Track Listing

1. Piano Concerto in D flat major (also arranged for 2 pianos): 1. Allegro maestoso
2. Piano Concerto in D flat major (also arranged for 2 pianos): 2. Andante con anima
3. Piano Concerto in D flat major (also arranged for 2 pianos): 3. Allegro brillante
4. Masquerada, suite from the incidental music for orchestra (or piano): Suite: 1. Waltz
5. Masquerada, suite from the incidental music for orchestra (or piano): Suite: 2. Nocturne
6. Masquerada, suite from the incidental music for orchestra (or piano): Suite: 3. Mazurka
7. Masquerada, suite from the incidental music for orchestra (or piano): Suite: 4. Romance
8. Masquerada, suite from the incidental music for orchestra (or piano): Suite: 5. Galop
9. Gayane, ballet in 4 acts: 1. Sabre Dance
10. Gayane, ballet in 4 acts: 3. Dance of the Rose Maidens
11. Gayane, ballet in 4 acts: 5. Lullaby
12. Gayane, ballet in 4 acts: 8. Lezghinka

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127800 in Music
• Released on: 1992-09-30
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

The best modern recording available
The Orbelian/Jarvi is the best modern recording of the piano concerto bar none. Majestic and breath taking. Full of emotion and changing moods. Fair warning: Obelian playes heavy and Jarvi pulls all the stops. The result, however, is pure magic. Brilliant. If you want a lighter reading, try Serviarian-Kuhn. However, I find Serviarian's flat and lacking any emotion at all. I recommend Orbelian but music is a matter of personal preference so I encourage you to get both. You will find one of them to be a desert island CD!

you may find it cheaper under its other entry
Here continues the review begun under the disc's other entry, where at the time of writing, you can find it for significantly cheaper: Khachaturian: Piano Concerto; Gayaneh Ballet Suite; Masquerade Suite. There I expound at some length why I find that, as good a "traditional" view of Khachaturian's Piano Concerto as Orbelian and Järvi's may be, the traditional view isn't all that good for Khachaturian's Piano Concerto: not only does it, by playing slower than the composer's indicated metronome marks, exaggerate the composition's bombast - and other versions have proven that, by playing actually FASTER, one can turn the bombast into hair-raising drive and intensity -, but it disrupts the tempo relationships within each movement intended by the composer. And while that kind of approach may seem unexceptionable on its own terms, one only needs to turn to the composer-conducted version with the work's dedicatee and first performer, Lev Oborin (not reissued on CD but available on U-tube) to realize how (much more) convincing it is to do exactly what Khachaturian wrote.

Although my comments will be more tentative, as I don't have many other versions to compare his to, I'm more convinced by Järvi's excerpts from Masquerade. The lush recording brings out the orchestral colors, and Järvi plays with fine character: the Waltz has great sweep, and the Nocturne flows naturally. The same is true with Gayaneh's Lullaby, but Järvi's Lezghinka (still from Gayaneh) has more epic sweep and decibel power than the frenzy elicited by the composer in his recording made for EMI in 1954 (Khachaturian: Gayane Suite for orchestra No1; Concerto for violin in Dm), and likewise with his Sabre Dance, which doesn't come near the wild fury of the composer, sounding civilized and almost tame instead. On the other hand, these same two number under Järvi are very similar to the composer's stereo remake with the Vienna Phil in 1962 (Khachaturian: Symphony No. 2; Gayaneh - Suite), even slightly more rambunctious in Lezghinka. Also note that, unlike what is announced on the disc's cover, Järvi doesn't play the complete Gayaneh-Suite but only four excerpts. I regret the absence of the Adagio, of "2001 A Space Odyssey" fame (Kubrick used the DG recording by Rozhdestvensky, which you can find on Les Chefs-d'aeuvre de la musique Russe).

Serviceable Recording
Khachaturian is rarely called a profound composer and this is not exactly a profound recording. Yet it is serviceable and Neeme Jarvi draws inspired playing from the Scottish National Orchestra.

The Piano Concerto in D flat major is in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninov and Lizst yet it is without the sometimes distracting bravura of Lizst's piano concerti. In its place, it has the spirit of Armenian folk music, as does all of Khachaturian's music. The first movement is in a loose sonata form, with the cadenza featuring prominently in the development. The second movement is mainly atmospheric, with an appearance of what sounds like a musical saw. It's hard to get used to at first, but on repeated listening, you'll realize how much it really adds to the piece. The last movement is brilliant, fast-paced, and hair-raisingly difficult. Yet Orbelian handles it admirably. Together with Jarvi's conducting (he tones down some of the more overblown orchestral passages) this is a charming recording. This is the piece that first made Khachaturian famous and it's easy to see why.

The Masquerade Suite comes from incidental music that Khachaturian wrote for a play by the same name. Jarvi gives a good rendition of it, especially in the Russian sounding Waltz, the central Mazurka and in the witty Galop. However, the playing isn't exactly inspired, though the players are obviously enjoying themselves.

The recording closes with "Four Movements From Gayeneh." This is not the entire ballet suite. Rather, it is four selections from the suite, including the famous Saber Dance. The movements are played well, but Khachaturian enthusiasts may prefer Tjeknavorian's recording of the entire suite. This CD does withstand repeated listening, though some may tire of Khachaturian's incessantly folksy writing. The sound is good on these recordings, though reverberant. All in all, a serviceable recording, though barely worth the high Chandos price.