NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Cello

Critical acclaim

"Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan was the Gold Medal winner in the cello division of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He counts the late Mstislav Rostropovich among his mentors and studied at both the Moscow and New England conservatories.

Hakhnazaryan’s performance of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor was electrifying. Playing with lean, compact sonority, he swept through the opening Allegro at a daringly fierce clip, yet displayed agile dexterity in the cadenza with its forays to the instrument’s high register. The lyrical second theme was assayed with broad, aristocratic authority.

In the slow movement, Alexeev shaped the melodic lines in an unusually fleet manner, emphasizing the music’s roots in Czech folk music. Hakhnazaryan’s beautifully varied dynamics emphasized bold contrasts, from a barely audible whisper to a full throttle singing line. He brought a sense of deep sadness to the movement’s closing pages without exaggerated bathos.

In the finale, Hakhnazaryan’s cello sang out at top volume over the full ensemble at top speed. The collaboration between soloist and conductor was tight and well coordinated, Alexeev and the orchestra equals for this intense and exciting music making.

The Kravis audience, which can sometimes seem tepid and unenthusiastic, responded with cheers and bravos. Hakhnazaryan offered a daring encore, Lamentatio, by Giovanni Sollima. In this improvisation on a Romanian folk song, the cellist sang and chanted as he played an austere, almost liturgical melodic line, suddenly taking off with finger-breaking trills and stops at high speed in a tour de force. This young cellist is an amazing musician whose future career holds the greatest promise."

South Florida Classical Review

"Hakhnazaryan had what few other cellists can boast: the power to stand up to such a wall of dark, overpowering Estonian sound. Dressed in a body-hugging white shirt and slim slacks, he seemed to fit right in with the other cosmopolitan-looking young people on stage as he ferociously attacked the concerto. Even his grandly shaped lyrical phrases had the quality of mowing down anything in his way. His tone is as gorgeously sure as it is huge. His encore was a strummed, folk-like obscurity: "Chonguri" by Sulkhan Tsintsadze, a Georgian composer. Hakhnazaryan is clearly on his way to a big career."

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Los Angeles Times

“The most attention-getting soloist was Narek Hakhnazaryan in Saint-Saëns' First Cello Concerto, the evening’s one work that was closely associated with Piatigorsky.... Hakhnazaryan got a near rock star ovation from an audience of screaming cellists in Bovard... His command of the instrument is extraordinary, and he is clearly going places. He is an assured, flamboyant, old-school Romantic. His vibrato is hyper-expressive, but it didn't appear to make his exacting audience squirm.”

Los Angeles Times “23-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan launched into Tchaikovsky’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme’ with a tone whose beauty shone all the more brightly for its restraint. Every nuance of this subtle work was lovingly observed, and when he did let rip it was with blazing virtuosity. I would now like to hear what this boy can do with Bach’s solo suites: he could certainly give Yo-Yo Ma a run for his money.”

Independent

“Hakhnazaryan’s phrasing was easeful, his intonation flawless (not least in the cello's highest register), and he dealt with the fiendish writing of the final section with Rostropovich-like tenacity.”

Classical Source

“Narek Hakhnazaryan unspooled his rich, very Russian timbre over these delicious variations with unhurried grace and fluency.”

The Times “The brightest star of the evening was the 23-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan, a cellist of real maturity whose performance of the Variations on a Rococo Theme was characterful and well-judged. Playing on a lovely instrument, Hakhnazaryan had the restraint to remain within the conventions of Tchaikovsky's idiosyncratic piece of Russian retro. But he also has the confidence to bring his own personality to the score and to respond to Gergiev's impulsive pushes..”

Guardian “A phenomenal cellist. Watching talent of this age on this level is always a thrill. He produces a powerful and colourful sound in all registers, nails every big shift and flashes all the virtuoso’s tricks with insolent ease. He should have a stellar career.”

The Washington Post “Mr Hakhnazaryan projected intensity from the moment he took the stage. A hearty response from the audience brought two encores. To the very end, his intense focus and expressive artistry never flagged.” The New York Times “Supremely gifted. We were treated to a high-powered, commanding reading with awesome predestination. As an encore, Mr. Hakhnazaryan tossed off with enormous agility and aplomb a Georgian folk dance entirely in pizzicato with strumming and perfectly crystalline bell-like harmonics.” The Boston Musical Intelligencer

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“The cello's tone was beautifully centered, clear and secure. It was, quite simply, the best "Fantasiestuecke" I have ever heard….The Rachmaninoff Sonata was a wonderfully expressive performance, full of appropriate autumnal resonances. The recital concluded with Rostropovich's Humoresque, a fingerbusting exercise in rapid bowing, superbly played, to a standing vocal ovation.” The Buffalo News “A young Piatagorsky would have been proud of such rhythms, such confident sound. His intonation was superb. The high altitudes of thumb-position posed no problems, and his spiccato was exceptionally articulate. His rubato was tasteful and balanced and rose unforced from the music.” San Francisco Classical Voice “He has great power and a creative core that makes you listen to his music. In the near future, we will see Narek Hakhnazaryan’s name among the most sought-after musicians”. The Voice of Armenia

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

South China Morning Post • May 11, 2016

Review: Narek Hakhnazaryan cello recital - impeccable technique, luminous tone BY ALEXIS ALRICH When Narek Hakhnazaryan becomes a familiar name - and it will - people will think back to his Hong Kong debut recital, in which the young Armenian-born cellist enchanted the audience with his impeccable technique and luminous tone in an all-French programme. The first singing note from his cello, in Faure’s Élégie, seemed to expand the concert hall itself. The lines were long and connected, the music romantic but restrained and elegant. Hakhnazaryan had eloquent control of his bow arm and shaded the tones with endless variety. The pitch was as pure as ice water no matter how daring the leaps. Pianist Noreen Polera also drew the audience into the piece’s poetic world with her sensitive touch and timing. Debussy’s Cello Sonata demands a different, cooler approach. The delicate motifs sound best in a calm, still voice, and can’t take much drama and drive. In the Finale the fast passages were sometimes slighted, speed winning out over clarity and enunciation. Hakhnazaryan’s exuberance will no doubt mellow enough over time to make these passages as beautiful as the more intense ones are now. But still, his interpretation was lively and interesting – pizzicato sections sounded wild and grotesque in a good way. Camille Saint-Saëns’ Allegro Appassionato was ideally suited to Hakhnazaryan’s personality. He gambolled through the music like a young colt, dazzling with his left-hand agility on the fingerboard as well as his dexterity with the bow. Fauré’s Papillon, or Butterfly, resembles Rimsky Korsakov’s perpetual-motion Flight of the Bumblebee. Although it was almost too fast to hear the pitches, it was still fun. Narek Hakhnazaryan could have taken a cooler approach to Debussy’s Cello Sonata but his interpretation was nevertheless interesting. The performance of Fauré’s Après Un Rêve, a transcription of a song about a dream where lovers rise together toward a mysterious light, was flawless and breathtaking, the audience stilled as the cello soared up into the soprano range. In César Franck’s Sonata in A Major, originally published for violin and later transcribed for cello, Polera was more than just support, she was an equal partner in the triumphant realisation of this formidable piece. The opening movement was tranquil, an echo of the elegiac tone of the Fauré. The second movement, Allegro, was fast and brusque with phrases torn off at the ends as if blown away by the wind. The third movement married a great composition with magnificent playing that built to the intensity of stadium rock. The violin version arguably has advantages over the cello at some points in this piece, but here the cello won the day in power and eloquence.

Narek Hakhnazaryan South China Morning Herald • May 11, 2016 page 2 of 2 The last movement combined lyricism and intensity in equal balance, with stirring octaves in the piano joining with impassioned cello strokes in a ferociously exciting performance.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • April 1, 2016

Milwaukee Symphony explores friendly confines of Pabst Theater BY ELAINE SCHMIDT The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has taken up residence in the Pabst Theater for the weekend, showcasing music of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. The Pabst's stage is significantly smaller than the Uihlein stage, the orchestra's usual venue, as is the hall itself. Although smaller quarters make for a somewhat crowded experience for both audience and orchestra, the space also creates a far more intimate listening and viewing experience. Playing to those differences, the MSO and guest conductor Ben Gernon opened the evening program with a crisp, colorful interpretation of Mozart's Symphony No. 31. Nuanced phrasing, constant attention to delicate layering of instrumental timbres, as well as wonderful dynamic contrasts, from very soft to very full, were part of a delightful interpretation that worked extremely well in the old hall. Gernon and the players moved on to Stravinsky's Symphony in C, mixing energy, sophistication and constant attention to structural and musical detail into a thoroughly involving performance. Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan joined the orchestra to open the program's second half with a completely captivating performance of Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme." Playing with complete technical command and musical freedom, Hakhnazaryan gave an extraordinarily communicative performance. Using an enormous dynamic range and huge palette of sonic colors, he moved from intense, driven passages to light, playful, almost teasing phrases elsewhere. He effectively reached out to his audience in some spots and pulled them in others, winning a standing ovation. Gernon and the orchestra gave a highly supportive, sensitive performance of the piece's orchestra accompaniment, matching Hakhnazaryan's musical intent at every turn. With an orchestra pared from the 50 players of the piece's first half to 35 players for the final piece, Gernon and the MSO closed the program with a delightful rendition of Mozart's Symphony No. 29, with lovely musical shapes and artful sonic contrasts. Despite the sonic warmth of the hall, seating some players under or in front of the proscenium arch and the rest farther upstage, under the stage's acoustic baffles, created occasional imbalances in the ensemble's sound.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN Los Angeles Times • July 13, 2015

Bringuier does Shakespeare; a young cellist impresses BY RICHARD S. GINELL In his second appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl this week, Lionel Bringuier showed up Thursday night with a concept weighted on both ends of the evening by Prokofiev’s and Tchaikovsky’s impressions of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Bringuier could have made it an all-R&J evening by programming, say, excerpts from Berlioz’s “Romeo and Juliet” or even Bernstein’s “West Side Story” dances, but that wouldn’t have left room for a guest soloist. And this guest soloist was worth making room for.

His name is Narek Hakhnazaryan, a 26-year-old cellist from Armenia who has all the equipment it takes to be a star. Hakhnazaryan may not be the easiest name to pronounce, but neither was that of his mentor, Mstislav Rostropovich, and that didn’t stop him. Just this April in Glendale, Hakhnazaryan made a formidable showing with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Saint-Saens’s Concerto No. 1 – and if anything he was even more impressive at the Bowl in Tchaikovsky’s "Variations on a Rococo Theme." Over the loudspeakers came a big, fluid, elegant tone quality, always in tune, and the balance between the cello and orchestra was just right. He brought dramatic suspense to the line, tugging on it but never stretching it too far. And, written all over his face and projected on the Bowl’s giant video monitors, he conveyed humor and the sheer joy of being in command of his instrument. As in Glendale, Hakhnazaryan’s Armenian fans turned up in droves to cheer – and as he did on that occasion, the cellist dedicated a solo encore to this year’s 100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide. This one was Italian composer-cellist Giovanni Sollima’s “Lamentatio,” in which droning passages accompanied by Hakhnazaryan’s vocalise gave way to furious perpetual-motion whirlwinds, phenomenally and passionately played. Prokofiev arranged three suites from his evening-length “Romeo and Juliet” ballet, but these days conductors often prefer to assemble their own versions of varying lengths. Bringuier’s was a 34-minute survey that began with the jarring, dissonant blasts at the top of “Montagues and Capulets” and concluded with the quiet, haunting strains of Juliet’s death at the tail end of the ballet. Bringuier did well here, maintaining a good, insistent rhythm in “Masks,” whipping up “Death of Tybalt” with plenty of drive, keeping a firm, unsentimental hand on the big, singing lines elsewhere. Likewise in Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo,” Bringuier brought fire and a lyrical bent that moved along without bathos. His command of this orchestra looks even more assured and expressive now than ever, and as the evening unfolded, the Phil’s playing grew smoother and more polished without losing any heat.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN The San Francisco Chronicle • August 06, 2014

Armenian cellist dazzles at Music@Menlo BY JOSHUA KOSMAN Chamber music is all about community and collaboration, so you don't necessarily go to a chamber music festival expecting to run across a solo artist of dazzling gifts and originality. But there he was during Tuesday's Music@Menlo concert: Narek Hakhnazaryan, a young Armenian cellist whose performance of Ligeti's Cello Sonata was the evening's thrilling highlight.

Hakhnazaryan, 26, has a respectable resume, including a 2011 win at the Tchaikovsky Competition and solo appearances with a few top-level orchestras. But none of that was enough to prepare a listener for the richness and beauty of his string tone, or the rhythmic and emotional clarity that he brought (playing from memory) to this nine-minute work from Ligeti's early years.

Written in two movements, the piece is more accessible and emotionally transparent than many of Ligeti's later, more ambitious modernist works, but it retains his trademark qualities of formal clarity and subversive wit. The first movement is a rhapsodic treatment of a melody rooted in Hungarian folk strains, with interlocking dialogue reminiscent of Bach; the second is a fiery burst of non-stop energy.

Hakhnazaryan's performance was nothing short of magnificent. He shaped the first movement in particular with exquisite tenderness, bringing out both the delicacy of the melody and the close-knit structure of the counterpoint, and dispatched the second movement precisely but with an exhilarating sense of rhythmic freedom. He's an artist to watch out for.

The rest of the program at the Center for Performing Art at Menlo-Atherton, devoted to a range of Hungarian composers, stood in Hakhnazaryan's shadow but still included plenty of fine music-making. Erno Dohnányi's Piano Quintet No. 1, written in 1895 in almost slavish imitation of Brahms, made a splendid finale, in a vigorous performance by violinists Alexander Sitkovetsky and Nicolas Dautricourt, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han.

A more original creation, Kodály's 1920 Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, got an appealing and focused rendition by Sitkovetsky, Neubauer and violinist Benjamin Beilman. Beilman and pianist Gloria Chien began the evening with Liszt's dullish "Grand Duo Concertante," and Sitkovetsky collaborated with violinist Jorja Fleezanis for a wonderfully kaleidoscopic selection of 12 of Bartók's Duos for Two Violins.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN Lexington Herald Leader • April 12, 2014

Lexington Philharmonic's unconventional two-guest concert dazzled BY RICH COPLEY The cookie-cutter formula for orchestral concerts usually leaves room for one impressive guest: the concerto soloist who plays between the overture and the intermission, before the big symphony in the second half. But the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra has, for the most part, thrown out the cookie cutter, and Friday night's classics concert was dazzling thanks to two stunning visitors and the performance by an orchestra that is worthy of them. Just hours after the concert, composer-in-residence Adam Schoenberg was scheduled to hop on an airplane to California to hear the Pacific Symphony of Costa Mesa present the West Coast premiere of his Finding Rothko. We don't expect contemporary composers to be that busy, but after the Philharmonic's world premiere performance of Schoenberg's Canto, it was clear why he is piling up frequent-flyer miles to catch all his red-letter days. A name like Schoenberg and a piece described as atmospheric could easily lead to fears of dissonant, atonal compositions — those of Arnold Schoenberg. But this Schoenberg's adventures are more broadly pleasing while maintaining a sense of exploration. In pre-show remarks, Schoenberg described Canto as his idea of dreams his 8-month-old son Luca might have, and the work certainly was soothing, emerging from a soft murmur of strings sustaining notes and winds just being breathed into to lush washes of brass and low strings and shimmering percussion. The piece put no small demands on conductor Scott Terrell and the orchestra, primarily restraint. And this came after a cardio workout of a concert opener, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 35, "Haffner." But the rewards came almost immediately, when pianist Mark Tollefsen ran his fingers across the piano strings and the sustain melted into the violins. Trumpeter Stephen Campbell's solos into the open piano were the most memorable tune in the piece, but what made it unforgettable was how it moved seamlessly from texture to texture, such as the location-shifting that can happen in dreams unbound by laws of physics, geography or much of anything. The piece stood in stark contrast to Schoenberg's American Symphony, which we heard from the Philharmonic in September and was as big as its namesakes — Copland-esque Western touches being the most consistent thread between it and Canto. And it will likely stand in contrast to the string quartet Schoenberg is writing for the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington this summer, the second part of the dual commitment as the Saykaly-Garbulinska composer-in-residence partnership between the groups. Canto gave the audience something to talk about at intermission, while cello soloist Narek Hakhnazaryan added to the conversation post-concert. Almost as much a symphony as a concerto, the soloist can get lost in Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. But in Hakhnazaryan's fully formed performance, he effectively grabbed the themes and made them his while maintaining the collaborative elan of the piece. His exchanges with flutists Pei-San Chiu and

Narek Hakhnazaryan Lexington Herald Leader • April 12, 2014 page 2 of 2 Merrilee Elliott in the second movement were particularly delightful, making it seem they should go form a chamber group. After the triumph of the Dvorak, Hakhnazaryan closed the evening with an astonishing rendition of Giovanni Sollima's Lamentations, pulling at the strings and burning up the neck of his gorgeous instrument while offering Eastern vocalizations. The crowd seemed a bit smaller than usual Friday, maybe due to the lovely spring evening and Keeneland, hopefully not due to an unfounded fear of new music. With the steadily increasing quality of the Saykaly-Garbulinska composers, the soloists and the orchestra, Philharmonic concerts are becoming indispensable events. Without the cookie cutters, each one is unique.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN Herald Scotland • February 21, 2014

Review: Narek Hakhnazaryan/Oxana Shevchenko BY MICHAEL TUMELTY WHAT a sensation yesterday at the recital given as part of Radio 3's series of live broadcasts, running through the week under the title, Tchaikovsky in Miniature. We got that, and much more, from the stupendous young Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, accompanied with extraordinary delicacy by "she with fingers of steel" Oxana Shevchenko, the Kazakhstani winner of the 2010 Scottish International Piano Competition, here demonstrating her quite beautiful prowess as an accompanist of the first order. But what on earth do we say about the amazing Hakhnazaryan? It was all there, in every note he played in a huge programme that opened with Tchaikovsky's lovely D minor Nocturne, leading effortlessly into the same composer's Pezzo Capriccioso, redefining the word capricious as he swept it off its heels, before bounding through Shostakovich's Cello Sonata in D minor, which almost burst at the seams with character, drive, wit, intensity, bite and sheer comprehension. There are not too many young cellists, even the most dazzling virtuosi, who have such a comprehensive command of their instrument, its techniques and the intellectual acuity required to penetrate and release the core of the music to the blindingly impressive degree of this Armenian. As straight faced as he is on stage, he is up for a challenge too. He turned theatrical, intoning through Mikhail Bronner's haunting opus, Jew: Life and Death, a concentrated piece that seemed to enshrine Jewish music and character in its short but broad frame. And still the music came pouring out, with sparkling pyrotechnics in Rostropovich's Humoresque and, as a soulful encore, Rachmaninov's Vocalise. A breathtaking event.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

The Aspen Times August 13, 2013

Beethoven, with finesse, tops Aspen festival weekend BY HARVEY STEIMAN

The Beethoven Triple Concerto usually serves as a vehicle for big stars who can’t wait to show off in front of an

orchestra and an audience. But violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan and pianist Inon Barnatan had other

ideas.

Aided and abetted by the subtle conducting of David Robertson, they played the music with consummate delicacy to

open Sunday’s Aspen Festival Orchestra concert. This was a total concerto performance of extraordinarily rewarding

depth and distinction, the sort of music-making that makes an audience hold its breath for fear of missing any nuances.

This concerto hinges on the cello, which must execute the most difficult music by far. It also is the glue that holds the

trio of soloists together.

Hakhnazaryan (winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky competition), in a stunning Aspen debut, unfurled the music with

grace and clarity, supple in tone, eloquently phrased. With silvery sound and understated playing, Jackiw seemed

focused on meshing his phrasing with the cello and piano, with no grandstanding, and for that he shone all the more.

Barnatan took a similar approach with the less demanding piano part. The challenge for the soloists is to create enough

difference in their moments in the spotlight without losing the sense that they’re playing the same piece. These three

won the day by listening so intently to one another that they seemed to be finishing one another’s phrases with a

personal twist.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Tryon Daily Bulletin February 15, 2013

Narek Hakhnazaryan – well on his way

Armenian-born cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan has soloed with every major orchestra in the world. In recital, the end pin

on his 315-year-old cello has been lodged in wooden floors from the Concertgebouw to Carnegie Hall. He has garnered

numerous prizes and awards including a gold medal in the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He

is 24 years old. Tryon Concert Association presented Hakhnazaryan with pianist Noreen Polera Feb. 7, 2013 at Tryon

Fine Arts Center.

This third concert of TCA’s 58th season was a visceral experience as well as an intellectual challenge. Cesar Franck’s

moody and profoundly moving “Sonata in A Major,” which most of us know as a violin piece, was the perfect vehicle

for Hakhnazaryan’s beautiful sound and sensitive pacing. He was not derailed by Polera’s alarmingly brash and

sometimes colorless playing. Her lightening fast surges from triple pianissimo to triple forte on a single phrase were

impressive, but were more NASCAR than nuance and did not serve the piece well.

Chopin’s “Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C Major, Op.3” represented a more thoughtful collaboration.

Hakhnazaryan grasps Chopin’s ever present blend of angst and sparkle and used every color imaginable in each section

of the cello’s extensive range. His gentle dusting of sequential high pitches in thumb position looked effortless. Each

shift was remarkably smooth and clear. Polera’s strength is accuracy and a cool, gearlike ability to mesh cleanly, which

is crucial in such difficult works.

A composer from Hakhnazaryan’s homeland, Adam Khudoyan (1921-2000), composed several sonatas for

unaccompanied cello. We were treated to the first of these (1961) which Hakhnazaryan launched with gusto. This

sonata vividly addresses the Armenian Genocide (1.5 million deaths between 1915 and 1923) and calls for most of the

tools in the cello kit. It could certainly serve as an etude, but as aural and visual drama, it also offered a lot – folklike

melodies, tricky combinations of simultaneous bowing and plucking, an intensely introverted section of eerie

harmonics, and an avant-garde restlessness that made me feel a bit like a voyeur watching someone improvise a

soundscape alone in his room.

Even more dramatic was “The Jew: Life and Death,” composed in 1995 by Mikhail Bronner (b. 1952). Polera returned

to the piano and did a fine job with this challenging piece which was well suited to her bold style. There was no

shortage of pain and emotion in this 12-minute work which required the rest of the tools in the kit. Hakhnazaryan

hummed a low drone in places and whistled in others. Polera tapped her feet effectively in one section and used her

aggressiveness to great advantage when underpinning scenes of distress and violence. This was both a showpiece and a

showstopper played with commitment by both performers.

Closing this special evening were two accessible Tchaikovsky works – “Nocturne” and “Pezzo Capriccioso.” Both

pieces compactly reveal Tchaikovsky’s well known lyricism and darkness and confirmed Hakhnazaryan’s depth and

elegance.

The generous encore – “Variations on One String” by Niccolo Paganini – foreshadowed a long and important career for

a young man who is disciplined, wise, and well on his way.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Vancouver Sun February 11, 2013

Tchaikovsky Competition Laureate Wows Vancouver Rectial

Society Audience BY DAVID GORDON DUKE

Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan didn’t so much break the rules of the conventional debut recital as rewrite them entirely in

his Sunday afternoon appearance for the Vancouver Recital Society.

Winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition, Haknazaryan made his Canadian recital debut as part of the VRS “Next

Generation” series, an enterprise that’s been bringing the best and the brightest of young performers to the Playhouse

over the course of many seasons.

Haknazaryan’s program of romantic and modern works started out with that redoubtable and oh-so-reliable concert-

ender, César Franck’s Violin Sonata (obviously in its cello/piano guise) and concluded with two Tchaikovsky

charmers.

Along the way the Armenian cello phenomenon seemed unafraid of challenging his SRO audience. Ligeti’s solo Cello

Sonata was replaced by a fine work by the late Armenian composer Adam Khudoyan, which Haknazaryan explained

was in part a commemoration of the infamous Armenian massacres of the early twentieth century. Then came the first

Vancouver performance I can recall of a work by Mikhail Bronner (b. 1952), his The Jew: Life and Death. In two

shortish movements, Bronner starts out in a off-kilter folk mode—a bit like a 21st century Shostakovich trio—before

turning extra dark. Cellist and pianist both push the limits of extended techniques, but these au courant devices are used

in the service of ideas, not just as trendy effects without causes.

These two works demanded attention and made no compromises; each alone was worth the price of admission. In the

lighter Tchaikovsky and Chopin (not to mention some ultra-flashy Paganini as an encore), Haknazaryan showed

himself an aristocrat of the cello: all the superlative technical skills you’d expect, but with a sensitive, beguiling feeling

for both style and content.

Perhaps most telling was his work with co-recitalist Noreen Polera in Franck’s Sonata. Thickly conceived and ultra-

lush in the post-Wagner mode, it is all too often rendered as flat-out melodrama. Here the duo maintained a touching

measure of elegant French restraint; rigorously logical pacing made this old warhorse sound fresh and compelling. It

was a performance to treasure.

Will Haknazaryan be the 21st century heir of the great Mstislav Rostropovich? Given playing this impressive, I

wouldn’t be surprised.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Kansas City Star February 3, 2013

Cellist, KC Symphony give thrilling performance of Schumann

concerto BY TIMOTHY L. MCDONLAD

Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan swept into town this week and joined the Kansas City Symphony in a thrilling

performance at Helzberg Hall Friday night.

Born in Armenia and mentored by the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich, Hakhnazaryan garnered a great deal of

attention in the classical world in recent years. He won the gold medal in the 2011 International Tchaikovsky

Competition and subsequently appeared with some of the premier orchestras in the world.

For his Kansas City debut, Hakhnazaryan performed the Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 by Robert Schumann.

Composed in 1850, the work is a creation from a particularly happy and productive period in Schumann’s life.

After a brief orchestral opening, the soloist entered with a melancholy opening theme, played with expressive warmth

and a rich tone. In the lower register he achieved a luxuriant resonance while the upper range displayed a true singing

tone. Occasionally, however, he played so softly he could barely be heard.

Hakhnazaryan demonstrated romantic sensitivity through rhythmic flexibility and the ability to stretch a phrase. The

orchestra proved an eager partner, playing with expression and tenderness. The soloist performed the slow second

movement with consummate expressiveness, and the result was simply glorious.

In the finale, Hakhnazaryan had a few intonation slips in the rapid passages, but the conclusion was absolutely

gripping. As an encore, the soloist played “Chongury,” a brief work by Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Boston Musical Intelligencer October 8, 2012

Gardner Concert Shows Why Hakhnazaryan Thrills BY SUSAN MIRON

Expectations were high at the sold-out recital of Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan at the Isabella Stewart Gardner

Museum yesterday. Here was a local boy who REALLY made good. (He studied for two years at NEC for an artist diploma with Lawrence Lesser, who was in the audience with six of his students). For a cellist who had won the

Concert Artist Guild Auditions a few years before, there was no bigger prize left than winning the 2011 Tchaikovsky

Competition (and the audience award to boot). Hakhnazaryan is a very great artist and musician, and hearing Sunday’s recital, one is assured he richly deserves all the fame that will follow.

There were no program notes, which would have been most helpful. Hakhnazaryan, who spoke only at the concert’s

opening, lamented the death two days ago of a great Armenian composer, Edvard Mirzoyan. Hakhnazaryan marveled

how odd it was that he had programmed a elegy by Gabriel Fauré months ago, and this was to be the first time he played it. The Elégié begins slowly and tragically, then lightens up and sounds like a lovely Fauré song, then goes

through a series of agitated re-workings of earlier themes. One immediately noticed the extraordinary elegance of the

cello playing, matched beautifully by pianist Noreen Polera, who had won the Accompanying Prize at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition.

César Franck’s (1822-1890) famous Sonata in A Major started life as a violin sonata, written when he was 63 as a

wedding present for the 31-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaye. This four-movement cyclic sonata with its memorable

melodies has been such a huge hit that it has been transcribed for not only viola and cello, but for tuba (!), flute, alto sax, organ with choir, violin with orchestra. Hakhnazaryan and his superb pianist gave a brilliantly nuanced

performance. His extraordinary bow control allowed him an unusually broad range of dynamics. This sonata, for me,

had long ago worn out its welcome, but these two musicians brought such life, passion, and beauty to it that I was deeply moved throughout, as if hearing it for the first time.

Frédérick Chopin’s (1810-1849) Introduction and Polonaise brilliante in C Major, op. 3, a major tour de force for cello,

usually closes a program, but here it merely closed an amazing first half. Chopin wrote surprisingly idiomatically for cello. Hakhnazaryan and Polera played with great flair. Needless to say, there was an instantaneous standing ovation.

The second half of the program really would have benefited from program notes, or a word or two from the stage.

Györgi Ligeti’s (1923-2006) Sonata for Solo Cello, written between 1948 and 1953, was clearly a favorite of

Hakhnazaryan, who played it (as he did much of the time) as if in a trance, with his eyes closed. The two movements, the tonal and darkly romantic Kodaly-sounding “Dialogo,” and the Bartók-influenced “Capriccio,” are full of technical

tricks — glissando pizzicati, string glisses, and extremely quick finger-work. It received an excellent performance.

The next piece, The Jew: Life and Death, by Mikhail Bronner (b. 1952) was a complete puzzle until I did some research after the concert. Moscow-based Bronner has written a great deal of music with Jewish themes. Clearly a piece

close to Hakhnazaryan’s heart, (there is another YouTube performance of this in a performance at Moscow

Conservatory in 2008) this duo for cello and piano (1995) was unrelievedly grim, with glissandos that sounded like desperate weeping, passionate sadness, and anguish.

Narek Hakhnazaryan

Boston Musical Intelligencer October 8, 2012

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The last two scheduled pieces were Tchaikovsky’s (1840-1893) lovely Nocturne and Pezzo Capriccioso, both played

with passion and, again, beauty. For his encore, Hakhnazaryan played the living daylights out Paganini’s Variations of

a Theme from Moses in Egypt (he called it Variations on One String on a Theme from “Moses in Egypt” by Rossini ). Hakhnazaryan technically has it all: fabulous bow technique, beautiful vibrato, mastery of ponticello and every other

cello device, and ability to play super-fast, brilliantly. But what really distinguishes his playing is its effect on the

listener. There is an immediate connection between his cello playing and those lucky enough to be in the audience. It’s

that personal connection, that passion and musical charisma, that not only wins competitions, but people’s hearts as well.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Boston Classical Review October 8, 2012

Armenian cellist displays stellar artistry at Gardner Museum BY KEITH POWERS

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, martelé

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 Fauré’s Elégié 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.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

bachtrack July 12, 2012

Rising stars Hakhnazaryan and Kozhukhin at the City of London

Festival BY NAHOKO GOTOH

For me, the chamber music concerts at the various City Livery Halls have always been the highlight of the City of

London Festival. This year, I chose to visit Merchant Taylors’ Hall in Threadneedle Street (just behind the Bank of

England Building) for a joint recital by two recent winners of prestigious international competitions: Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky International Competition, and Russian pianist Denis

Kozhukhin, winner of the 2010 Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. Each performed a substantial solo work and

in between they performed Franck’s A major violin sonata in the arrangement for cello and piano. In fact, the two had never performed together until the festival paired them for this concert, but there was genuine trust and respect for each

other’s musicianship and I hope they will continue to play together.

Narek Hakhnazaryan opened the concert with Ysaÿe’s unaccompanied Cello Sonata. Although composed in 1924 – the

same year as his renowned six sonatas for solo violin – the cello sonata is much less well-known, and rarely performed. Certainly, compared to its violin counterparts this work may be less virtuosic and closer to the Bachian model,

especially its tightly woven polyphonic writing. However, it has many beautiful moments, and Hakhnazaryan brought

out the lyricism of the piece, while negotiating all the technical challenges (including copious double-stops) with ease. Hakhnazaryan has a flawless technique, and especially his right hand is very free and relaxed and he produces an

admirable range of tone, from the dark and passionate to the light and airy.

Next, the cellist was joined by Kozhukhin for Franck’s Violin Sonata, in the arrangement for cello by Jules Delsart. Above all, there was youthful lyricism and passion in this performance – fitting, when one recalls that the work was

composed by Franck for the aforementioned Ysaÿe as a wedding present and when Ysaÿe first performed it he would

only have been a little older than these musicians. Perhaps because of the shortcomings of the arrangement (there are

other arrangements of the work), there wasn’t quite the dramatic tension one expects in the original violin version: nevertheless, the two musicians created a beautiful dialogue and the two instruments were well balanced throughout. It

seemed the pianist was mainly setting the tempo, although the cellist would take initiative as required – for example, in

the second movement coda which built into an exciting climax. I felt Hakhnazaryan especially excelled in the light-hearted moments, and this was brilliantly demonstrated in the encore – the cello version of Paganini’s Variations on

One String on a Theme from “Moses”. He performed it with dazzling virtuosity but without a hint of flashiness – every

variation was played with character and it was utterly delightful.

In the second half, Denis Kozhukhin performed Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which can sometimes sound

like a tired warhorse but in his hands it was anything but. Kozhukhin is an unorthodox pianist, but a very thoughtful

and sensitive one, and he took the work at a much slower tempo than we are usually used to, choosing to highlight the

various pianistic and harmonic details of the piece which are often neglected in favour of virtuosic display and grandeur. He brought out the contrasting colours in each of the “Promenade” movements, played the “Tuileries” and

“Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks” with beautiful precision but at a surprisingly unhurried tempo, and created a dark and

haunting atmosphere in the “Catacombs”. If Kozhukhin has a fault, it is that his approach can at times become a little indulgent: for example, when he emphasizes a particular harmonic transition or an interesting bass line, it can seem

Narek Hakhnazaryan

bachtrack July 12, 2012

page 2 of 2

mannered. However, overall, his approach was always thoughtful and ultimately we were mesmerized by his

unconventional interpretation.

His selection of the encores also reflected his thoughtful musical approach: instead of a virtuosic piece, he performed

an arrangement of a Bach prelude by the Russian pianist Siloti, followed by a Busoni arrangement of a Bach organ

chorale – both with introspection and harmonic sensitivity. Judging from this captivating concert, both musicians are definitely talents to watch.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Boston Musical Intelligencer June 13, 2012

Feldman & Hakhnazaryan: Sensitive Collaboration BY CASHMAN KERR PRINCE

Last Saturday night the Longwood Symphony Orchestra presented its sixth and final concert of the 2011 – 2012 season

in Jordan Hall. Guest conductor Ronald Feldman, a finalist in the orchestra’s search for a new music director, presented music by Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms in a concert supporting the Rachel Molly Markoff Foundation.

The concert opened with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910). The Longwood

strings were divided into a double orchestra and ranged throughout the stage to take advantage of the hall’s acoustics and emphasize the antiphonal writing in this music as well as the undulating waves of sound. There was good ensemble

playing throughout, with a wide range of tone-color. The dynamic range skewed a bit more towards the forte-end of the

spectrum than the hall required. I found the sound at times more labored than the free-flowing ease of a fantasia would

suggest, perhaps a result of the elevated dynamics.

A larger ensemble took the stage along with Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello, for Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo

Theme, Op. 33 (1877). This bravura piece for cello and orchestra exists in the composer’s version and in the earliest

published one, ―modified‖ and re-arranged by the dedicatee and original performer, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1840-1890). It is this latter version, more widely known, which seemed to be performed at this concert. Beginning with a theme that

pays homage to Mozart but has nothing Mozartian in its character, the work shows Tchaikovsky’s usual melodic

inventiveness and wide-ranging harmonic perambulations. It also encompasses the entire register of the cello, and the

18 minutes of its duration is a cello equivalent of running a marathon. Narek Hakhnazaryan performed this work in the XIVth International Tchaikovsky Competition last May and it is clear why he swept the competition. He owned this

music, thoroughly, utterly, and completely. The variations sang and growled by turn, were declamatory, wistful,

playful. It was, simply, a stunning performance. Feldman and Longwood offered sensitive collaboration throughout, and the interplay between Hakhnazaryan and concertmaster Sherman Jia was responsive and beautiful. The immediate

standing ovation and sustained, thunderous applause brought Hakhnazaryan back to the stage for an encore: the

Sarabande from Bach’s Suite No. 3 in C for Solo Cello, a delightful work of weight and introspection that offered a perfect contrast to the Tchaikovsky.

Following intermission, the full Longwood Symphony Orchestra took the stage for Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D,

Op. 73 (1877). It is remarkable to think of this and the Tchaikovsky being coeval, because they are such different

compositions. With Romantic magnitude, the Brahms ruminates expansively on a theme across the breadth of the full orchestra. In this performance, with full strings sections and doubling in brass and woodwinds, we heard a reading of

this work very different from Sir Charles Mackerras’ essay ―in the style of the original Meiningen performances.‖

Whether one favors a smaller or larger ensemble for Brahms may be an academic question, but it does correlate to the sound-world created in performance, and Feldman and Longwood gave a very accomplished reading of it —

challenging to perform, so it is no mean feat. This reading of Brahms reveled in the individual moments of music-

making, which gave the performance weight and pleasant amplitude. What I missed, though, was a sense of passion and drive, easier to achieve with a smaller ensemble of course, but not beyond the scope of this group. Still, I do regret

not hearing a clearer sense of the overall structure of the symphony, the better to appreciate Brahms’ formidable

compositional skills.

Narek Hakhnazaryan

Boston Musical Intelligencer June 13, 2012

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The concert showcased the strength of Longwood Symphony Orchestra, now in its 29th year, as well as the orchestra’s

continuing collaboration with Young Concert Artists that delivered Narek Hakhnazaryan as soloist for this concert — an obvious source of joy and delight to the orchestral musicians themselves, as their own warm applause of his

performance attested. For those wanting to know more about the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, Board President Dr.

Lisa Wong has published the story of the ensemble in her book, Scales to Scalpels.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Seen and Heard International May 17, 2012

Koopman Conducts 18th Century Works in Chicago BY JAMES L. ZYCHOWICZ

Music from the eighteenth century, in a well-selected program conducted by the internationally known conductor Ton

Koopman, is a departure for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On the first half, devoted to Haydn, Symphony No. 6 “Le Matin” (1761) was engaging, with Koopman attentive to many details and offering exemplary phrasing; as just one

example, he used contrast to create appropriate drama between the introduction to the first movement and what

followed. As familiar as this work may be, Koopman brought a sense of immediacy to a note-perfect performance.

A similar sense of excitement was part of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D major (1783), a stalwart part of the cello

literature, which featured the young cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan. His impeccable technique was supported by

Koopman’s accompaniment in a fluid reading—the passages flowing as if the cellist were improvising with the

orchestra. In the first movement, the cadenzas were rendered with drama and consummate technique. Yet the slow movement, with its contrasting tone, was memorable for its thoughtful lyricism and understatement. The extroverted

Rondo-Finale was similarly commanding as Hakhnazaryan demonstrated his virtuosity. And after several rounds of

applause for the soloist, conductor, and orchestra, it was a pleasure to experience an improvised encore.

The second half was equally compelling, starting with Locatelli’s Introduttione teatrale in G Major (ca. 1735), which

resembles a nineteenth-century concerto-overture. Here the use of a continuo group gave a sense of the Baroque

elements in Locatelli’s style, while the string writing offered a sense of the voice that composers later in the eighteenth

century would explore further. The concluding syncopated passages were fresh and exciting, helped by a well-played continuo. All in all, Koopman gave the piece shape and color—a deft performance. Similarly unfamiliar, Rebel’s

“Chaos” movement from his Élements (1737) gave a sense of the forward- looking and experimental style some early

eighteenth-century works evince, with dissonant intervals and irregular rhythms.

This set the stage for Mozart’s Symphony No. 20 (1772) in its CSO premiere. This colorful piece contains a sense of

elements Mozart would explore in later works, with the woodwind timbres contrasting the strings. Like Haydn’s

Symphony no. 6, the weight of the work is on the outer movements, which received masterful treatment here. The brass deployed period-style approaches to articulation and Koopman rendered the balance with seeming ease, ultimately

making this one of the CSO’s finest programs this season.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Buffalo News May 16, 2012

Tchaikovsky Competition cello winner amazes audience BY MARY KUNZ GOLDMAN

Narek Hakhnazaryan, the Armenian cellist who emerged victorious in the cello division of the last Tchaikovsky

Competition, performed Tuesday in the Ramsi P. Tick Memorial Concert Series, bringing this year’s season to a beautiful close. Accompanying him was pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera.

Right away, you got an impression of what these two were made of. Hakhnazaryan took his place by his cello, eyes cast

down, face transported. Cassidy-Polera, looking restless, sat down at the piano. There was a moment of suspense. What were we in for?

Then the music appeared in the air. Really, that was what it was like. Cassidy-Polera placed her hands on the keys, and

the piano part rippled forth. Hakhnazaryan’s entrance was even more amazing. He had an effortless, polished, lyrical

tone.

Throughout the first piece— Schumann’s Fantasiestuecke, Op. 73—I kept wishing the piano were stronger. Schumann

wrote so beautifully for piano, and you wanted to hear those harmonies. Cassidy-Polera’s tone was gorgeously subtle

but so quiet that even in the second row, I could not always hear all the notes.

In the next piece, the Franck Sonata in A — this is the popular sonata originally written for violin — I continued to

wish for more piano, particularly in the robust finale. Heck, accompanists are not even accompanists any more. They

are known as collaborative pianists. It is true, though, that Hakhnazaryan’s tone was on the light side.

At intermission, a listener less hotheaded than me suggested that perhaps the pianist was worried about drowning him out. Hakhnazaryan, though he has a fine singing tone, does have a light way of playing. Sometimes it looked and

sounded as if he were dancing over the strings.

Just in his early 20s, he comes off as a bit otherworldly. His lines sail and soar. In fast passages, his fingers are a blur. He has his own brand of drama. Occasionally, at critical pauses, he sweeps the bow from the strings and passes it

overhead in a wide arc. The crowd gasps.

He took the stage alone for the Sonata by Gyorgi Ligeti. Ligeti is an acquired taste, but the crowd seemed to have acquired it, applauding passionately.

The piece showcased the cellist in a bold and unusual light. Hakhnazaryan, playing the thorny music from memory,

emphasized the contrasts between stark, textured plucking and full, soaring melody lines.

Two pieces by Tchaikovsky, the sensuous Nocturne and the Pezzo Capriccioso, were a delight. Again there was that contrast between broad, passionate melodies and the kind of lightning-quick filigree that made listeners sit forward in

fascination. Hakhnazaryan’s fingers, skipping and scampering, covered an incredible amount of territory up and down

the cello. The ending was wittily finessed.

As the night went on, he became more relaxed, going so far as to peer at the crowd briefly from time to time. Chopin’s

“Introduction and Polonaise Brillante,” Op. 3, was lovely.

Narek Hakhnazaryan

Buffalo News May 16, 2012

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Warm applause won us an encore, an Impromptu by Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian, who recently died, at

91. With the Gypsy rhythms and the zest that Hakhnazaryan put into the piece, this might have been the best moment of the night. There were wonderful percussive interludes with the bow beating on the strings.

The piece ended in a burst of showmanship and fun.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

The Chicago Maroon May 14, 2012

CSO shines with Ton Koopman and the mid-18th century BY JOHN LISOVSKY

Ton Koopman conducted "Mozart & Beethoven" at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this past Saturday.

If–between the great Baroque masses, Bach and Handel oratori and the mature output of the triumviral Hadyn-Mozart-Beethoven– the mid-18th century is a lull of first-order genius, it proved itself to be an extraordinarily pleasant lull at

the Chicago Symphony Orchestra‘s ―Mozart & Hadyn‖ concert this past Saturday. The Dutch conductor Ton

Koopman, also a keyboardist who studied under the late Gustav Leonhardt, led some 34 musicians. Koopman specializes in Baroque music, ―Drawing the line,‖ he says, ―at Mozart‘s death‖—1791. The program was a who‘s-who

of Galante music, beginning with Jean-Féry Rebel and P.A. Locatelli and concluding with early Haydn and very early

Mozart.

Stravinsky reminds us that, ―Conductors‘ careers are made for the most part with ‗Romantic‘ music. ‗Classic‘ music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it.‖ To some extent his observation holds, as one imagines

Koopman had merely to give a downbeat and the tightly unified CSO could have carried it from there. That said, the

conducting was never wan or hesitant; Koopman was in his element, and it showed.

Haydn‘s ―Symphony No. 6‖ (of 104, plus at least two others and three sinfonie concertanti) prominently features the

flautist, bassoonist, principal cellist, and concertmaster, among others. Nicknamed ―Le matin,‖ and opening with a six-

bar sunrise, it was the first in a series of three for his new patron, Prince Esterházy, followed by ―Le midi‖ and ―Le

soir‖ (―Morning,‖ ―Noon,‖ and ―Evening,‖ respectively). Haydn was to spend 30 years with the Hungarian prince, and the tailoring of the solos to particular instruments (and indeed, particular instrumentalists) demonstrates the close

relationship he had with the court orchestra. Koopman led the orchestra in a smooth but colorful account and permitted

the flautist several charming ornamentations.

Although Haydn wrote two cello concerti, the piece performed on Saturday only became ―Cello Concerto No. 2 in D

major‖ in 1961, after the discovery of his earlier work. Narek Hakhnazaryan, who studied under Rostropovich, played

the piece—which is less showy, though more technically rigorous than its predecessor—with assured grace, after Thursday and Friday night performances by Yo-Yo Ma, perhaps the hardest cellist to follow since the Armenian‘s

teacher passed away in 2007. If Ma‘s ―romantic indulgences‖ (as the Tribune judged them) were an anachronism on

Thursday and Friday, Hakhnazaryan‘s performance Saturday was appropriately staid, and the audience thanked him

with an ovation that he took with a single, entirely pizzicato encore.

After intermission, Koopman directed two obscure but forward-looking short pieces from the 1730s by Pietro Locatelli

and Jean-Féry Rebel. Locatelli is perhaps best known as a violin virtuoso and Italian émigré to Holland, where he

stopped performing publicly and became active in musical publishing. His Introduttione teatrale has been justifiably neglected, and indeed this is the first time the Symphony has played it, though it was executed, one assumes, as well as

it could have been. ―Chaos,‖ the opening movement from Rebel‘s choreographed symphony The Elements, a multi-

movement, orchestral genre to be danced in full costume, begins with an introduction of dissonance extraordinary for the time, a simultaneous sounding of every note in the minor scale for about a half-minute. Although perhaps not as

exciting a century after Arnold Schoenberg‘s disturbing Pierrot Lunaire as it was to the mid-18th century, the orchestra

Narek Hakhnazaryan

Chicago Maroon May 14, 2012

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and audience were captivated by this historical oddity, among Rebel‘s last pieces, written when the composer was in

his 70s.

The evening had a precocious finish—Mozart‘s ―Symphony No. 20,‖ written at just 16. The piece, rather like the

Haydn symphony, was consummately rehearsed and unfolded in a deliberate, if buoyant, 20 minutes (the CSO‘s

estimate of 16 was slightly optimistic). It is formally quite daring—the first movement‘s opening theme is not developed or recapitulated as is usual, though the piece does return to D major, and the theme reappears only, almost

like a practical joke, in the last half-minute of the movement. The third-movement minuet and trio were written

somewhat in response to Mozart‘s recent time in Italy (indeed, he signed the autograph score ―Amadeo Wolfgango

Mozart‖) in which minuets were too slow and too florid for his taste; that of the 20th symphony is of the simplest elegance. Mozart finishes the piece with a quick finale to which the CSO lent due brightness, if leaving some small

measure of verve to be desired, a sentiment perhaps applicable to the tenor of the evening as a whole.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Los Angeles Times March 11, 2012

Music review: Piatigorsky Cello Festival opening concert at USC BY MARK SWED

The Piatigorsky International Cello Festival began big Friday night at USC’s Bovard Auditorium. Seven cello soloists

played five concertos (two were double concertos) in an exhausting and often spectacular showcase concert. And it was just the start of what promises to be an inimitable 10-day nonstop cello orgy that will end March 18 at Walt Disney

Concert Hall with a piece by Christopher Rouse for 100 cellists.

But, hey, USC has the reputation for knowing how to party, and I overheard one student cellist in the audience say she was prepared to become cello-ed out.

Cellists have come from all continents except Antarctica, Ralph Kirshbaum, the festival’s artistic director, noted in his

introductory remarks at Bovard. That includes 22 soloists and 45 young cellists who will participate in public master

classes. It also means a bonanza for the airlines, since cellists must buy an extra seat for their fragile instruments. The festival -- which will include a great many recitals, workshops, three concerto performances with the Los Angeles

Philharmonic and, no doubt, endless cello schmoozing -- is meant as a tribute to Gregor Piatigorsky, one of the greatest

and most beloved cellists of the 20th century. He taught at USC from 1949 until his death in 1976, and appeared in regular chamber music series with violinist Jascha Heifetz at Bovard. Student tickets, in the front row, were a dollar,

and there was no better introduction for a teenager to music’s power than to hear, close up, the incredibly physical

warmth of Piatigorsky's cello sound wrapping itself around Heifetz’s soaring intensity.

The program of the opening concert featured some pretty great cello playing. It didn’t unfortunately embody the

Piatigorsky who premiered a number of important and some unjustly neglected concertos, but it did remind us of his

strong role as a pedagogue -- several of the international soloists in the festival were his students. A chamber orchestra

was organized with principal players from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra along with USC and Colburn School students, and conducted with striking incisiveness and sensitivity to a wide range of soloists by Hugh Wolff.

The first work, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor, was an obscurity and a minor find. The soloists,

Antonio Lysy and Peter Stumpf –- representing, respectively, the UCLA and USC cello faculties -- played with engaging unanimity, especially in a sweet, short slow movement.

The most attention-getting soloist was Narek Hakhnazaryan in Saint-Saëns' First Cello Concerto, the evening’s one

work that was closely associated with Piatigorsky. This young Armenian cellist won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia last summer, but his victory was sadly overshadowed by a scandal. Mark Gorenstein, music

director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra, which accompanied Hakhnazaryan in the competition, made anti-

Armenian slurs against the cellist that led to the conductor being ousted from the competition and dismissal from his

orchestra.

Hakhnazaryan, who got a near rock star ovation from an audience of screaming cellists in Bovard, is, in fact, a

controversial player. His command of the instrument is extraordinary, and he is clearly going places. He is an assured,

flamboyant, old-school Romantic. His vibrato is hyper-expressive, but it didn't appear to make his exacting audience squirm.

Narek Hakhnazaryan

Los Angeles Times March 11, 2012

page 2 of 2

Both of Haydn’s cello concertos were on the program, and they got very different types of treatments. Jian Wang was

the stern, straight-forward, stylistically unimaginative soloist in the D-Major Concerto.

In contrast, Jean-Guihen Queyras’ fresh, alert and original performance of the earlier C Major concerto was, I thought, the highlight of the evening. The French cellist’s tone is light and fragrant. He plays with not only a sense of pert 18th

century style but also a modernity as if this were music newly composed. Perhaps that is because Queyras also pays

attention to new music; it was a shame that he was not asked to play one of the interesting contemporary concertos he

has premiered elsewhere.

The evening’s new music came, instead, from cellist and composer Thomas Demenga, whose “Relations” received its

American premiere Friday. The double concerto was written for himself and his brother Patrick, who has pneumonia

and was replaced by Sayaka Selina (a cello student of the composer). A stylistically Postmodern concerto, which also features prominent roles for percussion and prepared piano, it cleverly dabbles in this and that.

The first movement contains intriguing exotica allusions to Indonesian gamelan, and the incorporation of sung syllables

(taken from the soloists’ names) by the percussionist and soloists was amusing. A dreamy second movement, though, sounded thin and a jazzy final movement, slighter still.

But the cello parts dazzled, especially the way two cellists often played as one. That is something clearly in the blood

of cello brothers, and Selina here proved an honorary Demenga, an impressive perfect fit.

Now for a week-long parade of cello personalities.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Washington Post February 24, 2012

Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan captivates at Strathmore

Mansion BY CECELIA PORTER

The Strathmore Mansion on Thursday was chock full of patrons (including cellists and other string players) to hear the

23-year-old Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan give a phenomenal account of some musical thrillers by Cesar

Franck, Frederic Chopin, Dmitri Shostakovich and Mstislav Rostropovich. Franck’s late Sonata in A, the evening’s opener, and Shostakovich’s Sonata in D minor, Op. 40, call on every dimension of a performer’s technique and

expressive means. Hakhnazaryan impresses you with a degree of freedom that comes hard-won from discipline of the

highest order. And he had a brilliant pianist, Noreen Cassidy-Polera, to support that level of artistry.

The cellist won first prize at last year’s International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He is already a seasoned

performer in first-rate concert halls with major orchestras around the world.

Hakhnazaryan’s talent was obvious from the opening phrase of Franck’s late Sonata (originally for violin). Whether pianissimo or triple forte, his bow was ever emphatic, and his emotive power and subjective intensity captured the

listener immediately, never letting go. The whole thrust of the piece — especially the third movement — is a

monumental fantasia, requiring the cellist to hurl through its wavering thematic transformations while seeming to

improvise. (Franck himself was a master organist famed for his improvisations.)

Shostakovich’s Op. 40 demands control and fortitude from both players. On Thursday it was all there with both players

evenly matched. Op. 40 is a marvel of alternating passages of sublime, liquid lyricism with depths of astringent

harmony and textures. Throughout the sonata, the musicians underscored the music’s overwhelming sense of inevitability. This was most obviously felt in the driving pulse of the outer Allegros and most subtly in the Largo,

charging forward with the epic breadth of the Russian steppes. The finale’s jaunty contrapuntal interplay erupted into a

blazing firestorm, as if endlessly toying with a listener’s expectations.

Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3, and Rostropovich’s Humoresque, Op. 5, aren’t simply display pieces, though they both leave the performers to tackle every technical trick of the trade at a whirlwind pace.

Hakhnazaryan’s two blazing encores weren’t enough for the audience, who clamored for more.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

The Island Packet February 19, 2012

Review: Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra offers heartfelt

performance with 'Classics' BY STEVEN BRANYON

On Valentine's Eve, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra treated its audience to a program titled "Classics," with

Daniel Meyer, guest conductor and conductor of the Asheville Symphony in North Carolina. The program began with

"Lyric for Strings," by George Walker, an African-American music professor at Rutgers University. This lament was a tribute to his late grandmother, for whom he must have cared deeply. It was a beautiful and moving work with many

lovely transitions ending with a resultant of a fifth in the low strings on the last chord, a device used by organists to

achieve the effect of a lower sonority. This work was received so enthusiastically that it was repeated before the last half of the program.

Haydn's "Cello Concerto in C" featured guest artist Narek Hakhnazaryan, gold medal winner at the 2011 International

Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, performing on a 1698 Tecchler cello, on loan from Valentine Saarmaa, granddaughter of the late performer Jacques Francois. This was an exciting work performed by the guest artist mostly

with his eyes closed, from memory, as his nimble fingers effortlessly glided across the bridge of this lovely instrument

transforming rather technical passages into beautiful music. This work contained themes that were mostly switched

between the soloist and the first violin section and it was only when these switches occurred that the soloist would make eye contact with the section. This eye contact was not out of necessity but just as assuring confirmation.

When there were quiet passages required in the second movement, they were executed in perfect balance between the

orchestra and soloists. The last movement began with racing in the first violin section, yet they stayed together with precision. I noticed that the cellist breathed deeply before entering during this movement, something I wished more

instrumentalists would do instead of leaving it only to singers. The cello has never been an instrument of preference for

me personally, but when I hear playing such as this, I find myself truly drawn to the instrument. The enthusiasm of the

audience insured an encore by Hakhnazaryan, "Bach's Sarabande in C."

During the Haydn, the lower strings were relegated to keeping the rhythm all the way through, and they seemed happy

to do so, but in Beethoven's "Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 36," there was a definite contrast to the Haydn because the

lower strings had more melodic content. In fact, all sections got a little bigger piece of the cake, taking turns with the dramatic lines, and the symphony ended with exciting drive.

Indeed this was an exciting concert, and Meyer was more than capable of pulling it off. In fact, during most of the

concert I did not find myself worrying about his role as conductor, because my attention was on the orchestra and the guest artist, where it really should be when all is going well.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Boston Globe October 18, 2011

Gold medal cellist shines with Chamber Music Society BY DAVID WEININGER

CAMBRIDGE - The Boston Chamber Music Society has a reputation, not undeserved, of being rather conservative in

its programming. So it was heartening to see it tackle some unusual repertoire on Sunday, including works by Charles Martin Loeffler and Sofia Gubaidulina.

But the concert was memorable for another reason: the presence of young Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, who

recently won the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. (He also holds an Artist’s Diploma from New England Conservatory.) Stephen Friedlaender, BCMS board president, said this was his first post-competition

Boston appearance.

Why Hakhnazaryan is so highly touted became clear during his performance of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, on

the program’s first half. He gets a radiant sound from his instrument, phrases naturally, and has superb bow control. Perhaps the most impressive thing was that he made it seem so fluid and effortless, even in the vigorous third piece.

Here is a musician on the fast track, and deservedly so.

Mihae Lee was an attentive accompanist in the Schumann. She, Hakhnazaryan, and violinist Jennifer Frautschi opened the concert with a pleasant if somewhat bland reading of Mozart’s Piano Trio in B-flat, K.502. Between that and the

Schumann came the Four Poems, Op. 5, of Loeffler, who, though raised in Germany, came to the United States and

became the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s assistant concertmaster in 1882.

The Poems set texts by Baudelaire and Verlaine for mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano. Their musical language, which

owes much to impressionism, is used to striking effect in the settings of Baudelaire’s “La Cloche fêlée’’ and Verlaine’s

“Le Son du cor s’afflige vers les bois.’’ In both, Loeffler creates a brooding, nocturnal atmosphere, the sleek tone of

Krista River’s voice intertwining with Roger Tapping’s sinuous viola lines.

The second half was given over to Gubaidulina’s early Piano Quintet, written in 1957 while she was a student at

Moscow Conservatory. The influence of Shostakovich is present right from the opening outburst: hammering rhythms,

skewed melodic lines, hints of sarcasm. Also like Shostakovich, she packs violent expression into traditional forms. Yet there are hints of the experimentalism that would later characterize her music, especially in the beautifully despondent

slow movement. The finale builds to a feverish pace and, just when you expect the music to explode, it becomes

increasingly disembodied, and simply vanishes.

Violinist Ida Levin joined Frautschi, Tapping, Hakhnazaryan, and Lee for a searing performance. The piano part was

demanding, and Lee received a well-earned solo bow at the end.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Boston Musical Intelligencer October 17, 2011

Gold Medal Winner Hakhnazaryan: a Hero’s Welcome BY DAVID PATTERSON

“Season of Piano Quintets” was set in motion by the Boston Chamber Music Society on October 16 at Sanders Theatre with

the first Boston performance by cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan since winning the Gold Medal in the Tchaikovsky Competition

(which he did just after graduating from New England Conservatory this past June). The young man walked out on stage

with shiny black shoes, black trousers, and a white shirt not tucked in. He took a moment to roll up the sleeve on his left arm.

He began and as he played he appeared to lose himself completely in the music. Apparently, music is second nature to him.

(Note BMint’s article, “From NEC to Tchaikovsky Victory: Narek Hakhnazaryan” here.)

It very could well have been called a hero’s welcome. It was obvious that the BCMS audience immediately recognized his

total engagement in performing one of Schumann’s favorite chamber pieces, Fantasiestücke, Opus 73. Under his astute

purview, these three fantasy movements achieved unexpected depth, not in a dream-like way but rather by way of remarkable

understanding. Phrase by phrase, Hakhnazaryan moved forward in a thoroughly tangible, clean interpretation with an

understanding born of a distinct youthfulness in the music with which this young cellist identified in a most “direct” manner.

In Lebhaft, leicht (lively, light), as the second movement is marked, Hakhnazaryan zipped, never looking back, always

looking forward, maybe a moment here or there to reflect. Surely from my vantage point he never once flirted with Romantic

daydreaming. His sound had degrees of richness, fineness, muteness and flair—the complete bundle! In this heroic show

Narek was abetted, supported and partnered by the attentive and dramatic playing of pianist Mihae Lee. Celebrating her

birthday last night, Mihae contributed her experience of many performances of the Schumann with BCMS founder, Ron

Thomas.

Violinist Jennifer Frautschi, Hakhnazaryan, and pianist Mihae Lee had teamed up for Mozart’s Piano Trio in B-flat major, K.

502 to open the program for Boston Chamber Music Society’s twenty-ninth consecutive season. Their impeccable playing of

the trio, though, could not conceal a certain flatness in expression.

Roger Tapping’s viola was another highlight of the program. A most natural singing overlaid a concentration on syntax—an

“I have arrived” feeling coupled with a sense of “I get it.” His is an enlightening musicality. He figured prominently in Four

Poems for Mezzo, Viola, and Piano, Op. 15 (1905) by the American composer Charles Loeffler. Though a bit too slow and

spacious, Loeffler’s songs on French poems nevertheless show deep affection for French Impressionist harmonies. An

American contemporary of Loeffler also influenced by French Impressionism was Charles Griffes, who was keen enough to

remove a good deal of the perfumery that Loeffler delighted in.

Featured in the Four Poems, guest mezzo-soprano Krista River summoned timbres matching those of Tapping’s viola. It was

a pure sonic treat. Perhaps the steady quarter-note rhythms of Loeffler’s composition were in fact the underlying cause for

the single-note emphasis that dominated much of River’s singing. As a result, melodic shaping laden with such note-by-note

accenting was questionable.

Yet another performer who caught my ear was violinist Ida Levin who, like Tapping, instinctively found deep personal

connotations in Sophia Gubaidulina’s youthful Piano Quintet of 1957. Levin, along with Tapping and Hakhnazaryan, fired

up the BCSM quintet in a rip-roaring performance. Disparate attitudes as to the enunciation and influences of the Russian

score surfaced; I detected shades of Prokofiev in her 30-minute work. Yet, where Prokofiev’s mind is quicksilver, Gubaidulina’s early quintet played on extended textures—if at times naively so, this to be expected.

Hats off to Boston Chamber Music Society on its 29th consecutive season!

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Independent (UK) September 22, 2011

Tchaikovsky Competition Winners, LSO/Gergiev, Barbican BY MICHAEL CHURCH

Some exports from Moscow carry a health warning, but the one we can be sure of is classical music,

particularly when this comes in the form of winners from the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Over its 50-year span this quadrennial contest has established itself as classical music’s Olympics: Dmitri

Shostakovich, Maria Callas, Aram Khachaturian, and Mstislav Rostropovich were on early juries, with

winners including the pianists Van Cliburn and Vladimir Ashkenazy, and violinists Gidon Kremer and

Viktoria Mullova. The Barbican was packed (and royalty was in attendance) to hear this year’s winners, with

support from the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev on the podium.

The fact that the Moscow jury had not awarded two of the top four prizes in the singing section indicated that

standards were being kept high. Just how high was apparent when the gold medallist, 27-year-old Sunyoung

Seo from South Korea, sang the Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’. Running the whole

gamut of human emotion, this aria makes a great showcase for a great voice, and this comely soprano brought

a big and sumptuous sound to the task. Gloriously even from top to bottom, her voice had an unforced bel

canto expressiveness, and she shaped her long-breathed phrases – and marked the music’s mood-changes -

with impeccable grace. Now she should do the role for real at Covent Garden.

No surprise that the cello gold-medallist should come from Yerevan: Armenia’s capital is still a hotbed

of string talent, despite that country’s now-grinding poverty. And 23-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan

launched into Tchaikovsky’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme’ with a tone whose beauty shone all the

more brightly for its restraint. Every nuance of this subtle work was lovingly observed, and when he

did let rip it was with blazing virtuosity. I would now like to hear what this boy can do with Bach’s solo

suites: he could certainly give Yo-Yo Ma a run for his money.

Finally we got Tchaikovsky’s ‘Piano Concerto No 1’ courtesy of a pianist from Nizhniy Novgorod, but the

way Daniil Trifonov played, you’d say he was a mature master, rather than a mere 20-year-old. Power in

spades, crystalline passage-work, and a pearlised singing tone: he’s already got it all, and his encore – Liszt’s

‘La Campanella’ – had both flawless delicacy, and an engaging modesty.

In short, this year’s jury knew what it was doing.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

Buffalo News October 12, 2009

Cellist from Armenia is welcomed warmly BY HERMAN TROTTER

Young Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan aimed to please his audience by featuring the warm and throbbingly

emotional Rachmaninoff Sonata, Op. 19, as the centerpiece of his Sunday recital. And judging by the vociferous reception, he succeeded.

But for this listener the highlight of the program, principally featuring music of the Romantic era, was the opening Schumann "Fantasiestuecke" (Fantasy Pieces), Op. 73.

The first piece was extremely communicative in its leisurely, rhapsodic and yearning approach, flowing logically into the more assertive but still probingly imaginative second piece, marked "Lively, light." The concluding piece, "Bold,

with fire," was even faster, and the artist used this tempo progression to impart a sense of unity and cohesion to the

three pieces that has eluded even the most celebrated cellists. The cello's tone was beautifully centered, clear and

secure, and the performance was further distinguished by subtly nuanced moments of unexpected pull-back and reflection. It was, quite simply, the best "Fantasiestuecke" I have ever heard.

Beethoven's Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op 69, could be considered a late classical piece, but its descriptive, pastoral character nudges it closer to romanticism. Sunday's performance tended to evoke broadly contrasting emotions,

alternating deliberate and probing passages with more thrusting statements that somewhat softened the pastoral quality.

The Scherzo was aggressive and forceful, with a fine staccato touch, and the Finale had a skittering approach, with

compelling quieter contrasts in upper register passages.

The Rachmaninoff Sonata, always a crowd pleaser, was no exception this time, with the cello's singing quality always

in evidence to project the composer's profusion of haunting, melancholy themes. It was a wonderfully expressive perform-ance, full of appropriate autumnal resonances, at times wanting just a bit more deep Russian resonance in the

cello.

Pianist Polera was a superb partner throughout, and if at times she seemed to be ascendant, there were valid reasons.

Beethoven clearly marked Op. 69 as a Sonata for Piano and Cello, and Rachmaninoff was a towering master of the

piano, so prominence of "his" instrument is not unexpected.

The recital concluded with two brief Russian works, Tchaikovsky's delightfully melodic and familiar Nocturne, Op. 19

No. 4, in Hakhnazaryan's own transcription, and Rostropovich's Humoresque, Op. 5, a fingerbusting exercise in rapid

bowing, superbly played, to a standing vocal ovation.

This prompted an Armenian encore, "Impromptu" by Harutyunian, based on fast Middle Eastern dance rhythms, with a

soulful middle section.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

The Washington Post October 29, 2008

Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan: A Seasoned Phenom BY ROBERT BATTEY

Narek Hakhnazaryan, a phenomenal Armenian cellist who first appeared here in 2006 as the winner of the Johansen

International Competition, just turned 20 years old. His recital Monday at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, presented by the Young Concert Artists of Washington, was packed, and the audience giddy. Watching talent of this

age on this level is always a thrill.

Gangly and self-conscious, Hakhnazaryan actually appears even younger, but his way with the instrument is that of a

seasoned professional.

He produces a powerful and colorful sound in all registers, nails every big shift and flashes all the virtuoso's tricks

(flying staccato, artificial harmonics, jeté, etc.) with insolent ease.

Even if Hakhnazaryan has nothing left to learn technically, there are aspects of his playing that should improve still further with experience. He sometimes suspends the motion of his bow when stretching a musical phrase -- intuitively

right but instrumentally wrong, since the sound is drained rather than sustained. Intonation with piano is a different

animal than when playing solo or with other strings.

Musically, he clearly came into his own when playing Armenian and Russian works, with looser body language,

creative ideas and often a smile of contentment. If he can attain that same level of involvement and understanding with

music from all eras and cultures, he should have a stellar career.

Pianist Noreen Polera was a graceful and imaginative partner, though sometimes too reticent in the Schumann and

Beethoven works on the program.

NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

The New York Times October 24, 2008

MUSIC REVIEW | NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN

A Prize-Winning Cellist Opens Young Artists Series BY STEVE SMITH

Narek Hakhnazaryan, an Armenian cellist who turned 20 on Thursday, has already won enough prizes to fill two

paragraphs in his professional biography. Among the latest entries is first prize in this year’s Young Concert Artists International Auditions. On Tuesday Mr. Hakhnazaryan reaped a major benefit of the award: a Zankel Hall recital

opening Young Concert Artists’ 48th season.

Mr. Hakhnazaryan, tall and wiry, projected intensity from the moment he took the stage. But rather than opening with fireworks, he started with Schumann’s genial “Fantasiestücke.” Mr. Hakhnazaryan’s tone was lean but warm and

supple, animating Schumann’s lyrical phrases with grace. Noreen Polera, a pianist, was an alert, responsive partner.

Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 (Op. 69) cast Mr. Hakhnazaryan and Ms. Polera as equals in a balancing act pitched

between Classical elegance and Romantic expressiveness. They negotiated the sonata’s capricious moods and quirky

rhythms with compelling unanimity at a slightly subdued overall dynamic that made bold accents leap off the page.

Mr. Hakhnazaryan demonstrated his considerable technical prowess in the unaccompanied Sonata No. 1 by Adam

Khudoyan, an Armenian composer. The work, from 1961, packed folkish melodies, tricky combinations of

simultaneous bowing and plucking, a passage in ghostly harmonics and more into a dense continuous span. Abrupt transitions made the piece seem restless and occasionally aimless, but Mr. Hakhnazaryan’s commitment was

persuasive.

In a commanding account of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D minor, the martial rhythms that interrupt the opening

movement’s melodic outpouring felt especially charged and brittle. Mr. Hakhnazaryan brought a daredevil verve to the

intricate Scherzo and opened the stark Largo with an eerie, vibrato-free tone.

A gorgeous rendition of Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” offered gentle relief, and the program ended with Paganini’s

flamboyant Variations on One String on a Theme by Rossini, transcribed from the original violin version.

A hearty response from the audience brought two encores: a gorgeous account of the Andante from Rachmaninoff’s

Cello Sonata and a rollicking romp through “Expromt,” by the Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian. To the very

end, Mr. Hakhnazaryan’s intense focus and expressive artistry never flagged.