Musicians:
- Piano: Avo Kuyumdjian
- Violin: Ani Kavafian
- Cello: Suren Bagratuni
Impromptu ("Exprompt") for Piano Solo (1944)
Composer's biography:
Arno Babajanian (Armenian: Առնո Բաբաջանյան) (January 22, 1921 - November 11, 1983) was an Armenian composer and pianist during the Soviet era.
Babajanian was born in Yerevan, Armenia. By age 5, his musical talent was apparent, and the composer Aram Khachaturian suggested that the boy be given proper music training. Two years later, in 1928, Babajanian entered the Yerevan State Musical Conservatory.
In 1938, he continued his studies in Moscow with Vissarion Shebalin.He later returned to Yerevan, where from 1950 to 1956 he taught at the conservatory. In 1952 he wrote the Piano Trio in F-sharp minor. It received immediate acclaim and was regarded as a masterpiece from the time of its premiere.
Subsequently, he undertook concert tours throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. In 1971, he was named a People's Artist of the Soviet Union.
Babajanian wrote in various musical genres, including many popular songs in collaboration with leading poets such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Robert Rozhdestvensky.
Much of his music is rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore, which he generally uses in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninov and Khachaturian. His later works were influenced by Prokofiev and Bartók. Praised by Dmitri Shostakovich as a "brilliant piano teacher", Babajanian was also a noted pianist and often performed his own works in concerts.
(Reference: Wikipedia)
Recorded at the Recital Hall, Music Division, SUNY-Purchase, New York, on the 4th and 5th of January, 1994.
Recording Engineer and Producer: Judith Sherman
Editing Assistance: Jeanne Velonis
Executive Producer: Ara Arakelian (Courtesy of Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Society of Boston, Massachusetts)
Production and Music Notes: Victor and Marina A. Ledin, Encore Consultants.
21 сен 2024
