Category: News

Renowned Armenian tenor Gegham Grigoryan passed away today aged 65.

World-famous tenor Gegham Grigoryan graduated from Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, the class of People’s Artist of Armenia professor Sergei Danielyan. Grigorian made his first appearance on the big stage in 1971 at age 20, in 1972 he went to West Berlin to appear with solo concerts.

In 1975 he made his debut at the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Armenia in the role of Edgar (opera “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Donizetti). This was followed by Saro (opera “Anush” by Tigranian), Tirith (“Arshak II” by Chukhajyan), Sayat Nova (“Sayat-Nova” by Harutyunyan), Count Almaviva (“The Barber of Seville” by Rossini), Faust (“Faust” by Gounod.)

In 1978 he took part in the competition of the School of Art in Milan at the theater La Scalaand was one of the four lucky winners who were invited to qualify for this school. During his traineeship in Italy, he participated in several concerts. In “La Scala” Gegham Grigoryan made his debut in the role of Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly by Puccini). After that performance, he signed a contract with the theater “La Scala” on the leading rols of the operas “Boris Godunov” and Tosca. The performances were conducted by Claudio Abbado, then he was principal conductor of La Scalla.

Unfortunately, the Soviet authorities, for unknown reasons, forbade him to act outside the territory of the Soviet Union for 10 years. In those years Grigoryan was in the list of so-called restricted artists to travel abroad.

In 1980, Virgilijus Noreika, artistic director of Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre invites Grigorian to work In Vilnius. There Grigorian worked with the famous conductor Jonas Alex. He sang in the operas “Eugene Onegin”, “Don Carlos”, “Boris Godunov,” “La Traviata,” “Madame Butterfly,” “Rigoletto” and many others.

Since 1989, at the invitation of Valery Gergiev he performed at the Mariinsky Theater as the lead singer.

Gegham Grigoryan was the art director of National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after A. Spendiarian.

The leadership of ‪Azerbaijan names the Co-Chair states provocateurs only because they propose to create a mechanism for investigation of incidents,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a meeting with the faculty and students of the Artsakh State University.

“In fact, that criticism is directed not only against the Co-Chairs, but at least against the past and present participating states that presided over the OSCE, the United Nations, European Union, and in general all the states and institutions that have supported and support that proposal,” he said.

“The Azerbaijani leadership does not refrain from accepting, that it is behind the cease fire violations and escalation of the situation. It is even boasting of that fact. Leaving aside whether ‪‎Baku genuinely thinks there is something worth boasting of, or it is just a propaganda trick for the internal consumption, it should be once again stated that the Azerbaijani leadership has lost its sense of reality,” Minister Nalbandian said.

“This refers not only to the Nagorno Karabakh issue. They state, that Azerbaijan is no less than the most economically stable, the most democratic, the most tolerant state and the most secure place in the world in terms of the protection of human rights, that they may set an example for other states, while different international organizations, international HR institutions state the opposite. A kingdom of crooked mirrors is created in that country, the leaders of which, looking in those mirrors, admire themselves and call upon others to live in such a kingdom of crooked mirrors,” Edward Nalbandian stated.

On 23 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received foreign minister of the Republic of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

Several issues related to foreign policy and cooperation of the two Armenian states in this field were discussed during the meeting.

Artsakh Republic foreign minister Karen Mirzoyan partook at the meeting.

 

 

Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president wanted to clean up his record before a planned visit to Washington on March 31^st, writes.

According to the paper, “the amnesty that Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president, declared for the holiday of Novruz on March 17th was a rare piece of good news for Azerbaijan’s civil-society activists. Of the 148 people pardoned, 14 were political prisoners, according to local watchdog groups. Among the close-knit dissidents in Baku, the capital, speculation was rife over the reason for the pardons.”

“Were they a result of international pressure? Perhaps the president wanted to clean up his record before a planned visit to Washington on March 31st? Foreign supporters hope it was their advocacy that did the trick. But local observers chalk it up to the low price of oil, Azerbaijan’s chief export. Mr Aliyev, they think, is running short of the cash he normally uses to buy off foreign critics through “caviar diplomacy”, and needed to find a substitute,” the article reads.

Armenia has expressed solidarity with the Belgian people.

“Shocked by attacks in Brussels. We express our solidarity with Belgian people. Our thoughts are with families and friends of the victims,” the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

A hot line for Armenians hurt in the Berussels attacks has been launched at the Armenian Embassy in Belgium: +32.2.3484406.

Armenian diplomats in Brussels and the delegation of the National Assembly have not suffered as a result of the blasts in the city, Spokesman for the Armenian ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan said in a Twitter post.

Several explosions struck Brussels airport and the metro system, causing at least 13 deaths, Belgian media say.

Two blasts tore through the departures area of Zaventem airport shortly after 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

An hour later, an explosion hit Maalbeek metro station, close to the EU institutions. The airport and whole metro system have been closed.

The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the Paris attacks, was captured in Brussels.

The Belgian government has confirmed casualties at the airport but has given no numbers. The cause of the explosions is unknown.

Belgium has now raised its terror threat to its highest level.

Sir Paul McCartney has filed legal papers in the US, as part of an attempt to reclaim the publishing rights to The Beatles’ back catalogue, the reports.

Although he co-wrote most of the band’s hits, the star has never controlled the publishing.

However, the US copyright act of 1976 gives writers the opportunity to reclaim the rights after 56 years.

The Lennon-McCartney catalogue becomes available in 2018, and Sir Paul has recently moved to recapture it.

According to Billboard, the star filed a termination notice for 32 songs with the US Copyright Office in December.

Most of the songs date from 1962 – 1964, although others come from much later in the band’s career. Some of those, including Come Together and Why Don’t We Do It In The Road, are not due to become available until 2025.

Photo: Valery Matytsin/TASS

 

Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko has been sentenced to 22 years in jail after being convicted of charges relating to the deaths of two Russian journalists, the BBC reports.

She was accused of directing the artillery fire in eastern Ukraine in which the two journalists died in June 2014.

Prosecutors said she was driven by “political hatred”.

She denied all the charges and her case has become internationally notorious.

The Azerbaijani side used weapons of different caliber as it fired more than 1,100 shots from weapons of different caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army mostly refrained from retaliatory actions and confidently continued with their military duty all along the line of contact.

 

 

 

The Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences hosted an event dedicated to Greece’s liberation from Ottoman rule on March 25, 1921 and the centuries-long friendship between the Armenian and Greek peoples.

Attending the events were the Greek Ambassador to Armenia Ioannis Taghis and representatives of the Greek community.

Addressing the event, Vice-Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov congratulated the representatives of the Greek community and noted that “Armenians and Greeks have always supported each other at times of hardship.”

According to Sharmazanov, a testament to the centuries-long friendship between the two peoples was the raising of the Armenian Issue at the Ottoman Parliament by Greek lawmakers in 1870s . He reminded about Greeks fighting next to Armenians during the battles of Sardarapat and Artsakh.

Speaking about the Greeks of Armenia, Sharmazanov said “they’re ready to serve a bridge between the two friendly peoples tied by the past and the present.”

“There are many similarities between Armenians and Greeks, they have fought together to get rid of Turkish yoke,” the Vice-Speaker said.

“Of course, Turks are unhappy with the fact of Armenia and Greece working together, fighting together,” Sharmazanov said. He added, however, that “our joint struggle is not targeted against Turks.” “We are fighting for the sake of our peoples, our friendship, we are fighting for the enduring independence and freedom of Armenia and Greece, as well as Cyprus and Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.

“If we come across obstacles to that independence, in the face of Azerbaijan and Turkey, we must unite to fight against the evil. Armenians and Greeks have proved that one cannot be annihilated of one does not want to be annihilated.”

“History shows that Armenia and Greece have been struggling side by side against a common enemy, which has reinforced the ties between the peoples,” Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Greece to Armenia Ioannis Taghis said, in turn.