With the support of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Armenia, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia, under the leadership of artistic director and chief conductor Eduard Topchyan, performed an exclusive concert at the “Verdi” theater in Pordenone, Italy.
The concert was dedicated to World Mountain Day, celebrated with great pomp in Italy.
The concert was organized with the Embassy of Armenia in Italy, the Ministry of Tourism of Italy, the Municipality of Pordenone, and the Center for the Study and Documentation of Armenian Culture in Venice.
Luca Chiriani, Minister of Relations with the Italian Parliament, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Italy Tsovinar Hambardzumyan, Antoniocomi Elvio, Vice-President of the Italian Alpine Club of Friuli Venezia Giulia (CAI, Club Alpino Italia), and Giovanni Lazio, President of the Board of Directors of the Verdi Theater of Pordenone, gave a welcome speech at the opening of the concert.
At the concert entitled “From Ararat to the Alps,” the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia performed Gian Francesco Malipiero’s symphonic piece “Armenia,” dedicated to the composer’s Armenian friend, which was written two years after the Armenian Genocide in 1917. Aram Khachatryan’s Violin Concerto and the great “Alpine Symphony” by Richard Strauss, which were performed for the first time in that prestigious theater, were also played. As an encore, the third song from Strauss’s “Four Last Songs,” “When You Go to Sleep” (“Beim Schlafengehen”), performed by the internationally renowned Armenian soprano Hrachuhi Basents, was completed.
In the “La Rivista Musica Classica” periodical, renowned music critic Claudio Bolzan describes the concert “From Ararat to the Alps” as a significant cultural event.
