Vasyl Slipak Quotes

Many people were wondering what a brilliant opera singer was doing in the war in Donbas. It was his personal example of self-devotion to his country. Forty-odd years old Vasyl Slipak was known throughout Europe as an opera singer, he played leading roles in many perfomances, could have had tremendous future, however when the war broke out at homeland, he could not but step in ... The role of Mephistopheles in the opera «Faust» of Charles Gounod was Vasyl Slipak’s favourite, that’s why his nickname Myth was in tune with it. Vasyl Slipak’s life may have been short, but as full of heroism as mythology. He showed the audience a rare and exceptional singing art. His vocal talent was called a wonder of nature, and many teachers wished to have Vasyl in their class. When journalists found out that there was an opera singer at the front line, the news about him started spreading far and wide. Vasyl Slipak did not turn down interviews. He tried to explain to people his position, to support those who lost faith, and to draw in some help for the fighters.(2017)

I am going to tell you a story. The story of a person for whom being listened to became the sense of his life. That's because that man had divine voice. He was called the best baritone and countertenor of the world. His voice sounded in Carnegie Hall here in New York, in Notre-Dame de Paris, Covent Garden Opera in London, and Grand Opera in Paris. Every one of you could have listened to his incredible singing, but, unfortunately, there is a thing that will not allow you to do so again. I looks like this and I will show you. That is. 12.7 millimeters, which not only ended his career - it stopped his life. By the way, it costs only ten U.S. dollars. And this is, unfortunately, the price of a human life on our planet. A man I've just told you about was Vasyl Slipak. He was a Ukrainian and soloist of the Paris National Opera who was murdered in Donbas, defending Ukraine against Russian aggression. (2019)

There are strong people in the world, who stand up for ideas by means of their talent. They are artists or craftsmen, writers or farmers, who are proud of their history, their past, present, and future. They switch from one art to another, forgetting that there is no otherworldliness on Earth and that human stupidity is a very complicated art which can only be appraised in the course of time and in silence. The same also applies to Vasyl Slipak – we in the West call an exalted voice like his the ‘voice from the Don’ because of its profundity and strength. This time it is about his last cry of freedom. This opus is not aimed at glorifying those who are ‘for’ or ‘against.’ I want to explain by means of this opus that, whatever the case, people must not die in the 21st century, sacrificing themselves on the altar of the god of war. The truth is hidden deep in the heart, and while peace protects it, war destroys it. So let me remember Vasyl Slipak as a friend who had no enemies and whose superb voice carried love for humanity. (2017)

One of the worst abominations of this filthy war is that the Russian world is losing its lumpen population, while Ukraine is forced to lose a whole cross-section of society. The «Russian World» is losing car wash cleaners. Ukraine is losing opera singers, journalists, IT specialists, businessmen… Russia is grinding up the Ukrainian gene pool. It is doing to Ukraine what it has done for centuries to itself. The surname of Slipak I have heard for the first time today, but the very fact of the loss of this life – for me this is a tragedy. Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls… This should be a separate item of charges during the Hague trial. Not just a crime against humanity. A crime against the human gene pool. Against the human race. Against culture. Against science. Against development. A crime against the planet. A crime against the future. «Irreparable damage to the future of mankind». That is how that paragraph should probably read. At such moments, I feel particularly sharp guilt for the fact that there is nothing I can do to stop this. There is no way I can affect this… I tried. I honestly did. But there are more of them. Millions. I’m sorry.

I feel he chose the name Meph because this is the possibility to say. I'm a singer and I'm here to fight and this is a symbol. The possibility to give the people a question: Why is a singer here, why?

Despite having a successful artistic career (Slipak lived in France for the last 19 years of his life and worked as a soloist at the Paris Opera), he did not stay aloof to the hardships that our country was going through when the war started. He managed to juggle volunteer work and performing in plays and concerts at first, brought humanitarian aid himself, and in summer 2015, he put a successful career on hold and went to defend the country in the ranks of the Right Sector volunteer battalion. In particular, he fought the forces of the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ in Pisky... Slipak was a patriot, an excellent singer, and an example to all Ukrainians. (2017)

Vasyl was supposed to become my vocal adviser in my future project. For three years Slipak was a soloist at the Grand Opera. He got solo parts, but he also wanted to have concert practice, that is why he chose a sort of freelance. Mind you, when the war in the east of Ukraine broke out, his vocal career was on the rise. Characteristically, Vasyl did not give up his career, he would be active as a volunteer, then he would return from Ukraine to France to give concerts and appear in performances, and then again he would go to Ukraine, which he loved above all. And then again more concerts, and again back to the front. (2017)

Then, we sang «Requiem» by W. A. Mozart. This piece requires quite a large team of musicians – 50 people in the orchestra and the same number in the choir. But there are also some passages for the soloist like «Tuba Mirum». So, when Wassyl started to sing this excerpt himself, I suddenly realized that he made the 250 meter-long hall resonate his voice. It is something that fifty of us managed to do only all in unison. Now, as a specialist, I can say that he got his rare timbre not by accident. His oval face with a long nose and elongated neck are typical signs of a bass voice that he developed later. But at the same time, he sang countertenor up to 28 years because his voice transformation happened extremely late. In other words, Wassyl managed to combine in himself two incompatible voices and perform both of them on a big stage. Call it what you want – God’s gift or a joke of nature, but it was amazing. At that time we did not see each other for three years. After that pause, I met Wassyl again and did not recognize him. He turned from a skinny young man into a courageous giant – big, strong and serious. But his internal changes were even more impressive. He became a principled patriot, he did not seem to tolerate things which were OK for him earlier when it came about Ukraine. But the largest change happened in his voice, because he began to sing bass.

I told about Vasyl to French composer Pierre Thilloy, my good acquaintance, and offered him to write a small piece. He creates music which is easy to listen to, and he agreed immediately and said he would like to visit the premiere.(2017)

Vasyl Slipak showed by his example an incredible will of Ukrainians to defend their native land. As a volunteer fighter, he demonstrated an example of patriotism and self-sacrifice to many, particularly our young people.(2018)

But that all changed in 2014, when Russia invaded the Ukraine. Slipak left the opera and joined as a volunteer with the free Ukrainian forces, fighting in the eastern Ukraine, carrying a belt-fed machine gun and adopting the nom de guerre "Meph" based on his highly praised renditions of the aria "Mephistopheles" from the opera "Faust." He adopted a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle, similar to a Mohawk, and served at various positions along the front lines in a maze of Russian minefields and trenches. Along the way, he became a folk hero to the Ukrainian people. It can truly be said that while the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Ukraine became a separate country, its real independence dates from Maidan Square, and Wassyl Slipak is a national hero for giving up an incredible career and the luxury of celebrity and fame to help make that possible.

On December 8th and 10th in the Lviv Organ Recital Hall, the choir and orchestra of the Lviv Higher Music Institute M.V.Lysenko under the direction of Heorhyj Pavlyj performed Henry Purcell's opera, "Dido and Aeneas," in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the composer's death. However, among the soloists, Vasyl Slipak (countertenor, by the way, the only in Ukraine) charmed audiences with his expressive manner of singing.

Ukraine can become a successful country and a major player on the political stage if we start heeding the voices of the people.

You know, he learned continuously! He took lessons even at age 42. He did it meticulously, without being ashamed or considering himself a star that can rest on his laurels. He had a need for self-improvement.(2017)

About a month before his last trip to the front, all his friends noticed that he had changed very much – he stopped talking about the events in Ukraine, became quiet and even-tempered. He decided on what he was to do.(2017)