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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.
This 2025/26 season Sergey’s international presence is sustained by performances with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Tugan Sokhiev), Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (Maxim Emelyanychev), Wiener KammerOrchester (Jan Willem de Vriend), Orquestra Sinfonica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (Eun Sun Kim), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Alain Altinoglu), and Taipei Symphony (Alexander Liebreich), as well as in North America including San Francisco Symphony (David Afkham), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Pietari Inkinen), Cleveland Orchestra (Rafael Payare), and National Symphony Orchestra Washington (Simone Young).
Sergey’s recent appearances in North America include with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Tarmo Peltokoski), Seattle Symphony (Ludovic Morlot), and Montréal Symphony Orchestra (Rafael Payare). He has also visited the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra, 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 and Lusine’s most recent album My Armenia released by naïve, dedicated to the 100th commemoration of the Armenian genocide, has been awarded the Echo Klassik for Chamber Music Recording 20th-21st Century/Mixed Ensemble. Together they have also recorded Brahms' Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Sergey’s discography on the label 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.
Highlights of the previous seasons include Sergey’s residency with 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 Orchestre National de Belgique and Hugo Wolff. Re-invitations included the RAI National Symphony Orchestra (Kirill Karabits), Lyon National Orchestra (Nikolaj Znaider), Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Myung-Whun Chung), Frankfurter Museumsorchester (Michael Sanderling), Gävle Symfoniorkester (Case Scaglione) and a Spanish tour with Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (Joana Carneiro).
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 Vienna Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel as the recipient of the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award.
Sergey plays the 1724 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin on a kind loan from the Stretton Society.
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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Season highlights
7
May
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Representation