Thursday, November 19, 2015

Alan Hovhaness - Lousadzak, Concerto No. 1 for Piano and String Orchestra - Concerto No. 2 for Violin and String Orchestra - Maro Ajemian, Piano - Anahid Ajemian, Violin - MGM String Orchestra, Carlos Surinach - Heliodor Records 1957

This historic recording of Hovhaness's Piano Concerto "Lousadzak" (Coming of Light) Op. 48, and the 'Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Strings Op. 89a' is what I put on after returning home from work, and it's really wonderful. The interpretations are spot-on, which should come as no surprise; the "Friends of Armenian Music", a committee headed by the pianist Maro Ajemian and her sister, violinist Anahid Ajemian (who are the soloists on this album), knew Hovhaness and his music very well. Maro Ajemian was one of his greatest champions and recorded much of AH's works (during the mid 1940s-late 50s). While there are some rare LPs floating around, most are simply not available at this time. 




A bit of info about the pianist Maro Ajemian. I do not recall where it's from.

Maro Ajemian, an American pianist, was of Armenian heritage.  Because of this shared heritage, she chose to give the American premiere of Khachaturian's fabulous new piano concerto as a graduate student at the  Juillard School.  She subsequently took the concerto on tour, and gained a reputation as a performer of contemporary music.

During this concert tour, she had the opportunity to meet a number of contemporary composers including Ernst Krenek, John Cage, Henry Cowell, Alan Hovhaness, Lou Harrison, and Gunther Schuller, all eager for her to play their music.  Many premieres of works by these composers followed.  She became a real champion of the work of her contemporaries, also performing often with her sister, the violinist Anahid Ajemian.

The four sonatas for prepared piano by John Cage, philosopher and composer of music, are fabulous pieces and wonderfully, and sensitively, played by Maro Ajemian to whom Cage dedicated the Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano.

Alan Hovhaness, also of Armenian extraction, was a favorite composer.  Ajemian's performances of his music were instrumental in bring him national attention. 



Anahid Ajemian

Maro Ajemian, Hovhaness and Anahid Ajemian.

And one of my favorite images of the great A.H.





1) Lousadzak: Concerto No. 1 For Piano and String Orchestra, Op. 48 (17:43)

Concerto No. 2 For Violin And String Orchestra, Op. 89a
2) 1. Pastoral (2:21)
3) 2. Aria  (5:11)
4) 3. Allegro (1:23)
5) 4. Aria  (2:31)
6) 5. Presto (2:47)
7) 6. Recitative And Lullaby (6:15)
8) 7. Hymn (5:56)

Enjoy!!

Hovhaness_Lousadzak_&_Concerto_No.2-Tzadik.zip

http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/twdqe82d/file.html

10 comments:

Tzadik said...

El doctor T ya estoy preguntando si esta grabación es algo que ya tiene! Usted es un Hovhaness-freak como yo .... así que apuesto a que la respuesta es "sí";)

TZ

AT said...

Many thanks and regards from The Netherlands.
Veel dank en groeten uit Nederland.

coppinsuk said...

Thank you so much for sharing the love of this music with us.

Much appreciate all your efforts.

Cheers,

Douglas (UK)

Unknown said...

Si,poseo el Pianoconcerto,pero no con el gran Surinach(su PianoConcerto es fascinante),además nunca escuché el ViolinConcerto de Hovhaness,Super Graaaaaaaacias,Tzadik!!!!!!!!Abogaré todo lo posible,para que algun día se estrene alguna Sinfonia del magno autor en mi querida nación,me imaginé que Alan era un hombre amable,cortés y sincero,como sus sinfonias.Un abrazo cetáceo,Tzadik!! Dr.Lasta´´Tapirman´´

cjvinthechair said...

Mr. T - no 'captcha' tonight thank the Lord, so some very welcome Hovhaness music that apparently I haven't got....& since I could have more of his output than maybe anyone else's that's quite an achievement of yours.
Last night's lunacy...among others; tick all the pictures showing patios. What!!! Couldn't tell whether half of them were a garden, a beach, a shopping centre. You need to be s***ing Einstein, never mind 'not a robot'. I managed to identify ONE, got it ticked, tried to carry on with the download...& was told 'NO, YOU HAVE TO FIND ALL OF THEM'.
So, as I say, not in any way your fault, of course, & I'd miss you a hell of a lot more than you'd miss me, but much more repetition of that b****cks & I'll be giving Zippyshare as wide a berth as I give most of the others anyway.
Only really Mega from New Zealand that generally lets you get on with things like an intelligent adult, rather than a mug to be swindled.

Tzadik said...

Oh Doc T que es genial, así que al menos los peformances son nuevos (y el concierto, en su totalidad). Un bonito regalo continuación :-) Sí, con su programa Apuesto a que puede ser el único responsable por el aumento de la pasión y el conocimiento de Hovhaness. ¡Verdaderamente! AH fue uno de los más amable, más cálido de los seres humanos basada por supuesto en lo que otros han dicho a mí, incluyendo Rosner y Lou Harrison!

su TZ

Tzadik said...

You are welcome Toon! Thx for commenting

TZ

Tzadik said...

Hi there Douglas, I appreciated you stopping by and commenting. If the music is making life that much more lovely, well, it's all worth it for me.

Cheers,

TZ

Tzadik said...

Haha, Cjv I know the one you mean! And half of them could be patios! One could have easily also have been a cruise ship lol, so blurry as they can be. I just put up w. it, the minute it takes allows me after to enjoy something new..although rarely do I visit other blogs, wish I had time more often! I have often had problems identifying "cakes" on captchas-if a dessert looks like a bus or an alpaca, is it really our fault? Sheesh.

Mega is wonderful, but I think you have to pay for an account-either that or the file expires very easily I think? I forget, but it's a great way to d/l for sure.

Best,

TZ

Hugo Silien said...

Hi Tzadik-
Is there any way you could re-upload this album again? I had it on LP back in the 1960s and loved it, but would love to be able to listen to it again. It had a very profound effect on me every time I listened to it. It's pretty much completely unavailable these days. You're very fortunate to have a copy.
Thanks in advance,
Hugo