Ok, but misses the mark
Bloomzilla | Colorado | 05/13/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I have listened to as many recordings of the Piano Concerto as I can find. There are not many. We have Oborin, Kappel and Hollander from the LP era. All great and historical readings that anyone moved by this piece should listen to. We also have a few modern recordings worth consideration. This one, however, is not the best one. It' ok but it lacks the range of emotion of say Orbelian/Jarvi. Serviarian-Kuhn plays much lighter both in mood and sound than Orbelian. The Orbelian is absolutely breath taking. Powerful and majestic. The second movement is especially moving. The SNO under Jarvi (a personal friend of the late Khachaturian) is fabulous. The orchestra may be "Scottish" but Jaryi is an Estonian romantic from the Soviet era who studied under Mravinski in Leningrad. He pulls all the stops on this recording and it is brilliant. The Seviarian is nothing like that. Serviarian is well known for her interpretation of the concerto but this recording comes off flat and lacking emotion. The piano is thin and the orchestra is pedestrian. Armenian, yes, but they miss the mark."