Armand Tokatyan (; ; June 16, 1894 – June 12, 1960) was an operatic tenor. An

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

born in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, he travelled to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

with his parents where he sang in cafés to a favorable response. He was then sent to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study tailoring, but instead sang in

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

cafés. In 1914, he returned to Egypt and earned his living by again singing in the cafés. He took up

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

, soon becoming a matinee idol, then in 1919 went to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to pursue an opera career. His operatic debut was in 1921 at the

Teatro Dal Verme The Teatro Dal Verme is a theatre in Milan, Italy located on the Via San Giovanni sul Muro, on the site of the former private theatre the ''Politeama Ciniselli''. It was designed by Giuseppe Pestagalli to a commission from Count Francesco Dal Ve ...

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...

's ''

Manon Lescaut ''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut'' ( ) is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. It tells a tragic love story about a nobleman (known only as the Chevalier des Grieux) and a common woman (Manon Lescaut). Their decisio ...

''. With the help of Italian conductor

Giuseppe Bamboschek Giuseppe Maria Bamboschek (1890–1969) was an Italian-American opera Conductor (music), conductor, pianist, organist, music director and film director. During his expansive career, Bamboschek conducted performances including famed singers Enrico ...

, he joined the touring Scotti Opera Company in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and was soon noticed by the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

where he debuted in 1923. For many years he performed there and at many other opera houses in the US and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. He was proficient in numerous languages. Many recordings were made of his performances.

Dorothy Kirsten Dorothy Kirsten (July 6, 1910, Montclair, New Jersey – November 18, 1992, Los Angeles, California) was an American operatic soprano who was the first singer in the Metropolitan Opera's history to perform on that stage for 30 consecutive years, ...

in her autobiography writes the following about Tokatyan:Dorothy Kirsten (1982). ''A Time to Sing''. Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 82.

I recall how grateful I was to have him as a partner for my first performance of a Traviataat the Met because there had been no orchestra rehearsal. Tokatyan afforded me a sense of security, having sung Alfredo innumerable times in that theatre. His authority onstage and his ingratiating manner made me very comfortable. He seemed to be just right for the role. As Alfredo his noble appearance helped me create the illusion that I was desperately in love with him.

Tokatyan died in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, CA of a heart attack on June 12, 1960.

References

CD recordings

*Lebendige Vergangenheit - Armand Tokatya

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokatyan, Armand 1894 births 1960 deaths Bulgarian people of Armenian descent Musicians from Plovdiv 20th-century Bulgarian male opera singers Bulgarian emigrants to the United States Bulgarian operatic tenors