2023-08-31 06:45:08
“Happiness to those who will survive us and taste the sweetness of tomorrow’s freedom and peace. » These words, written to his wife Mélinée by the poet Missak Manouchian just before his execution by the Nazis, resonate in the blood-red setting of the Royal Opera of Versailles. They are read in a broken voice by actor Simon Abkarian, who interpreted this figure of the Resistance in the cinema (The Army of Crime, 2009). This tribute, paid a few months before his entry into the Pantheon, is one of the many moving moments of the special program devoted to Armenia.
The evening, presented by Claire Chazal and André Manoukian, highlights the rich cultural heritage of this small Caucasian country battered by history, one of the oldest Christian kingdoms, constantly threatened by the nationalist appetites of its neighbours. “Music reflects the soul of a nation”, recalls the virtuoso violinist Sergei Khachatrian. That of Armenia, mixing folk and sacred music, Western and Eastern sounds, is impregnated with drama, from the 1915 genocide to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which is currently endangering the lives of nearly 120,000 people.
Incredible resilience
Great popular songs punctuate the evening (They fell by Charles Aznavour, The Red Poster by Léo Ferré), but this “Grand Échiquier” above all introduces the classical repertoire of Armenian composers, such as this magnificent Unexpectedly by Alexandre Aroutiounian, interpreted by the young cellist Astrig Siranossian with the orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versailles.
From a musical sequence to a contemporary choreography, various personalities (Patrick Fiori, Hélène Ségara, Robert Guédiguian…) evoke the Armenian identity and the incredible capacity for resilience of this largely exiled people. As Pascal Légitimus, half-Caribbean half-Armenian, summarizes with acid humor, the Armenians always have one foot in the grave while the other refuses to follow…
#Grand #Chessboard #everbeating #heart #Armenia