Khachaturian: Spartacus & Gayaneh (excerpts)

"...all this is a preamble to the present disc, so outstandingly played by the excellent Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits." --Gramophone, February 2011

"Karabits is not that far from the composer himself, in terms of giving the music nobility and downplaying the 'wow' factor. He almost never states the obvious. Onyx's atmospheric, wide - ranging sound does its share to put these performances across as well - none of the comparison recordings comes close....This bodes well for Karabits and the Bournemouth S.O. Next release from them: Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky." --International Record Review, January 2011

Gramophone February 2011
Editors Choice

'...all this is a preamble to the present disc, so outstandingly played by the excellent Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits.

He is totally sympathetic to Khachaturian's music and includes most of the best numbers from both
ballets, including, from Gayaneh the Lezginka, Dance of the Girls, an engaging Scene and Dance , the deliciously sinuous pas de deux for Aysha and Gayaneh and Aysha's Monologue. The playing truly catches the eastern Armenian flavour which makes Khachaturian's music so seductive.

The selection from Spartacus includes six highlights including the Introduction to Act 2 and dance of the Nymphs, the delicate Adagio of Aegina and Harmodius, the contrasting, sprightly Variation of Aegina and Bacchanalia, The Scene and Dance Crotala, and a passionate account of the justly famous Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia. This is now easily the best disc of Khachaturian's ballet music in the catalogue, full of vibrant life and seductive lyricism, and the recording (made this year in the Lighthouse, Poole) is first class in every way." --Ivan March