Customer Reviews

Armenian Fantasies

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Djivan Gasparyan is reputedly the best-known musician in Armenia and a virtuoso of the duduk, an oboe-like instrument used mainly in Armenia and neighbouring Georgia. It has a distinctively plangent tone which Gasparyan has usually recorded solo in the past. On this recording, however, he teams up with selected Armenian musicians (each a virtuoso on their own instrument) to form an expert ensemble including kanun (plucked dulcimer), kemancha (fiddle), oud (lute), kemanya (a cross between a kemancha and a cello, indigenous to Armenia), and percussion.

The results are mesmerisingly beautiful, conveying the soulful melancholy of Armenian music more affectingly than I have ever heard before. The style and instrumentation are clearly Middle Eastern, yet distinctive in the way the long melodies wind their sad, gentle way through an improvisatory soundscape. Occasionally there are bursts of dance-like exuberance, but even they have darker tones, as does the brief but lovely song performed by Gasparyan on the first track. In general effect, though not in style, this music has much in common with klezmer, the traditional instrumental music of East European Jews. There is the same haunting nostalgia; even when the music smiles, it is a sad smile that speaks of deeper troubles.

I cannot recommend this recording too highly: for those who already know and love Armenian music, and for those who like Turkish, Jewish or Arab music and are looking to explore further, "Armenian Fantasies" is unmissable.

The wonderful thing about this Gasparyan cd is the ensemble playing. Of course, enough cannot be said about Gasparyan's virtuousity on the duduk, but every single musician in this ensemble is a virtuouso who at the same time plays brilliantly with every other member of the group. The professionalism exhibited on this cd is no doubt the result of these musicians' conservatory training. At the same time, their sound is utterly authentic. The tutti passages are lush, deeply emotional, the solo work is stupendous, the melodies sad and profound, and the four suite arrangements perfectly balance the diverse emotions of the different songs that comprise each suite. I can safely say that this cd actually improves upon the old material, bringing to it elevated professionalism and musical consciousness.

Other reviewers on this page have described this recording so beautifully that I won't try to add anything, save to recommend this recording very highly to anyone approaching Gasparyan for the first time, or to those who have found his other recordings too minimalistic or his collaborations too New-Agey.

This series of suites and fantasies is Gasparyan at his very best, composing, improvising and elaborating his sinous melodies in the context of a small orchestra. The effect is an explosion of colours which will surely bring his music to a much wider audience.