Hasmik Papian Gets Profiled by the Armenian Mirror-Spectator

In a new interview, soprano Hasmik Papian discusses her life beginning with playing the violin and transitioning to singing, her favorite role, when she will return to Armenia, being the mother of a 10-year old, restrictions of being an opera singer and her upcoming performances in La Gioconda. "'I won four international competitions and after the first one, the son of the great tenor, Mario Del Monaco, Giovanni, who was the head of Opera Bonn, [in Germany] heard me sing. Bonn, at that time, was the capital of Germany. If you sing well [ in a major city like that] it goes around quickly,' Papian said. She got a contract and started singing there. That was back in 1993. She started looking for opportunities at the end of her contract there. She was soon booked for a debut recital at the Vienna State Opera. 'I was there for rehearsals at 11 a.m. There was a big crowd at the artists’ entrance. I thought there must have been an accident, but it was only spectators who had come to my rehearsals. They came to wish me good luck. After

With Karl Lagerfeld

my debut, I decided if I could not live in Yerevan, this is the place I would love to live,' she recalled. While she called Yerevan her 'beloved city,' Papian said that Vienna has, hands-down, the 'best audiences.' In fact, she said, the government does much to promote opera, and the art form is so identified with the city that there are planeloads of Japanese tourists who come for the weekend to attend a single performance. She added, 'I never left Armenia. I almost look at [my absence] as a business trip.' She noted that she goes back every year and added she plans to live in Armenia at the end of her career. As for her favorite stage, she said Metropolitan Opera in New York City 'is one of the best stages in the world.'" [Source] Visit the soprano's official website here.