Anna Starushkevych is a Ukrainian-British opera singer who has lost family members in the Russian attack on her country. She tells us:
‘I made a conscious choice to put my career on hold, as my brain could not comprehend how I could go on stage, put on a costume, and carry on like nothing was happening to my family and my home country. The only way I could sing and perform since February 2022 was if I did so in aid of Ukraine in some way. I ended up creating various artistic programmes to fundraise for Ukrainians in need or shed light on what is actually going on in Ukraine—sending five evacuation vehicles to the front, amongst helping in other ways.’
Anna decided to produce a short film, Magura, dedicated to the missing men, women, and children of war. The film (available to watch here) is musically based on Handel’s Cara Sposa, but fully removed from the opera’s context, and is split into three parts (in line with Handel’s ABA structure):
– The A section carries the storyline representing the serene pre-war past.
– The B section (the instrumental part of which now reminds me of heavy artillery firing) represents the present—the war—shown through documentary footage. The first half of the B section contains footage of the Russian army invading Ukraine; the second half shows real footage of the Ukrainian resistance.
– The A2 is the future: one year after Ukraine has won the war (a vision we must keep alive!). This development in the film makes Ukrainians really emotional, as this deeply needed, hopeful future is being shown to them—at least in a short film for now.
Anna adds: ‘Whenever the short film is screened, we fundraise for the volunteer search group Platzdarm, who work in prefrontal areas looking for the missing people of war.’
Watch Magura here and help the good cause. And reflect again on the lack of conscience at major opera houses.
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