Various Composers - Armenian Metamorphoses (Cadence Ensemble)

Information

1. Komitas Vardapet - Krunk
2. Komitas Vardapet - Kujin Ara Yev Gna-Gna
3. Sayat-Nova - Khani Vur Jan Im
4. Sayat-Nova - Inch Khonim Hekimm
5. Shirin - Dance
6. Alexander Arutiunian, Arno Babajanian - Armenian Rhapsody
7. Karen Ananyan - Folk Relections
8. Aram Khachaturian - Adagio from 'Spartacus'
9. Aram Khachaturian - Suite from Gayaneh: I. Dance of Girls in Pink
10. Aram Khachaturian - Suite from Gayaneh: II. Lullaby
11. Aram Khachaturian - Suite from Gayaneh: III. Sabre Dance

Cadence Ensemble

    Armen Babakhanian, piano

    Hakob Jagatspanyan, guitar

    Ashot Khoyetsyan, violin

    Lusine Hairapetyan, double bass

    Gevorg Gasparyan, accordion & bandoneon

Date: 2008

Label: Signum

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Review

A very classy collection of Armenian folk-derived music put over expertly with flair and controlled schmaltz, never quite over the top. We listened to it straight through with pleasure and growing admiration. The clever chamber music arrangement of the Sabre Dance to end left no feeling that we were being short-changed without an orchestra; indeed we played it through again as an encore. It took five recording days at Abbey Road in London (October 2007); the recording quality is of the highest and there are no lapses in the feeling of spontaneity.

— Peter Grahame Woolf

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Founded in 2004 under the musical direction of pianist Armen Babakhanian, Cadence Ensemble is a group of five Armenian classically trained musicians best known for introducing Astor Piazzolla’s nuevo tango to Armenian audiences. Managed by founding member Nika Babayan, the ensemble innovatively substituted the bandoneon with an accordion and later broadened its repertoire to include Armenian and international classical and contemporary works. Cadence Ensemble also co-founded the International Yerevan Tango Festival and has collaborated with prominent international artists.

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