Dmitry Yablonsky, the conductor, made his orchestral debut as a cellist and conductor at age nine with Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major.
Composer Biography
Kara Karayev, the composer, was born in Baku, which he called 'an enormous, multi-voiced symphony', and his father was a famous professor of medicine while his mother was a talented pianist.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Karayev's compositions are deeply influenced by his native Azerbaijani music, which he considered his 'native language' and from which he did not want to break away.
Composer Biography
Kara Karayev studied composition with Dmitry Shostakovich, becoming one of his brightest students, and assimilated aspects of Shostakovich's style into his own.
Recording & Production
This album marks the first time that Karayev's Symphony No. 3, Leyla and Mejnun, and Don Quixote have appeared on compact disc.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Karayev believed that 'East and West co-existed' within him, and his works reflect this blend of influences, including Albanian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Bulgarian, Spanish, African, and Arabic music.
Compositional Technique
Karayev's Third Symphony was one of the first large-scale Soviet works to use serialism, which he combined with elements of national tradition, such as the ashug melody, a five-hundred-year-old Azerbaijani musical tradition.
