Brahms: Piano Trios 2 & 3 David Haroutunian, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan, Sofya Malikyan

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87:
• 1 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87: I. Allegro 10:04
• 2 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87: II. Andante con moto (Tema con variazione) 07:38
• 3 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87: III. Scherzo. Presto. Trio. Poco meno presto 04:46
• 4 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87: IV. Finale. Allegro giocoso 06:05
• Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101:
• 5 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101: I. Allegro energico 07:32
• 6 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101: II. Presto non assai 03:33
• 7 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101: III. Andante graziano 04:07
• 8 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101: IV. Finale. Allegro molto 05:42
• Total Runtime 49:27

Info for Brahms: Piano Trios 2 & 3

„Sie wissen nicht, wie es ist, seine Schritte ständig hinter sich zu hören“, sagte Brahms über die Präsenz Beethovens in seinem Denken. Das Vorbild verursachte bei ihm aber nicht nur Versagensangst, sondern war auch Ansporn, sein Handwerk zu beherrschen und seine Stimme zu etablieren.

Das erste Klaviertrio in seiner ursprünglichen Form von 1854 zitiert noch Beethoven, aber in der überarbeiteten Fassung viele Jahre später ist keine Spur des Zitats mehr zu finden. Beim zweiten und beim dritten Klaviertrio aus den 1880er-Jahren war der „Schatten“ ganz sicher überwunden.

Die drei Musiker der vorliegenden Aufnahme spielen seit vielen Jahren zusammen und haben nun erstmals den Weg ins Studio gefunden. Mikayel Hakhnazaryan ist der Cellist des Kuss Quartetts.

David Haroutunian, Violine
Mikayel Hakhnazaryan, Cello
Sofya Malikyan, Klavier

David Haroutunian
Born in Yerevan (Armenia), David Haroutunian received early tuition from his father, a professional violinist and pupil of Leonid Kogan. He went on to study at the Tchaikovsky Music School under Petros Haykazyan, graduating with honours in 1995. In the same year, he was an award winner in the Amadeus Competition. At the age of thirteen, he gave his first solo performance with orchestra, playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G major K216. This was soon followed by concerts in Armenia and Russia, and recordings for radio.

In September 1995, he began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, obtaining the Premier Prix de Violon in 1998. In 1999, he embarked on the postgraduate course at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, where he was taught by Jean-Jacques Kantorow.

In 1996, Rouben Aharonian (now first violinist of the Borodin Quartet) invited him to perform the double violin concertos by Bach and Vivaldi. The following year, he met Boris Belkin, whose role in the development of the young musician would be pivotal. In the same year, he gained an honours certificate from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. During his studies, David Haroutunian benefited from the expertise of musicians including Olivier Charlier, Zachar Bron, Donald Weilerstein and Christian Ivaldi. Since then, his performing career has expanded to include solo appearances with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Paris Conservatoire Graduates Orchestra, and with members of Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the SWR Sinfonieorchester. Concert tours have taken him as far afield as the former USSR, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Estonia, Ukraine, Argentina, Morocco and Algeria. His interest in the music of all eras ranks him amongst the most eclectic violinists of his generation. A chamber musician of repute, he is regularly invited to play at music festivals of all kinds.

David Haroutunian has given solo and chamber recitals in concert halls including the Théâtre des Champs- Élysées, Salle Cortot, Budapest Philharmonic, Moscow’s Hall of Columns, Palazzo Chigi Saracini in Siena, with partners including Paul Badura-Skoda, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Itamar Golan, François-Frédéric Guy, Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Vahan Mardirossian, Henri Demarquette, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Gérard Poulet. In December 1999 he recorded a live recital for Radio Budapest. The disk received great critical acclaim in Hungary.

David Haroutunian has participated in various radio broadcasts on stations including France Musique, Radio Classique, Armenian National Radio and Hungarian National Radio. He is artistic director of the chamber music festivals ‘Les Variations Musicales de Saint-Estèphe’, the ‘Festival de Bormes-les-Mimosas’ and as of 2017, ‘Musique(s) en Emeraude’ in Saint-Malo.

In 2016, he formed the Armenian music ensemble Toumanian Mek. Passionate about teaching and music outreach, David Haroutunian has taught at the ‘Conservatoire Erik Satie’ in Paris since 2018. He has also given numerous masterclasses in Argentina, Greece and Armenia.

David Haroutunian est également le directeur artistique de trois festivals : « Les Variations Musicales de Saint-Estèphè », le « Festival de Bormes-les-Mimosas » ou encore « Musique(s) en Emeraude » à Saint-Malo.

He plays a Lorenzo Carcassi violin made in Florence in 1753.

Mikayel Hakhnazaryan
s known as a versatile musician in the world of classical music – as a member of the Kuss Quartet, with which he is performing worldwide in all concert halls like the Philharmonie Berlin, Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Vienna and at festivals as Rheingau Festival, Salzburg and Lucerne, to name a few.

Regular chamber music partners are Miklós Perényi, Mischa Maisky, Paul Meyer, Mojca Erdmann and Sarah Maria Sun.

Born into a musical family, Mikayel continued his studies after graduation from the State Conservatory in Armenia with Tibor Varga and Marcio Carneiro in Sion and completed them at the Musikakademie Basel with Prof. Ivan Monighetti.

He was deeply inspired by Steven Isserlis, attending his master classes numerous times and calls him his mentor.

During his studies in Switzerland he appeared regularly as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra Tibor Varga and with the Armenian

Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Armenia.

At that time he was a member of the Basel String Quartet and the Zurich String Trio.

Chamber music is the most central element in Mikayel’s career, after being part of the Open Chamber Music Festival of IMS Prussia Cove for years, he played in numerous festivals wordwide.

Mikayel was Guest Principal Cello at the Basque National Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and is regularly invited by Camerata Bern, Camerata Salzburg, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Kammerorchester Basel, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Cappella Andrea Barca, among others.

Since 2014 he is Principal Cello of the Munich Chamber Orchestra and regularly guest at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and their chamber music groups (12 Cellists/ Scharoun Ensemble).

He is giving chamber music masterclasses at the Jeunesses Musicales, Royal Birmingham Conservatory, Suntory Hall Tokyo and other institutions.

In the past years Mikayel performed as solist with the Armenian National Youth Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Georgian Chamber Orchester Ingolstadt.

Mikayel plays on a cello by Andrea Castagneri from 1735.

Sofya Melikyan
Hailed for her “magnificent singing line and an exquisite artistic sensibility”, Armenian-born pianist Sofya Melikyan is recognized as an artist with a unique voice, who combines “high-wire virtuosity” with “deep musical intuition and ability to connect with the audience” (Mundoclasico). To date, Ms. Melikyan toured throughout Europe, USA, Canada, Japan and Australia with performances at such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, Armenian Philharmonic Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, Salle Cortot in Paris, among many others. She appeared as a soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Cordoba Symphony Orchestra, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, New Europe Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Andalucía, Spanish National Orchestra.

Ms. Melikyan's performances have been broadcast by the National Radio and Television of Spain, National Radio and Television of Armenia, National Radio of Catalonia, Melbourne ABC Classic FM Radio Station, Chicago WFMT Radio station, Mezzo French Television Station, New York WXQR Radio Station. She has also released two CDs featuring music of Haydn, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Albeniz, Dutilleux and Khachaturian.

Sofya Melikyan has been awarded First Prize and a Prize for outstanding Music Talent at the Marisa Montiel International Piano Competition in Linares, First Prize at the Ibiza International Piano Competition in Spain, First Prize for Music Interpretation awarded by “Amigos del Colegio de España” Association in Paris. She was also a winner of “Artists International” Competition in New York and received top and special prizes at the José Iturbi and Maria Canals International Competitions in Spain. As a member of New York based Sima Trio, she was a Gold Medal winner at the New England International Chamber Music Competition in Boston and 2nd Prize winner at J.C. Arriaga International Chamber Music Competition in Stamford, USA.

Recent performance highlights include recitals at Izumi Hall in Osaka, Japan, Bulgaria Concert Hall in Sofia, “Return” Festival in Yerevan, Armenia, Guangzhou Opera House in China, Juan March Foundation in Madrid, Spain (live broadcast on Spanish National Radio), Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago (live broadcast on WFMT radio station), as well as appearances at Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit, Schloss Wonfurt Musikfest in Germany and Joaquin Turina International Chamber Music Festival in Seville, Spain.

Sofya Melikyan completed her studies at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid with Joaquin Soriano (graduated with Honors), Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris with Ramzi Yassa and Manhattan School of Music in New York with Solomon Mikowsky. Other pianists who have mentored her are Brigitte Engerer and Galina Eguiazarova.

Booklet for Brahms: Piano Trios 2 & 3