Vaհe H Apelian
For many and many years, every Sunday morning my father would play Armen Guirag’s recording of the Armenian Holy Mass, which is regarded one of the best renditions of the Holy Mass by a singer. I remember him in conversation talking about the efforts that were vested to include the sound of church bells in his record. My parents had forged a friendship with him during his stay in Hotel Lux, the inn my father ran in Beirut. He was in Lebanon to give a recital or maybe more but I only remember the one he gave in the Assembly Hall of the American University of Beirut.
For all I recall, he was from Latin America. Recently I came across a reporting in NY Times dated Feb. 2, 1959 and headlined “Tenor presents Armenian songs: Armen Guirag includes many composers in program at Carnegie Recital Hall” and wrote the following: “Mr. Guirag was born in Armenia, studied in Bucharest and Milan, and is now a citizen of Argentina. His New York recital debut in 1957 displayed a tenor voice of the Italian variety and on Saturday he often gave the impression of holding back a naturally exuberant theater-filling sound.”
My mother introduced him to her friend Rahel Chilinguirian, a Kessabtsi relative, and they got married and moved to the United States. In late 1960’s my mother visited her relatives in the United States and spent time with Armen and Rahel Guirag. So did when she came to visit me after my move to the U.S. in 1976. I do not remember if Armen Guirag was still alive. I often wondered what happened to him.
A few years ago, I read the following about Armen Guirag in an article by the late Tom Vartabedian in Armenian Weekly titled “Three Tenors Strike A Different Tune” (March 24, 2009).
“He (Armen Guirag) was Armenian and ran a record shop in New York City that doubled as his home. He would sell his music in front and sleep out back with a tiny refrigerator, table, and a couple chairs.
Armen Guirag lived from hand to mouth and was in no hurry to move his records. He once told me that everyone he sold was like “selling a child.” But did he ever have a voice, and became the greatest Armenian tenor of his generation back in the 1950’s. He was recognized as a classic concert and opera singer, produced a number of recordings, and performed near and far, including an appearance at Carnegie Hall that gained rave reviews in the New York papers.
I met him during the tail end of his career when he gradually began to mellow and lived like a recluse. The last concert I attended of his was a pity.
He appeared in Boston, well into his 70s by now, and sang like he never sang before. His voice carried to the very last row of seats as people were on their feet applauding his every note.
And then, the unsuspected occurred. The record he had spinning in the background got stuck while the audience sat mortified. Even before lip-syncing became popular, Armen Guirag appeared well before his time.
He dashed off stage humiliated, never to appear again. Last I heard, he died in that little record store with hardly a whisper from the scores who embraced his music.”
True to Tom Vartabedian’s words, I remember my mother telling me about their record store and their modest residence next to it in New York City. Surely, it was a sad ending for such a talented singer. I hear his singing every now and then and find his voice unusually clear, crisp. It is said that the Armenian community does not appreciate its artists the way it should. But I also wonder if our artists are victims of our inherent talent for music. For the relatively small community we are, we are unusually rich in talents be it as singers or players of different classical instruments, composers, for the community to support all the way it should.
We surely owe them a debt of gratitude for enriching our lives. Many of his songs are posted in Youtube, so is his recording of the Armenian Mass.
