Review: Narek Hakhnazaryan cello recital - impeccable technique, luminous tone
Those who witnessed brilliant young Armenian’s enchanting debut will remember where they heard him first - this musician is going places
When Narek Hakhnazaryan becomes a familiar name - and it will - people will think back to his Hong Kong debut recital, in which the young Armenian-born cellist enchanted the audience with his impeccable technique and luminous tone in an all-French programme.
The first singing note from his cello, in Faure’s Élégie, seemed to expand the concert hall itself. The lines were long and connected, the music romantic but restrained and elegant.
Hakhnazaryan had eloquent control of his bow arm and shaded the tones with endless variety. The pitch was as pure as ice water no matter how daring the leaps. Pianist Noreen Polera also drew the audience into the piece’s poetic world with her sensitive touch and timing.
Debussy’s Cello Sonata demands a different, cooler approach. The delicate motifs sound best in a calm, still voice, and can’t take much drama and drive.
In the Finale the fast passages were sometimes slighted, speed winning out over clarity and enunciation. Hakhnazaryan’s exuberance will no doubt mellow enough over time to make these passages as beautiful as the more intense ones are now. But still, his interpretation was lively and interesting – pizzicato sections sounded wild and grotesque in a good way.
Camille Saint-Saëns’ Allegro Appassionato was ideally suited to Hakhnazaryan’s personality. He gambolled through the music like a young colt, dazzling with his left-hand agility on the fingerboard as well as his dexterity with the bow.
Fauré’s Papillon, or Butterfly, resembles Rimsky Korsakov’s perpetual-motion Flight of the Bumblebee. Although it was almost too fast to hear the pitches, it was still fun.
