Gegham Grigoryan
| Gegham Grigorian | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Գեղամ Գրիգորյան Гегам Григорян |
| Born |
29 January 1951 Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 23 March 2016 (aged 65) Yerevan, Armenia |
| Occupation(s) | Opera singer (tenor) |
Gegham Grigorian (also written Grigoryan) (Armenian: Գեղամ Գրիգորյան; Russian: Гегам Григорян; 29 January 1951 – 23 March 2016) was an Armenian operatic tenor.
Gegham Grigorian was born in Yerevan and 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 Edgardo (opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Donizetti). This is 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 the 1970s he was already a famous singer in the former Soviet Union. In 1978 he took part in the competition of the School of Art in Milan at the theater La Scala and 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 Grigorian 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 Scala.
"But politics interfered. The Mussorgsky opera was being staged by Yuri Lyubimov, the famous Moscow director-dissident already in conflict with the government (he was later stripped of his citizenship, in 1984). The production was in rehearsals when the Soviet union Ministry of Culture asked Grigorian to cancel his participation. As the singer described it at the time - just after the first dress rehearsal - he initially refused. But when the authorities threatened him and his family he acquiesced an departed for Russia. Subsequently he was put on the so-called restricted artists list and not allowed to leave the Soviet Union for eight years" (March 25, 2016| by Maya Pritsker, Musicalamerica.com)
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