Recorded in the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, this disc offers an opportunity to sample music by Armenian composers, here represented by three works for cello and orchestra, and is in a way a follow-up to the 2011 release [BIS-1948] which was also devoted to concertante works for cello by Armenian composers. The programme opens with Aram Khachaturian, whose 1946 concerto, which contains many Armenian and Georgian folkloric allusions and rhythmic dances like those of the Ashoug, has been described as being closer to a symphony with cello than to a concerto. The second work, Arno Babajanian’s Cello Concerto, is permeated by specific intonation rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore. The disc concludes with the cello concerto by the French composer of Armenian origin, Michel Petrossian, a work from 2022 entitled 8.4, an allusion to the book of Genesis, chapter 8, verse 4, where Mount Ararat is first mentioned. The work glorifies the symbolic and spiritual aspect of Ararat, the ‘sacred mountain’, and integrates Armenian and Byzantine liturgical chants.
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.
Great composers of Armenia are reunited under this great CD to capture the essence their country! Great choice and great result! A must have for any people who love Armenia and is beautyful music!