A VERY SPECIAL CONCERT
by Charles Fierro
In art as in life, things rarely go perfectly, but when they do, we feel lucky indeed. Just such a fortunate occasion took place in Los Angeles at a concert presented by the Dilijan Music Society on January 24. A capacity audience gathered at the Herbert Zipper Hall for a program of chamber music by Arno Babadjanyan (1921-1983). The late composer enjoyed the status of a national hero in his native Armenia and in Soviet Russia, where he received numerous honors, awards and commissions. His compositions are well known in communities of the Armenian diaspora; outside these communities, however, he has yet to receive the recognition he deserves.
The quality of at least two of the selections on the program demonstrated conclusively that his is a major talent. The late Third String Quartet (1979) employs avant-garde idioms with telling effect. Within a tight structure, the music commands attention from beginning to end of it single-movement design.
Similarly, the virtuosic early Piano Trio (1952), displays mastery of all its musical elements in a striking way and, in the opinion of some musicologists, raised the art of Armenian chamber music to a new level.
It is important to remember that Babadjanyan’s entire career took place during the Soviet era, when state sponsorship and state control imposed a Socialist Realist doctrine on all the arts. Creative minds responded to these strictures in varying ways. We remember the bitter ironies and pseudo-conformities of Shostakovich and Prokofieff. Babadjanyan found his own way, sometimes sincerely producing music that would appeal to a mass public, at other times, as in the Third String quartet, asserting astonishing modernist independence.
Four Songs for soprano and piano, in a style somewhere between Rachmaninoff and Jerome Kern, illustrated the composer’s successful attempt to achieve the warmth and immediacy of popular music. The Poem (1966) for solo piano showed the composer beginning to fuse serial techniques with traditional ethnic idioms. During an interview in lieu of intermission, the distinguished composer, Tigran Mansurian, shared reminiscences of his friendship with his senior colleague.
The performers, all well known to Southern California audiences, were superb. Violinists Roger Wilkie and Movses Pogossian, violist Kate Vincent, cellist Ronald Leonard and soprano Maria Abajan, projected their respective roles with consummate skill and sensitivity. The big find of the day was guest pianist Artur Avanesov. His formidable technical prowess, dramatic insight and engaging personality were important factors in making this a memorable event. I hope he will return often.
Charles Fierro is a concert pianist and Professor Emeritus of Music at California State University Northridge.
Founded in 2005 by members of the Glendale, California-based Lark Musical Society, the Dilijan Series is dedicated to promoting Armenian chamber music, as well as showcasing masterpieces of Western classical music. It is financed primarily by individual contributions.
Tickets are available by calling (818) 572-5438, at the door, or online at http://dilijan.larkmusicalsociety.com/tickets.php. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to the Dilijan Chamber Music Series online at http://dilijan.larkmusicalsociety.com/support.php
