Khachaturian Masquerade

This recording brings together unique orchestral suites by the Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev and the Soviet-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. Summer Night Suite is based on the music from Prokofievs opera Betrothal in a Monastery and Scythian Suite was derived from his ballet Ala and Lolly. Aram Khachaturian wrote his Masquerade Suite in 1941 to accompany Mikhail Lermontovs play of the same name. His ballet Spartacus (1954) portrays the defeat the Romans by the hero Spartacus who leads an uprising of slaves. The suites present a range of moods and variety of melodic invention that are completely engaging. This is the Zagreb Philharmonics third recording for the OehmsClassics label. Their recording of Glazunovs The Seasons, also under the direction of Dmitrij Kitajenko, received an ICMA nomination.

This recording brings together unique orchestral suites by the Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev and the Soviet-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. Summer Night Suite is based on the music from Prokofievs opera Betrothal in a Monastery and Scythian Suite was derived from his ballet Ala and Lolly. Aram Khachaturian wrote his Masquerade Suite in 1941 to accompany Mikhail Lermontovs play of the same name. His ballet Spartacus (1954) portrays the defeat the Romans by the hero Spartacus who leads an uprising of slaves. The suites present a range of moods and variety of melodic invention that are completely engaging. This is the Zagreb Philharmonics third recording for the OehmsClassics label. Their recording of Glazunovs The Seasons, also under the direction of Dmitrij Kitajenko, received an ICMA nomination.

James Galway plays Khachaturian es una muestra más del gran virtuosismo de este excelente flautista que con su sonido extraordinario y peculiar, demuestra porque es uno de los mas sobresalientes musicos del siglo XX y cuya carrera de solista es arrolladora desde comienzos de los 70. El concierto de Khachaturian es un concierto exigentísimo, compuesto originalmente para violín, se escucha con una originalidad y frescura desbordante.

Tjeknavorian is terrific in this admirable tour de force along the most representative works of this unforgettable colorist composer Aram Katchaturian (1905-1978). I thought that the last word in The Suite Gayaneh came from an old vynil recording of Efrem Kurtz the New York Philarmonic in those fifties, but I still remember how wondered I was when I listened this version thanks to a friend who love the Russian music. […]
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This really could have been a collectors item! Music from the Caucasus, performed by an Armenian Orchestra, led by a renowned ethnic-Armenian conductor from Iran. Who better to present these folk-inspired works from this ancient crossroads? Loris Tjeknavorian may not be a household name, but he has built a very successful worldwide career over several decades in both the USSR/Russia and the West…. ByMatteoD

The St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1967 by Nikolai Rabinovich, Karl Eliasberg and Edward Grikurov and until 1985 was known as the Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music. Renowned soloists and conductors, including Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Svyatoslav Richter, and many others, have performed with the orchestra. In 1985 the orchestra was enlarged, developing as the Leningrad State Orchestra under Ravil Martynov and undertaking concert tours of China, Japan, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Spain, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France and Belgium. From 2004 until 2007 the orchestra was headed by Martynov’s pupil Vasily Petrenko. The orchestra’s artistic director and chief conductor from 2007 to 2013 was Alexander Titov, who has recorded significant Russian compositions from the period of the Second World War.

Thibaudet, Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic join to release the rarely recorded Khachaturian concerto. Jean-Yves is the modern-day champion of a work once-famous in the hands of virtuosi such as William Kapell and Oscar Levant. “Thibaudet mastered the score, deftly working the extremes of flashy dynamism and feathery ruminations” (Los Angeles Times). Coupled with short solo piano works including the immortal Adagio from ‘Spartacus’; the Sabre Dance; Lullaby; Masquerade Suite and selections from Pictures of Childhood.

Khachaturian trio was founded as trio “Arsika” in 1999. It has toured extensively throughout the USA, Central and South America, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, China, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Australia, Moldova, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Armenia. …

Easily the finest account of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto since Moura Lympany’s pioneering recording under Fistoulari (Decca, 3/53 – nla), this new version on ASV is the one to have. Dora Serviarian-Kuhn and her Armenian compatriot, Loris Tjeknavorian are in every way first-class: both identify naturally with the sinuous oriental flavour of the melodic lines and understand – as did Lympany and, in America in 1946, William Kapell (RCA, 5/95) – that the outer movements need above all to convey thrusting vitality. (Remember that the first Moscow performance – which delighted the composer – was by the Russian virtuoso, Lev Oborin.) Here there is plenty of drive and rhythmic lift in the outer movements.

Aram Khachaturian conquered the world with the boundless delight he took in composing. His Sabre Dance found its place in advertising, his Adagio from the ballet Spartacus accompanied a cult series, and prominent ice skating pairs danced their way into the hearts of their spectators to the Waltz from his stage music to Lermontov's Masquerade. On the other side, his symphonic music and concertante works even today continue to attract the greatest conductors and soloists. A unique, often imitated, but never reproduced synthesis consisting of fascinating instrumental virtuosity, exotic melodies, highly imaginative harmonies, and irresistible rhythmic spirit distinguishes the three concertos and three concert rhapsodies written by Aram Khachaturian during 1936-46 and 1961-67, and this double trilogy begins its cpo journey with the earliest and latest of these works.