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Sergey Khachatryan
In this album, Sergey Khachatryan presents the first recording of Ysaÿe's 6 Solo Sonatas Op. 27 on the Guarneri del Gesù violin that belonged to the composer.
The Armenian violinist delivers an interpretation of heightened feelings, where what might otherwise come across as impish is deliberately turned into something fierce (the Prelude of Sonata No. 2, which uses the opening motif of Bach’s Partita No. 3), or that which is merely imitative becomes wild and relentless (the Finale of Sonata No. 4). He wilfully emphasises the popular inspiration underlying the complete collection, here replete with shadings and a sumptuousness previously unheard.
Biography
Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Sergey Khachatryan won First Prize at the VIII International Jean Sibelius Competition in Helsinki in 2000, becoming the youngest ever winner in the history of the competition. In 2005 he claimed First Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
In 2024/25 season, Sergey’s international presence is sustained by performances with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (Cristian Măcelaru), the Lyon National Orchestra (Nikolaj Znaider), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Myung-Whun Chung), the Montréal Symphony Orchestra (Rafael Payare), the Frankfurter Museumsorchester (Michael Sanderling), the Orquesta de Valencia (Alexander Liebrich), the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Tarmo Peltokoski), the Gävle Symfoniorkester (Case Scaglione) and a Spanish tour with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (Joana Carneiro).
His recent appearances in the United States include with the Seattle Symphony (Ludovic Morlot), the Cleveland Orchestra (Jakub Hrůša) and the National Symphony Orchestra Washington (Vasily Petrenko). He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony as well as the Ravinia, Aspen, Blossom and Mostly Mozart Festivals. The most recent North American Tour with the Armenian National Philharmonic included such destinations as Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Maison Symphonique in Montreal, and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Sergey regularly performs as a duo with his sister, pianist Lusine Khachatryan. Together, they have given recitals at the Wigmore Hall (London), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Cité de la Musique (Paris), Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Brucknerhaus Linz, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Auditori Nacional (Madrid), Philharmonie Luxembourg, Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall (New York), and Herbst Theater (San Francisco).
Sergey and Lusine’s most recent album My Armenia released by Naïve Records, dedicated to the 100th commemoration of the Armenian genocide, has been awarded the Echo Klassik for Chamber Music Recording (20th/21st Century). Together, they have also recorded Brahms Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Sergey’s discography on Naïve Records also includes the Sibelius and Khachaturian concerti with Sinfonia Varsovia and Emmanuel Krivine, both Shostakovich concerti with the Orchestre National de France and Kurt Masur, a recording of the Shostakovich and Franck sonatas for violin and piano and the complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin by J. S. Bach.
His latest recording Ysaÿe Sonatas Op. 27 for Naïve Records was released in March 2024 and is the winner of the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (Chamber Music): in this album he presents the first recording of Ysaÿe’s 6 Solo Sonatas performed on the composer’s Guarneri del Gesù violin.
Highlights of the previous seasons include Sergey’s residency with the Orquesta de Valencia, comprising of several concerts conducted by Alexander Liebreich including a chamber project, Sergey’s residency at the BOZAR in Brussels which comprised of a pair of recitals and a concert with the Orchestre National de Belgique and Hugo Wolff. Re-invitations included the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Rotterdam and Antwerp Symphony Orchestras, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Sergey also embarked on a tour of the US and Europe with Alisa Weilierstein and Inon Barnatan with a programme entitled “Transfigured Nights” featuring the music of Beethoven, Schoenberg and Shostakovich. Other recent projects included a tour of Japan with the Nippon Foundation and in 2015 Sergey performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at the Lucerne Festival with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Gustavo Dudamel as the recipient of the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award.
Video gallery
Sibelius - Violin Concerto
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Bruch - Violin Concerto n. 1
Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia
Brahms - Violin Concerto in D major
Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
Sogomon Komitas - Krunk
Dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915
Sergey & Lusine Khachatryan - BOZAR
Sergey & Lusine Khachatryan - La Grange au Lac
Prokofiev: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2
The elective affinity between Brahms and Beethoven according to Myung-Whun Chung
Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan captures the Brahmsian warmth and weariness perfectly - his playing transforms into a nostalgic longing for a lost world, precisely the story Brahms intended to tell us. The audience erupted in triumphant applause, with the orchestra joining in by stamping their feet and applauding the conductor in turn.
Torino, concerto Chung/Khachatryan/Santa Cecilia
[…] an exceptional soloist like Sergey Khachatryan, Armenian violinist of impeccable technique, who can absorb, develop, and intensify the ideas coming from the podium with refined sensitivity. [...] Even in the final movement, Chung and Khachatryan seem to prioritize dramatic expression over virtuosic display. His encores, which Khachatryan generously offered to an enthusiastic audience, remained in a lyrical vein: the Allemande from Eugène Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 4 and the traditional Armenian song Havoun Havoun (Gregory of Narek) - further demonstrations of this artist's stunning capabilities.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Symphonic Dances concert
From the opening phrase of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, one could sense Sergey Khachatryan’s determination to put his own passionate stamp on its well-mannered melodies. Conductor and orchestra were in total accord, as textures swelled and billowed around him.
Sergey Khachatryan vole la vedette au concert-dégustation du Festival de Colmar
Khachatryan n’est pas le seul violoniste à cultiver une technicité à toute épreuve. Mais il est l’un des rares à savoir la transcender par une vision artistique d’une clarté limpide et d’une expressivité bouleversante. Tous les passages chantants sont entonnés avec une vocalité qui donne la chair de poule [...] Khachatryan se lance dans le finale [de Concerto d’Aram Khatchatourian] en donnant à son refrain tout le mélange de netteté virtuose et de vista populaire qu’il exige, avec un sens du rythme bluffant. Ovation.
Fin de saison à l'OPMC avec Sergey Khachatryan
Sergey Khachatryan with the Sinfónica de Galicia: warmth and melancholy
With Khachatryan we enjoyed a first-rate violinist who astonished, beyond his overwhelming technique, by the warmth and density of his sound, enriched by his vibrato, full but natural, and by the deep sound at the top of his low string.
Cleveland Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša
Photo gallery
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Representation