SERGEY KHACHATRYAN: HE’S DAZZLED THE ORCHESTRAL WORLD – NOW THE VIOLINIST IS KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
By Hugh Montgomery

The New Review
March 15, 2009
UK

"I never counted myself as a child prodigy," says violinist Sergey
Khachatryan. Others may beg to differ. Born in Armenia, he first
picked up the violin aged five, only because his mother, father,
and sister Lusine (pictured here with Sergey) were all pianists and
another would have been "too much for one house". Within five years
the family had moved to Germany and Sergey was playing concertos with
professional orchestras. By 15, he had become the youngest-ever winner
of the Sibelius violin competition in Helsinki.

A dizzy career ascent, then, but one during which he remained
level-headed. "You see other young violinists getting complexes
about going on stage because of the pressure put on them by parents
and teachers, but that was never the case with me," he says. "I was
going to a normal school and having a normal child’s life."

Now 23, Khachatryan has been repeatedly acclaimed for an
expressiveness beyond his years; one critic described his performance
of Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto at the 2005 Proms as "one
of the most mature and complete interpretations of this piece it is
possible to imagine".

Aside from his orchestral work, he regularly partners his sister in
recitals: they’re at the Wigmore Hall this week, offering a programme
of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bach.

Whatever may lie ahead, his main concern is conserving the passion
that has propelled him this far. "You see many of today’s artists go
out on stage and you can tell they’re there because it’s their ‘job’
– I’m afraid of that word. Every time I go out on stage, I want to
be in a special state, to create a special atmosphere." *

Sergey and Lusine Khachatryan play the Wigmore Hall, London W1,
on Wednesday (, 020 7935 2141)