“As you name the boat, so shall it float”

          (This is a response to the previous post by John)

         I.T. is a very popular and in-demand professional sphere in Ukraine at the moment, so it is no wonder that it gave birth to some sort of vogue. It is not surprising that on this prevailing wave a place such as the IT-café appeared in Kharkov. I think this is all about the moniker “IT-café” which definitely helps this establishment gain some status. Most likely it sounds more official, serious and less informal if you schedule an appointment with someone at a enterprise like this instead of the “Potato House” for example. ‘I have spent last night at IT café’ – seems like a person was involved in some important activity, while ‘I went to the Potato House’ doesn’t make you feel the same respect.
        I have visited the IT-café on Universitet only once, so I’m not really a competent judge, but I have made up my mind by its first “appearance”.
        I definitely disagree with John. I don’t think that the atmosphere is that good considering the slow service and small tables which are hardly spacious enough to put both your computer and a drink. Imagine if there are more than two people at the table and they are trying to have dinner and use the internet at the same time.
        The IT-café is good for you though, if you have extra time to seek internet access in a café while traveling through the city, and some excessive money to spend. Of course you can’t go there only to use the internet without ordering food, drinks or renting a computer, which are not that inexpensive as John said. Anything you ask for (even a beer) will cost you more than daily internet access, as compared to Kharkov internet providers who charge approximately 2-3 hryvna per day (about 30-50 cents). Needless to say, a dinner sometimes will cost you more than your monthly home internet bill.
        So the IT-café is a bad choice for those who only need to jump on the information super highway. You would be better off by setting it up at home and saving your time (time = money). You might as well drink beer at home spending only 5 hryvna instead of 15.
       On the other hand, the IT-café definitely will do in case of emergency if your home internet goes down when you have to make a Skype call or something else urgent.
       But if you’re planning only a “get together” with your friends I think you can find a superior location for it. Of course I mean a normal night out with friendly conversation, not the one when you all sit at the same table but everybody is only staring at their laptops screens.

        Posted by Helen

IT Cafe

A friend turned me on to a new place in Kharkov, Ukraine. He has an apartment near the Universytet metro station in the center. The place where he is living is a Western Style residence that for some unaccountable reason does not have internet access. This hardship caused him to search for a suitable spot where he could do some business online as well as chat with friends. He decided the best choice in the area was the I.T. Café (http://itcafe.ua/) which is right to the left of the glass exit for the metro. It is directly above the Potato House.

There are a few good benefits of this eatery. First of all the Wi-Fi has a strong signal. (In a pinch you can access the internet at the weaker Potato House as well) They rent computers including the I-Pad for Apple aficionados. (They also have a counter that sells electronics such as computers and phones.) The food is pretty good and they have an English menu. While traveling around town I have been known to stop at McDonalds or Coffee Life (the Starbucks clone) to check e-mail or update my blog. Both of these are OK but I like the atmosphere at the IT café better and the fact that smoking is not allowed is a BIG plus for me. The meals are served ala carte so while they are appetizing and inexpensive, you are not going to get a meal with a soup/salad starter or even a side dish unless you order those as well. The drink prices are low also with a Carlsberg draft costing just 15 hyrvnia (under $2). I actually have given English lessons on Skype here but I was sure not to do that on the nights when they have a band or Tuesday when they have Salsa lessons. 

This place is really catering to the business market. They have presentation equipment on hand, as well as printing and scanning services. They even have consultation by an IT specialist available. If you do plan to visit occasionally then you should sign up for their discount card. The basic one gives a 3% discount and allows table reservations plus they will permit you to get some of their other amenities at a discount or even free.

Posted by John

Poor Tchaikovsky, poor Tatyana

The “Russian soul is a mystery” (for other cultures). What a stereotype! But sometimes listening to foreign singers performing vocals for Russian chamber music or operas; I think that not only the soul, but Russian music as well is a mystery to them.

That thought hit me yesterday evening at the opening of International classic music festival, “Kharkov assembly” (http://www.city.kharkov.ua/en/news/festival-harkivski-asambleyi-startuye-30-veresnya-9804.html ) which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year. It took place it the small hall of the Kharkov Opera and Ballet Theatre. The status of “international” requires inviting guests from abroad, who come here right before the festival and perform with the local orchestra. It’s usually a great risk because they have a couple (or even less) rehearsals with a new conductor or singer, or both a new conductor and singer which is worse, and right after have to go on stage. They basically have no time to become perfectly coordinated and arrange some necessary “teamwork”. This is a good excuse for all the weak parts in the concert program, but sometimes even this doesn’t work. I want to tell only about one piece, which made me unenthusiastic about the musicians.

So, there were three foreigners in: one in the orchestra, the conductor from UK, and the soprano from UK (let’s do without naming names). Also, there was the scene of Tatyana’s letter from “Eugene Onegin” (Yevgeniy Onegin) by Tchaikovsky, of course, based on Pushkin’s “novel in verse”.

It went wrong almost from the beginning. The orchestra started properly, in active tempo, but the heavy voice of the soprano wasn’t able to handle it. Apparently, it’s either a weariness of 30 years on the stage or too much experience that made itself manifest. She didn’t even sound close to the “18 year old Tatyana” experiencing her first strong emotions (I know it’s not tactful to mention a female performer's age in a review, beg my pardon).

So conductor got all confused and slowed the instrumentalists down. The first part of the scene of Tatyana’s letter is the fastest and consequently tempo started getting slower and slower and finally reached the point where it was almost unbearable and you could hear all motives of each instrument of orchestra and all their roughness (affected by the lack of rehearsing) which would have been unnoticeable if they had played livelier. Once the soprano finished, the conductor let the instrumentalists play the coda in normal tempo which couldn’t be considered normal anymore because the plan for the whole scene got messed up.

Usually the audience complains about the horrible accent of foreign performers singing in Russian, but it appeared to be the less significant of the problems in this situation.

Sighs of relief and loud applause appeared after this short, but what seemed quite longer disaster. If I were a good girl, instead of all these words I would say: “We heard a new interpretation of the image of Tatyana performed by English singer, marked by deep thoughtful work on intonation, original tempo and dramaturgical plan”. And I will very much likely write it soon but in a different place, in a different language.

Posted by Helen

Live In Concert-Whitesnake-Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Kiev & Odessa

The English band, Whitesnake, has five upcoming shows planned in Ukraine. These are supporting their latest album, Forevermore which was realized in March. The band was founded in the 1970’s after lead vocalist, David Coverdale left Deep Purple. They originally had a similar sound but they soon developed their own heavy metal voice. I think they peaked with their self titled Whitesnake album in 1987. This hit #2 in the U.S. and contained two of their biggest hits which were, Here I go Again and Is this Love.

They started their Forevermore World Tour in New York City during May of this year and they are planning 96 shows on four continents. Coverdale is the only original band member that will be on this tour. The other members were added in either 2002 or in the last couple of years.

They will start November with a show in Singapore and then before heading to Sweden, they will have the following shows in Ukraine:

·        Kharkov November 8^th

·        Zaporozhye November 10th

·        Dnepropetrovsk November 11^th

·        Kiev November 13^th

·        Odessa November 15^th

Tickets can be purchased here:

http://www.konstantind.com/Concert.aspx?id=31