The founder of the Armenian operatic tradition was Tigran Chukhajian (1837–98), who was born in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and received his musical education in Milan, where he became a great admirer of Verdi.
[1] Chukhajian's other operas include Arifi khardakhutyune (The Government Inspector, based on the play by Gogol, 1872); Zemire (1891), which was written in Turkish and premiered in Constantinople; as well as Kyose Kyokhva ("The Balding Elder"), Leblebidji ("The Pea Seller") and Indiana.
He wrote Anoush, set in the Armenian countryside and based on a poem by Hovhannes Tumanyan, in 1912.
It was first performed privately in Alexandrapol in 1912, but the first public production occurred in 1935 at the Yerevan Opera Theatre.
Based on the life of the eponymous national hero and set in the 18th century, it depicts the struggle between Armenians and Safavid Persians.