KHACHATURIAN: Suites [CD de audio] Bolshoi Theathre Orchestra, Khachaturian and Svetlanov

Aram Khachaturian, 20th century Armenian composer, kept the Soviet authorities happy: his music is accessible, melodious, dramatic, folkloric and glorifies victory over the forces of evil. The Spartacus and Gayane ballet suites are very popular, not in vain because of the Saber Dance and the Spartacus Adagio, which have been used in many advertisements, films and television series. There is no better champion for this sumptuous orchestral music than the great conductor Evgeny Svetlanov and his Bolshoi forces, displaying enough refinement and taste to avoid bombastic emptiness. Along with Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Khachaturian was one of the most famous and celebrated composers of the Soviet Union. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, his early musical influences were the folk music of Georgia and his ancestral homeland, Armenia. His ballet Gayaneh, composed in 1942, tapped into this passion for his Armenian heritage; Set on a collective farm, its story deals with the triumph of love and loyalty to the country over the themes of betrayal that would keep Stalin happy. Khachaturian's ballet Spartacus, written in 1956, was based on the famous story of the Greek slave turned gladiator and his defeat of the Roman general Crassus. Composed in the final years of Stalin's regime, Khachaturian and his audience were drawn to the theme of resistance against tyranny. Varios movements from these ballets have taken on a life outside the original ballet suites, for example Gayaneh's Saber Dance and the famous Adagio from Spartacus, ensuring that these wonderfully colorful ballet suites have become firm favorites in the world. concert hall.