''Arshak II'' ( hy, Արշակ Բ) is the first Armenian classical opera, written by Tigran Chukhajian and Tovmas Terzian in 1868. Its libretto is based on historical reports about King Arsaces II (Arshak II), written by

Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late a ...

and

Pavstos Buzand Faustus of Byzantium (also Faustus the Byzantine, hy, Փաւստոս Բուզանդ, translit=P'awstos Buzand) was an Armenian historian of the 5th century. Faustus' ''History of the Armenians'' (also known as '' Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk) exists ...

. "Arshak II" is the first “Armenian grand opera” with choruses and ballets. It was partially staged in 1873, assembled on November 29, 1945, at the Armenian Opera Theater in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

and was awarded by the USSR State Prize in 1946. ''Arshak II'' is a "gem" of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n musical culture. In 2001, it was staged at the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...

Pavel Lisitsian Pavel Gerasimovich Lisitsian (, hy, Պավել (Պողոս) Գերասիմի Լիսիցյան) (November 6, 1911 – July 6, 2004), was a Soviet baritone opera singer who performed in the Bolshoi Opera, Moscow from 1940 until his retirement fr ...

, Mihran Yerkat, Tigran Levonyan were among the performers of Arshak's role.

Recordings

*Aria 'Arshak 's Arioso' on ''Arias of Love & Sorrow'' Gevorg Hakobyan (baritone), Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, John Fisher, Constantine Orbelian Delos 2023

Sources

Arshak II
Operas 1868 operas Armenian-language operas Operas based on real people Cultural depictions of kings Operas set in antiquity Compositions by Tigran Chukhajian {{opera-stub