There are many stories connected to Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko—an outstanding figure in Ukrainian national culture, a brilliant composer, pianist, conductor, educator, and public figure—in our beloved city.
To begin with, after completing his studies at the Geduen Boarding School in Kyiv, the young Lysenko was supposed to enter the fourth grade of gymnasium. Mykola’s parents considered the Poltava Noble Boarding School to be a “vulgar peasant hovel”. However, in university-town Kharkiv, they had a distant relative—Borisyak, a professor of mineralogy at Kharkiv University—who agreed to take his nephew in for a fee that was extremely substantial by the standards of the time: 700 rubles a year. Later, Lysenko lived with Dr. Gubinet and then with Reinhardt.
After Mykola enrolled in the Second Kharkiv Gymnasium in 1855, his music lessons continued successfully.
A true virtuoso, Kharkiv’s finest musician, and the teacher of the future great composer, Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev strove to refine his student’s innate fluency of playing and give it a brilliant touch; he studied Beethoven and Mozart, and introduced him to other classical composers. Thanks to another teacher, the Czech Vilček, Mykola’s playing grew so strong that his masterful performances of Chopin’s works simply mesmerized listeners.
After graduating with honors from the gymnasium in 1859, Lysenko enrolled in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Kharkiv Imperial University. In 1860, his parents moved to Kyiv, and Mykola Vitaliyovych was forced to transfer from his beloved Kharkiv to the Department of Natural Sciences in the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Kyiv Imperial University.
However, it is the Kharkiv period that is associated with Mykola Lysenko’s first public performances as a pianist. These performances, incidentally, were a resounding success. At all the soirées (at Vilchek’s home, and later at the home of the patron Prince Golitsyn) and receptions, he was a delightful and cherished guest.
For example, on one occasion, while already a student, Mykola Vitalievich so captivated the audience with his virtuoso playing, playing Chopin and Kontsky, that a Kharkiv aristocrat, in a burst of admiration, removed an expensive gold brooch set with a gemstone from her clothing and pinned it to Lysenko’s chest, saying: “Young man, please accept this as a reward for your mastery, which has captivated me!”
However, in Kharkiv, the young musician was loved and appreciated not only for his superb playing. His infectious cheerfulness, love of dancing, and refined good looks simply captivated the hearts of those around him.
Our city is linked to the name of one of Ukraine’s greatest composers through a series of momentous premieres. Indeed, it was at the Kharkiv Drama Theater on June 1, 1882, that a significant musical-theatrical work—written as early as 1873—was performed for the first time: the operetta “The Black Sea Sailors.”
“Christmas Night” by Mykola Lysenko is considered the first Ukrainian national opera. For this reason, the story of its creation and development is particularly fascinating. The first version of the two-act operetta was staged in 1872 by an amateur troupe at the Lindfors sisters’ home on Christmas Day. The hall was packed. The success and acclaim from the audience inspired the authors to expand the operetta.
In its second version, the musical comedy *Christmas Night*, now in four acts, was presented to the public on the stage of the Kyiv City Theater in February 1873. Once again, the success was overwhelming. However, it should be noted that at that time, “Christmas Night” was not an opera in the classical sense of the word—it was considered an operetta. Over time, Mykola Lysenko completely reworked his piece into an opera. And it was in this form that it was first presented to the public on January 27, 1883, in our beloved city.
And in 1885, at the premiere of the opera *The Drowned Woman*, based on works by Gogol and also held in Kharkiv, a full symphony orchestra was featured, “the women’s choir alone consisted of 40 singers,” as the press reported at the time.
It was in Kharkiv, after the composer’s death on October 3, 1924, that the premiere of Lysenko’s famous opera *Taras Bulba* took place.
During the celebration of Mykola Lysenko’s 35th anniversary as a composer, a musical evening was held in our city (as well as in many others). In addition to numerous admirers and the guest of honor himself, the event was attended by: Ivanitsky, Vilinsky, Nikolaev, Krichevsky, Uvarov, Vilenskaya, Bich-Lubensky, Vasilkovsky, Mikhnovsky, Tokareva, Krichevskaya, and many others. Those who were unable to attend at the time—professors from Kharkiv universities, representatives of literary circles, and even ordinary residents—sent him their sincere congratulations.
At the age of seventy, on October 24 (Old Style) 1912, the great composer passed away.
In our city, a few days from now—on Sunday, October 28—at Chornoglazivska Street, 7/9 the Kvitka-Osnovyanenko Ukrainian Society held a memorial service for the deceased.
A lengthy obituary, filled with grief and sorrow, written by the society’s president, Konstantin Bich-Lubensky, was published in the Kharkiv newspaper *Utro*.
Articles describing Mykola Vitalievich’s funeral in Kyiv were published in our city’s newspapers. Delegations set out from Kharkiv itself, and telegrams poured in. Under the mournful headline “The Voice of Kharkiv’s Student Body at Mykola Lysenko’s Grave,” 160 people signed their names.
And on November 1, 1912, Mykola Mikhnovsky, a member of the Kharkiv Duma, submitted a very interesting statement to Nikolai Evdokimovich Dorofeev, the acting mayor, regarding the preservation of the composer’s memory in our city. At the time, no one could have even imagined that this document would mark the beginning of a long and scandalous saga that can only be described as “the drama surrounding the Lysenko monument.”
