Acclaimed Armenian born violinist Movses Pogossian releases his performance of the full set of Bach's iconic Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. Pogossian's soulful and thoughtful version strikes an ideal balance between various approaches to Bach. He incorporates the best characteristics of historically informed performance alongside aspects of the expansive, violinistic style associated with 20th century readings. His deep understanding of the structure of these works provides the foundation for the entire recording, elucidating the genius craft behind the fugues, the elegant harmonic architecture of the slow movements, and the brilliant "fortspinnung" or "spinning out" of motivic and episodic material in the fast movements. His lively articulation in dance movements is matched with a lyrical purity in the slower material. Pogossian mines the spiritual core of the slow movements brilliantly, preserving forward direction at deliberate tempi that allow him to explore the emotional color of each note. His approach is influenced by close work with György and Márta Kurtág, whose essential insights on Bach and music in general have inspired legions of wonderful musicians the world over. Pogossian is Professor of Violin at UCLA and can be heard as a soloist and chamber musician worldwide, as a champion of new compositions and virtuoso performer of works in the traditional canon. Proceeds from sales of this recording are going to support two organizations: Music for Food in Boston and the Lark Musical Society in Glendale, CA.
released January 27, 2017
Executive Producer: Varty Manouelian
Session Producers: Benjamin Maas and Varty Manouelian
Editing Producers: Varty Manouelian and Movses Pogossian
Engineer: Benjamin Maas, Fifth Circle Audio
Recorded at the Evelyn & Mo Ostin Music Center at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Additional editing: Jonathan Bruns
Design and layout: Marc Wolf
Liner Notes: Paul Griffiths
Photos: Anneliese Varaldiev, Judit Kurtág, Benjamin Maas
Logistical support: Luis Henao
Artistic Advisor: Guillaume Sutre
Project management: Daniel Lippel
This recording is made possible, in part, by the UCLA Faculty Research Grant, and the Faculty Opportunity Fund of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
All proceeds from this recording will be donated by the artist, in equal measure, to
Lark Musical Society, Glendale, CA
larkmusicalsociety.com
Music for Food, Boston, MA
musicforfoodboston.org