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Music: Armenian Cellist Displays Stellar Artistry At Gardner Museum

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  • Music: Armenian Cellist Displays Stellar Artistry At Gardner Museum

    ARMENIAN CELLIST DISPLAYS STELLAR ARTISTRY AT GARDNER MUSEUM

    Boston Classical Review
    Oct 8 2012
    MA

    With a display of formidable technique and musical acumen, young
    cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan made a strong impression as a performer
    to watch Sunday afternoon at the Gardner Museum.

    He offered a wide-ranging program: standard repertory like Franck's
    A Major Sonata, Chopin's Introduction and Polonaise brillante, Op. 3
    and Tchaikovsky's Nocturne and Pezzo Capriccioso, juxtaposed with
    challenging modern works like the Ligeti solo Cello Sonata and The
    Jew: Life and Death by Russian composer Mikhail Bronner. A sold-out
    Calderwood Hall witnessed Hakhnazaryan, who was ably supported by
    pianist Noreen Polera; one suspects that years from now many more
    will claim "to have been there then."

    The 24-year-old Armenian was the gold medal winner at last year's
    Tchaikovsky competition. Such an achievement nearly always guarantees
    solid technique, but does not always guarantee musical insight.

    A reading of the familiar Franck Violin Sonata arranged for cello was
    the first major work of the afternoon. Both players seem to delight in
    the attack, especially in the brisk second movement: Polera was guilty
    of an almost too vigorous opening tempo, storming through various runs,
    right up to the finish, eliciting vigorous premature applause.

    The sonata hinges on a familiar six-note motive, rising first but
    quickly descending, which gets repeated and reworked in all the
    movements. It's not possible, but it sounded like Hakhnazaryan invested
    each repeat with a new insight, enlivening the reading throughout.

    Terrifically virtuosic playing highlighted the Chopin, especially
    in thumb position, where the composer demands feathery fingering,
    often accompanied by ponticello bowing, to create delicate gestures
    that starkly contrast the otherwise ferocious playing. This is a
    stately work of imaginative structure, the pianist subtly guiding
    the attack; Polera showed why she is widely admired for her expertise
    accompanying cellists.

    A brief pause led to the Ligeti sonata, another bold work with extended
    technique. A handsomely wrought piece, its two movements-Dialogo and
    Capriccio-sound entirely unrelated, with the opening lyrical, invoking
    popular, folk-style melodies, and the Capriccio relentlessly driving
    in the same rhythmic pattern. Only a touching quote from the Dialogo
    that interrupts the second movement yokes them together. Hakhnazaryan
    made the most of the moment, sticking the pause before and after
    dramatically.

    Even greater technical challenges faced the soloist in Bronner's
    theatrical The Jew: Life and Death. In two fanciful movements, it was
    highlighted by pizzicato of every variant, including a remarkable
    kind of pizzicato glissando, martele bowing, and the cellist even
    moaning a low drone and whistling sometimes, with the pianist tapping
    her feet noisily as well.

    Tchaikovsky's familiar and equally demanding works concluded the
    ambitious program, offering further confirmation-if any was needed-that
    this is a cellist with a major future. Lyrical and spirited interplay
    governed the reading.

    The afternoon opened with a personal remembrance by Hakhnazaryan of
    Armenian composer Edvard Mirzoyan, who passed away over the weekend,
    and a performance of Faure's Elegie was offered in remembrance. Then,
    having invested the entire program with virtuosity, the cellist ended
    the recital with an encore of a work from the legend of virtuosity
    himself, Paganini's Variations on One String from a Theme of Rossini's
    Moses.

    Music at the Gardner continues 1:30 p.m. Oct. 14 with New York Festival
    of Song in a program called "Dvorak and the American Soul."

    gardnermuseum.org; 617-278-5156.

    http://bostonclassicalreview.com/2012/10/armenian-cellist-displays-stellar-artistry-at-gardner-museum/

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