Power of Being Gentle

Performers:

• Iryna Stefanko, soprano
• Ivanna Hetto, harp
• Olena Markevych, piano
• Tetiana Springer-Kustyk, poetry

Program:

• Claude Debussy. Nuit d’étoiles
• Francis Poulenc. Les chemins de l’amour
• Alban Berg. Die Nachtigall
• Antonín Dvořák. Rusalka aria Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém
  • Když mne stará matka from the cycle Gypsy Songs
• Vincenzo Bellini. Vaga luna che inargenti
  • Malinconia
• Heitor Villa-Lobos. Melodia Sentimental
• Auguste Durand. Waltz
• Marcel Grandjany. Aria in stile classico

Imagine a clear spring night. The sky is strewn with stars, beside it lies an endless sea in which the moon shimmers like mother-of-pearl, and the air is filled with tender emotions. The music of Debussy, Fauré, and Poulenc reveals the fragile nuances of love, its trembling and dreaminess, while the final waltz evokes a gentle sadness and nostalgia before farewell.

This evening in the foyer of the Lviv Philharmonic brings together diverse musical worlds: the Brazilian rhythms of Villa-Lobos, the lyrical melodies of Bellini, and the dramatic intensity of Dvořák’s arias. Iryna Stefanko, Ivanna Hetto, and Olena Markevych — three musicians united not only by music but also by a shared desire to find inner strength and inspiration — will create an atmosphere where voice, harp, and piano guide the listener through emotional landscapes: from tenderness to passion, from serenity to drama.

The idea of combining these timbres emerged among the musicians, who are also friends, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Returning to Lviv in the spring, they continued to create music together. Iryna Stefanko hopes the concert will resonate “from women, for women”, manifesting the strength of being gentle.

Tetiana Springer-Kustyk will recite both her own poetry and works by contemporary authors as well as Ukrainian classics, such as the incomparable Lina Kostenko, Mykola Vinhranovskyi, and Olena Teliha. She aims for poetry to become a living part of our spiritual and cultural life, ensuring that children do not find learning long verse forms tedious. The evening will feature music that touches, inspires, and leaves a sense of delicate wonder, tender emotional transparency, and inner fulfillment.