Kirill Karabits - Avet Rubeni Terterian: Symphony Nos. 3 and 4 (2022) [Hi-Res]

Richard Hanlon - Recording of the year 2019

“There have been many articles and broadcasts in the last few weeks marking the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In musical terms, one of the eventual consequences of this event was the exposure to Western ears of two or three generations of composers from countries whose unique cultural identities were largely obliterated by absorption into the Soviet Union. Figures such as Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Denisov, Pärt, Kancheli and Vasks were quickly recognised as important and their works began to appear on concert programmes and discs with increasing frequency. Three decades on their lesser-known contemporaries are being rediscovered and reappraised, one of whom is the Armenian Avet Terterian. His imposing and exotic symphonies are as unique and exhilarating in their own way as Leifs’ orchestral works. So it is good to see his Third and Fourth Symphonies coupled on a thrilling new Chandos disc recorded in the unlikely setting of The Lighthouse in Poole. Kirill Karabits makes an illuminating guide while the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra reveal an unexpectedly idiomatic and instinctive grasp of Terterian’s singular sound world.”

MusicWeb-International.com - 2019