KHACHATURIAN, ARAM IL’YICH (1903–1978)

The Maltese pianist Charlene Farrugia studied with Dolores Amodio and then Diana Ketler at the Royal Academy of Music in London. For several years subsequently she was mentored by Boris Petrushansky. She gained her doctorate in performance under Kenneth Hamilton with a thesis on piano repertory for the left hand. In 2018 she received Malta’s International Achievement Award. For her contribution to the music profession she was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2020. An ambassador of EMMA for Peace, the Euro Mediterranean Music Academy, under the auspices of UNESCO, she is now professor of piano at the Music Academy, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia. For more information, visit www.charlenefarrugia.com.

Although Khachaturian was a relatively late starter as a composer, the majority of his works date from the earlier half of his career. These include three symphonies (1934, 1943 and 1947), concertos for piano, violin and cello (1936, 1940 and 1946), and the ballets Gayaneh (1942) and Spartacus (1954). Thereafter his conducting and administration duties left much less time for composition, though mention ought to be made of the Concerto-Rhapsodies for violin, for cello and for piano (1961, 1963 and 1968), as well as unaccompanied sonatas for cello, violin and viola (1974–6) that marked a belated return to chamber music. He also left a number of piano works, along with numerous scores for theatre and cinema—the suites of which, along with those from his ballets, kept his name alive in the concert hall despite the absence of larger symphonic works. Not in doubt is the expressive immediacy of his music, with its sensuous yet direct melodic writing, highly resourceful orchestration and elemental rhythmic drive—resulting in a popularity equalled by very few composers of his generation.