ROTATION OF ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVO TO TAKE PLACE LATER IN MAY
ArmRadio.am
03.05.2007 16:02
The rotation of Armenian peacekeepers in Kosovo will take place in
the second half of May, Commander of the Peacekeeping Division of RA
Ministry of Defense Artak Tonoyan. Currently the 6th division comprised
of 34 carries out peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. The rotation takes
place every six months.
Armenia joined the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in 2004.
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
by Kevin Shopland
Budapest Sun, Hungary
May 2 2007
May 02, 2007 01:27 pm | Lucy Westenra after she has been drained of
blood by Dracula. The lassitude of Lazarus after he has been raised
from the dead. Alive, yes, but no real pulse, no real life to speak
of. A sort of netherworld undead existence.
These were the images that came to mind when I heard young Armenian
violinist Sergey Khachatryan play the Beethoven Violin Concerto with
the BBC Philharmonic at the Palace of Arts on Apr 21.
His interpretation of the Beethoven was so slow and lacking in pulse
that it seemed dead in the water.
Which was not what I expected. His biographical notes accompanying the
concert program booklet were impressive: won the eighth International
Jean Sibelius Violin Competition at age 15 in 2000; five years
later won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition in
Brussels; has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and
others; has played under the baton of Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink,
Christoph von Dohnanyi, etc.So far, so good.
And Khachatryan could play absolutely beautifully: perfectly in tune,
gorgeous tone, many different tone colors, flawless technique.
But he seemed to lack a sense of classical style that could have made
this a wonderful experience.
Khachatryan robbed the opening fast movement of its dynamism. In place
of typical Beethoven first movement energy there was a maddeningly
inappropriate lyrical intimacy.
It was so slow that I began to dread what the next movement, the
genuine slow movement, would be like.
Sure enough, it was even slower. And the quiet passages were so quiet
as to be almost inaudible.
All very refined, but out of place. The last movement could do nothing
to rescue what had come before, and, besides, when Khachatryan got
the chance, he slowed down the tempo again.
The BBC Philharmonic itself, under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda
fared no better.
They certainly didn’t drive the soloist to exciting heights in the
concerto. Mozart’s Don Giovanni Overture, which opened the concert,
was likewise slow and uneventful.
The concert ended with Schubert’s great C major Symphony, which was
better than the first half, but still lacked satisfying phrasing.
Real winner
The piece is full of repetitive figures which need to be shaped in
waves in order to avoid repetitiveness.
By contrast, the concert of the Hungarian National Philharmonic on
Apr 19 was a real winner.
Maestro Zoltan Kocsis got the ball rolling at full speed with a
brilliant reading of Haydn’s Symphony No 101 in D major (The Clock).
Witty and wistful, this Clock was full of surprises and excellent
solos, particularly the flute playing the "wrong" notes in the trio
of the minuet.
Kocsis brought transparent textures and impetuous impatience to this
Haydn masterpiece.
And if Khachatryan just didn’t cut it for me, the same was not true
of soloist Vadim Repin in the Brahms Violin Concerto with Kocsis and
the National Philharmonic.
He gave the Brahms all it demanded: energy and passion, virtuosity
and Romantic lyricism, and playful trills and the joy of the dance
in the Hungarian finale.
Kocsis and the Philharmonic contributed the clarity and rhythmic
vitality that helped propel the soloist and give him fire to breathe.
Repin was not playing the piece as some inner statement for himself,
but rather as the big public work that characterizes the concerto form.
Repin acknowledged the applause with an even more brilliant encore,
if that’s possible.
He played a solo piece by the Belgian violinist-composer Eugene
Ysaye, which gave Repin the opportunity to show a more advanced,
Post-Romantic side to his technique and musical sensibility. It was
really an awesome performance.
This excellent concert closed with the large colorful canvas of
Rachmaninov’s The Bells, a setting of the poem by Edgar Allen Poe,
for chorus, vocal soloists and orchestra.
Attila Fekete’s voice was steely sharp in the opening movement,
while Eszter Sumegi was simply beautiful and nostalgic in the second.
The National Chorus took center stage in the third movement, having
no problem cutting through the powerful sound of the large orchestra.
Finally, Russian baritone Anatoly Fokanov sang the closing funeral
dirge in the way that only a real Russian can sing.
NORK CHILDREN’s HOME HAS NEW ROOF
A1+
[12:21 pm] 02 May, 2007
Yerevan, May 2, 2007 – The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund completed
the reconstruction of the roof of the Yerevan Children’s Home. The
renovation of the 1191 sq. m roof was sponsored by the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund Australia affiliate with a 13 million AMD donation.
The roof was last renovated in 1984; the sheds were fairly
damaged. Today, both buildings of the Yerevan Children’s Home have
fire resistant roofs and new shades.
In January 2006, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund installed central
gas heating in the Children’s Home.
The project was sponsored by the Hayastan Fund US East Coast affiliate,
on funds donated by Hagop Giritlian.
The principal of institute, Lena Karapetyan says, "There are 41
newborns and 35 children under the age of 5 living at the Children’s
Home. Not doubt, heated rooms are essential for them. So far, we
depended on electric heaters, which was costly and inefficient.
Now the whole building is well heated. The renovation of the roof
was another priority for us to deal with".
Thanks to this initiative the Yerevan Children’s Home is now a warmer
place for children to live in.
IS IT NEVER AGAIN OR NEVERMIND?
Gail Chatfield – North County Times
North County Times, CA
April 30 2007
I’m not a fan of T.S. Eliot’s poetry, but he does have an opening line
that I find pretty accurate. "April is the cruelest month," he wrote.
April 24 is commemorated as the beginning of the Armenian genocide.
Ninety-two years later and there is still debate if the deaths of 1.5
million Armenians by torture, starvation, deportation and massacre
should be called "genocide."
Holocaust Remembrance Day, which memorializes the deaths of over 6
million Jews under the Nazi regime, was April 16 this year.
April was also the 13th anniversary of the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis
by rival Hutus in Rwanda.
But we cannot forget the Nanking massacre, 300,000 dead; Cambodia
genocide, 2 million dead; and the Bosnia genocide, 200,000 dead. In
Darfur, Sudan, 400,000 people have been killed and over 2 million
civilians have been displaced since 2003.
Call it genocide, ethnic cleansing or casualties of war, but definitely
call it repetitive. Has "Never again" become "Nevermind"?
I had the opportunity to hear Benson Deng speak recently at Chalice
Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Escondido. Benson, along with
his cousin and brother, wrote the book, "They Poured Fire on Us From
the Sky."
Benson was only 7 years old when he and 26,000 other Sudanese boys
ran from their burning villages in the late 1980s during a civil war
between the Muslim, Khartoum-based government in the north and the
Christians and animists in the south. The war continues to this day.
The 26,000 are known as the Lost Boys of the Sudan. Some of them were
as young as 5 years old as they walked thousands of miles with no food,
no water and no adults to the relative safety of Ethiopia. When that
country forcibly kicked them out, the boys walked to Kenya. They were
shot at by soldiers, attacked by lions and crocodiles, and killed
by starvation and disease. Thousands and thousands of unknown little
boys died.
The boys were relatively lucky, though. Usually tending their animals
in the fields, they were able to escape and join up with other young
boys to form this massive children’s exodus. Since girls stayed at
home, they were killed or kidnapped when the horsemen arrived and
massacred the villagers.
Benson, his brother and cousin were lucky once again. Sponsored by the
International Rescue Committee, they came to San Diego in 2001 after
their 14-year ordeal. They went to school, got jobs and adjusted to
their new life. Benson is studying computers and hopes to return to
his village in southern Sudan to develop clean water sources.
Benson did answer the question that was on everyone’s mind. He
suggested donating to organizations like Doctors Without Borders and
the International Rescue Committee. Benson also suggested contacting
our government representatives.
Why does suffering continue in the region? The Muglad Basin in
southwestern Sudan has 3 billion barrels of crude oil. The Darfur
area has unexploited oil and gold reserves, much needed farmland and
possibly uranium, bauxite and copper. Never again or nevermind?
4/30/opinion/chatfield/42907162601.txt
ARMENIAN POLITICIAN BLAMES LACK OF UNITY ON OTHER OPPOSITION LEADERS
Armenian newspaper 168 Zham, Yerevan
1 May 07 p 1
Text of an unattributed report in Armenian newspaper 168 Zham published
on 1 May headlined "Demirchyan and Geghamyan, toss a coin"
Aram Zaven Sargsyan the leader of the [opposition] Republic party
blamed the opposition’s failure to unite on specific people, while
speaking with voters in [the village of] Vardenis [in Gegharkunik
Region] yesterday [30 April].
Sargsyan said that it were the opposition politicians who are to blame
for the failure to unite. He also named specific names. "When you
tell them, let’s unite guys, let’s write a joint list of candidates,
[chairman of the National Unity Party] Geghamyan says, ‘No, united is
no good.’ Why? Because all he needs is five per cent [the threshold to
be elected to parliament], and to go make speeches in Strasbourg. If
you have a problem with whom to make the number one or two, then
[chairman of the People’s Party of Armenia] Stepan Demirchyan and
Artashes Geghamyan, toss a coin."
Meanwhile, Aram Z. Sargsyan said that the Republic and New Times
parties and the Impeachment bloc will coordinate all their activities
beginning 3 May. "Beginning 3 May we will hold all our meetings and
visits jointly. I can say this much today. What will follow, what
steps we are going to make is under discussion currently," he said.
The three organizations will hold a joint rally in Liberty Square
[of Yerevan] on 3 May.
ARMENIAN PARTY FIRED AT AZERBAIJANI POSITIONS IN AGDAM AND GAZAKH DISTRICTS
Translated by Pavel Pushkin
Source: Turan news agency (Baku), April 25, 2007
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 27, 2007 Friday
Between 00:15 and 00:35 of April 25, the armed forces of Armenia
fired at Azerbaijani positions on the territory of Shakhlar village
of the Agdam District. The press service of the Defense Ministry
of Azerbaijan reported that between 4:20 and 4:45 of April 25, the
Armenian party also fired at Azerbaijani positions located on the
territory of Dzhavakhirli village of the same district from automatic
rifles and machine guns. The enemy also fired at positions of the
Azerbaijani army in Mazamli village of the Gazakh District. The
Azerbaijani party started firing back. It had no losses.
KIEV DOCUMENTARY FEST CROWDS DOWN
By Tom Birchenoughmoscow
Variety
April 26 2007
Audiences lose ‘Contact’ with event
Maybe the audiences were out on the Kiev streets, where an ongoing
round-off between opposing Ukrainian political factions continues. At
least, attendance from general public and students alike at the city’s
"Contact" documentary fest that closed April 20, looked distinctly
down.
Running in its third edition, event showed a distinct lack of talent in
the local sector, with Contact’s jury declining to award a main prize
in the national section of competition, though $2,000 prizes went to
two works, "Dissidents" from Oleksandr Frolov and Victor Shkurin,
and to Maxim Chernysh for "The Spiral of History." The former told
the stories of 1960-1980s opposition personalities in a way that
looked increasingly relevant today.
Event was founded in memory of Larisa Rodnyanskaya, a docu producer
who was key to keeping the form alive in Ukraine through the very
lean years of the 1990s.
The festival is endowed by her son, Alexander Rodnyansky, himself a
past documentary filmmaker, who set up Ukraine’s major broadcaster
1+1 a decade ago, and now heads up the Russian entertainment web CTC.
Parallel international competition, judged by a jury headed by U.K.
filmmaker Paul Watson, looked more promising — and conflict, both
international and domestic, featured strongly in the more interesting
works.
Best full-length feature went to Israeli "Bridge Over the Wadi"
from brother helmers Tomer and Barak Heymann.
Jury awarded top prize, with $5,000 attached, to Norwegian entry
"Patience in Hearts," a Down-syndrome story by Ovvind Sandberg.
Other pics that stood out came from the Middle East, and Iran in
particular. One was Mehrdad Oskuuei’s Tehran-set children’s detention
center drama "It’s Always Late for Freedom," the other "Exile Family
Movie" by Arash Riahi, the story of members of an exiled Iranian family
returning to the Iranian capital. Shafar Cohen and Efrat Halil’s
"Souvenirs" covered a WWII story on the Jewish brigade that fought
with the British army in Europe, while another conflict-driven story
was acclaimed Armenian entry "A Story of People in War and Peace"
about the impact of the Nagorno-Karabakh war.
For local color, the most relevant entry was Andrei Zagdansky’s
"Orange Winter," a montage from Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, that
scored foreign acclaim and possible international sales, even as Kiev
residents go through something of the same process today.
However, among most fest guests the more prominent questions were:
Where are the audiences? And, more immediately: Can someone get the
projection ratios right?
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MAXIMUM RATING OF AUTHORITIES IS 20%, PPA BOARD SECRETARY STATES
Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2007
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. "The preelectoral struggle has long
went beyond the political boundaries. I have never seen giving so
much electoral bribe." Stepan Sakarian, Board Secretary of People’s
Party of Armenia (PPA), stated at the April 26 press conference. At
the same time, he positively estimated the course of preelectoral
campaign and the results of agitation.
In connection with possible falsifications in the elections,
S. Zakarian noted that collection of passport data from population
cannot but call forth certain suspicions. He said that today we can
only make suppositions how these passport data will be used.
S. Zakarian said that PPA does not consider the results of elections
as predetermined. In his opinion, the maximum rating of authorities
taking into consideration the administrative resource is 20%. "If
the elections are falsified, PPA will be among the first persons
protesting against this, but this does not mean that we should give
up struggle now," S. Zakarian stated.
ARMENIAN JUDOISTS TO PARTAKE IN THE WORLD CUP
ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 15:58
The judo team of Armenia left for Rome today to participate in the
World Cup competitions to be held April 28-29 in the Italian capital.
Armenpress was told at RA Judo Federation that the chief trainer of the
Armenian team is Gagik Aghamalyan. The team comprises Ashot Vardikyan
(60 kg), Arthur Srapyan (60 kg) and Mesrop Barbaryan (66 kg).
PHOTO: HONOURING MEMORIES
Judee Richardson Schofield, Special To The Times
Cambridge Times, Canada
April 24 2007
The Armenian Centre hosted a ceremony Sunday to commemorate the 92nd
anniversary of Armenian genocide in which 1.5 million Armenian men,
women and children perished by the order of the Turkish Ottoman
government. Aleena Kabajouzian, 11, a girl scout and student of the
Armenian Centre, and elder Garo Sarmazian carry a wreath in memory
of those who lost their lives during the Armenian genocide.
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