Ara Berberian In 1963 he was promoted from the chorus to singing roles with the NYCO, beginning with Leandro in "The Love for Three Oranges" in April of that year. He sang several more roles with NYCO through 1967, including Collatinus in "The Rape of Lucretia", the Commandant in "Don Giovanni", the Major-Domo in "Capriccio", Osmin in Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio", and Tiresias in "Oedipus rex" among others. He later returned to the NYCO in 1977 to create the role of Gene Henderson in the world premiere in Leon Kirchner's "Lily". From 1965-1968 Berberian was committed to the San Francisco Opera,
Willoughby Weiss di Lammermoor" (with Dorus Gras and Henry Whitworth), conducted by Hector Berlioz, in Louis Antoine Jullien's company: soon afterwards Reeves and Weiss sang together again in the premiere of Balfe's opera "Maid of Honour". In 1854 he set Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem ""The Village Blacksmith"" to music, from which he made a considerable fortune. In that year Weiss was in Jarrett's company at Drury Lane, with Reeves, Agnes Büry, Mme Rudersdorff, Louisa Pyne and others, in a season including "Lucia", "Fra Diavolo", "La sonnambula", "Il Seraglio" and "Masaniello". On New Year's Day 1856, with Reeves, Novello and Lewis Thomas, he