Honored Artist of Armenia Gevorg Hakobyan about our and abroad theaters’ working style
During the summer vacations, when our cultural facilities are taking a break, some popular Armenian artists enjoying the demand to be in abroad, in fact, are still working. For example, soloist of Al. Spendiarian’s Opera and Ballet Theater, Honored Artist of Armenia Gevorg Hakobyan, in the meeting with “Aravot”, said that the directors of the well-known opera theatres are using the summer holidays for practical reasons. “I am recently back from the city of Portofino, Italy, which is better known for its stellar villas, where Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Berlusconi and other world celebrities are spending their holidays there. To spend a couple of days in this city, directors of six well-known European opera theaters, including Vienna and Venice, visited Portofino to rest and work at the same time. They had organized hearings of the singers, resulting in the selection of the best ones to sing in the main role in their theatres in the upcoming season,” said our interlocutor. We were interested to know how exactly has sent him an invitation, Gevorg Hakobyan first mentioned that around 130 already known singers were participating in the hearings representing different countries: from the US to Japan. “The directors initially contacted the agents of the singers, in my case, Angelo Gabrielli. I cannot say anything for now, I’m waiting for my agent to call”, explained the singer.
During the conversation, the baritone achieving various prestigious theaters’ stages told us that prior to leaving for Italy he made his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. “In Puccini’s “Tosca” opera performance I played as Scarpia with our compatriot playmate, the world-renowned soprano Maria Guleghina and tenor Maxim Aksyonov. The performance was conducted by maestro Stanislav Kochanovsky,” said the artist. After the performance, he received an offer to play in the next season as Yago (Verdi’s “Othello”), Tonio (Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci”) and Scarpia, on the frequent basis.
Gevorg Hakobyan, speaking about his guest performances, said that in a week he is leaving for Germany, where he will play as Nabucco in Verdi’s opera of the same name at the Kiel open-air amphitheater.
To the question of what project he has in our theater, the singer said that on the opening of the theatrical season, on September 11, he will play as Mosi in Tigranyan’s “Anush” opera and is planning to play as Escamillo in Bizet’s “Carmen” opera scheduled for late September.
During the conversation, we were interested in learning from the leading soloist about the plans of Gegham Grigoryan returned to the theatre after years of break in the position of again an artistic director in the last two months. “The former 7-year activities of the world-famous opera tenor as an artistic director of the theater prove that he was not only a famous singer but also a visionary leader. During this period, the repertoire of the theatre included 21 opera and ballet performances. This attests to the fact,” said our interlocutor. To the remark that people say that today we have excellent young voices, so where they are … the singer replied, “I am sorry, but I am one of them, and as you can see, I am in my homeland. And Mr. Grigoryan, of course, knows the best voices very well, to the point, he shows a great interest towards the youth, and I am sure that their artistic director will give them respective roles. All of this is not beyond the seven hills and the audience will meet them very soon,” assured the artist.
Samvel DANIELYAN
