BUDAPEST–An important event recently took place in Hungary for the 1700th Anniversary of Christianity in Armenia.
A dance entitled Haykakan Araspel (Armenian Legend) was performed–which was based on the literary material co-authored by Aleks Avanesian–a member of the Armenian community and Tomokosh Moltovani–the director of Budapest Chamber Opera. The music is composed by Hungarian composer Melish Laslo–who has been studying Armenian music for a year. Together with the Budapest Dance Ensemble the performance was conducted by Mikhay Gapor as well as Asatur Karapetian of Armenian State Dance Ensemble. The music was performed by the famous Budapest Chamber Orchestra.
This unique performance–which took place in one of the ancient churches of the Hungarian capital of Budapest–which is currently used as a concert hall–featured Anna Mailyan of Armenia–who performed the religious psalms as opera arias accompanying the dance scenes. The performance was dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator–King Drtad and St. Hripsime.
There are three more sold-out performances of the concert scheduled at the same hall. Local Hungarians–among them Hungarian Prime Minister and the Budapest Mayor–made up the majority of the attendees of the performances due to the lack of a significant Armenian population in Hungary.
The group has been invited to several other countries as well.