J Bach S / Grigoryan - Variations Serieuses [CD]

Award-winning Armenian pianist Lilit Grigoryan explores the art of the variation in her new recording with Orchid Classics entitled Variations Serieuses. In stunning interpretations combining both virtuosity and integrity, Lilit Grigoryan takes the listener on a journey through this art form, from Busoni's breathtaking re-imagining of the majestic Chaconne from J.S. Bach's D minor violin Partita, to Beethoven's 32 Variations, which range between extreme technical difficulty and expressive moments of quiet simplicity, to Mendelssohn's grand Variations sérieuses. Alongside these giants of the repertoire are some more rarely-heard gems: Bizet's sinuous and innovative chromatic variations, and youthful late-Romantic colour from Polish composer Szymanowski. Born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1985, Lilit Grigoryan started to play piano at the age of seven at the Al. Spendiaryan Music School. She was a student at the Komitas Yerevan State Conservatory before she entered the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock in the class of Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit in April 2014. She graduated in Rostock with the highest distinction. From 2012 to 2016 Lilit Grigoryan was also Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium.