Ara Berberian Ara Berberian Ara Berberian (, May 14, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan - February 21, 2005 in Boynton Beach, Florida, ) was an American bass and actor who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and musicals from the early 1960s until his retirement from the stage in 1997. He notably had an 18-year association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where he gave a total of 334 performances between 1979-1997. He sang over 100 roles during his career, including those of Osmin in Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio" and Sparafucile in Verdi's "Rigoletto". Born in Detroit, Berberian
Vladimir Rosing he directed "Tosca", "The Barber of Seville", and "Faust" in 1947 with an up-and-coming young bass named Jerome Hines. In 1948 the National Opera Association of Los Angeles, under his direction, presented "The Beggar's Opera", "The Abduction from the Seraglio", "Pagliacci", "Rigoletto", "Faust", and "La traviata" with soprano Jean Fenn. Productions of "The Marriage of Figaro", "The Queen of Spades", and "Don Giovanni" with the American Opera Company of Los Angeles completed 1948. For KFI-TV in 1949 Rosing presented 46 weeks of live televised opera sequences on Sunday afternoons which were voted Outstanding Musical Program of Local Origin by the