WELL-ATTENDED JOINT CONCERT PAYS TRIBUTE TO ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
Anne Andlauer

Today’s Zaman
May 19 2008
Turkey

The least that can be said of the Å~^iÅ~_li Symphony Orchestra and
its Swiss-trained conductor Serâ Tokay is that they do not lack
artistic audacity. Only three years into its existence, the young
ensemble has gained respect from critics for its musical endowment
and endeavors. A concert held last Saturday provided another occasion
to prove those critics right.

The performance, on May 17 at Ä°stanbul’s Lutfi Kırdar Convention
and Exhibition Center, was a joint concert by Ä°stanbul’s Å~^iÅ~_li
Symphony and the Vartanants Choir. The latter is an amateur choir
conducted by renowned cantor and State Opera Chorus member AdruÅ~_an
Halacyan. Some 1,000 people filled the concert hall on Saturday and
were visibly filled with the artists’ communicative passion.

Tokay conducted both ensembles for two hours, through classical pieces
by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet and Donizetti. The pieces included sequences
from Mozart’s "Requiem Mass in D Minor," Verdi’s operas "La Traviata"
and "Nabucco" and Bizet’s famed "Carmen." Knowing the orchestra’s
affinity with Russian and Slavic composers, Saturday’s program was a
challenging one for the musicians and their chief. "We adapted to the
repertoire of the choir and soloists," Tokay told Today’s Zaman ahead
of the performance. "Italian compositions have little in common with
the Slavic soul that we like to express, but one also learns while
dealing with the unfamiliar."

The joint performance was a first for the young orchestra but also for
the choir, which Halacyan has headed since 1985. "I had this dream of
a partnership between the choir and a symphonic orchestra," Halacyan
recalled. Å~^iÅ~_li Mayor Mustafa Sarıgul, who attended Saturday’s
concert, was the architect of Halacyan’s encounter with Tokay and
thereby of their collaboration, the choir conductor said. "The
singers and I have been preparing for 23 years to perform music at
a professional level."

Halacyan has served the Vartanants Choir since childhood, starting
as a cantor in the church. The 76-year-old ensemble is known for
its wide repertoire of Turkish, Armenian and European pieces. "This
concert is dedicated to the Armenian community but also reflects
the cultural diversity of Å~^iÅ~_li Municipality," Halacyan said,
observing that Armenian Ä°stanbul Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan attended
the performance as well.

As a result, the program featured pieces by Turkish composer
Dede Efendi and Turkish-Armenian artists Ara Bartevyan and Sirvart
Karamanuk. The ensemble notably performed Karamanuk’s symphonic poem
"Ah!… Tamar," while Ä°stanbul State Opera soloists Zafer ErdaÅ~_
(bass-baritone), Caner Akın (tenor), Aylin AteÅ~_ (mezzo soprano)
and Ayten Telek (soprano) gave a remarkable demonstration of their
virtuosity in half of the 18 pieces.

"Karamanuk’s symphonic poem, which is composed of one movement and
lasts about 20 minutes, has only been performed three times since
its creation. The first performance took place in Yerevan in 1968,"
Tokay said. The orchestral conductor added that although she did
not know the choir or the pieces beforehand, she accepted the offer
immediately. "This was a new experience for me and my musicians and
I hope we will repeat it. The main challenge was of course to conduct
simultaneously the choir and the orchestra, as if it were one single
ensemble or body," Tokay said.

During their interview with Today’s Zaman, Tokay and Halacyan engaged
in a discussion about their respective positions. Tokay argued that
a choir needed a conductor more than the orchestra did. "Of course,
musicians have to pay great attention to the gestures and breathing of
the conductor," she explained. "But once they know their score well,
there is no need for the conductor to give a starting sign to every
single group of instruments. Technique is the key to a successful
instrumental performance."

The choir, however, needs constant attention to and from the conductor,
Tokay said. "Singers are much more sensitive to the instructions and
attitude of the conductor. They need him or her in order to stay in
tune, but also for their voice to express the right feelings. Inner
parameters matter more than in the case of an orchestra."

Halacyan nodded and added two ideas to the observations: "First,
it is crucial for all the singers to know each other very well,
much more than for the musicians. There needs to be a kind of fusion
within the choir and with the conductor, so that a quick glance is
enough for everybody to understand each other."

The choir conductor also noted "the key importance of mediation or
non-mediation." In the case of an orchestra, he said, the instruments
come between the musicians and the conductor and technique is essential
for the mediation to function. "But in the case of a choir, there is
no mediation. The relation is one of immediacy and that explains why
the conductor is all the more important for the singers to give the
best of themselves."

For that matter, Halacyan recalled that the Vartanants Choir
was an all-amateur choir wherein 55 male and female lawyers,
physicians, carpet traders and jewelers gathered to sing like
real professionals. "Some of them didn’t even know the music scale
when they started singing with the choir. I think they became like
professionals without even noticing it," Halacyan said. "They sing with
their heart and that is how they improve." That, "and an outstanding
choir conductor," Tokay added with a smile.

–Boundary_(ID_cytlHYVlWWxNJX0Y0IDd6Q)–