The prince charming of Armenian pop - Armenian Reporter

The Zobian phenomenon(On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his passing)by Aroutun PalianoperaI had not written anything for along time until my friend GerardSvazlian, who is currently a violinistin the orchestra of the SanFrancisco Opera Company, suggestedthat I write an article aboutthe renowned singer and soloist ofthe Bucharest Opera, Garbis Zobian.Gerard Svazlian had workedwith Zobian in his younger yearswhile he was a member of the YerevanNational Opera Orchestra.The temptation to write such anarticle was great, since G. Zobianwas paramount among all the wellknowndramatic tenors, as far as Iwas concerned.Inasmuch as I have been steepedin the traditions of classical musicand am familiar with the art ofpast and contemporary singers,Enrico Caruso, Gino Bechi, and G.Zobian have special significancefor me. God lavishly endowedthese singers with inimitable voices,which easily leveled the pathin front of them, like copiouslygushing rivers that are impossibleto resist. If talents are bornrelatively often, then phenomenaappear every couple of centuries.Suddenly a personality is born,who tops his predecessors whilepossessing their best characteristicsand experience. We call suchan individual a “phenomenon.”Such phenomena were Leonardoda Vinci, Bach, Paganini,Mozart and Caruso. The Peruviansinger Yma Sumac was a phenomenon,owing to the extensiverange of her voice. Caruso was aphenomenon because, prior tohim, mankind had not heard suchan unusually beautiful and powerfulvoice, which was capable ofperforming operatic arias of themost different nature, romances,Italian and Neapolitan songs. Carusoremained unique, althoughthe music business world proceededto present Gigli, Mario delMonaco and Mario Lanza to thepublic as the new Caruso.While the recording instrumentsat the beginning of thetwentieth century were primitive,they had become quite perfectedby the 1950’s and reproduced humanvoices more naturally. Bornafter Caruso was a new generationof talented singers, which lackeda “peak.” That peak was Garbis Zobian,whom God had graced withan exceptionally beautiful voice,coupled with obvious emotionalism,expressiveness and natural,vivid dramatization. In the caseof certain well-known singers,dramatization is created throughthe intensity of the voice or artificialtension, and with the use ofa microphone. Zobian’s voice wasGarbis Zobian inPagliacci (Canio).naturally endowed with dramaticcolor, and he didn’t need to exertartificial effort when singing highnotes. In all segments of his voicerange, the sound was symmetricaland smooth. Zobian’s voice canonly be compared to and competewith his own. Melik-Pashaev (Melik-Pashayian),principal conductorof the Bolshoi Opera of Moscow,described Zobian’s voice as“heroic tenor.” Heroic because itfreely gave renditions of the mostcomplex and difficult arias of operaticmusic: Othello, Canio, AndreaChenier, Radames, Cavaradossi,Hermann, Turidu, Manrico,and others.The purpose of this article isnot to comment on the singer’sperformances but to explain theZobian phenomenon.Was Zobian’s birth perhaps accidental?I would say no. The reasonis that the universe and all thephenomena being carried out in ithave been previously planned outArmenian Reporter Arts & Culture 11/10/2007C11