From left to right: Raif Abillama, Badia Sabra Haddad, Sona Ghazarian, Anahid and Hagop Ghazarian, May 6, 1966, at Gulbenkian Hall, Beirut. (Credit: The Ghazarian family)
Over a cup of Viennese coffee and Sachertorte (German for chocolate cake with apricot filling) in her elegant salon in Vienna, the beautiful Lebanese-Austrian soprano Sona Ghazarian talked about her childhood in Beirut and her studies at the Lebanese Conservatory.Lacking all the trappings traditionally attached to capricious, haughty divas, Ghazarian radiates kindness. In a captivating and gentle tone, she said, "If you want to hear a short story, I'd say: Vini, vidi, vici [I came, I saw, I conquered]."But how did this daughter of Beirut, born on Sept. 2, 1945, into an Armenian family of intellectuals, music lovers and arts enthusiasts, get from her home in Zoqaq al-Blat to the biggest opera stages in Europe and the U.S.?The eldest daughter of Hagop and Anahid Ghazarian attended the Evangelical Armenian College before graduating in...
Over a cup of Viennese coffee and Sachertorte (German for chocolate cake with apricot filling) in her elegant salon in Vienna, the beautiful Lebanese-Austrian soprano Sona Ghazarian talked about her childhood in Beirut and her studies at the Lebanese Conservatory.Lacking all the trappings traditionally attached to capricious, haughty divas, Ghazarian radiates kindness. In a captivating and gentle tone, she said, "If you want to hear a short story, I'd say: Vini, vidi, vici [I came, I saw, I conquered]."But how did this daughter of Beirut, born on Sept. 2, 1945, into an Armenian family of intellectuals, music lovers and arts enthusiasts, get from her home in Zoqaq al-Blat to the biggest opera stages in Europe and the U.S.?The eldest daughter of Hagop and Anahid Ghazarian attended the Evangelical Armenian College before graduating in...
