Armenian pianist Kariné Poghosyan dazzles with a riveting selection of vibrantly passionate piano music based on folk motifs of five different cultures on Folk Themes. Here she juxtapositions the works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (half British, half Sierra-Leonese), Edvard Grieg (Norwegian), Komitas Vardapet (Armenian) and Franz Liszt (largely Hungarian). Despite the composers’ respective idiosyncrasies, all pieces share the same inherent tenderness, fire, and zest for life: and Poghosyan isn’t shy to show it, both in the profundity of fragile sentiment and in fireworks of exuberant virtuosity...

On Folk Themes pianist Kariné Poghosyan delivers passionate and intimate performances of four very different composers works. We have Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's (1875-1912) 'Three-Fours (Valse Suite)'; Edvard Grieg's (1843-1907) 'Lyric Pieces'; Komitas Vardapet's (1869-1935) 'Six Dances for Piano'; and Franz Liszt's (1811-1886) 'Rhapsodies'.

As diverse as these tracks are, coming from very different time periods and cultural backgrounds, when grouped together as a concert you'd be hard pressed to tell they weren't all composed at a similar time by composers with similar backgrounds. This is the universal and timeless aspect of music as represented here.

Another wonderful aspect is that some pieces will be instantly recognisable, like Grieg's 'March of Gnomes' and 'Wedding Day at Troldhaugen', whilst others you'll be discovering for the first time. And if you haven't heard of the composer before, this represents a wonderful opportunity to check out their back catalogue if you enjoy what you hear here.

Poghosyan delivers wonderfully emotional performances here and it's obvious that she knows and loves each piece intimately.

Track listing:

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
01. Three-Fours (Valse Suite), op.71: No1 Allegro molto, A minor (2:21)
02. Three-Fours (Valse Suite), op.71: No2 Andante, A-flat Major (3:21)
03. Three-Fours (Valse Suite), op.71: No3 Allegro moderato, G minor (3:19)
04. Three-Fours (Valse Suite), op.71: No4 Vivace, D Minor (2:39)
05. Three-Fours (Valse Suite), op.71: No5 Andante molto, E-flat Major (4:00)
06. Three-Fours (Valse Suite), op.71: No6 Allegro assai, C minor (3:30)

Edvard Grieg
07. Lyric Pieces: To the Spring (3:05)
08. Lyric Pieces: March of Gnomes (3:03)
09. Lyric Pieces: Minuet (“Vanished Days”) (6:01)
10. Lyric Pieces: Wedding Day at Troldhaugen (5:58)

Komitas Vardapet
11. Six Dances for Piano: No.2 Unabi (1:50)
12. Six Dances for Piano: No.4 Shushiki (1:28)

Franz Liszt
13. 4 Rhapsodies: Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 (10:14)
14. 4 Rhapsodies: Hungarian Rhapsody No.6 (6:55)
15. 4 Rhapsodies: Hungarian Rhapsody No.7 (5:31)
16. 4 Rhapsodies: Rhapsodie Espagnole (13:46)

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Darren Rea