Oksana Krovytska, Soprano

"O.K. makes Katya's longings believable and is fully in command. " (The Miami Herald, Feb.10, 2001); "The Ukrainian soprano O.K. navigated the role of Katya superbly, demonstrating a powerful and never less than beautiful voice throughout." (The Montreal Gazette, Nov. 6, 2000); "...The center of our attention was also the object of our admiration. O.K.sang beautifully as Cio-Cio-San. The voice works: its sincerity grips the ear, and it is tempered by a judicious musicality."(NY Times,Sept.13, 99) Biography 2005-06 New York City Opera recently honored Ukrainian soprano OKSANA KROVYTSKA with its coveted "Diva Award." Following triumphant debuts as Butterfly and Mimi in her hometown, L'viv, she sings at the Opera Omaha Gala and is re-engaged with Colorado Symphony in Rachmaninov's The Bells. Ms. Krovytska is Puccini's Suor Angelica for Santa Barbara Opera and Senta in Wagner's Flying Dutchman with Arizona Opera. It was as Senta that she made her debut with Anchorage Opera in the 2004-05 season and also recreated her success as Amelia in the Kansas City production of Verdi's Un Ballo In Maschera. With the National Chorale she sang in Verdi's Requiem.
In the 2003-04 season the soprano returned to NY City Opera as Liu and Florida Gran Opera as Butterfly, then performed her first Senta with the Tokyo City Orchestra in Japan. Her biggest success came as Renata in the Francesca Zambello production of Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel in repeat appearances with Moscow's Bolshoi Opera. Engaged as Katya at San Francisco Opera's production of Katya Kabanova, as well as Madama Butterfly, in the 2002-03 season, the soprano returned to the New Jersey Symphony in concerts of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and made her debut with Austin Lyric Opera as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme.
In the 2001-02 season she sang Dvorak's Spectre's Bride, with the Netherland Radio Symphony Orchestra under Eri Klas at the Concertgebouw, recorded the same work with Zdenek Macal and the New Jersey Symphony on Delos, and returned to New York City Opera as Liu in her 9th consecutive season with the company. She sang Butterfly at Madison Opera and the title role in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur with Opera Orchestra of New York. With Baltimore Symphony the soprano sang Shostakovich's From Jewish Folk Poetry under Yuri Temirkanov. With the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid she sang Penderecki's Seven Gates of Jerusalem under Mo. Penderecki.
Ms. Krovytska took on the title role in Janacek's Katya Kabanova in Miami and Montreal, appeared as Amelia in Palm Beach Opera's production of Verdi's Un Ballo In Maschera, sang Margherita and Elena in Boito's Mefistofele with the Casals Festival, Elvira in Verdi's Ernani with Santiago Opera and was Mozart's Donna Elvira with NYCO in the 2000-01 season. During the summer 2001 she sang Liu in her 3rd reengagement at the OpernAir Festival in Austria.
After opening the '99-2000 season for NYCO in their new production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, she appeared with New Jersey Symphony in Dvorak's Requiem (the Grammy winning release on Delos) under Mo. Zdenek Macal and sang her first Fedora with Palm Beach Opera. She sang Marguerite in Gounod's Faust at Mexico's Opera de Bellas Artes, debuted at Florentine Opera in Madama Butterfly and with Flagstaff Symphony sang the Brahms German Requiem. The previous season, after her 3rd return engagement with Colorado Symphony (where she helped to greet the new millenium in Beethoven's 9th Symphony) and singing Strauss' Four Last Songs with Longmont Symphony, Ms. Krovytska joined Mo. Macal as Marie in Smetana's Bartered Bridewith Opera de Monte Carlo and premiered the new Mark Lamos production of Madama Butterfly at NYCO, as well as appear with Milwaukee Symphony in Janacek's Glagolitic Mass.
At the Bard Festival she was featured as Agnes in Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans and at the OpernAir Festival in Gars, Austria, as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme during the summer of 1998. In the 1997-98 season, the soprano was engaged as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame with the National Symphony under Mo. Rostropovich and returned to NYCO to sing the title role in Madama Butterfly, as well as Musetta in La Boheme. She returned to the Colorado Symphony in Rossini's Stabat Mater, and sang Verdi's Requiemwith the Brooklyn Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. She was the soloist at a Christmas Concert with the North-German Radio Orchestra in Hannover, Germany, broadcast December 1998. The 1997 summer found the versatile soprano returning to the Saratoga Festival with NYCO in more highly acclaimed performances of Madama Butterfly.
During the 1996-97 season she appeared with NYCO as the original Butterfly, Donna Elvira and Liu. With the Colorado Symphony she sang Gorecki's 3rd Symphony. Mo. Maxim Shostakovich then chose her to sing his father's Symphony No.14 at New York's Lincoln Center with the New American Chamber Orchestra. During the 1996 summer, the soprano appeared with NYCO as Mimi at the Saratoga Festival and as Micaela in Carmenwith the OpernAir Festival in Austria. Ms. Krovytska opened NYCO's 1996 spring season as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, after appearing as Donna Elvira and Liu in the fall. She appeared as Alice Ford in West Virginia Symphony's full production of Verdi's Falstaff. In the 1994-95 season the soprano was featured at City Opera in new productions of Borodin's Prince Igor, as Yaroslavna, and Verdi's La Traviata as Violetta. In addition, she sang Mimi and Micaela, as well as Violetta, at the summer festivals of Wolf Trap and Saratoga. That season's concert engagements brought her to Madrid in Beethoven's 9th Symphonywith the RTVE Symphony under Sergiu Comissiona, the 1st Soprano in the highly acclaimed Mahler 8th Symphony with Colorado MahlerFest (also produced as a CD). In preceding seasons New York City Opera engaged her as Magda in Puccini's La Rondine.

Oksana Krovytska, Soprano, Pg.2
Press Notices - Opera Reviews
BARTERED BRIDE- L'OPERA DE MONTE CARLO: Nice Matin (Feb.19, 1999)-"The vocal talents were equally evident (to those of conductor Zdenek Macal.) Oksana Krovytska displayed excellent talents as a singer and an actress in the part of the bride." / NEUE KRONENZEITUNG (Vienna) (Feb. 28, 1999)-"Zdenek Macal achieved beautiful sounds and transported the singers to their best vocal accomplishments, as with the young Oksana Krovytska as Marie. With her wonderful soprano - already lauded in New York - she displayed dramatic power, fiery expression and lyric singing.Ó / Opernglass (April 1999)-ÒThe singers supported (director Karel Drgac) perfectly. Oksana Krovytska, from Ukraine, is an absolutely assured Marenka, who knows exactly what she wants. Vocally and otherwise she is well on her way to Katja Kabanova, whom she will sing shortly in Montreal and Miami. The somewhat succulent charm of her voice combines with great technical assurance into a fascinating package. Especially in the big aria of the third act, she cleverly accomplished at once to express the long musical phrases and to give the piece cohesive form.Ó / Orpheus (May 1999)-ÒOksana Krovytska, a Marenka with endearing expressiveness and a pleasantly timbred soprano, and Miro Dvorsky portrayed an acoustically, as well as visually believable pair of lovers." LA BOHEME- NEW YORK CITY OPERA NATIONAL COMPANY: Maine Sunday Telegram (Feb.2, 1997)-"Though her rich voice seemed almost too dark for the consumptive Mimi, Oksana Krovytska still sang the role splendidly. She drew good hands for her signature aria Mi chiamano Mimi in the opening scene and for her leavetaking of Rodolfo, Addio, dolce svegliare in the third scene at the Paris gates." / Newark Star Ledger(Jan.18,1997)-"The evening's vocal standout was O.K. as Mimi. With a rich, full and evenly distributed tone and unflagging technique that included a perfect legato, she showed a firm grasp of the character's emotional life. She even managed to suggest infirmity while singing loudly in her death scene."
CARMEN-KAMPTAL FESTIVAL (OpernAir Gars, Austria): Wiener Zeitung (July 22, 1996)-"O.K. as Micaela thrilled with her very fervently sung aria in the third act." / Die Presse (July 22, 1996)-"Besides the pleasant sounding voice of O.K...." / Neue Freie Zeitung (July 24, 1996)-"The quality for which OpernAir Gars stands for was impressively shown only by O.K. as Micaela whom the knowledgeable audience thanked with special applause." / Neue NÖN (July 27, 1996)-"Even more worth seeing and hearing is the peasant maid Micaela (O.K.) who was vocally absolutely convincing and among the women offered the most perfect performance." / Neues SVZ Volksblatt (July 30, 1996)-"O.K. as Micaela captivates through intensive portrayal and a round, dark-timbred soprano." --NEW YORK CITY OPERA: NY Newsday (March 8, 1995)-"O.K. sang Micaela with dark hue and empathic throb." / The New York Times (Oct. 21, 1993)-"O.K..is a gifted Ukrainian soprano who made a strong New York recital debut last spring...the silvery tones of her voice shone through as the evening went on." / The Post Star (June 20, 1993)-"It was in O.K. that one heard the finest voice, playing Don Jose's jilted love, Micaela, with refinement and grace. K.'s presence on stage was subdued, her gestures simple and direct. She allowed her voice to do the work, and consequently one wasn't distracted by other elements." / The Washington Post (June 11, 1993)-"O.K. had a lovely voice-just right for the character."
FALSTAFF - WEST VIRGINIA SYMPHONY Opera News (October 1996)-"In her first Alice Ford, O.K. displayed an articulate soprano with a rapid vibrato and a fearless top." The Charleston Gazette (May 6, 1996)-"Soprano O.K. as Alice Ford sang with great power and flexibility in her extended solos in Act II." Charleston Daily Mail (May 6, 1996)-"The cast of singers was as luminous as a calcium night light. O.K....sang like angel(s)."
LA TRAVIATA -METRO CONCERT OPERA ORCHESTRA: The Newark Star Ledger (May 22, 1996)-"Violetta was sung with brio by O.K, showing lovely upper decoration particularly in the first act finale...those high notes were always there when she wanted them without running up or falling off - except in the death scene, where she let her techique weaken affectingly and very much on purpose." --NEW YORK CITY OPERA NATIONAL COMPANY: Syracuse (January 13, 1996)-"O.K. made a striking Violetta on all counts. K. has really lived with this part. Her traversal from an inane woman who lives only for partying to an anguished lover was altogether convincing. Her death scene was deeply compelling. Vocally K. has a big soprano with a measure of steel in the tone. She is a fine musician and poured her soul into the music." --NEW YORK CITY OPERA: Associated Press (March 3, 1996)-"O.K., as Violetta, has a gleaming voice in the top register. Her coloratura was true, glittering and warm and her lyric singing flowed." / The Washington Post (July 1, 1995)-"There are vocal riches here as well. O.K. sings the consumptive heroine more sensitively than many sopranos; her voice is an inarguably lovely thing, silvery and exciting above the break, and compellingly throaty below." / Opera (Great Britain, July 1995)-"I also caught the first performance of the new Traviata with the Ukrainian soprano O.K. as Violetta. K.'s first act would have been of star quality in any theatre in the world. She is pretty, she moves gracefully and expressively, and while the voice in the Slavonic manner gets a little too much resonance in the sinus chamber, she employs that slightly edgy tone for dramatic purposes." The Saratogian (June 16, 1995)-"O.K., who sang Madama Butterfly last summer at SPAC, is a thrilling singer, equally strong in coloratura runs and in the psychological dimensions of Violetta, who has been called a courtesan with the soul of a virgin."

Oksana Krovytska, Soprano, Pg.3
FAUST - METRO CONCERT OPERA ORCHESTRA: The Morris Newsbee (April 10, 1996)-"O.K. portrayed Marguerite with warmth and sensitivity. Here truly is the undeserving victim of Faust's selfish pact. Her eventual salvation, seemingly unwarranted in light of her crime, came off as a positive force in this presentation."
DON GIOVANNI - NEW YORK CITY OPERA: New York Times (Apr. 4, 1997)-"O.K. was a fine Donna Elvira." Opera (Dec.1995)-"O.K. was an excellent Donna Elvira." / The Bergen Record (Oct. 4,1995)-"O.K....also commendable as the Don's spurned lady. Krovytska, who played Elvira, delivered some of the evening's most poignant arias with clarity and grace, yet she practically breathed fire as she stormed across the stage seeking vengeance against her despicable ex-lover." / New York Newsday (Sept. 26, 1995)- "As Donna Elvira, O.K. survived all the character's emotional swings between hopeless rage and hopeless pining without becomong a cartoon." / New York Times (Sep. 18, 1995)-"O.K....as Donna Elvira...insistent, suspicious and nearly as ubiquitous (as the Commendatore's statue)..."
KATJA KABANOVA - MONTREAL OPERA: Devoir (Nov. 6, 2000)-"O.K. finds just the right sound, never ever pushing the boredom, the passion, or the quasi derangement." / Presse (Nov. 6, 2000)-(Claude Gingras) "I want to point out immediately the very moving quality and voice of the beautiful and young Ukrainian , O.K." / The Gazette (Nov. 6, 2000)-"The Ukrainian soprano O.K. navigated the role of Katya superbly, demonstrating a powerful and never less than beautiful voice throughout." /
MADAMA BUTTERFLY- NEW YORK CITY OPERA: New York Times (Sept.13, 1999)-"The center of our attention was also the object of our admiration. O.K.sang beautifully as Cio-Cio-San. The voice works: its sincerity grips the ear, and it is tempered by a judicious musicality."New York Newsday(Sept.13,99)-The underrated Ukrainian soprano brightly affecting...;New York Post (Sept.13, 1999)-O.K. was both impassioned and vulnerable in the title role and delivered a sweetly modulated "Un bel di," that prompted the audience's vigorous approval. New York Times (March 10, 1998)-(Headline)The 'Butterfly' Puccini wanted, A Ukrainian singer seems to know what the geisha must have felt - "The principal attraction in the current run is O.K., a Ukrainian soprano whose vocal agility, graceful movement and dramatic sensibility make the title character's ingenuousness both believable and touching. Throughout the performance, and particularly in the final two acts, Ms. K. sang with a fluid combination of depth and luster that gave her character dimension. She consistently made Butterfly's most crucial moments - her rendering of "Un bel di," the end of her meeting with Sharpless and the entire final scene, for example - as revealing and wrenching as they demand to be." Albany Times Union (June 19, 1997)-"With a truly sensational soprano in the person of Ukrainian-born (O.K.) as Cio-Cio San...Puccini's sung soap opera soared.... K.'s every move, every gesture, rang true. Her singing of the taxing role was marvelous from the gracefully phrased love duet of Act One through the famous "One Fine Day" aria...to the final bars of her ritual suicide at the end. Even little comic touches...worked nicely." Glens Falls Post-Star (June 19, 1997)-"With soprano O.K.'s strong fluid voice and poignant, lovely acting, the tragedy unfolded eloquently. Act II belonged almost entirely to K., who was quite marvelous. Her acting captured all the longing and frustration of Pinkerton's three-year absence, even as her singing was wonderfully colored with shades of hope and sadness." The Saratogian (June 20, 1997)-"O.K. sang the demanding role with gentle power.... This is a performance not to be missed. Soprano K. weaves together the colors and textures of Butterfly's complexity, like a silken Japanese robe." Schenectady Daily Gazette (June 19, 1997)-"O.K. brought (a) powerful and gorgeous voice to the production. With all else in place, K. stepped up and sang beautifully, never an easy task in this opera, considering the marathon proportion of the Butterfly role. (She) delivered thrillingly from start to finish." / The Chronicle (July 14, 1994)-"I was fortunate to see Butterfly twice, and compare two casts. Both were excellent but the edge for dramatic power and intensity of singing goes to O.K., a soprano from Ukraine. Her parting lullabye to her child would wring tears from the hardest heart." / Lafayette News (1994)-"Ukrainian soprano O.K. proved a fine interpreter of the demanding part of Butterfly." / The Tampa Tribune (March 25, 1994)-"O.K. in the title role is a confident, powerful soprano with commanding presence on stage." / The Hartford Courant (Feb. 17, 1994)-"O.K., a young Ukrainian soprano who made her City Opera debut just last season, gave a touching, commanding performance as the doomed geisha whose heart is broken by a heedless American sailor. From her opening appearance (at the end of which she soared to a heavenly, hushed high D-flat) to her anguished but grimly purposeful final moment, K. made her character into a figure of both vulnerability and strength. And she was vocally resplendent." New Haven (Feb. 14, 1994)-"There are also some impressive singers. Ukrainian O.K., as Cio-Cio-San has a beautiful voice...She is also a terrific actress, conspiring with Puccini to turn the whole audience into helpless mass of sniffles." / The Maine Campus (Feb. 14, 1994)-"O.K., who played Butterfly, is a native of Lviv in the Ukraine. Her voice was the sweetest and yet strongest sound to have resonated throughout the Hutchins Concert Hall in a very long time. There was absolutely nothing resembling shrillness in the notes of this soprano and she is to be commended for the effort and the sincerity of her entire performance. To see her act out the part of Butterfly as well as sing it is to really experience the range of emotion of the character." / Bangor News (Feb. 14, 1994)-"And, of course, there was O.K. as Butterfly. She brought grace and innocence and power and heroism to the role. She made you feel each of her dainty emotions, each of her terrible blows." /
Oksana Krovytska, Soprano, Pg.4
New Haven Register (Feb. 9, 1994)-"O.K. rose effectively to such peak moments as "Un bel di" ("One Fine Day"), the hit aria from the second act...Much of the opera's appeal resides in the figure of the fragile Butterfly. She demonstrates warmth, devotion, credulity, pride, stubborness and a moving residue of dignity in defeat, all of which O.K. captured in the title role."
PRINCE IGOR - NEW YORK CITY OPERA: The Record (Sep. 13, 1994)-"As his wife Yaroslavna, O.K. offered perhaps the most impressive performance of the night, sending her rich soprano floating through the house in precisely controlled tones that were filled with anguish, fortitude, and hope." / New York Newsday (Sep. 12, 1994)-"K. is the incipient star here, with a supple, clear, steely sound that warmed up by the middle of the second act." / The Star Ledger (Sep. 12, 1994)-"Most compelling of all were this production's leading ladies, a study in contrasts. Ukrainian soprano O.K. was the picture of saintly tragedy as Yaroslavna, and she used her stratospheric soprano to celestial effect." / The Westsider (1994)-"...she was splendidly in her element as Igor's perpetually grieving wife, Yaroslavna. She had all the fearsome big notes required, a really simpatico personality, and she sang her two lengthy arias exquisitely."
TURANDOT - NEW YORK CITY OPERA The New York Times (Sept. 13, 1993)-"(O.K.'s) sound is appealingly rounded, and fairly consistent through her range. And if her first contributions led one to doubt the strength of her upper voice, her sweetly phrased, delicate account of "Signore, ascolta" put those doubts to rest. More crucially, in the last act (she) made Liu's combination of pain and dignity tangible."

CONCERT REVIEWS
ROSSINI STABAT MATER - COLORADO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Denver Post (Sep. 27, 1997)-"...the vocal soloists were among the best Denver has heard...soprano O.K. in the Inflammatus conveyed the passion of Mary in her singing." / Denver Rocky Mountain News (Sep. 27, 1997)-"...soprano O.K. soared majestically in the Inflammatus."
BACH CANTATA ARIAS - THE BACH CANTATA SOCIETY The News-Times (Aug. 4, 1997)-"A real find is the soprano O.K. In an aria from Cantata 205...K. deployed her shapely voice in tandem with the curling violin....In an excerpt from Cantata 115...her phrasing was full of color, and she sounded seraphic in "Sheep May Safely Graze" from Cantata 208.... (K. has a trill.)"
SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY No. 14 - NEW AMERICAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA New York Post (May 31, 1997)-"...soprano O.K. sang with all the weight, tone and expressive power the texts required."
GORECKI 3rd SYMPHONY - COLORADO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Boulder Daily Camera (Oct. 4, 1996)-"Henryk Gorecki's 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs'...was well served both by (conductor Marin) Alsop and Ukrainian soprano O.K....to deliver a moving performance, to which Krovytska's plaintive delivery of the texts of lamentation contributed greatly. " / Denver Rocky Mountain News (Oct. 5, 1996)-"...this work remains a curiously uplifting testament to the human spirit, particularly when the words are sung with such rich-toned expressiveness as they were by soprano O.K. "
VERDI REQUIEM - ARS MUSICA CHORALE Newark Star Ledger (June 9, 1998)-"Chief among the soloists was soprano O.K., whose thrilling upper register and sympathetic interpretation never lost their appeal. Her strength and breath control was astounding, fully capable of being heard over both chorus and orchestra at triple-forte."-- WICHITA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Wichita Eagle (April 14, 1996)-"The solo stars were O.K....K.'s rapier-like soprano was nothing if not persuasive, with bulls-eye high notes. If anything, she could pull back a bit in the ensemble passages, but it was a thrill to hear her eyebrow-searing notes atop the full ensemble sound." -- SACRAMENTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Sacramento Bee (May 5, 1995)-"K., who came to this country only three years ago, has been singing many leading roles at the New York City Opera...It led to a magnificent fugal finale, with the chorus and orchestra in full cry and K.'s voice riding high above them, on the words of deliverance." -- FORT WAYNE SYMPHONY The Journal Gazette (May 8, 1994)-"The four soloists were superb. The Verdi Requiem is quiet and operatic, and the four soloists met the demands of the solos superbly. Soprano O.K. was particularly moving."
GENERAL REVIEWS Opera News (October, 1995)-"She's been awarded with warm notices; in addition to guts, (O.K.) happens to have a voice." New York Newsday (Sept. 7, 1994)-"(O.K.) has an extraordinary voice...She's striking onstage, a beautiful blonde. 'OKSANA's voice is big and expressive', says Christopher Keene, City Opera's general director."
RECORDING REVIEW MAHLER VIII SYMPHONY - COLORADO MAHLERFEST Fanfare (November/December 1995)-"The Colorado soloists may not match Abbado's in name recognition, but fr