World Premiere of Dmytro Bortniansky’s Opera “Creonte”

On October 3 and 5, the world premiere of Dmytro Bortniansky’s opera Creonte took place at the Chernivtsi Academic Regional Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater named after Olha Kobylianska.
This production was staged in honor of the 120th anniversary of the opening of the Chernivtsi Music and Drama Theater and was part of the project “Bringing the World Back to Dmytro Bortniansky’s First Opera ‘Creonte’.”
The project was implemented in partnership with the Dmytro Hnatyuk Chernivtsi Regional Philharmonic, with the support of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, Chernivtsi Regional Council, and Chernivtsi City Council.
The event was held under the patronage of UNESCO and Europa Nostra.

Background

Ukrainian Baroque composer Dmytro Bortniansky (October 28, 1751, Hlukhiv, Hetmanate – September 28 (October 10), 1825, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) composed six operas. His first three were written during his stay in Italy, where he lived for 11 years starting in 1768. There, he studied under composer Baldassare Galuppi and, over eight years, mastered the art of composition, becoming a highly skilled composer.

Bortniansky wrote his first three operas in Italian, while the last three were composed in russia with librettos in French.

The premiere of his first opera, Creonte, took place in 1776 at the San Benedetto Theater in Venice when the composer was just 25 years old. The libretto was written by Marco Coltellini. The opera was a tremendous success and was intended to be staged in several European countries, but the score for Creonte was lost. For over 200 years, the opera was considered missing.

Fortunately, the manuscript of Creonte’s score was discovered in the archives of a library in Lisbon, Portugal.

On November 11, 2024, the opera was performed in Kyiv in a concert version for the first time in modern history. The performance featured the National Presidential Orchestra, the National Honored Academic Capella of Ukraine “Dumka,” with Serhii Bortnyk (soloist of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine and laureate of international competitions) in the role of Creonte, and Olha Fomichova (soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine, international laureate) as Antigone.

In an interview, conductor Herman Makarenko, who directed the production, shared:

“The score of one of the first Ukrainian operas — Creonte by Dmytro Bortniansky, believed lost for 200 years — was found by Olha Shumilina, a musicologist, Doctor of Arts, and professor at the Lviv National Music Academy named after Mykola Lysenko. The score was located in the Ajuda Library, formerly a division of the National Library of Portugal.”

The Premiere

Following the concert version, Creonte received its first full stage premiere in Chernivtsi. The opera was performed in Italian, its original language, with Ukrainian subtitles translated by Maurizio Aschero.

Director: Ivan Butnyak
Conductor & Production Director: Herman Makarenko

Cast:

Creonte – Serhii Bortnyk (soloist of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, laureate of international competitions)
Antigone – Olha Fomichova (soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine, international laureate), Bohdana Zaitseva-Cheban (Chernivtsi)
Haemon – Volodymyr Fisyuk (Chernivtsi), Honored Artist of Ukraine
Ismene – Margaryta Bilokiz (Kyiv), Nadiia Selezniova (Chernivtsi)
Adrasto – Vasyl Ponayda (Lviv).

Theban Citizens (Mime group) – actors of the Olha Kobylianska Chernivtsi Academic Regional Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater
Theban Citizens (Chorus) – “Chernivtsi” Academic Chamber Choir
Orchestra – musicians from the theater’s orchestra and the Dmytro Hnatyuk Chernivtsi Regional Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Scenography