By Gourgen James Khazhakian
The last Sunday, August 2, at 20:00, Al.Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater and Constantine Orbelian Foundation presented online a Gala Concert dedicated to all the musicians of the world who found themselves in a difficult situation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the words of Mkrtich Babajanyan, Director of the concert, Deputy Artistic Director of the Theater, this concert was dedicated to “all the theaters, musicians, orchestras, choirs of the world which try to survive and preserve high culture in this difficult period.” He expressed special gratitude to the Constantine Orbelian Foundation, “which supported the filming of the concert.”
The Concert lasted more than an hour and a half, practically all the leading soloists of the theater performed with the accompaniment of pianists Armen Aghajanyan and Yelena Vardazaryan.
Below we present the extensive and impressive program of the concert:
LIPARIT AVETISYAN /tenor/, MARY MOVSISYAN /soprano/
Read also
G.Verdi, Duet of Gilda and Duce from opera “”Rigoletto” /E´ il sol dell’anima/
MARY MOVSISYAN
G.Verdi, Gilda’s aria from opera “Rigoletto” /Caro nome/
LIPARIT AVETISYAN
G.Verdi․ Canzone di Duca from opera “Rigoletto” /La Donna e’mobile/
DAVID BABAYANTS /baritone/, MARY MOVSISYAN
G.Verdi. Duet of Rigoletto and Gilda from opera “Rigoletto” /Mio Padre/
MARY MOVSISYAN, HAYK TIGRANYAN /bass/, TAMARA DADOYAN /mezzo-soprano/
G.Verdi. Terzetto from opera “Rigoletto” /La Tempesta/
LIPARIT AVETISYAN
G.Donizetti. Romance of Nemorino from opera “L’elisir d’amore” /Una furtiva lagrima/
LILIT SOGHOMONYAN /soprano/
P.Mascagni. Romance of Santuzza from opera “Cavalleria Rusticana” /Voi lo sapote o Mamma/
MARINE DEINYAN /Honored Artist of RA, soprano/
G.Verdi. Leonora’s aria from opera “The Power of Fate” /Pace, pace/
HAYK TIGRANYAN
W.A.Mozart. Leporello’s aria from opera “Don Giovanni” /Madamina il catalogo e questo/
SOFYA SAYADYAN /soprano/
W.A.Mozart. Zerlina’s aria from opera “Don Giovanni” /Batti, batti o bei Mazetto/
MKRTICH BABAJANYAN /baritone/, HAYK TIGRANYAN, RICHARD MADLENYAN /bass/
W.A.Mozart. Terzetto from opera “Don Giovanni” /Don Giovanni a cenar teco/
SIRANUSH GASPARYAN /soprano/
W.A.Mozart. Fiordiligi’s aria from opera “Cosi fan tutte” / Come scoglio/
INGA KARAPETYANTS /mezzo-soprano/
F.Cilea. Princessa de Bouillon’s aria from opera “Adriana Lecouvrer” /Acerba volutta/
SIRANUSH GASPARYAN
- Ponchielli. Gioconda’s aria from opera “La Gioconda” /Suicidio/
HOVHANNES AYVAZYAN /Honored Artist of RA, tenor/
- Verdi. Otello’s “Esultate” from opera “Otello’’
HOVHANNES AYVAZYAN, ANNA AYVAZYAN /soprano/
G.Verdi. Duet of Otello and Desdemona from opera “Otello” /Gia nella notte densa/
GEVORG HAKOBYAN /Honored Artist of RA, baritone/
G.Verdi. Jago’s aria from opera “Otello” /Credo in un Dio crudel/
HOVHANNES AYVAZYAN /Honored Artist of RA, tenor/, GEVORG HAKOBYAN
G.Verdi. Duet of Otello and Jago from opera “Otello” /Si,pel ciel/
Soloist Davit Babayants made the following note after the concert at his FB page: “Singing “Rigoletto” after a half year lock-down was not easy!”
Karineh Kirakosyan, Theater Deputy Director commented with the following: “The concert with the participation of our Theater artists was dedicated to all the artists of the world, who, even under COVID19 pandemic, are remaining faithful to the high title of artist, continuing to create and serve art. Our artists, being from the same circle of artists, with their high mastery and high-quality performances, paid tribute to them. The contribution of the Deputy Artistic Director of the Theater Mkrtich Babajanyan, the Artistic Director of the program, is undeniable in this case. So I say thank you to everyone with a great sense of pride.”
We asked Maestro Constantine Orbelian, General and Artistic Director of the Theatre to tell us a couple of words on the Concert:
“As everyone can see, during this very difficult time for everyone, the arts and everything associated with the performing arts all over the world have come to a standstill. We, at the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theater are keeping up with the trends of the major European theaters to produce online performances of our soloists – always thinking about safety and social distancing. I think that these FB concerts, and this concert in particular shows the tremendous potential both musically and vocally of our excellent singers that we have at the Opera House. The singers performed repertoire that is not necessarily part of the current repertoire of our theater, which shows that we have the talent and the wonderful voices to expand our repertoire to include operas such as Verdi’s Rigoletto and Otello.
I want to extend my personal congratulations to all of the artists who were performing yesterday and I want to invite our readers and followers to stay tuned for updates on our next performances on FB where you will have the opportunity to hear our superb singers and we will have performances by our wonderful talented dancers as well.
We all hope that in the near future we will be able to return to a normal musical and artistic life and to be able to perform for our beloved audiences in our wonderful theater. We wish everyone good health.”
Photos by Tigran Arakelyan
