Troubadour with a Guitar Walking a tightrope over the abyss

When we were young, and the world, like us, was young and of course, immensely beautiful, when our Yerevan was a renascent city, the heart of the youth thrummed a vibrant heartbeat, the heart of the youth sang out.

The voice, the troubadour among us was Berge Turabian, an undeniably talented and gifted person from Cairo, Egypt. Berge was brought up with a solid foundation of excellent literary Armenian, therefore his intuitive feeling for the melodic beauty of our language was embedded in him right from the start.

Berge, who had developed a mastery of the French language while still a student, became enamored of the French Chanson genre, as performed by Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and many others. He was confident that deep between the lines of our poetry, just as a pearl is hidden in its shell, inimitable melodies and modern music were waiting to be revealed.

Berge, had also developed a mastery of the French language while still a student. He became enamored of the French Chanson genre, as performed by Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and many others. He was confident that deep between the lines of our own poetry, just as pearls concealed in shells, unique melodies exist; new music waiting to be revealed.

Berge began to sing. First he brilliantly performed our own elegant songbook, from folk to Nikol Galanterian, singing them in his unique style. Then, he discovered a fresh way to re-imagine the lines of Charents, Vahan Tekeyan, Zahrad and other outstanding poets by adapting their poetry to original music; thus offering us one great recording after another. These were his personal distinctive interpretations of classical Armenian poetry.

Later, Berge, subtly and skillfully, and may I add with singular charm, translated into Armenian many songs by Charles Aznavour and Jacques Brel, while composing his own original songs at the same time– beautiful songs, alluring, spontaneous and genuine.

The city and the era conveyed to Berge the songs that he committed to paper and sang. They were magnificent ballads accompanied by his guitar, musical-lyrical stories that revealed our illusions, our seductions, what we have lost, our spiritual inspirations and our fiery passions.

This latest album by Berge contains many elaborate and complex layers and innovative colors; tales of unfathomable sadness, radiant longings, poignant emotional experiences… Life, and growing up with the passage of time have enriched his emotional experiences, which have left their deep-rooted marks upon his heartfelt songs.
One of the Berge’s latest songs is entitled “Tightrope Walker”.

The true artist balances on the rope stretched taut over the abyss of daily life, like a tightrope walker, without a balancing pole, without a safety net. The abyss pulls him down with an irresistible force but his deftness and individualism keep him steady on the rope. Berge Turabian undoubtedly has the unassailable ability which has kept him aloft on this artistic tightrope for all these decades.

Yervand Ter-Khachatrian