Alain Altinoglu conducts Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and Aprikian – With Naïra Abrahamyan, Stella Grigorian, and Wiard Witholt
Legend of Armenia at the Opéra Comique
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Cast
Naïra Abrahamyan — Soprano
Stella Grigorian — Mezzo-soprano
Wiard Witholt — Baritone
Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine
Gulbenkian Orchestra
Alain Altinoglu — Conductor
Program notes
Join in a celebration of Armenian heritage with this musical evening at Paris’s Opéra Comique! The Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir and the Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine under the direction of French-Armenian conductor Alain Altinoglu present works by Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and Aprikian.
The program's first two works were composed by Sergei Prokofiev and Aram Khachaturian, close colleagues and so-called titans of Soviet music. Prokofiev’s four-movement Classical Symphony was premiered when he was only 26 years old and greatly contributed to his rising career. Khachaturian’s colorful and evocative Masquerade Suite brings together selections from incidental music written for a 1941 play. The second half of the evening is devoted to Egyptian-Armenian composer and choir director Garbis Aprikian’s oratorio La Naissance de David de Sassoun. The piece marries Western musical technique with Armenian melodies to tell the story of David of Sassoun, the national Armenian hero.
