The Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after Alexander Spendiaryan (Yerevan Opera House) and tenor Liparit Avetisyan won top prizes at the Second Annual Tsitsernak National Music Awards. The much-anticipated awards ceremony, held on March 31 at the Yerevan Opera House, is an initiative of Armenia’s Ministry of Culture.
The Yerevan Opera House won the award in the Best Musical Presentation category, for the Armenian premiere of “The Last Judgment.” The award was accepted by Maestro Constantine Orbelian, the Yerevan Opera’s General and Artistic Director.
Performed at the Yerevan Opera House in September 2017, “The Last Judgment” was an ambitious multimedia presentation conceived and directed by Paolo Micciche of Italy. The mega show comprised an extraordinary performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem,” set to visual accompaniment featuring a 3-D animation of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel paintings.
“The Last Judgment” was performed by the Yerevan Opera, under the baton of Maestro Constantine Orbelian. In addition to the theater orchestra and chorus, soloists Marine Deinyan (soprano), Sargis Agamalyan (tenor), Haig Tigranian (bass) and guest soloists Eleni Matos (Mezzo Soprano) performed in the prize-winning opera. Maestro Orbelian congratulated the soloists, chorus and their choir master Karen Sargisyan for their excellent work in preparing this very difficult production.
Liparit Avetisyan won the Tsitsernak Award in the Best Musical Performer (Vocals) category. An internationally acclaimed young tenor and a beloved star of the Yerevan Opera House, Avetisyan has appeared on the stages of the Royal Opera House (London), the Moscow Music Theater, and the Cologne Opera, among others, as well as in several prestigious music festivals in Europe and elsewhere.
“For all of us at the Yerevan Opera, it is a distinct honor to win the Tsitsernak Awards in the Best Musical Presentation and Best Musical Performer categories,” Maestro Orbelian said. “We are also profoundly grateful to the RA Ministry of Culture for encouraging and fostering world-class musical excellence through the Tsitsernak National Music Awards, an event that has already become synonymous with the cutting edge of contemporary Armenian music.”
