Lysenko Operas Based on Literature — From Hohol to Shevchenko (1880-1912)

The current exhibition traces the operatic legacy of Mykola Lysenko — the composer who created the first independent Ukrainian operatic school, working with the most important texts of national literature. The central productions: Christmas Night (first edition 1873, second 1883) based on the story by Mykola Hohol; The Drowned Woman (1885) based on Hohol; Natalka Poltavka (1889) based on the play by Ivan Kotliarevskyi (1769-1838); Taras Bulba (composed 1880-1890, premiered after the composer's death) — Lysenko's largest opera based on Hohol; Eneida (1910) based on the burlesque poem by Kotliarevskyi. The hall displays original scores from the museum's holdings, set design sketches for the Kyiv premieres, and costumes of the first performers. A separate section is dedicated to Lysenko's spiritual and patriotic works. The centrepiece is the Prayer for Ukraine of 1885 with words by Oleksandr Konysky (1836-1900), which became the unofficial second anthem of Ukraine and is performed at solemn national events. Alongside are numerous choral arrangements of texts by Taras Shevchenko (The Caucasus, The Rapids Roar, Testament), which became the repertoire of all Ukrainian choirs. The exhibition emphasises: Lysenko consciously chose the Ukrainian literary tradition as the foundation of a national operatic school in times of political bans on the Ukrainian word, making opera an act of cultural resistance.