Tigran

Nonesuch Records releases its fourth recording from pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan, The Call Within, on August 28, 2020. The album comprises ten original compositions and features Evan Marien on electric bass and Arthur Hnatek on drums, along with special guests Tosin Abasi on the Armenian prog tune “Vortէx” and Areni Agbabian and Artyom Manukyan on “Our Film.”

Nonesuch Records releases pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan’s StandArt—his first album of American standards—on April 29, 2022. StandArt includes songs from the 1920s through the 1950s, by Richard Rodgers, Charlie Parker, Jerome Kern, David Raksin, and others; it also includes a piece Hamasyan improvised with his bandmates—bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Justin Brown—and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, who is featured on two of the album’s tracks. Other special guests include saxophonist and label-mate Joshua Redman on Charlie Parker’s “Big Foot,” as well as saxophonist Mark Turner on Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are.” Produced by Hamasyan and recorded last spring in Los Angeles, StandArt is Hamasyan’s first release of American music, having previously only released original compositions and traditional Armenian music.

Tigran Hamasyan's new album, An Ancient Observer, is due March 31 on Nonesuch Records. Ahead of the release of the album, his second on the label, Hamasyan will begin a world tour, starting with three consecutive nights at the Blue Whale in Los Angeles, February 25–27. An Ancient Observer's songs—two of which are based on Armenian melodies—were written over the last four years. Some of the pieces are through-composed and completely written out, while others are composed with ample space for Hamasyan to improvise. Many include vocals layered into the mix. As with most of his compositions, Hamasyan cites a wide range of influences, from Baroque dance to hip-hop, with pedals connected to a synthesizer on a few tracks—while the sounds of his native country also are present, as always.

Tigran Mansurian's music is rooted in Armenian folk and church music filtered through contemporary Europeans, especially Bartók. In many respects he resembles other post-Soviet composers like Schnittke and Svirdov, sharing their combination of elusiveness and accessibility. Kim Kashkashian has long championed his works, and the outstanding violist is superb here. She's the center of gravity in the Viola Concerto, titled "…and then I was in time again," a quote from Faulkner and resembling his stream-of-consciousness style. The complex interplay of soloist and 18 strings fascinates, the two going their own ways and coming together again in unpredictable fashion but always to expressive effect. It's in two movements, the first more dramatic, the second poignant. In Lachrymae,.. –Dan Davis

Arshak II is the first Armenian classical opera, written by Dikran Tchouhadjian and T. Terzian in 1868. Its libretto, a lyrical tragedy in Armenian and Italian, is based on historical reports about King Arsaces II (Arshak II), written by Movses Khorenatsi and Pavstos Buzand.
"Arshak II" is the first “Armenian grand opera” with choruses and ballets. It was partially staged in 1873, assembled on November 29, 1945 at the Armenian Opera Theater in Yerevan and was awarded by the USSR State Prize in 1946. Arshak II is a "gem" of Armenian musical culture. In 2001, it was staged at the San Francisco Opera. Pavel Lisitsian, Mihran Yerkat, Tigran Levonyan were among the performers of Arshak's role.

Nonesuch Records releases its third recording from pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan, For Gyumri, on February 16, 2018. A companion to last year’s An Ancient Observer, For Gyumri includes five additional songs. For Gyumri is available to preorder with an instant download of the track "Rays of Light."