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Sayat, Nova, Bach-Busoni, Debussy, Chopin, Komitas<div> Sayat – Nova: Kani vur djan im</div><div> Bach-Busoni: Chaconne</div><div> Debussy: La plus que lente, waltz for piano</div><div> Chopin: Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante op.22</div><div> Komitas: Vagharshabat Dance</div><div><br></div><div> The French-Armenian pianist Vardan Mamikonian comes from a family of musicians. He began his piano studies at the Spendiarian Music School in Yerevan, under the tutelage of Arkui Haroutunian. He continued his training at the Central Music School in Moscow and then at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Valery Kastelsky, one of the last pupils of the legendary pedagogue Heinrich Neuhaus. He later furthered his studies with Lazar Berman at the Piano Academia in Imola, Italy. Vardan Mamikonian settled in Paris in 1991. In 1992, he won the World Music Masters competition in Monte Carlo, a competition reserved exclusively for winners of international competitions.</div><div><br></div><div> "Mamikonian has the sound of Gilels, the elegance of Freire." – Alain Lompech</div><div> His latest CD, "Invitation to the Dance," dedicated to Chopin, Debussy, Bach, Liszt, Babajanian, and Khachaturian, was noted by the leading German and Austrian magazine Fono Forum, which awarded him the highest distinction of 5 Stars for interpretation and 5 Stars for sound: "...a dazzling, ambitious, and highly virtuosic solo program... his exquisitely refined playing highlights the rebellious and complex aspects of the score."</div><div><br></div>