Clarinets of Tenderness

In 1982, director Vasyl Viter shot the first feature film in Soviet cinema history on videotape. It was a film based on Pavlo Zagrebelny's essay "Clarinets of Tenderness." Pavlo Tychyna was played by the young popular theater director Valentin Kozmenko-Delinde. Pavlo Tychyna's mother was played by Nina Matvienko. It was her first role in a feature film. She also performed a romance in the film based on Tychyna's words, "That Garden, and Night, and Stars..." The music for the romance and for the film was written by the brilliant Ukrainian composer Oleg Kiva, and later this music became the basis for his amazing cantata, which was performed by the Kyiv Camerata orchestra together with Nina Matvienko.

Directed by Vasyl Viter, Clarinets of Tenderness leans on a strong ensemble — Nina Matviienko — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 1982.