Raffi Besalyan: The Return (2015) [High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-Ray Disc]

Title: Raffi Besalyan: The Return
Released: 2015
Genre: Classical, Instrumental
Issued: United States | Sono Luminus
Duration: 1:05:37
Size: 19.8 GB

Technical Specs
Blu-ray
BD-25 Single-Layer Disc
Video Resolution/Codec
1080i/AVC MPEG-4
Aspect Ratio(s)
TBA
Audio Formats
DTS-HD MA 7.1 (96 kHz / 7890 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD MA 5.1 (192 kHz / 10633 kbps / 24-bit)
LPCM 2.0 (192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles/Captions
None
Supplements
None

“Technically brilliant… Besalyan played with a great deal of temperament, speed and power… audacious spirit and poetic substance, deeply felt tenderness…” — New York Concert Review

“A keyboard phenomenon that needs to be heard by everyone interested in pianists and the piano.” — Fanfare Magazine, USA

“A formidable pianist with a commanding presence and rich interpretive gifts.” — American Record Guide Magazine

Thoughts of home dominate much of the music Raffi Besalyan performs here. Rachmaninoff’s “B-Minor Prelude” was inspired by The Return, a painting by Arnold Böcklin, and although it was written before his emigration the work was a constant companion in his exile, a favorite for his own recitals and a reminder of his years in Russia. Similarly, the folk-inspired piano music of Arno Babajanian recalls a distant homeland. Based in Moscow for much of his adult life, Babajanian looked back to his native Armenia in music that mixed the folk idioms of his people with the virtuosic pianism of the Russian school. And now Besalyan, an Armenian pianist based in the United States, brings their music together in a program infused with warm memories, evocations of far off places, and reminders of earlier times.
Both Rachmaninoff and Chopin can be heard as influences in the music of Arno Babajanian. His studies in Moscow from 1938 exposed the Armenian composer to a wide range of styles, and the greater political freedom of the Khrushchev period when he began his professional career in the 1950s allowed him to explore many of these ideas in his works. The “Piano Trio in F# Minor”, written in 1952, established his credentials as a composer of concert music, but he was also well-known for his cinema work, and particularly for the title song he wrote for the film Song of the First Love released in 1958. The four works presented here demonstrate how Babajanian was able to incorporate aspects of Armenian musical identity into the Russian piano idioms he had become acquainted with through his studies in Moscow. The line of inheritance from Chopin via Rachmaninoff is evident in the “Prelude”. The slow movements of Rachmaninoff’s concertos are reflected in the “Melody” that follows. “Elegy” was written towards the end of Babajanian’s life in 1978, composed in memory of fellow Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian. The final work in the program, “Vagharshapat Dance,” is an early composition dating from 1947. It is one of Babjanian’s most popular works, skillfully infusing distinctively Armenian colors with an approach to piano figuration inherited directly from Rachmaninoff.
Armenian-born American pianist Raffi Besalyan made his formal New York debut in Carnegie Hall after winning the Artists International Competition, and was subsequently invited to perform at Merkin Concert Hall on the Artists International “Outstanding Alumni-Winners” series. Most recently Besalyan made his Chicago debut in famed Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center as the featured Guest Artist for the Chicago International Music Festival and was also interviewed by Wisconsin Public Radio’s Norman Gilliland on “The Midday”. Raffi Besalyan has established an international reputation as a magnetic and passionate performer. Active as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, and chamber musician, Besalyan appears in many important music venues worldwide. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic have praised his performances for their virility, poetry and extraordinary technical command.

Tracklist:

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Préludes
01. Op. 3, No. 2 – Lento
02. Op. 23, No. 5 – Alla marcia
03. Op. 23, No. 6 – Andante
04. Op. 23, No. 7 – Allegro
05. Op. 32, No. 5 – Moderato
06. Op. 32, No. 10 – Lento
07. Op. 32, No. 12 – Allegro
Etudes-Tableaux
08. Op. 33, No. 6 – Non allegro
09. Op. 39, No. 1 – Allegro agitato
10. Op. 39, No. 5 – Appassionato
11. Op. 39, No. 6 – Allegro
Variations on a Theme of Corelli
12. Theme: Andante
13. Variation 1: Poco piu mosso
14. Variation 2: L’istesso tempo
15. Variation 3: Tempo di Menuetto
16. Variation 4: Andante
17. Variation 5: Allegro (ma non tanto)
18. Variation 6: L’istesso tempo
19. Variation 7: Vivace
20. Variation 8: Adagio misterioso
21. Variation 9: Un poco piu mosso
22. Variation 10: Allegro scherzando
23. Variation 11: Allegro vivace
24. Variation 12: L’istesso tempo
25. Variation 13: Agitato
26. Intermezzo
27. Variation 14: Andante (come prima)
28. Variation 15: L’istesso tempo
29. Variation 16: Allegro vivace
30. Variation 17: Meno mosso
31. Variation 18: Allegro con brio
32. Variation 19: Piu mosso. Agitato
33. Variation 20: Piu mosso
34. Coda: Andante
Arno Babajanian
35. Prelude
36. Melody
37. Elegy
38. Vagharshapat and Dance

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     SONO_LUMINUS_RAFFI_BESALYAN_HDCLUB
Disc Size:      21 258 192 256 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00000.MPLS
Length:                 1:05:37.233 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   15 102 670 848 bytes
Total Bitrate:          30,69 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        950 kbps            1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         7890 kbps       7.1 / 96 kHz / 7890 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         10633 kbps      5.1 / 192 kHz / 10633 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
LPCM Audio                      English         9216 kbps       2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00000.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:05:37.233     15 102 670 848  30 687

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