Mnatsakanyan, Norayr Ambartsumovich

Born on January 7, 1923 in a family from old Yerevan. He inherited his love for folk music from his parents. Talented since childhood, Norayr received the first award at the All-Union Competition for Young Performers , which was held in Moscow in 1936.

Thanks to his musical abilities and love of acting, Mnatsakanyan began his career as an actor and singer in the Yerevan State Theater of Musical Comedy after Hakob Paronyan . Surprisingly, Mnatsakanyan, first on the stage of Armenia, played the role of Hickor in the play of the same name based on the famous work of Hovhannes Tumanyan . The artistry of Mnatsakanyan, the unrestrained love of art, was associated with such outstanding directors of the Theater as Armen Gulakyan . In the Yerevan State Academic Theater. Gabriela Sundukyan , Norayr was next to such famous artists of Armenian theatrical art as Vagram Papazyan , Hrachiya Nersesyan , Avet Avetisyan , Ambardzum Amvrosy Khachanyan , Babken Nersisyan , Metaxia Simonyan , later Mher Frunzik Mkrtchyan and Yersyan Simorsyan, later Mher Frunzik and Yersenyan

The acting game, along with Mnatsakanyan's artistic talent, came from his love of world literature. Vahram Papazyan , seeing the attempt to play the role of Shakespeare's Othello Mnatsakanyan, highly appreciated the skill of playing and interpreting the role, foreshadowed the future in acting. Later, Mnatsakanyan played a major role in the film “Man from Olympus” ( Armenfilm , 1974).

Wanting to get a more practical profession, Norayr Mnatsakanyan graduated from the philological faculty of Yerevan State University, where he received a master's degree in humanities. At the end, Mnatsakanyan defended his thesis on the topic “Lyrical poetry of Sayat-Nova's works in Armenian literary society”.

Continuing his career as a journalist and independent writer, Norayr, with his inimitable character, compiled an anthology, which included small short stories relating to the old Yerevan, which described the lifestyle of citizens, their customs and traditions. Journalist’s Mnatsakanyan articles and critical notes on various themes of Armenian art and culture often appeared on the pages of periodicals. One of the most innovative articles was devoted to the well-known Armenian players on the duduk of the past and present: Margary Margaryan , Levon Madoyan , Vache Hovsepyan and Jivan Gasparyan .

In 1985, in the heyday of creative activity, on the Armenian State Television Mnatsakanyan was the host of the program, which was devoted to the stylistic features of playing the Armenian folk instrument duduk and the most prominent players on it.

Despite his success in acting and literary activities, Norayr Mnatsakanyan’s true vocation was music. His art of performance, heartfelt, velvety voice, together with his special approach to performance, made Mnatsakanyan indispensable and in demand among fans of folk music in Armenia and abroad.

Tatul Altunyan , who made a great contribution to Armenian folk music, invited Norayr to the State Philharmonic Chapel to perform solo parts. Here Mnatsakanyan was lucky to work with Araxia Gyulzadyan and Varduhi Khachatryan . Separately from the performance of the repertoire with the works of Sayat-Nova, Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed traditional songs of Sheram , Ashot , Jivani , Avasi , as well as famous compilations of urban song folklore during this period.

However, Sayat-Nova held a special place in the repertoire of the singer, and it is not by chance that Norayr Mnatsakanyan earned the exclusive right of his achievements thanks to the performance of Sayat-Nova’s works, which the singer with love filled with unprecedented lyricism and soulfulness. Thanks to the new approach of Mnatsakanyan performed by the songs, under the composition beginning of Aram Merangulyan , ethical as well as metaphysical features of Sayat-Nova's works became visible. The singer grieved and rejoiced with the poet, feeling every thrill of his heart. It is worth noting the inimitable voice of Mnatsakanyan in the songs of Sayat-Nova, which flows unforgettably in the film of the same name (1960).

The performances of Mnatsakanyan became better known to the public after the great Aram Merangulyan invited the vocalist to perform solo parts in the Ensemble of Folk Instruments on the Armenian State Radio and Television.

Norayr Mnatsakanyan’s songs can be found in various Armenian and Soviet films such as Sergey Parajanov’s “Color of Pomegranate” (1969), dedicated to the life of Sayat-Nova.

The unique vision and performance of the traditional “Dle Yaman” was manifested in the musical accompaniment of the Andrew Goldberg film “Armenian Americans” (2000).

A number of documentary films were shot using Mnatsakanyan’s speeches about the singer’s life and activities.

During his life journey, the performer recorded over two hundred folk and gusan songs, all of which are carefully preserved as relics in the Museum of State Radio and Television of Armenia. Norayr Mnatsakanyan's speeches paved the way for the success of many folk vocal performers.

Norayr Mnatsakanyan toured many of the fraternal republics of the Soviet Union and many foreign countries. During his tour of the Middle East, Norayr Mnatsakanyan received an honorary order from the King of Jordan - Hussein ibn Talal after King Hussein and Queen Noor visited his concert in Amman . Upon returning from the tour, he received a personal thanks and diploma from the USSR Minister of Culture Ekaterina Furtseva personally for "worthy propaganda of the musical performing art of Soviet Armenia abroad." The performance of the Sayat-Nova songs also brought Norayr Mnatsakanyan the highest award at the Folk Music Festival in Lyon , France (1981). After that, Mnatsakanyan performed at the Conservatoire of Luxembourg ( Conservatoire de Luxembourg Hall) at the numerous requests of representatives of Armenian communities living in Belgium and the Netherlands .

At the annual ceremony of the Armenian Music Awards , held in Los Angeles in 1999, Norayr Mnatsakyan was posthumously awarded the honorary award for his significant contribution and lifelong achievements in the field of Armenian folk music. His album of folk and gusan music Husher ( Memoirs ) (Parseghian Records, 1999) was voted the best album of the year.

He had a great influence on the modern performing art of Armenian folk music in the epoch of its formation. Thanks to his matchless baritone , deep knowledge of Armenian folklore, language and literary skill, Mnatsakanyan’s talent was widely recognized among writers, musicologists and amateurs of Armenian folk music.

Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first among the performers of Armenian folk and gusan music who applied a new approach to it. In accordance with the established customs of any national folklore, the music of the folk and gusansky schools was performed in a rough, unpolished manner, distant from the contemporary realities of the Armenian people, its modern essences and values. Professional performers of classical music and operas also tried to reproduce folk music in their work. Nevertheless, the performance of folk songs by professionals only alienated them from the Armenian public, since the authenticity and authenticity of Armenian folk music could not be conveyed and conveyed with the help of such an unattainable, elite genre as an opera. Norayr approached the works of Armenian gusan and folk music with unprecedented lyricism and poetry. He was the first to betray this genre with an unprecedented tint of originality and genuine artistry. Mnatsakanyan surpassed his predecessors in the ability to harmoniously convey the feelings and emotions of the authors through the execution of their works. At the same time, Mnatsakanyan tried to eradicate provincial motifs in musical works and fill them with higher forms of vision and musical expression. One of the main achievements of Norayr Mnatsakanyan’s creativity is that he managed to unite the moods and experiences of the authors and embody all this in his work. Norayr Mnatsakanyan also performed works by famous Armenian composers, whose songs were intertwined with the lyrics of such Armenian poets as Hovhannes Tumanyan , Avetik Isaakyan , Hovhannes Shiraz and Vahan Teryan . The outstanding poet Avetik Isaakyan highly appreciated Mnatsakanyan’s contribution to the Armenian performing arts and proclaimed him to be the velvet voice of Armenia. Derenik Demirchyan admired Norayr’s chants in the big poetic circles of old Yerevan, calling him a unique vocal performer of the national consciousness. At the decade of Armenian art held in Moscow in 1956, Norayr Mnatsakanyan also highly appreciated such outstanding artists as Aram Khachaturian Faina Ranevskaya and Mark Bernes . “Like Sayat-Nova , he did not become a court singer, but lived the undivided pain of his people. That is why the song of Norayr Mnatsakanyan is a sensual apotheosis of the Armenian soul, ”said the great film director Sergey Paradzhanov , who wrote about the work of Mnatsakanyan. Being an art historian and a great connoisseur of literature, Mnatsakanyan always betrayed the great importance of combining melodies and verses into a single whole. Norair Mnatsakanyan’s huge and invaluable contribution to the Armenian folk performing art.

• Armenian folk music

• “Norayr Mnatsakanyan sings” (“Yerevan” TV Films Studio, 1983)
• Norayr Mnatsakanyan on Wikimedia
• “Song of Songs” (“Property of the Republic”) - TV program in memory of Norayr Mnatsakanyan, Public Television of Armenia, 2014
• Norayr Mnatsakanyan’s Memory Page on Facebook
• TV series “After Nahapet Hayk” - Norayr Mnatsakanyan
• "Recognition" author's program Armine Kirakosyan
• Norayr Mnatsakanyan's songs on YouTube
• Your Armenian Music Source, Parseghian Records