It's been over 10 years now since the Avanesyan brothers (violin and cello) and pianist Khachatourian performed together as part of the former outstanding concert series 'Podium Jong Talent', organized by Carlo Schreiber at DeSingel (Antwerp). They were still on the cusp of their major breakthrough on the international stage back then. A small audience got to know these exceptionally gifted performers. Now there's a new recording of violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms and you absolutely must get your hands on it…
Perhaps we could give the CD a bit of attention on Klassiek Centraal, so goes the polite and modest request. Ashot Khachatourian asks it cautiously. So we end up in quite a conversation that delves more into his irreplaceable mentor, the Portuguese piano virtuoso Maria João Pires than into the CD and the 'big' concert, exactly! Suddenly it comes pouring out from the human hard drive. You all! Indeed. Brahms? Send the CD right over… The Armenian violist Hrachia Avanesyan has built a strong bond with our country, where he arrived at age 17 and studied at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and later at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. Ashot Khachatyurian, a relative of the composer, is also Armenian and has become equally attached to our country, from which he travels the world performing concerts as a soloist, accompanist, or member of a chamber music ensemble.
The chamber music of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) ranks among the most beautiful and intimate works in his prolific oeuvre. It's hard to imagine how he evolved in expression between the charming, honeyed Sonata No. 1 Op. 78 and the Sonata No. 3 Op. 108, which is far more energetic and defiant. Somehow, great artists lay themselves bare in their work. Consciously? Unconsciously? Volumes could be written about it, but no matter what we make of it and what we extract from it, we might very well have gotten it completely wrong because there's only one person who could have known and even then… In any case, it's magnificent music that is far more fragile than you might suspect. Only the finest musicians can perform these sonatas properly, and whether that's the case with this duo remains to be seen!
A thousand words might say and describe much, but it always remains difficult to describe something that approaches perfection in such a way that as a reader you almost hear the performance already. This performance moves you, certainly in the first sonata. The second and third have more character, more conviction, but likewise plumb the emotional depths of the human soul. Do both performers also lay themselves bare as Brahms did with these works?
While listening, imagine yourself with Brahms himself, settle into your most comfortable chair with eyes closed, and do the only thing you can: listen with pure pleasure. Simple or complex, broadly shaped or staccato, from the softest pianissimo to the sharpest fortissimo, it's all there in an all-encompassing balance, full of feeling and dreamy…
