Nareh Arghamanyan – Rachmaninov: Piano Works (2012) [MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Nareh Arghamanyan - Rachmaninov: Piano Works (2012) [MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC] Download

In her early twenties the Armenian pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, winner of the 2008 Montreal International Music Competition, belongs to the promising generation of today’s fine pianists. The last season saw Nareh Arghamanyan making an impressive New York debut at the Frick collection as well as at San Francisco Performances, resulting in a reinvitation to their ‘Young Master Series’. Arghamanyan’s all-Rachmaninov recital reveals a more disciplined, controlled, architecturally aware, and expressively sophisticated artist.The Corelli Variations benefit from the Armenian pianist’s unified tempo relationships and overall symphonic approach in terms of rhythmic discipline, intelligently scaled dynamics, and a wide range of tone colors. Notice, for example, the wonderfully unfolding continuity she achieves by linking Variations 5, 6, and 7, even though the latter seems a bit slow in relation to the composer’s Vivace directive. Conversely, Arghamanyan enlivens Variation 3’s ‘question and answer’ dynamic contrasts with specifically characterized accelerations. Variation 8’s myriad tempo modifications, however, are Rachmaninov’s own, and Arghamanyan proportions them to utter perfection. While the scherzando Variation 10 could be communicated in a lighter, more playful manner, Variation 12’s marcato and legato contrasts truly hit home. Listen also to how Arghamanyan shapes the Intermezzo’s rhetorical phrases and virtuosic filigree more or less in tempo, yet with seemingly boundless nuance.

The shorter pieces prove no less absorbing. Arghamanyan’s thoughtful textural layering of the C-sharp minor Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 amounts to a newly minted rendition of an overplayed warhorse. She markedly differentiates the B-flat minor Serenade’s expansive cantabiles and quiet stabbing chords much as the composer did in his classic 1940 recording. Each one of the Op. 33 Etudes-Tableaux fuses virtuosic refinement, textural clarity, and a gift for revealing the narrative behind the melodies that many younger pianists lack. Out of curiosity I compared Arghamanyan’s C major Op. 33 No. 2 alongside Yuja Wang’s contemporaneous DG recording, and wound up preferring Arghamanyan for her more expansive phrasing and riper sonority, helped by PentaTone’s full-bodied, lifelike multi-channel sonics. Arghamanyan’s own booklet notes discuss her responses to the music in eloquent, articulate, and refreshingly non-indulgent prose. A terrific release in every way.

Tracklist:

01. Morceaux de Fantaisie Op.3 – Elégie Op.3 No.1 in E-flat minor
02. Morceaux de Fantaisie Op.3 – Prelude Op.3 No.2 in C-sharp minor
03. Morceaux de Fantaisie Op.3 – Mélodie Op.3 No.3 in E major
04. Morceaux de Fantaisie Op.3 – Polichinelle Op.3 No.4 in F-sharp minor
05. Morceaux de Fantaisie Op.3 – Sérénade Op.3 No.5 in B-flat minor
06. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.1 in F minor
07. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.2 in C major
08. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.3 (Op. Posth.) in C minor
09. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.5 (Op. Posth.) in D minor
10. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.6 in E-flat minor
11. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.7 in E-flat major
12. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.8 in G minor
13. Etudes Tableaux Op.33 – No.9 in C-sharp minor
14. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Theme
15. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Variations I – VII
16. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Variations VIII-XII
17. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Variation XIII
18. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Intermezzo
19. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Variations XIV-XX
20. Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42 – Coda