XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow, 2011: Gold Medal
Described by the Washington Post as “a seasoned phenomenon”, Narek Hakhnazaryan was propelled on to the international scene when he won the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the 2011 XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition. Throughout the competition, Hakhnazaryan impressed a distinguished jury which included Sir Clive Gillinson, Mario Brunello, David Geringas, Ralph Kirschbaum, Lynn Harrell and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Following the competition, Hakhnazaryan has made a number of high level debuts, including with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall in London conducted by Valery Gergiev, where he was described by the Guardian as “the brightest star of the evening …a cellist of real maturity whose performance of the Variations on a Rococo Theme was characterful and well-judged”. Hakhnazaryan has received similarly warm responses from audiences in Milan with the Verdi Orchestra and Xian Zhang, Tokyo with the Tokyo Symphony and Ken Takaseki, in recital at Salle Pleyel in Paris, Universita la Sapienza in Rome, and across Europe and the United States.
Forthcoming engagements include debuts with the Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, NDR Hamburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic, La Scala Filarmonica, Milan, Vienna Chamber and Tonkünstler Orchestras. Recital and chamber concerts will include appearances at Salle Pleyel Paris, Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Verbier Festival.
Narek Hakhnazaryan was born in 1988 in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians: his father was a violinist and his mother a pianist. Hakhnazaryan’s early studies were at the Sayat-Nova School of Music in Yerevan with Zareh Sarkisyan and subsequently at the Moscow Conservatory with Alexey Seleznyov. Hakhnazaryan has received scholarships from the Rostropovich Russian Performing Arts Fund, and his prizes include First Prize in the 2006 Aram Khachaturian International Competition in Armenia and First Place in the 2006 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players. Working with Lawrence Lesser, he received an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2011.
As First Prize winner in the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Hakhnazaryan made his debut in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, sponsored by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Prize, and in Washington, DC. In May 2012, Hakhnazaryan will give his New York concerto debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall as part of the Young Concert Artists gala with the Orchestra of St Luke’s.
Narek Hakhnazaryan plays a 1698 David Tecchler cello, on loan from Valentine Saarmaa, granddaughter of the renowned luthier Jacques Francais.
Narek Hakhnazaryan is represented by Hannah Cooke at Intermusica, hcooke@intermusica.co.uk
2012 Biography / 423 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
Piatigorsky International Cello Festival / Bovard Auditorium Los Angeles
Saint Saens Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor
"The most attention-getting soloist was Narek Hakhnazaryan in Saint-Saëns' First Cello Concerto.
[Hakhnazaryan] got a near rock star ovation from an audience of screaming cellists in Bovard.... His command of the instrument is extraordinary, and he is clearly going places. He is an assured, flamboyant, old-school Romantic."
Los Angeles Times, March 2012
The Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda, Maryland USA
Franck, Chopin, Shostakovich
“Hakhnazaryan impresses you with a degree of freedom that comes hard-won from discipline of the highest order.
Hakhnazaryan’s talent was obvious from the opening phrase of Franck’s late Sonata. Whether pianissimo or triple forte, his bow was ever emphatic, and his emotive power and subjective intensity captured the listener immediately, never letting go.
Shostakovich’s Op. 40 demands control and fortitude from both players. On Thursday it was all there with both players evenly matched… Throughout the sonata, the musicians underscored the music’s overwhelming sense of inevitability. This was most obviously felt in the driving pulse of the outer Allegros and most subtly in the Largo, charging forward with the epic breadth of the Russian steppes. The finale’s jaunty contrapuntal interplay erupted into a blazing firestorm, as if endlessly toying with a listener’s expectations.
Hakhnazaryan’s two blazing encores weren’t enough for the audience, who clamored for more."
Washington Post, February 2012
Boston Chamber Music Society / Schumann Fantasiestücke
“It very could well have been called a hero’s welcome. It was obvious that the BCMS audience immediately recognized his total engagement in performing one of Schumann’s favorite chamber pieces, Fantasiestücke, Opus 73. Under his astute purview, these three fantasy movements achieved unexpected depth, not in a dream-like way but rather by way of remarkable understanding. Phrase by phrase, Hakhnazaryan moved forward in a thoroughly tangible, clean interpretation with an understanding born of a distinct youthfulness in the music with which this young cellist identified in a most “direct” manner. In Lebhaft, leicht (lively, light), as the second movement is marked, Hakhnazaryan zipped, never looking back, always looking forward, maybe a moment here or there to reflect. Surely from my vantage point he never once flirted with Romantic daydreaming. His sound had degrees of richness, fineness, muteness and flair—the complete bundle!”
The Boston Musical Intelligencer, October 2011
“Why Hakhnazaryan is so highly touted became clear during his performance of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, on the program’s first half. He gets a radiant sound from his instrument, phrases naturally, and has superb bow control. Perhaps the most impressive thing was that he made it seem so fluid and effortless, even in the vigorous third piece. Here is a musician on the fast track, and deservedly so.”
Boston Globe, October 2011
London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev / Barbican Hall / Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme
“The brightest star of the evening was the 23-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan, an Armenian cellist of real maturity whose performance of the Variations on a Rococo Theme was characterful and well-judged. Playing on a lovely instrument, Hakhnazaryan had the restraint to remain within the conventions of Tchaikovsky's idiosyncratic piece of Russian retro. But he also has the confidence to bring his own personality to the score and to respond to Gergiev's impulsive pushes.”
The Guardian, September 2011
“23-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan launched into Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with a tone whose beauty shone all the more brightly for its restraint. Every nuance of this subtle work was lovingly observed, and when he did let rip it was with blazing virtuosity. I would now like to hear what this boy can do with Bach’s solo suites: he could certainly give Yo-Yo Ma a run for his money.”
The Independent, September 2011
“Assigned Tchaikovsky’s mercurial Variations on a Rococo theme, the 23-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan unspooled his rich, very Russian timbre over these delicious variations with unhurried grace and fluency … I doubt this is the last British audiences will see of this cellist.”
The Times, September 2011
NEC Symphony Orchestra / Hugh Wolff / Boston Symphony Hall/ Schumann Cello Concerto
“Mr. Hakhnazaryan is a supremely gifted young man. We were treated, therefore, to a high-powered, commanding reading with awesome predestination. As an encore, Mr. Hakhnazaryan tossed off with enormous agility and aplomb a Georgian folk dance entirely in pizzicato with strumming and perfectly crystalline bell-like harmonics.”
The Boston Musical Intelligencer, April 2010
Recital: Buffalo Chamber Music Society / Schumann, Beethoven, Rachmaninov
“It was a wonderfully expressive performance, full of appropriate autumnal resonances.The recital concluded with Rostropovich’s Humoresque, a finger busting exercise in rapid bowing, superbly played, to a standing vocal ovation.”
The Buffalo News, 2009
Recital: Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall / Schumann, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov
“Mr Hakhnazaryan projected intensity from the moment he took the stage. A hearty response from the audience brought two encores. To the very end, his intense focus and expressive artistry never flagged.”
The New York Times, October 2008
Recital: Terrace Theatre, Kennedy Center, Washington / Schumann, Beethoven, Rachmaninov
“Narek Hakhnazaryan is a phenomenal cellist. Watching talent of this age on this level is always a thrill. He produces a powerful and colourful sound in all registers, nails every big shift and flashes all the virtuoso’s tricks with insolent ease. He should have a stellar career.”
The Washington Post, October 2008
Recital: Terrace Theatre, Kennedy Center, Washington / Schumann, Beethoven, Rachmaninov
“Hakhnazaryan gave an eloquent and fearless performance. A young Piatagorsky would have been proud of such rhythms, such confident sound. This cellist is 16. It has been more years than that since I have heard a performance as strong and right.”
San Francisco Classical Voice, February 2005
Moscow Chamber Orchestra / Haydn Concerto in C major
“He has great power and a creative core that makes you listen to his music. In the near future, we will see Narek Hakhnazaryan’s name among the most sought-after musicians”.
The Voice of Armenia