The concert actually opened with two movements from Khachaturian’s
suite from Spartacus. It certainly was not the Brahms Concerto, which we had
expected. It was already going to be quite a long concert, so it was with some
relief that the piece that followed was the concerto.
Sergey Khachatryan is a world-renowned violinist. For
a seasoned concert goer, there is not much more to say about the Brahms concerto,
except to comment on the playing of the soloist. Sergey Khachatryan’s playing
was technically perfect and indeed elegant. Personally, I found his reading of
the work rather too mechanically expressive. His quiet sections, I found, were
excessively quiet and on occasions I found the orchestra overpowered his
playing, which is a characteristic I do not often find in this concerto.
Personally, I find this concerto works best in the concert hall when the
soloist does not try to over interpret. There is enough structure in Brahms’s writing,
and the drama is all in the music. This is not a criticism of Sergey Khachatryan’s
playing, it is a statement of my own prejudice. Certainly the audience was
enthusiastic about the performance.
The soloist gave a substantial encore. Against almost
a drone of tremolo played by the front desks of the first violin, Sergey Khachatryan
played a modal piece that I suggest was Havoun, havoun by Grigor Narekatski.
The piece was written in the tenth century by an Armenian monk and mystic, also
known as Gregory of Narek. This is music that the soloist plays regularly as an
encore. It does not offer any opportunity to show off, being rather quiet, modal,
and slow. What it does display is control, spirituality, and identity. It was
received in silence by an attentive audience who absorbed every note. We then
had an interval.
Thoroughly expecting Tchaikovsky’s
tone poem Francesca de Rimini after the break, the audience was surprised to
hear the opening bassoon solos of the Fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet, which did
not appear on the printed program at all. The Armenian Philharmonic gave a
spirited performance of an intensely dramatic work, which, somehow, did not
approach tragedy.
Then, expecting Gayaneh of Khachaturian, the audience
got their performance of Tchaikovsky’s tone poem Francesca de Rimini. This is
an enormous piece, described in the program as one of the composer’s most
powerful works. It is a real opportunity for an orchestra to show off, and the
Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra did just that. In over five decades and once
going, this was the first time I had heard the piece “live”, and it makes a
considerable sound, with paroxysms of modulation, peppered with gigantic brass
chords. The work makes a vast statement and the playing was up to the
challenge.
Khachaturian’s Gayaneh is for another day. It was not
the encore!
