I think it was a prescribed road of sorts. The things that had occurred since his childhood were some coincidences, but he kept on walking. It’s the … - Vasyl Slipak

Even more! He had a unique talent for languages and did not have to learn any. He never did any courses! When he came back from France, he spoke French. He would quickly learn the language of any country he came to – Polish, Spanish, German, Russian… This came very easily to him. He never spent as much time to learn a language as, for example, I did. I envied my brother in this case. Moreover, he not only spoke nut also wrote. The French praised his French very much. His ear for music must have helped him. Besides, he had a good natural memory. Hence were his broad communication and a career growth.(2017)

The international jury of the Festival and the Opera Competition in Szeged composed of: Raymond DUFFAUT – the chairman of the jury, Andrea Rost, Esther Lehoczky, Henry Little, Luca Targetti and Walter Kobéra decided that “The Emperor of Atlantis” by Viktor Ullmann, a performance directed by Beata Redo-Dobber with Tomasz Tokarczyk as a director of music, was the best of five performances presented between 6 and 14 October in Szeged. According to the jury’s verdict, Wassyl Slipak, playing the role of the Death (Der Tod) in “The Emperor of Atlantis” was awarded the prize for the best soloist. The verdict was announced during the official gala at the Theatre in Szeged on 15 October.

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.