The renowned conductor George Pehlivanyan about Armenia’s “breaking” and recreated relations
As soon as the notice about the concert by the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia under the leadership of the world famous conductor George Pehlivanyan (in the photo) appeared, various rumors were held among professionals and music lovers. The theme was one: why does the conductor celebrate his 50th anniversary not with the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia but the Chamber Music House? And the reasons for the rumors is that Pehlivanyan has repeatedly led the Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia in 1990’s both in Armenia and European countries, and the last concert in Yerevan was held 13 years ago.
Referring to 13 years of “silence,” the conductor said, “I was not invited to Armenia. Whereas this invitation by the Chamber orchestra was made by the artistic director Vahan Martirosyan, whom I accidentally met in the National Opera Theater, in Paris.” In the conversation with “Aravot”, the conductor informed that from the beginning of the current year, the concerts dedicated to his anniversary were held in France, Spain, Italy, and without mentioning the specific countries, he noted that in the near future, jubilee evenings are planned in other countries as well. We reminded the artist that in 2001, in an interview with us, he had mentioned that the works of Khachatryan and Alan Hovhannissyan have their constant places in his repertoire, and that it is the demand by the audience, so we were interested to know whether the number of composers has been added nowadays. George Pehlivanyan first mentioned that he had conducted the orchestra on the jubilee of Khachatryan and the works by the great composer were played in Great Britain with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in Tel Aviv, Madrid, etc., and our famous musicians: violinist Sergey Khachatryan, cellist Alexander Chaushyan and others acted as soloists.
He also said that in the last 20 years he lives in Paris with his family, teaches at the National Conservatory and introduces the students to the Aslamazyan editing of the works by Komitas, which are included in the curriculum of the National Conservatory in Paris. He also indicated that there was a time when he first voiced the 3rd Symphony by Terteryan in Europe and interpreted the works by Edvard Mirzoyan. As for introducing other representatives of the school of Armenian composers to the world, the conductor is convinced that the Ministry of Culture and why not the state have a work to do in this “field”. “We need to promote the development of management in Armenia.
Nowadays, it is not a problem, we need to have only a desire and lead at least distance negotiations with musical agents. As a result, I’m sure there will be agencies and managers, who will assume the recognition of the best Armenian musicians and bands in the world. With already organized tours and the CD-publications, the Armenian composers will present and be recognizable abroad. I know that there is still a Composers’ Union in Armenia. This structure, also, should not sit idle. In short, I or the Armenian musicians living abroad, advocate Armenian composers as much as we can, but this, I repeat, is the state’s task, at large,” said George Pehlivanyan.
He added that when he was in Yerevan, he has become acquainted with the composer Vache Sharafyan and is planning future cooperation. He would like to meet with Tigran Mansuryan, but like any tour, this trip is short, too. “To expect progress without management is an idle talk,” emphasized the conductor several times during the conversation. And as to who exactly is in charge of his management, George Pehlivanyan answered, “Various agencies around the world.” And added with a smile that his impresario in Armenia is the people. Recently, Pehlivanyan was invited by the Opera Theatre to take part in the hearing evaluation of the soloists. The conductor expressed his delight. “You have a good opera voices. I managed to become friends with the chief conductor of the Theatre, Karen Durgaryan, whom I knew since the 1990s, when he was a philharmonic orchestra flautist. By the way, he took the first conducting lessons from me.”
Samvel DANIELYAN
