[ Pentatone SACD / Hybrid SACD ]
Release Date: Friday 20 November 2015
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
Narah Arghamanyan is not only one of the most technically resourceful pianists of today's generation, but her interpretations, her rich and colourful tone, combined with an exceptional gift for storytelling also enable Ms. Archamanyan to present something remarkably unique and precious. We are fortunate to be able to savour it once again in the upcoming Pentatone release of Serge Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Aram Khacaturian's Piano Concerto.
The Prokofiev 3rd is a work that calls for virtuosity, and Ms. Arghamanyan delivers in full. She exits with a hairraising finale that leaves you both drained and delighted at the same time. This brilliant artist accomplishes an equally marvellous performance with the bold and gregarious Khachaturian concerto as with Prokofiev's intricate concerto. She skilfully uses its spicy harmonies and colourful orchestration to charm and captivate. The collaboration between Nareh Archamanyan, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and conductor Alain Altinoglu resulted in a strong sound recording that surpassed expectations. Engineered by Polyhymnia International, needless to say that this SACD recording lives up to the extremely high standards of any other Pentatone recording.
"Arghamanyan is not the first Armenian to offer a more thoughtful approach to Khachaturian's music than the usual fireworks display. The result, though, is all the more stiorking in this, the first and fieriest of his concertos...Arghamanyan's characterful yet non-idiosyncratic reading may be enthusiastically endorsed. She captures that protean work's playful classicism and its mournful ruminative side." BBC Music
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto in D flat major
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26