San Francisco Chronicle, USA
CD: Isabel Bayrakdarian, ‘Gomidas Songs’
Joshua Kosman
Friday, September 26, 2008
Over the past few years, the Armenian Canadian soprano Isabel
Bayrakdarian has lavished her gorgeous, dark-hued tone and
communicative power on a range of music, from Baroque display pieces
to Mahler’s Second to Jake Heggie’s Broadway-Baroque hybrid "To Hell
and Back." Her new project, which will form the cornerstone of her San
Francisco Performances recital in Herbst Theatre on Saturday, focuses
on the work of the Armenian composer Gomidas Vartabed (often
transliterated Komitas Vardapet). Gomidas’ songs – this CD includes 20
of them – encompass religious chants, folk tunes, love songs and more,
and although there is a certain sameness to the structures, the
variety of mood and melody is broad enough to keep a listener’s
attention. Certainly Bayrakdarian’s singing, with its tender clarity
and ripe urgency, gives these songs the force they need. The
accompaniments, by members of the Armenian Philharmonic and pianist
Serouj Kradjian, are sweetly evocative.
Classical
ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN
GOMIDAS SONGS
NONESUCH
$16.98
This article appeared on page N – 48 of the San Francisco Chronicle
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
