Various Composers - Armenian Brilliance (Nikolay Madoyan; Armine Grigoryan)

Information

1. Komitas Vardapet - Dsirani dsar (arr. Avet Gabrielian)
2. Komitas Vardapet - Kak'avi erg (arr. Avet Gabrielian)
3. Komitas Vardapet - Vagharshapati Par (arr. Karp Dombaev)
4. Komitas Vardapet - K'eler, tsoler (arr. Karp Dombaev)
5. Komitas Vardapet - Krunk (arr. Sergei Aslamazyan)
6. Sarkis Barkhudarian - Sirouhis
7. Aram Khachaturian - Dance No. 1
8. Eduard Abramian - Concert Scherzo for Violin & Piano
9. Alexander Arutiunian - Dance for Violin & Piano
10. Aram Khachaturian - Gayane: Adagio (arr. Abram Yampolsky)
11. Tsolak Bekarian - Sonata for Solo Violin No. 2: I. Grave
12. Aram Khachaturian - Gayane: Uzundara (arr. Mikhail Fichtenholz)
13. Aram Khachaturian - Spartacus: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia (arr. Henrik Smbatyan)
14. Eduard Bagdasarian - Nocturne in A Major
15. Edvard Mirzoyan - Introduction & Perpetuum mobile: II. Perpetuum mobile

Nikolay Madoyan, violin

Armine Grigoryan, piano

Date: 2023

Label: Naxos

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Review

The album presents 15 works for violin, mostly with piano, by eight Armenian composers. While the names of Aram Khachaturian, Alexander Arutiunian and probably Komitas Vardapet are familiar to a larger group of listeners, the other composers are more like discoveries for most. With many borrowings from Armenian folk music and imitation of the sound of folk instruments, especially wind instruments, these works have a character connected to their homeland. Brief illuminating explanations for each contribution are offered by the accompanying text.

Violinist Nikolay Madoyan makes his debut for Naxos here. In addition to winning awards in musical competitions, he entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2017 for the Longest Violin Performance at more than 33 hours. On this album, he shines with short pieces that each have a substantial character despite their limited duration. With his sometimes elegant, sometimes dreamy, sometimes robustly virtuosic playing, the violinist is able to extract many details from the works.

The pianist Armine Grigoryan with her fine keyboard playing, which belongs to the violin part, offers an impeccable complement to expand the harmonic side of the music.

Thus, this album provides a successful and worth listening introduction to a region rich in specific music.

— Pál Körtefa

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Nikolay Madoyan (born 1 June 1973 in Yerevan) is an Armenian-German violinist. Educated in Russia and Germany, he studied under Zakhar Bron and holds a PhD in Violin Performance from the Universität der Künste Berlin. A laureate of major competitions, his honors include top prizes at the All-Russian, Kullenkampf, Lipiński–Wieniawski and Tokyo International Competitions. A Merited Artist of Armenia and recipient of the President Prize, Madoyan has collaborated with leading conductors and orchestras worldwide. His recordings have received critical acclaim from The Strad and Gramophone magazines.

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Armine Grigoryan is an Armenian pianist who was educated at the Yerevan Tchaikovsky School of Music and the Komitas State Conservatory. Acclaimed as a soloist and collaborator, she has performed extensively across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia. A double laureate of the 2003 Roma Competition, she has received many other international prizes and special awards. Grigoryan has released several recordings, including Unknown Khachaturian, and is a founding member of the Aram Khachaturian Trio. She is Professor at the Yerevan State Conservatory and Director of the Aram Khachaturian Museum.

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