GEMS OF ARMENIA: CAIRO’S ARAX CHOIR COMMEMORATES ARAM KHACHATURIAN
Ahram Online, Egypt
March 20 2013
Armenian Community’s Arax Choir Arax conducted by Mihran Ghazelian
commemorated the 110th anniversary of composer Aram Khachaturian last
SaturdayAti Metwaly, Wednesday 20 Mar 2013
On Saturday 16 March, the Armenian Community in Egypt gathered at
the Nubarian Armenian School in Heliopolis to listen to the Arax
Choir conducted by Mihran Ghazelian. The event commemorated the 110th
anniversary of the Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978).
Khachaturian lived in a time after Armenia was annexed to the
Soviet Union in 1922, regaining its independence only in 1991 —
longer after he dies. Khachaturian is best known for his ballets
Spartacus (1954) and Gayane (1942). The latter features the famous
“Sabre Dance” representing an Armenian war dance and is a frequently
performed composition. To the Egyptian audiences, Khachaturian’s name
is usually linked to the Spartacus ballet, one of the Cairo Opera
Ballet Company’s more remarkable works.
But Khachaturian’s musical richness was not limited to the
mentioned ballets; his many compositions, which continuously combined
Western classical music with Armenian folklore elements, are equally
interesting. Khachaturian’s family fled Tbilsi, the capital of Georgia,
at the time home to Armenian population. In 1934, he graduated from
the Moscow Conservatory and started gaining considerable recognition
and success.
Under Stalin, Khachaturian found himself “guilty” of formalism.
Because his music did not reflect socialist ideals, it was labelled
by the regime as anti-people. “It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly I was an anti-people composer,” Khachaturian writes in his
memoirs, remembering a decree issued by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Unionin 1948, condemning him alongside
Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The composers were asked to apologise
and returned to the state’s favour a few years later.
“I was told I was estranged from my Armenian roots and I had become
cosmopolitan. They sent me to Armenia as punishment. It became my
salvation. I was in a land I had always cherished, a land that had
nourished my music again and again.” Throughout his life, Khachaturian
was taking music from the Armenian people, and then giving it back
to them. “My father was a peasant, an illiterate man who would turn
himself into a master book binder, rising above his humble beginnings.
Now his perseverance would be my inspiration. My mother gave me my
love of music. Throughout my return to Armenia I heard her voice
singing her folk songs, the lullabies; the songs passed down to
her from her own parents and her voice echoing inside my head was a
constant comfort to me.”
Khachaturian composed hundreds of works for orchestra: symphonies
and works for small formations; ballet, concertos for violin, solo
piano works, film scores as well as music for children.
The concert by the Arax Choir included a few of the original choral
works by Khachaturian based on folkloric songs, while other songs
were based on by Khachaturian’s music, with lyrics written by Mihran
Ghazelian, the choir’s conductor and artistic director. The evening
also included short dance numbers to Khachaturian’s music and a
documentary film about the composer. Though attended mostly by
Armenian-Egyptians, this event, like all other concerts organised
by the Armenian community, was open to the public. It is evident
that the community cherishes its culture by taking meticulous care
with all the artistic and logistic sides of the event. This includes
providing rich programme notes, printed — alas — in Armenian only.
Operating under the Armenian Prelacy of Cairo, the Arax Choir goes
back to the 1990s. However, back then, the choir had a different name,
Zavartnots, and was conducted by David Zalyan, who was succeeded
by conductor Hrant Aghajanian, a music and arts teacher, one of
the important mediators of Armenian culture in Egypt. Finally, in
2003, Mihran Ghazelian became the choir’s conductor and artistic
director, changing its name to Arax. Under Ghazelian’s management,
Arax expanded to include over 30 amateur singers, including four
voices, men and women.
The first performance of the choir under the name of Arax was on the
occasion of the 1700th anniversary of foundation of the Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin (in 303 AD), the oldest church built by a state
in the world and the spiritual headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic
Church. Since becoming Arax, the choir has given a number of concerts
in Cairo and Alexandria. In 2009, its performance at the Bibliotheca
Alexandrina was received with acclaim. On several occasions, the
choir took part in the Egyptian Churches religious songs festival
organised by the Coptic Church.
Last summer, for the first time, Arax travelled abroad to participate
in the choral works festival organised in Yerevan, Armenia. Arax also
takes active part in the Armenian community’s commemoration events,
such as the Armenian Genocide in April each year, the anniversary
of creation of the Armenian alphabet, along with commemorations of
important national battles and victories. The choir also performs on
the anniversaries of renowned Armenian composers, among many other
historically and culturally important dates. In total, over the past
decade, Arax gave 35 music performances.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, a graduate of the Komitas State Conservatory
of Yerevan, Mihran Ghazelian has much experience of working with
choirs in Egypt and Armenia, as well as internationally. In the early
2000s, he conducted the Sourp Sarkis Mother Church choir in Tehran,
Iran. In Egypt, Ghazelian is not just responsible for Arax. He is
also the choir master of the Nerses Shnorhali choir attached to the St.
Gregory the Illuminator Church, the Dziadzan choir of the AGBU and
the Dzaghgasdan children’s choir of Housaper Cultural Organisation.
Ghazelian edited a large number of Armenian songs arranged by Daniel
Yerazhisht, as well as selection of hymns and songs and of St.
Vartan. The hymns and songs were published by the Mother See of the
Holy Etchmiadzin.
The Arax performance took place under the auspices of Bishop Ashod
Mnatsaganian, primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Egypt.
Though amateurs, the singers handled many musically demanding
compositions with notable ability. One only wished for a larger
number of men in the choir, to balance the female voices dominating
most of the songs. A few soloists are worth mentioning. Among
them mezzo-soprano Kohar Ghazelian, who took on her shoulders a
particularly challenging Ode to Joy, a composition which not only
showcased the professionalism of the singer but also, through long
piano solo passages, highlighted the skills of Haig Avakian on piano.
Equally interesting and well performed was the solo by baritone Ara
Keuhnelian: the Fishermen’s Song from 1935 movie Pepo, directed by Hamo
Beknazarian. With Khachaturian’s music, Pepo was the first Armenian
sound movie. Interesting dance inserts included short traditional
Armenian dances, among them dances from Khachaturian’s ballet Gayane.
With Haig Avakian on piano and Rupen Terzibashian on dhol (a
double-headed drum, known in Armenian folk culture as nagara),
the evening covered various aspects of Armenian culture, expressed
through the music of Khachaturian. Such events testify to the Egyptian
Armenians’ strong cultural awareness and perseverance to keep their
cultural riches and carry them from generation to generation.
According to estimates, today the Armenian minority in Egypt does not
exceed 6,000 people living in Cairo and Alexandria. Most of them have
Egyptian nationality yet not all of them have Armenian nationality.
Nevertheless they are characterised by strong unity and a cherishing
of Armenian tradition, culture and language, something that was
particularly obvious in an event by Arax Choir.
The past decades were marked by many prominent figures from the
Armenian community in Egypt. Nubar Pasha (1825-1899), the son of an
Armenian merchant, was an Egyptian politician and the first Prime
Minister of Egypt. A particularly strong impact by the Armenian
community was in the arts scene. Georges Kazazian is a well-known
composer and oud player; Anna Boghiguian is a painter living between
Cairo, India and Europe; Chant Avedissian exhibits his work around
the world, along with other famous painters such as Ashod Zorian and
Yertvart Yaghjian. Alexander Saroukhan (1898 – 1977) was one of the
most renowned cartoonists and caricaturists in the Arab World; Anoushka
is a singer and actress. Musicians Hagop Sandaldijian, (1931-1990)
and Garbis Aprikian are also well known, but Nelly (Artin Kalfaya)
is one among many star actresses and singers who also include Mimi
Gamal and Lebleba.
From: Baghdasarian
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/33/67346/Arts–Culture/Music/Gems-of-Armenia-Cairos-Arax-Choir-commemorates-Ara.aspx