ARAM KHACHATURIAN

Composer, Pianist, Conductor

CD 1

Violin Concerto in D minor (1940) 34:41

1/ I. Allegro con fermezza 13:03

2/ II. Andante sostenuto 12:01

3/ III. Allegro vivace 9:23

Cello Concerto in E minor (1946) 35:01

4/ I. Allegro moderato 17:02

5/ II. Andante sostenuto – attacca 7:43

6/ III. Allegro (a battuta) 10:04

7/ Funeral ode in memory of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1948) 9:55

CD 2

Khachaturian – pianist (and singer)

1/ Sabre Dance (from the ballet suite Gayane) 1:38

2/ Song “Garun Yerevan“ (Springtime in Lovely Yerevan) , lyrics

Ashot Grashi 1:55

3/ Song “Zdravitsa“, lyrics Ashot Grashi 1:26

Masquerade

Suite from Incidental Music to the Play of Mikhail Lermontov (1944)

17:51

4/ I. Waltz 4:12

5/ II. Nocturne 4:11

6/ III. Mazurka 2:32

7/ IV. Romance 3:57

8/ V. Galop 2:53

Gayane. Excerpts from the ballet suites (1942) 21:27

9/ Dance of the Rose Maidens 2:06

10/ Lullaby 4:55

11/ Aishe’s Dance 4:54

12/ Gopak 3:03

13/ Sabre Dance 2:41

14/ Lezghinka 3:27

Piano Concerto in D flat major, Op. 38 (1936) 33:31

15/ I. Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso 13:36

16/ II. Andante con anima 11:12

17/ III. Allegro brillante 8:35

Khachaturian plays the piano (and sings) on: Sabre Dance, Garun Yerevan, Zdravitsa

L. Kogan – violin, S. N. Knushevitsky – cello, A. Jemelík – piano

USSR State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Karlovy Vary

Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio

Symphony Orchestra, conductor: A. Khachaturian; USSR State

Symphony Orchestra, conductor: A. V.

Gauk; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: A. Klíma

Recording venues and dates:

Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, Prague, May 15, 1959 – live from the concert of the Prague Spring

International Music Festival (CD1 / 1–3)

Unknown venue (USSR) and dates (CD1 / 4–6)

Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague, September 21–22, 1955

(CD1 / 7, CD2 / 4–8) and November 7–9, 1960 (CD2 / 15–17)

Rokoska Studio, Prague, April 27, 1950 (CD2 / 1–3)

I am firmly convinced that truly great music must in all its roots be linked with folk foundations, with the eternally youthful, inexhaustible sources of artistic folk creativeness.” With these words Khachaturian

expresses more than a mere willingness (as a Soviet artist) to adhere to the communist party line and comply with the declared aesthetic requirements of the time.

All his great works reveal his being inspired by folk music, Armenian and Georgian in particular, which shaped his thinking as a composer. Gayane, Masquerade and the Violin Concerto (here featuring a

bravura performance by Leonid Kogan) need no introduction. Noteworthy too is the sterling delivery of the young pianist Antonín Jemelík in the recording of the Piano Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic

Orchestra.

In a series of previously unreleased, newly remastered recordings from the 1950s, Khachaturian appears in the role of conductor, while several unique recordings capture him singing his own songs in Armenian by the piano. Soviet composer, conductor and spontaneous musician – the three faces of Aram Khachaturian.

Supraphon 2cds SU41002