Pianist Kariné Poghosyan performing at New York’s National Opera Center

NEW YORK—Critically acclaimed Armenian-American pianist Kariné Poghosyan presents her Recital Broadcasts on Last Sundays on Sunday, December 29, 2024 at 4 p.m. at the National Opera Center’s Scorca Hall at 330 Seventh Avenue in New York to a limited live audience. The latest edition of her broadcasts on Patreon is titled “From My CDs” Recital 4: Ballets, featuring a towering program of Aram Khachaturian’s “Adagio,” from the ballet Spartacus, arranged by M. Cameron; Igor Stravinsky’s Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka; Aram Khachaturian’s “Oror” (“Lullaby”), from the ballet Gayaneh, arranged by K. Poghosyan; and Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, arranged by Guido Agosti. Described as “The Powerhouse Pianist,” “extraordinary” and “larger than life,” the award-winning pianist has been praised for her “ability to get to the heart of the works she performs.” Recital Broadcasts on Last Sundays is sponsored by Seta Nazarian, in memory of her mother Artemis Nazarian. With her broadcast series of live performances, Kariné Poghosyan has changed the way audiences listen to and absorb classical music. Her superb pianism, warm demeanor and electric energy offer an uplifting, educational and captivating experience. Capable of performing the world’s greatest classical masterpieces with virtuosic technical mastery and passion, she lives every note of every piece she plays, uniquely enchanting her audiences in a magical musical adventure. Her performances exemplify the difference between listening to music and truly experiencing music. As such, they ultimately bring a fresh excitement to the classical realm that transcends generations. Tickets for the December 29 performance are available online only: $50; $25 Patreon members. Watch the broadcast recital at https://www.patreon.com/karinepoghosyan. Poghosyan shared the following about the upcoming performance. “The theme of Ballets for the conclusion of our 2024 monthly series is deeply meaningful to me. I do not share the following details about my childhood often, but my heartfelt dream as a little girl was to be a ballerina. I apparently would break into some creative interpretative dance the moment I would hear any music! As a child, I felt music in my bones and the expression of it through dance came so naturally. Even after committing to the piano, that deep love of dance never subsided — just morphed into my own distinctly personal style of piano playing. Along with this theme, I am also exhilarated to highlight the work of two composers who have defined so much of my artistic journey — Khachaturian and Stravinsky! The Armenian master Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) excelled in a wide array of genres, from small-scale miniatures to epic concertos and symphonies. One of the genres that allowed his unique compositional voice to pierce through the most was the ballet. His two ballets, Gayaneh and Spartacus, include some of the most beloved pieces of music ever composed. Yes, the famous ‘Sabre Dance’ from Gayaneh is one of them. Indeed, NPR dubbed it ‘one of the catchiest, most familiar — perhaps most maddening — tunes to come out of the 20th century.’ In 1948, the ‘Sabre Dance’ became a jukebox hit in the U.S., prompting Newsweek to suggest that it be called the ‘Khachaturian Year’ in the United States. Interestingly, New York Times critic Harold Schonberg stated that Khachaturian’s ‘little whirling piece occupies the same place in his output that the C-sharp minor Prelude did in Rachmaninoff’s.’ This is a poignant comparison, for Khachaturian came to despise his popular work, as much as Rachmaninoff had his own Prelude! For this reason, I almost never play it. Instead, I have selected two other beloved works from his ballets — the stunning love duet ‘Adagio’ from Spartacus, as well as the sweet ‘Oror’ (‘Lullaby’) from Gayaneh. I have shared often just how extraordinarily inspiring Khachaturian’s journey is to me! Unlike so many wunderkinds of the classical music universe, he did not begin to properly study music until the age of 19, in 1921. Thus, the next two decades of the 1930s-40s were filled with creative growth and productivity of colossal proportions. His 1942 Gayaneh came on the heels of several major works that had secured Khachaturian’s name among the most important ‘Soviet’ composers of his time. The 1954 Spartacus, however, had a meaning of a much deeper personal nature. Khachaturian connected to the story of the famous slave rising up to face an evil empire, as a mirror of his own narrative: the great creative soul being controlled and pressured by the Stalinist regime. His ‘Adagio,’ with its fervently soaring hopeful melody, is to me the musical epitome of good overcoming evil. My introduction to Stravinsky ballets took place in Yerevan, when my parents took me to an Armenian philharmonic concert. I was excited to hear my beloved Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in the first half. Then, to my horror, in the second half, the orchestra plunged into something that sounded like madness! I did not know whether to cry, laugh or simply ask my parents to save me from that sonic assault and take me home. Who on earth was the composer of this utterly chaotic piece that had audaciously yanked me from my heavenly Tchaikovsky ‘happy place’ and hurled me down, straight into hell?! Well, that was my introduction to one of music history’s most revolutionary works — The Rite of Spring! Gratefully, a mere few years later I matured enough to appreciate Stravinsky’s genius. You see, in the world of music, there are great artists, masterful composers, people of extraordinary talents. And then…there are these rare few ‘don’t give a damn’ madmen, who tornado their way into the world like the Tasmanian devil and change reality as we know it! Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) is one of these great madmen. He changed the trajectory of music history with the very work my innocent young ears were so jarred by. His first success came in Paris, as Sergei Diaghilev, the director of the legendary ballet company Ballet Russe, commissioned him to write his three masterpieces — the 1910 Firebird, 1911 Petrouchka and the 1913 Rite of Spring, forever establishing Stravinsky as not just a gifted composer but the most fearless innovator. Picasso, the composer’s good friend, had a famous motto — learn all the rules so you can break them. Well, Stravinsky certainly did just that! Petrouchka is a magical tale of a puppet coming to life, falling in love and being betrayed. It begins with the folkloric Dance Russe and proceeds onto the dramatic Chez Petrouchka (‘Petrouchka’s Room’), where all the noise dies down, and we get to know the full array of the lead character’s genuine feelings. It all concludes in a grand Carnival-like atmosphere of the finale — La Semaine Grasse (‘the Shrovetide Fair’). Our program concludes with the work that introduced the world to the name Stravinsky — his first ballet russe, The Firebird. The opening ‘Dance Infernale’ shows the evil Katshei abducting the Princess; then, in the sweet ‘Berceuse,’ we see the magical Firebird creature lull Katchei to sleep, helping the Prince rescue his beloved; and in the stunning ‘Finale,’ all evil is defeated, and we come together in a triumphant jubilation! It is also a symbolic celebration of the virtually unknown Stravinsky in 1910 triumphing himself, as this ballet premiered to give rise to such a remarkable compositional journey. It is my sincerest joy to share this special program of such iconic masterpieces with you all, and I hope you will enjoy it. Thank you for such a rewarding year of music and I cannot wait to begin our newest 2025 series titled ‘12 notes.’”

Pianist Kariné Poghosyan performing at New York’s National Opera Center

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