Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Arpik Paraghamian / Staff Writer
French-Armenian pianist, Vardan Mamikonian opened this year’s Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts to a turn away crowd of 400 at Fresno State’s Concert Hall on the evening of September 15, 2000.
“It was a stunning performance, and I believe he combines all necessary qualities of a great artist: taste, imagination, unlimited technique and modesty. He deserves to be counted among the greatest pianists of the time,” said Prof. Andreas Werz, director of the Concert Series. Mamikonian divided the program into four sections beginning with his first piece, Theme and Variations in F Major, Op. 19 by Peter Tchaikovsky.
The audience’s thunderous round of applause foreshadowed the captivating performance to come. Mamikonian took a bow in his gray suit and walked off-stage, returning moments later to play Sergei Prokofiev’s Second Sonata in D Minor, Op. 14. The crowd clutched their programs tightly, many of them smiling and swaying their heads to Mamikonian’s vibrant interpretation of the score’s trills and sudden shifts in mood. From Allegro to Scherzo to Andante to Vivace, Mamikonian played dramatically, leading his audience out of melancholy states to upbeat tempos.
Even though I was sitting in the serene concert hall with its hardwood floors and walls, I felt as if I were in a movie theatre listening to the soundtrack of a tragedy. The third piece Mamikonian performed was Arno Babadjanyan’s Poeme Dodecaphonique, which started out with short, staccato notes that progressed into a smoother legato. Mamikonian played this piece very intensely, almost stopping completely during softer parts and coming back with a fury that captivated his audience. For a work written in the twelfth tone technique pioneered by Schoenberg, it was very lyrical.
After the intermission, Mamikonian was back to play three pieces by Franz Liszt, the first of which was Funerailles, a tame yet intense piece during which Mamikonian’s fingers dove into the keys as if he was pulling out every last note the piano had. After letting go of the keys for just a second he came back softly, playing as if he was nurturing the keys, apologizing for the previous bout.
In the second Liszt piece, Liebestraum: Notturno III, Mamikonian used the skill of crossing his arms over one another several times, allowing him to play notes otherwise impossible.
Moving on to the Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Mamikonian again picked up his audience, starting at a fast, direct pace, so that he had the entire row of the balcony on the edge of their seats.
Abruptly finishing the piece, Mamikonian received a standing ovation and came back to satisfy his attentive audience with an encore by Aram Khatchatourian.
Mamikonian, who was born in Yerevan, Armenia, was only 6 years old when he started taking piano lessons at the Yerevan School of Music. In 1987 he completed his studies in the capital of Armenia and furthered his education of music in Moscow before settling in Paris, France. Winner of several first prizes, most recently at the World Music Masters Competition in Monte Carlo in 1992, Mamikonian is ranked among the most vital of young musicians in the world today.
This first concert of the Phillip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts, was co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program of Fresno State and was the second occasion Mamikonian has played in the keyboard concert with the support of the Armenian Studies.