Debussy / Komitas: Music in Time of War Kirill Gerstein, Katia Skanavi, Thomas Adès, Ruzan Mantashyan

• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136:
• 1Debussy: 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136: I. Pour les cinq doigts · d'après Monsieur Czerny03:02
• 2Debussy: 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136: II. Pour les tierces03:58
• 3Debussy: 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136: III. Pour les quartes05:08
• 4Debussy: 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136: IV. Pour les sixtes04:13
• 5Debussy: 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136: V. Pour les octaves02:44
• 6Debussy: 12 Études, Premier Livre, L. 136: VI. Pour les huit doigts01:35
• 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136:
• 7Debussy: 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136: VII. Pour les degrés chromatiques02:29
• 8Debussy: 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136: VIII. Pour les agréments05:14
• 9Debussy: 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136: IX. Pour les notes répétées03:14
• 10Debussy: 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136: X. Pour les sonorités opposées05:07
• 11Debussy: 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136: XI. Pour les arpèges composés04:42
• 12Debussy: 12 Études, Deuxième Livre, L. 136: XII. Pour les accords04:59
• Komitas Vardapet (1869 - 1935): Armenian Dances:
• 13Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Manushaki of Vagharshapat02:49
• 14Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Yerangi of Yerevan03:21
• 15Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Unabi of Shushi02:00
• 16Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Shushiki of Vagharshapat01:52
• 17Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Marali of Shushi01:17
• 18Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Het u Aradj of Karin02:37
• 19Vardapet: Armenian Dances: Shoror of Karin05:11
• Claude Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90:
• 20Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90: I. La Flûte de Pan02:50
• 21Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90: II. La Chevelure03:12
• 22Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90: III. Le Tombeau des naïades03:03
• 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139:
• 23Debussy: 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139: I. Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d'été02:06
• 24Debussy: 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139: II. Pour un tombeau sans nom03:40
• 25Debussy: 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139: III. Pour que la nuit soit propice02:09
• 26Debussy: 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139: IV. Pour la danseuse aux crotales02:15
• 27Debussy: 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139: V. Pour l'Égyptienne03:01
• 28Debussy: 6 Épigraphes antiques, L. 139: VI. Pour remercier la pluie au matin02:04
• Komitas Vardapet: Armenian Songs:
• 29Vardapet: Armenian Songs: Tsirani tsar03:32
• 30Vardapet: Armenian Songs: Chinar es01:58
• 31Vardapet: Armenian Songs: Garoun a02:23
• 32Vardapet: Armenian Songs: Le le Yaman02:14
• 33Vardapet: Armenian Songs: Qeler Tsoler02:38
• 34Vardapet: Armenian Songs: Antouni04:58
• Claude Debussy: Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons, L. 147:
• 35Debussy: Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons, L. 14702:43
• Page d'album pour piano pour l'oeuvre du "Vêtement du blessé," L. 133:
• 36Debussy: Page d'album pour piano pour l'oeuvre du "Vêtement du blessé," L. 13301:09
• Berceuse héroïque pour rendre hommage à S.M. le roi Albert Ier de Belgique et à ses soldats, L. 132:
• 37Debussy: Berceuse héroïque pour rendre hommage à S.M. le roi Albert Ier de Belgique et à ses soldats, L. 13204:59
• Étude retrouvée, L. 143a:
• 38Debussy: Étude retrouvée, L. 143a04:21
• Élégie from Pages inédites sur la Femme et la Guerre, L. 138:
• 39Debussy: Élégie from Pages inédites sur la Femme et la Guerre, L. 13802:00
• Les Soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon, L. 150:
• 40Debussy: Les Soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon, L. 15002:05
• En blanc et noir, L. 134:
• 41Debussy: En blanc et noir, L. 134: I. À mon ami A. Koussevitzky (Avec emportement)04:33
• 42Debussy: En blanc et noir, L. 134: Au lieutenant Jacques Charlot tué à l'ennemi en 1915, le 3 mars (Lent. Sombre)06:42
• 43Debussy: En blanc et noir, L. 134: III. À mon ami Igor Stravinsky (Scherzando)04:36
• Total Runtime02:20:43

Info for Debussy / Komitas: Music in Time of War

Music in Time of War, the new double album by pianist Kirill Gerstein, places the music of Komitas, the founder of the Armenian national school of music, alongside that of Claude Debussy, who greatly admired Komitas' music. Both composers were deeply affected by the implosion of their worlds - Komitas by the genocide of the Armenians by the Turks, Debussy by the First World War. The project arose from Gerstein's fascination with the ability of music to reflect a historical narrative. He combines Debussy's 12 Etudes from 1915 with Komitas' Armenian Dances for piano, composed the following year, and also includes a selection of Debussy's late piano pieces, written to raise funds for the war effort. Gerstein is joined on the album by Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan, pianist Thomas Adès and pianist Katia Skanavi, who together perform a selection of works for voice and piano, piano four hands and two pianos. The project will be released as a double album with a book written in three languages.

The project is being released as a double album with a book written in three languages. The latter contains a series of illustrations, but above all four detailed essays by the historian Annette Becker, the historian Khatchig Mouradian, the musicologist Artur Avanesov and the composer Heinz Holliger, which deal with the effects of war and genocide on society and the reaction of artists to such events. These essays provide a socio-historical context for the music of Debussy and Komitas and their impact on creativity in times of catastrophe. The album thus epitomises both Gerstein's creative curiosity and his insightful approach to curating extraordinary projects.

Ruzan Mantashyan, soprano
Kirill Gerstein, piano
Thomas Ades, piano
Katia Skavani, piano

Ruzan Mantashyan
Armenian-born Ruzan Mantashyan studied piano from the age of seven at the Komitas Conservatoire in Yerevan. A few years later, she began voice lessons at the same institution with Valey Harutyunov. She honed her skills at Mirella Freni’s Accademia di Belcanto in Modena, then under Hedwig Fassbender at the Frankfurt Conservatoire, graduating with a Master’s Degree in 2014. She then joined the Atelier lyrique at the Opéra national de Paris, where she remained until 2016. She was a Finalist in the Francisco Vinas International Singing Contest in Barcelona, and won the competition’s Special Prize. She won the Toti dal Monte competition as Musetta (La Bohème) and performed this role in Treviso, Bolzano, Fermo and Ferrara.

At the age of seventeen, she was invited to perform in concerts with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. She performed in tribute concerts to Luciano Pavarotti in Modena. Her engagements have included roles such as Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) in Modena, Servilia (La clemenza di Tito) in Reggio Emilia, Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Konzerthaus Berlin (cond. Ivan Fischer), at the Opéra de Paris Bastille and at the Glyndebourne Festival, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) in Paris-Creteil, Lille, at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Seoul and Zurich, Micaëla (Carmen) in Montpellier and Hamburg, Xenia (Boris Godunov) at the Opéra de Paris. She attracted particular attention as Mimi (La Bohème) and Marguerite (Faust) in Geneva. ​

During the last seasons she performed Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Cleofide (Handel’s Poro, Re delle Indie) at the Komische Oper in Berlin, Mimi at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Fiordiligi and Mimi in Zurich. She also sang at the Peralada Festival with Juan Diego Florez, Fiordiligi in Hamburg, La Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) in Amsterdam, Rusalka in Limoges. ​

Productions cancelled during the Covid crisis : Mimi at the Wiener Staatsoper, Mimi in Nice and Komische Oper, Marguerite (Faust) at the Royal Opera House, Xenia (Boris Godounov) at the Opéra de Paris. ​

Recently, Ruzan has sung: Natacha Rostova (War and Peace) in Geneva, Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) in Liège, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) in Zurich, Tatyana and Alice Ford (Falstaff) at the Komische Oper Berlin and Rachel (La Juive) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Her projects for the 2022/23 season and the following ones: Tatyana in Hamburg, Donna Elvira in Glyndebourne, Donna Elvira in Zürich, Tatyana at the Komische Oper Berlin, Mimì at the Royal Opera House- London, and Tatyana at the Wiener Staatsoper…

Kirill Gerstein
From Bach to Adès, pianist Kirill Gerstein’s playing is distinguished by a ferocious technique and discerning intelligence, matched with an energetic, imaginative musical presence that places him at the top of the international profession, with solo and concerto engagements taking him from Europe to the United States, East Asia and Australia. Born in the former Soviet Union, Gerstein is an American citizen based in Berlin whose heritage combines the traditions of Russian, American and Central European music-making with an insatiable curiosity. These qualities and the relationships that he has developed with orchestras, conductors, instrumentalists, singers and composers, have led him to explore a huge spectrum of repertoire both new and old.

In the coming season, Gerstein will feature as a Spotlight Artist with the London Symphony Orchestra, performing four concerti across the season at the orchestra’s Barbican Centre home and on tour, including Adès with Antonio Pappano, Rachmaninov and Ravel with Susanna Mälkki, and Gershwin with Simon Rattle. Gerstein’s flair for curation recently also found expression as Artist-in-Residence with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, in presenting a three-part concert series entitled ‘Busoni and His World’ at London’s Wigmore Hall, and as resident artist at the Festival Aix-en-Provence.

Elsewhere during 2023-24 season, Gerstein will return to orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus with Nelsons, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Ticciati, Orchestre national de France with Măcelaru, Rotterdam Philharmonic with Shani, Boston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic with Adès, Munich Philharmonic with Popelka, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala with Harding, Orchestre national de Lyon with Szeps-Znaider, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecila with Kavakos and with Hrůša, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich with Payare, Minnesota Orchestra with Søndergård, and the radio orchestras of Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Cologne, among others. In recital, Gerstein will reprise with Christian Tetzlaff Suite from The Tempest for violin and piano, which was written for them by Thomas Adès, for premières in New York, Washington, and Boston. Gerstein will also appear in solo recital at Carnegie Hall New York, Chamber Music Napa Valley, the Vienna Konzerthaus, and the Abu Dhabi Festival among others.

Thomas Adès
exemplifies a generation of composers who drew upon the long history of symphonic music but rethought those traditional forms with a postmodern eye and sometimes ironic distancing. A prodigious composer, conductor, and pianist, Adès was born in London in 1971. His singular body of work is crowned by three critically acclaimed operas: Powder Her Face (1995), The Tempest (2004), and The Exterminating Angel (2016), as well as the ballet Dante (2019-20). The recipient of numerous awards, including the 2015 Léonie Sonning Music Prize and the 2000 Grawemeyer Award (for his 1997 orchestral work Asyla), Adès was Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival for a decade and has conducted many of the world’s greatest orchestras, including Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, the Los Angeles Philhamonic, the New York Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 he became the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Artistic Partner; he premiered his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Kirill Gerstein as soloist with that orchestra in March 2019. He performs worldwide as a pianist, and coaches annually at the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove.

Booklet for Debussy / Komitas: Music in Time of War