Almast

According to Tumanian's daughter, he was fascinated by Firdousi's poem in the banquet scene, by Tatoul's nightmare, and by the ambitious Almast - who dreamed of winning the throne.

At this stage Spendiarian, a Russian-Armenian, began to make a detailed study of Armenian folk music.

He wrote: "Amongst the large amount of material I was particularly struck by Nikoghayos Tigranyan's music, on which I composed some of the instrumental passages in my opera".

Because of the pressure of work, Tumanian was forced to abandon the idea of writing the libretto himself, and the task was undertaken by Russian poet Sophia Parnok.

In 1951 The Russian Chamber Opera Theatre in Paris gave a performance of "Almast" in the Mutualité Hall.