The Old "Compass" For The New Times...

The opera "Radamist", by the famous German composer Georg Friedrich Handel, will be staged  in the pagan temple of Garni with the participation of the famous cultural figures from Armenia, Georgia and Russia in the next few months. 

 Yes, indeed, the world is overturned. The unexpected appearance of the “Covid-19" turned the world upside down, living the whole mankind in an uncertainty. In other words, the human consciousness has entered into a new phase of rethinking and reevaluating values that recently were fashionable, trendy and ultramodern. ​The slap of the Covid-19 to people's self-confidence turned out to be very serious. The newly appeared pandemic dictates its own rules and requirements to everyone. The normal communication with relatives,who found themselves in the different parts of the  world by coincidence, has become impossible. Not only each citizen individually but also the states at this time have to be satisfied only with the virtual communication for the security purpose.  The requirement to observe social distance has made concert halls, stadiums and art galleries, which were full not so long ago,  completely empty. The reader will  ask honestly  what is the massage of this introduction  and how it is related to the notice following the title of this article.  I will be quick in answer,   just quite directly.

George Frenrich Handel’s opera Radamisto,  the 300th anniversary of which will be celebrated in London this year, is to be performed in Armenia in a few months with the initiative of the Intellectual Property Association in Armenia and with the direct participation and support of the IPChain Association. As it is mentioned above, the opera will be performed in a few months,  but a few days ago, on the territory of the pagan temple Garni, where according to the libretto the events of the opera took place, the presentation dedicated to the inicial preparations of the opera was held.  It took place to the surprise of skepticals. It took place thanks to the difficult dicisions made by some states to provide air corridors for the flights in pandemia. If we add to what has been said, that the conductor of the opera, which is  about the Armenian-Georgian relations attributed to the 1st century AD, will  be the world-famous condactor  George Pehlivanyan from Slovenia, and the stage director will be the artistic director of the Shota Rustaveli Theater Robert Sturua, everything will fall into its place. Due to the circumstances,

the soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre Anna Aglatova, who will have one of the leading  roles, could not arrive in Armenia.
Suren Shaumyan, the Honorable Art worker of the Russian Federation conveyed her message to the event participants. Both the presentation and the perfomance of the opera will take place on the territory of the Garni temple.

The musical accompaniment of the play in the baroque style will be performed by the Tbilisi State Chamber Orchestra ''Georgian Symphonietta'', whose artistic director Georgi Karelashvili was among the invited.

By the way, the chairman of the ''Intellectual Pro

perty Association'' in Armenia Gagik Manasyan admitted, that the arrival of Robert Sturua and other Georgian guests to Armenia, became possible thanks to the great effort made by Alexander Gvarishvili, the chaiman of the Georgian Copyright Association ''GERA'' and due to the corresponding decision made by the Goverment of Georgia. The world known cultural figures arrived in Armenia not with the aim to earn money, but for love towards art, as  every  truly art servants should act for  beauty. And this beauty will save the world. It is noteworthy to mention the participants’ statements. 

 George Pekhlivanyan - “This is really an incredible project of global importance, which is  aimed at improving and strengthening  the intercultural relations around the world. I do not have a single doubt that the project will have great success, and the world will witness the implementation of the project with its own eyes. I am more than sure that the cooperation with Robert Sturua will give the desired result. I wish all of us the best in our project. Good luck!".

Robert Sturua - “By nature I am an adventurer  - the lover of the adventure.This is exactly what I like. It is a great pleasure to perform an opera in this magnificent temple. The coronavirus can not hinder our project. No matter how the pandemic tries to interfere with us, the performance of the opera "Radamist" will become a reality and will take its worthy place in the heritage of world culture. One more remarkable fact. According to the internal agreement all participants of the press conference hinted but did not name the main and mysterious initiator of this mega project. However, the journalists did their job professionally and managed to discover the person,  Arbak Khachatryan, who was the initiator and implementor of this unbelievable idea. 

Arbak Khachatryan (Initiator)-As you know, for me the most important thing is the desire and the intention to create beauty. This allows us to oppose the current challenges and difficulties in the world. Really it is crazy to carry out such a project in the conditions of the increasing pandemic in the world. Personally I don't remember such a precedent. It is remarkable that this initiative is has become a reality without any patronage from this or that oligarch, or the high patronage of this or that high official. And more the initiative group paid a big sum of money in a good faith requested by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of RA that doesn’t  pursue any commercial interest, everything will be more than clear. I just want to point out the difference between an official who sets the price for renting a territory above permanent cultural values ​​and the true creator of these  values. I would like to take the opportunity to express my special gratitude to themedia for the detailed coverage of our event. No sour words, deep appreciation for what has been done, flawless, impartial and objective coverage. It became possible because there were no persons standing on opposite sides of the barricades among the invitees. For the first time no one tried, as usual, where this project was initiated from. I am convinced that this is a significant progress. I  still remember very well  how skeptical Azerbaijan was towards the youth forum titled “The new Generation for Peace" which took place in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, two years ago and was aimed at strengthening regional peace. It took a long time for Azerbaijani to understand that the forum, organized by us with the participation of representatives of the youth of the three Republics of the region, did not fulfill any political order from any state, but was spontaneous, reflecting common interests. The staging of opera itself by joint efforts is conditioned by the desire to create a new disinterested world, devoid of political intrigue. A world cornerstone  of which is not the Constitution serving this or that authorities and the laws used for a specific purpose, but Justice. The Well-being and Safety. These concepts should become a leitmotif, a beacon, an indicator of the new time. The leitmotif of the new times, the lighthouse and the guideline.

Andrey Krichevsky - I am convinced that something strange is happening in the world although it is quite appropriate to use terms - terrible, frightening, etc. Our task in the project of staging the opera "Radamist" is an attempt to return people to "normality", and not "the new one” or "the old one” but the usual human normality of life and thinking. All the participants in the production of the opera, and first of all maestro George Pekhlivanyan and the highly respected Robert Sturua, share the conviction that creation and creativity are the core that permeate and unite humanity throughout the past, present and future centuries.I am talking about it not only as the chairman of the IPChain association, but also as the head of the Melodiya Firm, which has more than half a century of history. I think, that to return to a normal, dignified life is our universal desire.

PS. 1. His Holiness the Supreme Patriarq and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin 2 received  the cultural figures who arrived in Armenia to participate in the presentation. He wished a good luck to the project participants and expressed his hope that this initiative will contribute to strengthening and deepening intercultural relationships.

PS.2. Later RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received our guests. He promised to provide with all kind of assistance and support both in staging the opera and in creating an effective and innovative system for the protection and management of intellectual property in Armenia.

Vagan Zaryan