By: Bryan Li
On June 17, Odesa re-opened their famed opera house amidst the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Opened in 1810, the Odesa Opera Theater held a performance that Friday. The opera singers started passionately with the Ukrainian national anthem and performed many other pieces including a duet from the well-known play “Romeo and Juliet.”
The chief conductor, Viacheslav Chernukho-Volich, could only host a third of the usual attendants due to security concerns. The military gave the opera house permission to put on the performance 10 days prior. “Today is pure happiness,” stated Chernukho-Volich, “At the start of the war the explosions and sirens terrified me, as if I had plunged into some unreality, a World War II movie, but humans get used to everything.”
The stars of the show, the opera singers, took many risks, including their own lives. But, the city of Odesa, full of rich history, has always tried to live in the present, doing whatever they can to make matters better. Marina Naymytenko, a soprano in the opera that plays Juliet, believes that “it is an art that is going to help us survive.”
When asked when the war would end, Naymytenko responds by saying, “Unfortunately, it will go on for some time. It makes us depressed just how crazy Putin seems to be.” The people of Odesa are the foundation of the city, singing their way through the war. The city was hit around two months ago by a rocket attack, killing eight, but the city chugs on.
The mayor of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, stated in an interview, “It is important to show that Odesa is alive, that Ukraine is alive … while the way of the Russian occupiers is killing and death.”
There was some controversy surrounding the re-opening, as Mr. Trukhanov is currently under the pressure of changing a street name a Russian playwright and novelist. ““No,” he said, “I would not support that. I am worried by the growth of hatred of all things Russian.”
The war Putin started has deeply affected many parts of Ukraine, but Odesa stands as an example of the country’s fortitude.