HEROSAGAN BALLAD - ARNO BABADJANIAN - PART 2/3

Arno Babadjanian
(1921-1983)

Arno Babadjanian was a highly regarded composer in the former Soviet Union, a colleague of Rostropovich and Shostakovich.

Arno Babadjanian was born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia. Although there were no professional musicians in his family, his father loved music and played himself some Armenian traditional instruments such as Kamancha and Shvee.

In his early days, young Arno was noticed by Aram Khachaturian himself and was given an advice to pursue a career of a professional musician.

The piano lessons under the guidance of E.Chosrovian played an important role in the formation of the young musician, first in Yerevan and later in Moscow Conservatory.

Apart from the piano lessons the future composer got a broad musical education under V.Talian.

In the following years, under the guidance of H. Litvinski, N. Peikoi and D.Rozalizki in the House of Armenian Culture in Moscow, Babadjanian produced his first important piece of music, which was called "Polyphonic Sonata for piano".

This work significantly contributed to the Armenian school of music however it was recognized as such only ten years later.

In 1947 Babadjanian participated in the first international competition of young musicians in Prague, where his vocal work "Raise the flags of friendship" received a wide recognition. In 1950 he completed the work on "Heroic Ballade", which reflected his impressions of the competition, and followed by "Piano Trio" proved the successful artistic development of the composer.

Babadjanian's work and activities as a musician and composer were inseparable, according to the composer himself, from the life and development of the city of Yerevan which influenced Babadjanian' choices as a musician. His work attracted attention from the early years and lasted for more than 50 years.

During those years Babadjanian produced number of works, in variety of musical genres- from piano and cello pieces to popular vocal and instrumental works.

His other works are a violin concerto, Symphonic Variations for piano and Orchestra, a Piano Trio, a Sonata for Violin and Piano, three string quartets and numerous solo piano works and songs.

In each case, his compositions bear the mark of the original and inspiring Armenian talent who managed to promote through his work the Armenian national music, in former Soviet Union and abroad.
He died in 1983 in Moscow.

Armen Babakhanian
Piano soloist

A prize-winner at several of the world's most prestigious international piano competitions including the Leeds, the Van Cliburn, the Guardian Dublin, the William Kappell, the Gina Bachauer, and most recently the World Piano Competition, Armen Babakhanian has captured the imagination of the audiences and the critics alike through the intensity and honesty of his performances.
Mr. Babakhanian has given recitals in the USA, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Spain. He has appeared as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Irish National Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, with St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov, and with Moscow Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev.
Festival appearances include the Aspen, Interlochen, Santander and Baalbec music festivals. Babakhanian's performance of the Shostakovich Piano Quintet with the Takács Quartet during Santander Festival in Spain was named the best chamber music performance of the festival. Mr. Babakhanian has recorded for the ASV and Real Sound labels and his performances have been broadcast on BBC, PBS (USA), ORF(Austria) and RAI (Italy) television networks. His recent recording of the Tchaikovsky piano sonatas has received rave reviews in the European press.
In addition to his performing career, Mr. Babakhanian has served as jury member for several international piano competitions, including the Gina Bachauer, Prokofiev and the Rachmaninoff piano competitions. In 1999, he founded and served as Artistic Director for the Armenian Legacy International Piano Competition in Yerevan, Armenia. He has taught numerous master-classes in Russia, United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. Mr. Babakhanian is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, where he also received his musical education.

During the 2001/2002 season, Armen Babkhanian has appeared in 17 cities' concert tour in Japan, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia and Finland, also he had concert tour in France which included recital in Lyon's famed Salle De Molliere.

Armen Babahanyan has been appointed as an Artistic Director of Yerevan International Piano Competition to be held in April-May 2004.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• HEROSAGAN
• BALLAD
• HEROIC
• ARNO
• BABADJANIAN
• RABIZ
• RAP

[armeniangeneve]

keutahiatsi

Shad shnorhagalut'un !

Nujnpes hrashali mas , vontz vor aradjine ev errorde!

Hrashk e!

[bartje11]

What a fine concerto! Bravo!

[YngwieSchenker]

This is really a very nice piece, I need to hear more of his works, now.

[j49l]

i got grouse bumps , this is beautiful love it.

[Mountmill]

Can anybody tell me if the music of the "Duet" in the YouTube SEMENYAKA L. & BOGATYREV A."DUET" is by Babbadjanian and if so what is the name of the piece? Thank you.

[michaschmi]

Leidenschaftlich, elegant und mitreissend. Jede Note ist faszinierend!