Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
isation, famine and repression. When Stalin heard about them, he immediately ordered a
national
kobzary
conference, feigning great interest - and then had all the attendees shot.
Classical Music & Opera
The most notable local composer remains Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912). The 'father of
Ukrainian national music', he applied the logic of Ukrainian folk songs to piano-based
classical music. Ukrainian operettas combine more acting and dancing than typical oper-
as.
The online music shop
www.umka.com.ua
offers anything from Transcarpathian folk to
the latest Donetsk hip-hop.
Contemporary Music
Ukraine's active rock scene provides a welcome antidote to the Russian pop streaming in
over the border. Broadly, the scene can be split into four categories: the legends, the na-
tionalists, mainstream alt rock and hip-hop.
The legends are Vopli Vidopliasova (VV) and Okean Elzy. Both have been going since
the 1990s and have charismatic front men - Oleh Skrypka and Svyatoslav Vakarchuk re-
spectively - who seek to promote the Ukrainian identity through music. Both tend to-
wards the progressive: VV is more uptempo, Okean Elzy more melancholic.
The nationalists, from Lviv and the west, are defenders of Ukrainian heritage. This
category, including Plach Yeremiyi, Mertvy Piven and Mandry, might also fit into the
category of folksy alt rock, alongside the edgier but higher profile Druha Rika.
Next up are popular hip-hop acts, like TNMK, Tartak, Boombox and Vova z Lvova.
Acoustic reggae duo 5'nizza and ska band Haydamaky boast large followings thanks to
their often exceptional arrangements.
Ukrainian chick pop follows the tried-and-tested formula of scantily clad singers belt-
ing out studio-driven pop. Ukraine's Eurovision entries - including Tina Karol (2006)
and even 2004 winner Ruslana - tend to hail from this group, as do high-profile video
stars Ani Lorak and all-girl band Via Gra (geddit?). The vast majority of what you see on
Ukrainian MTV and other music channel start-ups, usually porno-pop highlighting the
physical attributes of female singers, hails from across the border in Russia.
Ukraine's 2007 Eurovision entry and the overall runner-up - cross-dressing comedi-
an-singer Verka Serduchka - occupies a category all of his/her own. The same is true of
NYC gypsy punk outfit Gogol Bordello, whose eccentric singer, Eugene Hutz, is origin-
