrainian. Such performance was symbolic for the returning the Ukrainian music art in the European cultural space [9]. The Opera Vision portal presents in open access the best opera productions of European theatres, the history of their creation and video content about scenography, costume design, visual technologies, 3D-design in modern performing arts. In 2022, the theatre's performances began to be broadcast on the online platform Dramox, which is a Czech project that promotes theatrical art, in particular, it presents the performances of theatres of various countries in such genres as tragedy, comedy, opera, alternative theatre, ballet, pantomime, theatre of the absurd, circus etc. Lviv National Opera presents three performances on this platform. They are «When the Fern Blooms» by E. Stankovych, «Don Juan» by V.-A. Mozart and «Fox Mykyta» by I. Nebesnyi. All of them are directed by V. Vovkun. Among the Ukrainian theatres that are also represented on this portal are Kyiv Modern Ballet, OPERA APERTA, Kyiv Academic Theatre «Golden Gate», Lviv Academic Regional Puppet Theatres, Centre for Contemporary Art «Dakh», Kyiv Academic Theatre «Actor», Odesa Academic Ukrainian music and drama theatre named after V. Vasylko, Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Drama Theatre and etc.

To the support of the defenders of Ukraine, the Lviv National Opera opened its art project «Lullaby for a Soldier» on the Internet. The creative idea of the project belongs to P. Radeiko. According to the soloist's idea, a series of video recordings of Ukrainian songs, performed in bomb shelters or shelters in a metaphorical form, manifested the survival of Ukrainian culture in the conditions of war. According to P. Radeiko, such a video contributes to musical relaxation art therapy for the defenders. Ukrainian songs and solos are embodied by the best operatic voices of the theatre -M. Tsvetinska, L. Didenko, S. Solovii and others. Video recordings are presented for the audience on the theatre's official YouTube channel.

The main vectors of creative, charity, volunteer activity of the Lviv National Opera were manifested in various local and international mass media, including the «Unity News» Marathon, the online publication of the Lviv region «Zbruch», «High Castle», the «Lvivych» telegram channel, the newspaper «Day», as well as international publications, which will be discussed in more detail below.

The Lviv National Opera took part in the creation of the documentary film of the European TV channel ARTE. The film is entitled «Opera at War» and devoted to the art processes and experiences of the theatrical artists. The international team, which included leading French and Polish journalists Peggy Brugier & Jacek Blaszczyk and Vincent Rimbaud (camera operator), created their vision how the theatre reflect personal and national tragedies under the challenges of the war. For the European audience, the film was presented on the channel's online platform, and in mid-June it premiered at the Lviv National Opera with Ukrainian dubbing.

Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Isa Soares, Madalena Araujo and Oleksandra Ochman, the reporters of the American television channel «CNN» made a report «War is raging in Ukraine, and the dancers are returning to the stage» about the work of the Lviv National Opera in the conditions of martial law. The stories of the artists, their personal experiences, creativity and stage reflection were highlighted for the world community [11].

The first challenges of wartime for the theatre art of Ukraine, in particular the Lviv National Opera and the organisation of charitable and creative activities, were also characterised in printed periodicals of national and international publications, including the newspaper «Day» as well as reports by Pablo Vas, an Argentine journalist of the popular morning newspaper «The Clarin» [14].

In September 2022, the Lviv National Opera celebrated the 150th anniversary of Solomiya Krushelnytska, the outstanding Ukrainian singer, and prepared a cycle of artistic events where we can see the projects, aimed at the virtual environment of the art space. They are the podcast «Solomia Brava» and the website, developed for the 150th anniversary of Solomiya Krushelnytska.

«Solomia Brava» is a joint project of the Solomia Krushelnytska Memorial Music Museum and the Lviv National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after Solomia Krushelnytska, broadcast on the SKOVORODA radio.

The second one is a common project of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Lviv National Opera and the Solomiya Krushelnytska Memorial Music Museum in Lviv. The site was created to popularize Ukrainian culture, preserve and revise Ukrainian music cultural heritage. On the information portal, you can familiarize yourself with the singer's biographical data, her opera, concert and charity activities, as well as listen to audio recordings of her opera parts on the following link - https://krushelnytska.mkip.gov.ua/.

The Odesa National Opera actively represents its cultural products in national and international mass media. The theatre's activities were highlighted on national television of the national and regional level, namely: «Reporter», «Rada», «Suspilne Odesa», TRS of the Ministry of Defense «Briz».

The report, concerned the creative process in the conditions of war and the potential threats of the Russian attacks, was made by Swiss and Italian journalists of the TV channel «RSI TV». N. Babich, the general director-artistic director and V. Chernukho-Volich, the chief conductor participated in this project. Also on the RAI media holding platform, L. Turi and L. Lo Basso, the Italian reporters conducted a live broadcast from the rehearsals of the Odessa Opera Ballet Group in order to attract the attention of European viewers to the tragic events in Ukraine.

A video report by Ali Arouzi, an American journalist about the returning to the work of the Odesa National Opera during the war was presented in July 2022 on the NBC News channel. The reporter interviewed the theatre workers and showed the regime in which the audience visit the theatre and the artists continued performing [7]. In addition, one of the most popular British channels - the «BBC News», in order to attract help to Ukrainian art, prepared a video, dedicated to the operation of the Odessa National Opera and its creative transformations of the repertoire during the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Drama, art and experiences in the Odessa National Opera in wartime are revealed in the article «Odessa's beloved opera house plays starring role in wartime dram» of Isabella Khurshudyan, the American reporter in the famous newspaper The Washington Post [8].

To support the residents of Odesa in the face of the Russian threat, the theatre prepared a video sketch on the International Theatre Day, where the management and artists of the theatre congratulated everyone on the holiday and performed parts from famous operas by J.Puccini, V.-A. Mozart and M. Lysenko. It is worth noting that the video series of concert mise- en-scenes is mixed with documentary footage of how citizens of Odesa defended their own city.

To the Independence Day of Ukraine, the theatre presented the video project «Musical pectoral». It is a kaleidoscope of the best examples of Ukrainian musical art. Nadia Babich was the creative ideologist of the event.

On May 21 2022, the Odesa National Opera held the online concert «Ukraine -Europe. Unity», dedicated to the celebration of Europe Days in Ukraine. O. Starodubtseva, K.Kalchenko, O. Zlakoman, V. Bilyi and others performed arias from the most famous operas and choral parts, accompanied by the theatre's orchestra under the baton of conductors V. Chernukho-Volich and I. Chernetskyi.

At the beginning of June 2022, the theatre presented the concert «Ukrainian Dimension» for online viewers to revitalize the classical musical heritage and highlight the achievements of modern culture of Ukraine. It is worth noting that at this event, a fragment of the new production of the Odesa National Opera, which premiered in September - «Kateryna» by O. Rodin, was shown.

In June 2022, aimed to pay attention to the problems of the theatre and its support, the ballet troupe together with the orchestra prepared an online concert «Ballet extravaganza». In the concert, the soloists of the theatre under the direction of the artistic director of the ballet Harry Sevoyan (K. Kalchenko, S. Dotsenko, A. Korno, R. Lobkin, D. Sharay, K. Bartosh, M. Stryzhakova, D. Pashchuk and others) performed numbers from the best examples of world ballet on the music of A. Adan, A. Khachaturyan, K. Saint-Saens, M. Theodorakis and others. The musical accompaniment was conducted by I. Chernetskyi, V. Vrublevskyi and V. Chernukho-Volich.

In July 2022, the representatives of the musical troupe of the theatre presented a performance of the symbolic work that embodies the European Christian tradition «Ave Maria». A. Filippova (harp) and V. Apostol (horn) masterfully performed compositions by J. S. Bach and S. Gounod.

It is worth noting that the Odesa National Opera effectively visualizes its information regarding the presentation of the theatre in the mass media, in particular, a separate tab «Press Room» on the site allows the users to familiarize themselves with publications about the theatre in various electronic and printed publications, press releases and video materials, related to the creative process.

Also, a creative approach to visualizing innovative trends in the theatre's activity is the publication of its own magazine «Odessa Opera News Magazine». The main content of the magazine consists of photographs of performances, the history of the theatre and its outstanding musicians and soloists. In 2022, this publication suspended its work [10].

The main challenges of the National Opera of Ukraine work during the war period were reflected in the articles of the magazine «The Wall Street Journal» and the Ukrainian editions «Elle» and «Caravan of Stories». However, it is worth paying attention that all articles had the indirect characters. The first magazine told about it in the context of the recovery of the leisure industry of the city of Kyiv in the conditions of martial law [13], and the second is an interview with the soloists of the theatre A. Shevchenko and S.Chakhoyan. The latest edition covers the premiere of the new production of La Traviata. Also, the work of the National Opera of Ukraine was reflected in the interview of A. Solovyanenko to the online publication Tochka.net.

In October 2022, the National Opera of Ukraine presented its video project «Wings of Ukraine», which was an artistic requiem for all defenders of Ukraine who died in the fight for the future of the state. The project was implemented in the form of videos of choreographic performance. The artists dances on the background of the installations, which showed the values, destroyed by the war and the lost future of Ukrainian soldiers [15].

Scientific Novelty. The scientific novelty of the research is the comparative analysis of the forms of the representations of the opera houses in the virtual environment on the examples of national operas of Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv in 2022.

Conclusions. Basing of the content, highlighted on the researched theatres official websites and mass media, we can distinguish several indicators of the theatres' work, which can be the markers of their virtual activity in the conditions in wartime. So, we can say about the following positions: mentions in foreign mass media, online events, a cultural product of the theatre on international streaming platforms, virtual tours, periodicals and video projects.

The first one is the mentions in foreign mass media. Taking into account the tragic events in Ukraine, this year the activities of Ukrainian opera houses became the topic of leading global media holdings, which have an audience all over the world. For example, Lviv National Opera was presented on CNN NEWS (USA), European TV channel ARTE, «Clarin» publication (Argentina); Odessa National Opera - BBC (Great Britain), NBC news (USA), European TV channels - «RSI TV» and «RAI», The Washington Post (USA). The National Opera of Ukraine provided links to articles on its page in social networks, where the theatre was mentioned in an indirect cont^^t. So, the publications were not dedicated to it, which indicated a low level of media activity at the international level.

The second indicator is the variety of the online events that were streamed and additionally presented on the official channels of theatres. After analysing the official websites of the researched theatres, we can state that concerts, plays, art events in the form of flash mobs belong to the main types of online events. For example, the Lviv National Opera with its partner a company Kontramarka.ua, within the «Together with Ukraine» project, held charity events in the form of a concert, dedicated to the works of B. Lyatoshynskyi and D. Bortnyanskyi, as well as the performance «When the Fern Blooms» by E. Stankovych. It is worth noting that profit from the sold tickets for these events was given to help the military and civilians of Ukraine. Also interesting virtual practices were the presentation of the European film «Opera at War» by the ARTE TV channel. The Odesa National Opera also used various types of events to attract the attention of the online audience, including online concerts in the theatre and streaming concerts of its string quartet from the concert tour in Europe «Concerts for Peace», a flash mob for the Constitution Day «Oy the red viburnum in the meadow », a gala - ballet concerts. In turn, it is necessary to indicate the activity of the page in the Facebook social network, where the main video content of the theatre was presented. Regarding the National Opera of Ukraine, information about online events is not disclosed on the theatre's website and its Facebook page.

The third indicator is the cultural product of the theatre on international streaming platforms, The performance of the Lviv National Opera «When the Fern Blooms» was presented on the «Opera Vision» platform шт 2021, and as a sign of support for Ukraine, the term of its streaming was prolonged in 2022, The Lviv National Opera also has performances on such portals as MEGOGO and the Czech internet channel Dramox.

The fourth indicator is virtual tours in the theatres. All the studied operas have virtual 3D tours of the theatre on their website in public access.

The fifth marker is video projects, as a projection of the creative process of opera houses into a virtual environment. All the institutions we studied have in their works - artistic video projects - «Music Pectoral» (Odesa National Opera), «Wings of Ukraine» (National Opera of Ukraine), «Lullaby for a Soldier» (Lviv National Opera). The first is devoted to the Independence Day of Ukraine. The purposes of others are the manifestations of the tragic-heroic reflection of the struggle of the Ukrainian people against Russian aggression. They are built according to the «serial» system that means the presentation in the form of separate episodes, dedicated to various motives - love, courage, sacrifice, heroism, etc.

The last marker is periodicals of theatres, referring to the official publications of opera houses, which reveal the main events of the theatre activity of the institution, namely, premieres, performances, historical memorable dates, famous personalities and general development trends. It is worth noting that the main source of communication with the public is the official pages on social networks and channels on the YouTube platform, however, despite this, the Odessa National Opera has its own journal, which is entitled «Odessa Opera News Magazine».

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