Norayr Mnatsakanyan
Encyclopedia
Norayr Mnatsakanyan was a Merited Artist of Armenia.
As a renowned vocal performer of Armenian traditional and gousan music, Norayr Mnatsakanyan has become one of the most influential vocalists in the canon
of Armenian traditional music. Owing to his dainty operatic baritone
, profound knowledge of Armenian folk music, and his mastery of the Armenian language
and Armenian literature
, Norayr Mnatsakanyan was highly acclaimed among famous writers, musicologists, and Armenian traditional music lovers. Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first among Armenian traditional vocalists to introduce a new approach to traditional, as well as musical compilations of historic and contemporary gousans (minstrels). As an accepted convention of any national folklore
, the works of Armenian traditional and gousan music were performed in a crude, rustic, and provincial fashion. Professional performers of the opera
and classical music also tried to render these works. However, their efforts to perform these works alienated them altogether from the Armenian people, since the true significance of Armenian traditional music could not have been properly represented by the artificially elitist operatic genre. With his poetic approach to these great masterpieces of Armenian traditional and gousan music, Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first vocalist to present them in a refined and natural fashion, granting them an unprecedented simplistic register of artistic sophistication. Unlike his predecessors, Mnatsakanyan attempted to convey these works with a deep sense of harmony and in a previously impregnable unison with the authors' characteristic mentality and sentiments reflected in their compilations. At the same time, Norayr Mnatsakanyan meticulously pursued to eliminate the provincial character of the songs that had wandered among the Armenian people for centuries. Thus, Norayr Mnatsakanyan's performances are exceptional because they masterfully immerse into the poetic essence of the literary work and unify it with the melody of the song. Norayr Mnatsakanyan also performed songs by famous Armenian composers interwoven with lyrics by such famous Armenian poets, as Avetik Isahakian and Vahan Terian
. Perhaps the greatest Armenian lyricist - Avetik Isahakian - highly valued Mnatsakanyan's contributions to the canon of Armenian performing arts and proclaimed Norayr "the velvet voice" of Armenia. Derenik Demirchian
marvelled at Norayr's performances in wider poetic circles of the old Yerevan
, calling Norayr Mnatsakanyan "a unique vocal interpreter of the popular consciousness, scattered bits of which are present in every Armenian individual." Being an art critic himself, Mnatsakanyan always conveyed great significance to the unity of the melody and the lyrics in whatever he performed.
family. He inherited the love for traditional music from his parents. Possessing an ever singing spirit of a talented youth, Norayr Mnatsakanyan won his first prize at the "Sayat Nova" competition held in Moscow
in 1936. Owing to his extraordinary vocal qualities and his passion for acting, Mnatsakanyan started his career as actor and singer at the Yerevan State Theater of Musical Comedy after Hakob Paronian. As surprising as it may seem, Mnatsakanyan played the first Gikor on the Armenian stage in the namesake performance based on Hovhannes Tumanyan
's famous novel. Mnatsakanyan's artistic talent and his reverence for the Theater drove him to work with such eminent theatrical stage directors as Armen Gulakian and the late Vardan Ajemian
. Mnatsakanyan also had the honor of working with the "titans" of the Armenian theatrical arts at the Yerevan State Academic Theater
after Gabriel Sundukian
: Vahram Papazian, Hrachia Nersisyan
, Avet Avetisyan, Hambardzum Khachanyan, Babken Nersisyan, Metaksia Simonyan, the late Mher Mkrtchyan and Khoren Abrahamyan. Norayr Mnatsakanyan's acting, apart from his artistic talent, vouched for his unsurpassed mastery of world literature. After seeing Mnatsakanyan's performance in the role of the Shakespearean Othello
, Vahram Papazian highly praised Norayr for his excellent rendition of Othello's protagonistic pathos and antagonistic callousness, and foresaw a bright future for him in acting. Mnatsakanyan later played one of the leading roles in A Man from Olympus (Chelovek iz Olimpa)(Armenfilm
, 1974).
Purporting to pursue a more worldly profession, Norayr Mnatsakanyan held a Master of Arts
degree from the Department of Philology
of the Yerevan State University
. Upon his graduation, Mnatsakanyan defended a dissertation with a thesis on "Sayat Nova's Lyric Poetry in the Armenian Literary Milieux." Mnatsakanyan proceeded with a professional career as a journalist and a freelance writer. With his unconventional disposition, Norayr Mnatsakanyan has authored an anthology of short novels dedicated to the old city of Yerevan
, depicting its people's way of life, its customs and traditions. As a journalist, Mnatsakanyan's articles and critiques on various issues of the Armenian arts and culture frequented the pages of many periodicals. One of Mnatsakanyan's most groundbreaking articles was dedicated to the famous Armenian duduk
players of the past and the present: Margar Margarian, Levon Madoyan, Vatche Housepian, and Djivan Gasparyan
. Mnatsakanyan also hosted a special program in 1985, the heyday of his artistic career, on the Armenian State Television, which was about the instrumental and stylistic distinctions of the duduk
and its most outstanding players.
In spite of his success in acting and his excellence in writing, Mnatsakanyan's innate predilection initially belonged to singing. Norayr's art of performance, his truly rich and mellow voice, as well as his unique professional approach had already made him long sought-for to Armenian music lovers both in Armenia and abroad. Tatoul Altunian, one of the greatest contributors to the Armenian traditional music, invited Norayr Mnatsakanyan to the State Philharmonic Chapel to perform as a soloist. Here, Mnatsakanyan had the pleasure of working with Araksia Gyulzadian and Varduhi Khachatrian. Apart from his Sayat Nova repertoire, in this period, Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed traditional songs and ashough works by Sheram
, Ashot
, Jivani, Shahen, Havasi, as well as famous compilations of the urban folklore. However, the inviolable right of Norayr Mnatsakanyan's achievement consists in his performances of Sayat Nova's works. His performances of Sayat Nova imbued the Bard's poetry with unprecedented lyricism and spirituality. It is through Norayr Mnatsakanyan's rendition of Sayat Nova that the ethical and metaphysical peculiarities in the works become apparent. The singer grieves and rejoices with the poet, feeling every tremble of the great Bard's heart. It is Norayr Mnatsakanyan's unforgettable voice that brings us the songs of Sayat Nova in the namesake movie (1960). Mnatsakanyan's performances became a lot more accessible to the general public, when Aram Merangulian invited Norayr to perform as a soloist in his Ensemble of Folk Instruments of the Armenian National Radio and Television. Mnatsakanyan's songs are possible to find in several Armenian films, including Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranates (1969), also dedicated to the life of Sayat Nova. Mnatsakanyan's unique rendition of the traditional Dle Yaman appears in the background of Andrew Goldberg
's The Armenian Americans (2000). A number of documentaries were shot on Mnatsakanyan's life and activity intermitted by his own performances. Throughout his lifetime, the vocalist recorded over two hundred traditional and gousan songs, all of which are held like relics by the Museum Fund of the State Radio and Television of Armenia. His performances paved the way for many other successors in the traditional vocal genre.
Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed in twenty-four countries where Armenians had set foot and had established their communities. During his tour of the Middle Eastern countries, Norayr Mnatsakanyan received an honorary gold medal with the engraved image of Sayat Nova from King Hussein of Jordan
after his concert in Amman
(1979), which His Majesty attended with Queen Noor. Mnatsakanyan's performance of Sayat Nova brought him the highest honors at the Festival of Traditional Music in Lyon
, France
(1981). Subsequently, upon the request of the smaller Armenian communities in Luxembourg
, Belgium
, and the Netherlands, Mnatsakanyan performed in a tributary concert at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg
Hall (1981). In the annual ceremony of the Armenian Music Awards
, held in Los Angeles
for the year 1999, Mnatsakanyan posthumously received a lifetime achievement award for his worthwhile contributions, and his album of traditional and gousan compilations, named Husher (Reminiscences) (Parseghian Records, 1999) was recognized as the year's best traditional album.
As a renowned vocal performer of Armenian traditional and gousan music, Norayr Mnatsakanyan has become one of the most influential vocalists in the canon
Western canon
The term Western canon denotes a canon of books and, more broadly, music and art that have been the most important and influential in shaping Western culture. As such, it includes the "greatest works of artistic merit." Such a canon is important to the theory of educational perennialism and the...
of Armenian traditional music. Owing to his dainty operatic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, profound knowledge of Armenian folk music, and his mastery of the Armenian language
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
and Armenian literature
Armenian literature
-Early literature:Armenian literature begins about 406 with the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop.Isaac, the Catholicos of Armenia, formed a school of translators who were sent to Edessa, Athens, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea in Cappadocia, and elsewhere, to procure...
, Norayr Mnatsakanyan was highly acclaimed among famous writers, musicologists, and Armenian traditional music lovers. Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first among Armenian traditional vocalists to introduce a new approach to traditional, as well as musical compilations of historic and contemporary gousans (minstrels). As an accepted convention of any national folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, the works of Armenian traditional and gousan music were performed in a crude, rustic, and provincial fashion. Professional performers of the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and classical music also tried to render these works. However, their efforts to perform these works alienated them altogether from the Armenian people, since the true significance of Armenian traditional music could not have been properly represented by the artificially elitist operatic genre. With his poetic approach to these great masterpieces of Armenian traditional and gousan music, Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first vocalist to present them in a refined and natural fashion, granting them an unprecedented simplistic register of artistic sophistication. Unlike his predecessors, Mnatsakanyan attempted to convey these works with a deep sense of harmony and in a previously impregnable unison with the authors' characteristic mentality and sentiments reflected in their compilations. At the same time, Norayr Mnatsakanyan meticulously pursued to eliminate the provincial character of the songs that had wandered among the Armenian people for centuries. Thus, Norayr Mnatsakanyan's performances are exceptional because they masterfully immerse into the poetic essence of the literary work and unify it with the melody of the song. Norayr Mnatsakanyan also performed songs by famous Armenian composers interwoven with lyrics by such famous Armenian poets, as Avetik Isahakian and Vahan Terian
Vahan Terian
Vahan Terian was an eminent Georgian born Armenian poet, lyrist and public activist. He is a famous poet known for his sorrowful, romantic poems, the most famous of which are still read and sung in their musical versions by people of all ages.- Biography :...
. Perhaps the greatest Armenian lyricist - Avetik Isahakian - highly valued Mnatsakanyan's contributions to the canon of Armenian performing arts and proclaimed Norayr "the velvet voice" of Armenia. Derenik Demirchian
Derenik Demirchian
Derenik Karapeti Demirchian or Derenik Demirchyan was a Georgian born Armenian poet, novelist and translator as well as playwright.- Biography :Demirchian was born on February 6, 1877, in Akhalkalaki in what is now southern Georgia...
marvelled at Norayr's performances in wider poetic circles of the old Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, calling Norayr Mnatsakanyan "a unique vocal interpreter of the popular consciousness, scattered bits of which are present in every Armenian individual." Being an art critic himself, Mnatsakanyan always conveyed great significance to the unity of the melody and the lyrics in whatever he performed.
Biography
Norayr Mnatsakanyan was born on January 7, 1923 in an old YerevanYerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
family. He inherited the love for traditional music from his parents. Possessing an ever singing spirit of a talented youth, Norayr Mnatsakanyan won his first prize at the "Sayat Nova" competition held in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1936. Owing to his extraordinary vocal qualities and his passion for acting, Mnatsakanyan started his career as actor and singer at the Yerevan State Theater of Musical Comedy after Hakob Paronian. As surprising as it may seem, Mnatsakanyan played the first Gikor on the Armenian stage in the namesake performance based on Hovhannes Tumanyan
Hovhannes Tumanyan
Hovhannes Tumanyan , is considered to be one of the greatest Armenian poets and writers. His work was mostly written in tragic form, often centering on the harsh lives of villagers in the Lori region.-Biography:...
's famous novel. Mnatsakanyan's artistic talent and his reverence for the Theater drove him to work with such eminent theatrical stage directors as Armen Gulakian and the late Vardan Ajemian
Vardan Ajemian
Vardan Mkrtchi Ajemian was a Soviet Armenian theatral director and actor, People's Artist of USSR . Hero of Socialist Labour .He studied in Yerevan and Moscow. In 1928 he founded the Second Armenian State Theatre , in 1939 he moved to Yerevan Sundukian Theatre and became its artistic director...
. Mnatsakanyan also had the honor of working with the "titans" of the Armenian theatrical arts at the Yerevan State Academic Theater
Sundukyan State Academic Theatre of Yerevan
Sundukyan State Academic Theatre of Yerevan, founded in 1922, is the oldest modern theatre in Armenia.Well-known actors and directors such as Vardan Ajemian, Valentin Podpomogov, Vahram Papazian, Hrachia Ghaplanyan, Hrachya Nersisian, Hasmik, Avet Avetisian, and Arus Voskanian were the stars of...
after Gabriel Sundukian
Gabriel Sundukian
Gabriel Sundukian was an outstanding Armenian writer and playwright, the founder of modern Armenian drama .-Biography:Born in Tiflis, in a wealthy Armenian family, Sundukian learned both classical and modern Armenian, French, Italian and Russian, studied at the University of Saint-Petersburg,...
: Vahram Papazian, Hrachia Nersisyan
Hrachia Nersisyan
Hrachia Nersisyan was a Soviet-Armenian film actor.Nersisyan was born in Nicomedia, Ottoman Empire and studied in Istanbul. He moved to Yerevan, Armenia in 1923, and soon became a film actor....
, Avet Avetisyan, Hambardzum Khachanyan, Babken Nersisyan, Metaksia Simonyan, the late Mher Mkrtchyan and Khoren Abrahamyan. Norayr Mnatsakanyan's acting, apart from his artistic talent, vouched for his unsurpassed mastery of world literature. After seeing Mnatsakanyan's performance in the role of the Shakespearean Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, Vahram Papazian highly praised Norayr for his excellent rendition of Othello's protagonistic pathos and antagonistic callousness, and foresaw a bright future for him in acting. Mnatsakanyan later played one of the leading roles in A Man from Olympus (Chelovek iz Olimpa)(Armenfilm
Armenfilm
Armenfilm is an Armenian film studio in Yerevan. The film studio was founded on 16 April 1923 as the State Cinema Organisation with Daniel Dznuni as the first director....
, 1974).
Purporting to pursue a more worldly profession, Norayr Mnatsakanyan held a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree from the Department of Philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
of the Yerevan State University
Yerevan State University
Yerevan State University is a university in Yerevan, Armenia. Founded on May 16 1919, it is the largest university in the country with 110 departments. Of its 3,150 employees, 1,190 comprise the teaching staff which includes 25 academicians, 130 professors, 700 docents , and 360 assistant lecturers...
. Upon his graduation, Mnatsakanyan defended a dissertation with a thesis on "Sayat Nova's Lyric Poetry in the Armenian Literary Milieux." Mnatsakanyan proceeded with a professional career as a journalist and a freelance writer. With his unconventional disposition, Norayr Mnatsakanyan has authored an anthology of short novels dedicated to the old city of Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, depicting its people's way of life, its customs and traditions. As a journalist, Mnatsakanyan's articles and critiques on various issues of the Armenian arts and culture frequented the pages of many periodicals. One of Mnatsakanyan's most groundbreaking articles was dedicated to the famous Armenian duduk
Duduk
The duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
players of the past and the present: Margar Margarian, Levon Madoyan, Vatche Housepian, and Djivan Gasparyan
Djivan Gasparyan
Djivan Gasparyan is an Armenian musician and composer. He plays the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Gasparyan is known as the Master of the duduk.-Biography:...
. Mnatsakanyan also hosted a special program in 1985, the heyday of his artistic career, on the Armenian State Television, which was about the instrumental and stylistic distinctions of the duduk
Duduk
The duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
and its most outstanding players.
In spite of his success in acting and his excellence in writing, Mnatsakanyan's innate predilection initially belonged to singing. Norayr's art of performance, his truly rich and mellow voice, as well as his unique professional approach had already made him long sought-for to Armenian music lovers both in Armenia and abroad. Tatoul Altunian, one of the greatest contributors to the Armenian traditional music, invited Norayr Mnatsakanyan to the State Philharmonic Chapel to perform as a soloist. Here, Mnatsakanyan had the pleasure of working with Araksia Gyulzadian and Varduhi Khachatrian. Apart from his Sayat Nova repertoire, in this period, Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed traditional songs and ashough works by Sheram
Sheram
Sheram was an Armenian gusan , poet and composer.He is known as the founder of the modern gusan art...
, Ashot
Ashot
-Kings of the Bagratuni Dynasty:*Ashot I of Armenia , ruled 884-890*Ashot II, Ashot Yerkat , 915-930*Ashot III, Voghormats 953-977*Ashot IV, Qadj , 1021-1039/1040-Kings of Tao-Klarjeti:...
, Jivani, Shahen, Havasi, as well as famous compilations of the urban folklore. However, the inviolable right of Norayr Mnatsakanyan's achievement consists in his performances of Sayat Nova's works. His performances of Sayat Nova imbued the Bard's poetry with unprecedented lyricism and spirituality. It is through Norayr Mnatsakanyan's rendition of Sayat Nova that the ethical and metaphysical peculiarities in the works become apparent. The singer grieves and rejoices with the poet, feeling every tremble of the great Bard's heart. It is Norayr Mnatsakanyan's unforgettable voice that brings us the songs of Sayat Nova in the namesake movie (1960). Mnatsakanyan's performances became a lot more accessible to the general public, when Aram Merangulian invited Norayr to perform as a soloist in his Ensemble of Folk Instruments of the Armenian National Radio and Television. Mnatsakanyan's songs are possible to find in several Armenian films, including Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranates (1969), also dedicated to the life of Sayat Nova. Mnatsakanyan's unique rendition of the traditional Dle Yaman appears in the background of Andrew Goldberg
Andrew Goldberg (director)
Andrew Goldberg is a producer and director, and is the founder and owner of Two Cats Productions in New York City. An Emmy Award winner, Goldberg's credits include producing/directing documentaries and news and long-form programming for PBS, ABC News, MSNBC and many others. His works include...
's The Armenian Americans (2000). A number of documentaries were shot on Mnatsakanyan's life and activity intermitted by his own performances. Throughout his lifetime, the vocalist recorded over two hundred traditional and gousan songs, all of which are held like relics by the Museum Fund of the State Radio and Television of Armenia. His performances paved the way for many other successors in the traditional vocal genre.
Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed in twenty-four countries where Armenians had set foot and had established their communities. During his tour of the Middle Eastern countries, Norayr Mnatsakanyan received an honorary gold medal with the engraved image of Sayat Nova from King Hussein of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
after his concert in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
(1979), which His Majesty attended with Queen Noor. Mnatsakanyan's performance of Sayat Nova brought him the highest honors at the Festival of Traditional Music in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(1981). Subsequently, upon the request of the smaller Armenian communities in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and the Netherlands, Mnatsakanyan performed in a tributary concert at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg
Conservatoire de Luxembourg
The Conservatoire de Luxembourg is a conservatoire in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The conservatoire was founded in 1906, after a private donation made possible its establishment, which had been mandated under a Grand Ducal decree issued in 1904...
Hall (1981). In the annual ceremony of the Armenian Music Awards
Armenian Music Awards
Armenian Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony first held at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California on October 7, 1998. It was created and produced for the first eight years by Peter Bahlawanian who wanted to support Armenian artists and make Armenian culture more mainstream.Pipeline...
, held in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for the year 1999, Mnatsakanyan posthumously received a lifetime achievement award for his worthwhile contributions, and his album of traditional and gousan compilations, named Husher (Reminiscences) (Parseghian Records, 1999) was recognized as the year's best traditional album.