Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and violinist Sergey Khachatryan. Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
First, a footnote: This was a one-off, and thus by definition half as difficult to sell out as a repeated program. Still, it was heartening to see a huge crowd at Roy Thomson Hall on Wednesday for a Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert dedicated to Armenian music and the Armenian experience.
This year marks the centenary of the genocide, so the evening had the most solemn context imaginable. Nevertheless, a message of hope and renewal prevailed, fuelled by the alternating lyricism and vitality of the music and the high calibre of performance a supervised by Peter Oundjian (who is of Armenian descent on his father’s side).
Isabel Bayrakdarian was the featured soprano. She summoned a remarkable aura in three Komitas songs as arranged for orchestra by her husband Serouj Kradjian, who made apt entries on the piano. Whether it was a matter modal harmony or evocative instrumentation, this music put us all in another place while making that place seem very much our own. Bayrakdarian sounded even lovelier in Groong, a folk anthem with strong memorial associations. It sparked a murmur of recognition in the crowd.
Sergey Khachatryan, a prizewinning Yerevan-born violinist, played an obbligato. His big assignment was the 1940 Violin Concerto of Aram Khachaturian (the soloist, I have been told, shares the surname of the composer but transliterates it differently).
This is a big piece, and Khachatryan never flagged in his concentration. Rhythms were vital at the start and his tone turned silky in the second theme. There was a glow to the slow movement and much folkish energy in the finale. Possibly the extended cadenza of the first movement could have done with a more open, freewheeling approach. But as violin playing this was hard to fault.
Khachaturian’s orchestration was not merely colourful but expressive, and the TSO did well by it. Oundjian gave associate principal clarinet Yoa Guang Zhai a bow.
The orchestra was in good form also for the premiere of Ararat, a suite of the music Mychael Danna wrote for Atom Egoyan’s film of that name. The hummable main theme, not unlike the string tune in the first movement of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, was more repeated than developed, but the spacious soundscape and fascinating contributions of traditional instruments (tar, duduk and kemanche as played by Levon Ichkhanian, Hampic Djabourian and Siavash Kavehmaryan) kept interest keen. Bayrakdarian emerged for a cameo, and the lights dimmed.
The conclusion was muscular and colourful: Khachaturian’s Waltz and Nocturne from Masquerade and Variation of Aegina and Bacchanalia from Spartacus. The virtuosity of the orchestra was very much on parade and Oundjian’s sense of rhythm was sure. There was a prolonged ovation, perhaps expressing a desire for an encore. I think we all know one likely candidate by Khachaturian. No problem. The evening was full enough as it was.
In his spoken remarks Oundjian credited Egoyan with hatching the idea of this concert. It was clearly a good one. Danna did some talking and his off-the-cuff style amused the audience. The TSO is aware (to put it mildly) of the ethnic diversity of the city it services. Not all nations, alas, have a Khachaturian (or a Khachatryan) to make such concerts viable. But surely there will be more to come.
#LUDWIGVAN
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