New Recording: Lorna Griffitt and Haroutune Bedelian, Romantic Music of Robert, Clara and Johannes
The Claire Trevor School of the Arts Department of Music is pleased to announce the release of a new recording of compositions for solo piano, and for piano and violin, by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms performed by pianist Lorna Griffitt and violinist Haroutune Bedelian. This recording captures the musical exchanges of the Schumann circle, and the network of musical allusions to be found in their compositions ranging from the 1850s when their friendship blossomed, to the 1890s as heard in the nostalgic reflections of Brahms’s late piano music.
The recording includes:
- Robert Schumann, Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 22
- Robert Schumann, Sonata in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 105
- Clara Schumann, Romance in B major, Op. 5 No. 3: Andante con sentimento
- Clara Schumann, Romance in B minor, Weihnachten 1856: Langsam
- Johannes Brahms, 4 Klavierstücke (4 Piano Pieces), Op. 119
(The recording appears on the Centaur record label.)
Pianist Lorna Griffitt began her performing career at age 16 performing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Robert Whitney. Working with Menahem Pressler, she received her doctorate with distinction in piano performance from Indiana University. She has since appeared on different continents around the world in solo, chamber and concerto performances, with regular summer participation at the Orfeo International Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy, the Rio International Cello Encounter in Brazil and the Siletz Bay Music Festival in Oregon. She has enjoyed a long career as a professor of piano and is currently on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine.
Haroutune Bedelian is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, where at age 20 he won the first prize in the BBC Violin Competition. His teachers have included Ivan Galamian and Nathan Milstein. He has performed in major cities, festivals and concert halls throughout North and South America, the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East and has appeared in numerous radio and television broadcasts. He has been hailed as “Alert, subtle artist as well as a superb instrumentalist,” New York Times; “The result was a powerful music making, virtuosity going hand in hand with unswerving loyalty to the composer,” The Strad Magazine; “Mr. Bedelian has an unforced silvery tone and showed his musicianship in his immaculate phrasing,” London Daily Telegraph; “Virtuosity comes to him as second nature, but is used as a means to the interpretive freedom and sense of style that characterizes his playing above all else,” The London Times; “Refined and sensitive musician. Controlled, clean and effortless playing making light of the most formidable difficulties,” The London Guardian; “Technical and musical resources of virtuoso class,” Los Angeles Times.
Experience the music in person. Lorna Griffitt will perform at the Faculty Artist Series of UCI's CTSA Department of Music on Saturday, February 18, 2023. Tickets are available here.