Armenian opera is the art of

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

or opera by Armenian composers. The founder of the Armenian operatic tradition was Tigran Chukhajian (1837–98), who was born in

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in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and received his musical education in

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, where he became a great admirer of Verdi. He was a political and musical nationalist who mixed Western and Armenian influences in his work. His '' Arshak II'' is regarded as the first Armenian opera. It was completed in 1868 but had to wait until 1945 for a full staging, albeit with a new libretto and changes to the score and instrumentation. The

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

, by Tovmas Terzian, is based on the life of the 4th-century king Arshak II. Chukhajian's other operas include ''Arifi khardakhutyune'' (''The Government Inspector'', based on the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

, 1872); ''Zemire'' (1891), which was written in Turkish and premiered in

; as well as ''Kyose Kyokhva'' ("The Balding Elder"), ''Leblebidji'' ("The Pea Seller") and ''Indiana''. The next important composer of Armenian opera was Armen Tigranian (1878–1950) who lived in

Russian Armenia Russian Armenia is the period of Armenian history under Russian rule from 1828, when Eastern Armenia became part of the Russian Empire following Qajar dynasty, Qajar Iran's loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) and the subsequent ceding of ...

and the

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

. He wrote '' Anoush'', set in the Armenian countryside and based on a poem by Hovhannes Tumanyan, in 1912. It was first performed privately in

Alexandrapol Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

in 1912, but the first public production occurred in 1935 at the Yerevan Opera Theatre. It made heavy use of folk music, as did Tigranyan's last opera, ''David Bek'' (1950). Based on the life of the eponymous national hero and set in the 18th century, it depicts the struggle between Armenians and Safavid Persians. Other leading Armenian opera composers include Alexander Spendiaryan and Haro Stepanian.

References

Sources

* * {{Opera topics Opera by country Music of Armenia