Tigran Chukhajian - Piano Works (Mikael Ayrapetyan)

Information

Composer: Tigran Chukhajian

1. Impromptu in B flat minor "Cascade de Couz"
2. Dance caractéristique in A minor "L'orientale"
3. Grande valse fantastique in A minor "Illusions"
4. Tarantelle in B flat minor
5. Caprice in E minor "La lyre orientale"
6. Mazurka de salon "Mignon"
7. Une gavotte de plus in E flat major
8. Polka in F major "La gaité"
9. Proti Polka in G major
10. Funeral March in D minor
11. Fantaisie orientale No. 1 in A minor "Sur des motifs turcs"
12. Fantaisie orientale No. 2 in A minor "Sur des motifs turcs"

Mikael Ayrapetyan, piano

Date: 2021

Label: Grand Piano

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Review

Born in 1837, Tigran Gevorki Chukhajian, was a leading figure in Armenian music in the second half of the 19th century, fusing together East and Western influences.

He was obviously very familiar with the music of Chopin in his use of delicacy, and also of Liszt in his technical showpieces that are included in this well filled disc, the twelve tracks displaying a composer who could offer a wealth of memorable melody. Go no further than the opening Impromptu that would have been for his own concert use, and we are made aware that he was obviously a highly skilled pianist. It is said that his mature education came from time spent in Italy, where he also enjoyed a career as a conductor of some renown, particularly in the theatre, biographies I have researched are so totally different from one to the other, the pianist on this release, Mikael Ayrapetyan, pointing out that his eventual death in 1898 was in poverty and totally unknown. So let me continue my admiration of the disc with the Grande Valse where he perfectly brings together the big gestures and the ‘Illusions’ of the title. The extended Caprice, with its big octave passages, is exciting for the listener, and fiendish for the performer, while the two Polka’s have an uncomplicated charm. But I must now comment on the superb playing of Ayrapetyan who is devoting so much time and effort in bringing Armenian music into our lives, and if you enjoy the music of Liszt, you must certainly place this at the top of your shopping list. As with his previous discs, it was recorded in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and belongs to the finest piano recordings I have ever heard.

— David Denton

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Tigran Chukhajian (1837 – 11 March 1898) was an Ottoman Armenian composer and conductor. Born in Constantinople and trained locally and in Milan, he championed Armenian national culture by founding musical societies, theaters and publications, including the journal Armenian Lyre. His compositions blended European techniques with Eastern musical elements and included piano works, songs, chamber and symphonic pieces, and operas. His most celebrated work, Leblebici Hor-Hor Agha (1875), achieved remarkable popular success. Chukhajian composed the first Armenian opera, Arshak II (1868).

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Mikael Ayrapetyan (born 1984) is an Armenian pianist, composer and researcher. Following his debut at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, he has championed the works of numerous Armenian composers through performances, recordings and his Secrets of Armenia project, initiated during his studies at the Moscow Conservatory. Trained in the Russian piano tradition, Ayrapetyan performs a broad repertoire from Baroque to contemporary music, with a particular focus on rarely heard Armenian works. He is a recipient of Armenia's State Prize and has received critical acclaim for his many award-winning recordings.

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