Mikhail Arsenievich Tavrizian (Tavrizian, Mikhail) |

Tavrizian, Mihail

Laureate of the Stalin Prize (1946, 1951). People’s Artist of the USSR (1956). For almost twenty years he headed the Tavrizian Opera and Ballet Theater named after A. Spendiarov in Yerevan. The most significant conquests of this team are associated with his name. From a young age, the young musician dreamed of working in the theater and, while living in Baku, took conducting lessons from M. Chernyakhovsky. In 1926 he began his professional career as a violist in the orchestra of the Opera Studio of the Leningrad Conservatory. Since 1928, Tavrizian studied at the conservatory in the viola class, and in 1932 he became a student in the conducting class of A. Gauk. Since 1935, he has been working at the Yerevan Theater and, finally, in 1938, he occupies the post of chief conductor here.

“Tavrizian is a conductor born for the opera house,” wrote critic E. Grosheva. “He is in love with the beauty of dramatic singing, with everything that makes up the high pathos of a musical performance.” The artist’s talent unfolded most fully in staging operas of the classical repertoire and samples of national music. Among his highest achievements are Verdi’s Otello and Aida, Glinka’s Ivan Susanin, Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades and Iolanta, Chukhadzhyan’s Arshak II, A. Tigranyan’s David Bek.

Lit.: E. Grosheva. Conductor M. Taurisian. “SM”, 1956, No. 9.

L. Grigoriev, J. Platek