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Mikhail Simonyan: Two Souls

Mikhail Simonyan (violin)

London Symphony Orchestra, Kristjan Järvi

Mikhail Simonyan: Two Souls
Simonyan is a true virtuoso; his playing has a natural, unforced authority and, among other accomplishments, his clear, brilliant spiccato bowing is heard to great effect in the finales of both...

Mikhail Simonyan: Two Souls

Mikhail Simonyan (violin)

London Symphony Orchestra, Kristjan Järvi

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Simonyan is a true virtuoso; his playing has a natural, unforced authority and, among other accomplishments, his clear, brilliant spiccato bowing is heard to great effect in the finales of both...

About

This unusual coupling of the violin concertos by Aram Khachaturian and Samuel Barber, entitled Two Souls, is tailor-made for Mikhail Simonyan’s exciting DG debut. Born in Novosibirsk, Simonyan has mixed Russian and Armenian parentage, but spent his formative years in the US. Simonyan's close rapport with Kristjan Järvi and his first collaboration with one of the world’s best orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, produce an extraordinarily fresh reading of the two concertos.

Contents and tracklist

1. Allegro con fermezza
Track length16:51
2. Andante sostenuto
Track length11:31
3. Allegro vivace
Track length9:18
1. Allegro
Track length10:35
2. Andante
Track length8:38
3. Presto in moto perpetuo
Track length3:50

Awards and reviews

February 2012

Simonyan is a true virtuoso; his playing has a natural, unforced authority and, among other accomplishments, his clear, brilliant spiccato bowing is heard to great effect in the finales of both concertos...this is a performance [of the Barber] of notable power, Simonyan's confident presence - aided by strong support from Kristjan Järvi and the LSO - generating considerable intensity as the climactic moments approach...All in all, a most impressive debut.

20th January 2012

Simonyan's intention was to bring out the qualities that embody the cultural roots of each composer: thus, he commissioned a new cadenza for Khachaturian's concerto by Artur Avanesov, to emphasise the Armenian flavour, and treated the dashing final movement of Barber's concerto in a looser manner than usual, suggestive of rustic American fiddling.
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