The Pharos Arts Foundation will present a recital with cellist Levon Mouradian and pianist Hayk Melikyan on Wednesday at the Shoe Factory in Nicosia.
The two musicians will perform an all-Russian programme, including Canzona for Cello and Piano in F minor by Sergei Taneyev, Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1 by Alfred Schnittke and Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op.19 by Sergei Rachmaninov.
Taneyev is primarily known today as the teacher of Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Glière. He initially composed the remarkably virtuosic yet vastly reflective Canzona in 1883 for the combination of clarinet and orchestra but he later arranged the piece for cello and piano and it is in this form that it has gained worldwide recognition.
The West was late to the Schnittke scene: he had been famous throughout Eastern Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and had long been touted as one of Dmitry Shostakovich’s rightful musical heirs. Such works as the Sonata for cello and piano No.1, written in 1978, make the Shostakovich connection plain. Schnittke was and is famous for his polystylistic approach to music, and in this piece, as in many others, it is the style of Shostakovich that comes most to the fore.
The first performance of Rachmaninov’s First Symphony in 1897 was a critical disaster, a blow to the young composer from which he took several years to recover. In 1901, however, with renewed confidence he produced what is probably his best known work, the Second Piano Concerto, which was a resounding success. Written in the same year, the Sonata for Cello and
Piano although less familiar is of the same quality and is conceived on a grand scale.
Mouradian is a prize winner in some of the world’s most prestigious competitions, such as Pablo Casals, Tchaikovsky, Julio Cardona, among others. He is widely known for his unique and thorough reflection and interpretation of music. He has performed as a soloist with such eminent conductors as Valery Gergiev and Veronika Dudarova, and as soloist and as part of chamber ensembles at major international music festivals.
The cellist has released a number of CDs, featuring, among others, the A Babadjanian Piano Trio and Seven Pieces by Komitas-Aslamazian.
Since 1996 he has been directing the cello class in the department of Arts at the State University in Evora, Portugal.
Melikyan is recognised internationally as one of the most versatile and imaginative performers of the 20th Century and Contemporary Music and among today’s most engaging virtuoso pianists.
After having won the Second Prize in the International Piano Competition of the 20th Century and Contemporary Music Premio Valentino Bucchi in Rome in 2000 he included contemporary music as the leading part of his concert programmes. In 2012, Melikyan was awarded a Gold Medal by the Moscow Composers Union for his contribution and promotion of World Contemporary Music, while in 2013 he was awarded the title of an Honorary Artist of the Republic of Armenia.
In 2009 Melikyan initiated the Concert Series 1900+, which promotes the piano music of composers born after 1900. He has released several solo albums since 2007 and in 2014 a solo album was released by NAXOS.
Levon Mouradian and Hayk Melikyan
The Pharos Arts Foundation presents a recital with cellist Levon Mouradian and pianist Mayk Melikyan. March 30. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €15/10. Tel: 22-663871
