Aram Khachaturian

Aram Khachaturian

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian was a prominent Soviet composer. Khachaturian's works were often influenced by classical Russian music and Armenian folk music...

's Piano Concerto in D-flat major, Op.

Opus number

An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...

 38, was composed in 1936. It was his first work to bring him recognition in the West, and it immediately entered the repertoire of many notable pianists.

The Piano Concerto was the first of three concertos Khachaturian wrote for the individual members of a renowned Soviet piano trio that performed together from 1941 until 1963. The others were: the Violin Concerto

Violin Concerto (Khachaturian)

Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor was completed in 1940 and dedicated to the great Russian violinist David Oistrakh, who premièred the concerto in Moscow on November 16, 1940. Oistrakh advised Khachaturian on the composition of the solo part and also wrote his own cadenza that markedly...

 for David Oistrakh

David Oistrakh

David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....

 (1940); and the Cello Concerto

Cello Concerto (Khachaturian)

Aram Khachaturian wrote his Cello Concerto in E minor in 1946 for Sviatoslav Knushevitsky. It was the last of the three concertos he wrote for the individual members of a renowned Soviet piano trio that performed together from 1941 until 1963...

 for Sviatoslav Knushevitsky

Sviatoslav Knushevitsky

Sviatoslav Nikolayevich Knushevitsky was a Russian classical cellist. He was particularly noted for his partnership with the violinist David Oistrakh and the pianist Lev Oborin in a renowned piano trio from 1940 until his death...

 (1946).

The Piano Concerto in D-flat was written for Lev Oborin

Lev Oborin

Lev Nikolayevich Oborin was a Russian pianist. He was the winner of the first International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927.The family moved a lot during his early childhood. When they settled down in Moscow in 1914, he was sent to music school. He studied with Yelena Gnessin, a pupil of...

, who premiered it in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 on 12 July 1937, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953...

 under L. Shteinberg. It received its American debut on 14 March 1942, by Maro Ajemian

Maro Ajemian

Maro Ajemian was an American pianist. Ajemian's career in contemporary music got its impetus from her Armenian heritage; she became known as a contemporary pianist after performing the U.S...

 at the Juilliard School in New York, conducted by Albert Stoessel

Albert Stoessel

Albert Frederic Stoessel was an American composer, violinist and conductor.He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and Willy Hess...

.

The piece is in three movements. The first movement, Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso, makes extensive use of the three-note theme of F, B-double-flat, and A-flat. The second movement, Andante con anima, is one of the few major classical pieces to make use of a flexatone

Flexatone

The flexatone is a modern percussion instrument consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. -History, construction and technique:...

. The third movement, Allegro brillante, caps the piece in an exciting manner.

The concerto was first recorded in 1946, by William Kapell

William Kapell

William Kapell was an outstanding American pianist who was killed in the crash of a commercial airliner.-Biography:...

 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

 under Serge Koussevitzky

Serge Koussevitzky

Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...

. The recording became a jukebox favourite, and Kapell was so associated with the work that he was often called "Khachaturian Kapell". It has also been recorded by such pianists as its creator Lev Oborin, Moura Lympany

Moura Lympany

Dame Moura Lympany DBE was an English concert pianist.She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother originally taught her the piano...

, Peter Katin

Peter Katin

Peter Roy Katin is a British pianist.-Biography:He attended Whitgift School in South Croydon and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 12, four years younger than the official entry age, where he studied under Harold Craxton...

, Boris Berezovsky

Boris Berezovsky (pianist)

- Biography :Berezovsky studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Eliso Virsaladze and privately with Alexander Satz. Following his London début at the Wigmore Hall in 1988, The Times described him as "an artist of exceptional promise, a player of dazzling virtuosity and formidable power."In May 2005...

, Mindru Katz

Mindru Katz

Mindru Katz was a Romanian-Israeli classical pianist.Mindru Katz was born in Bucharest in 1925. He was discovered as a child prodigy by George Enescu, and taught by Florica Musicescu. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in Bucharest in 1947, in which year he also made his debut with the...

, Dora Serviarian Kuhn

Dora Serviarian Kuhn

Dora Serviarian-Kuhn is regarded as a leading interpreter of the Khachaturian Piano Concerto, having played it throughout the world more than any other living pianist. Ms. Serviarian-Kuhn has appeared with orchestras in the United States, Asia, and Latin America.Serviarian-Kuhn received her B.A....

, Constantine Orbelian, Alicia de Larrocha

Alicia de Larrocha

Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle was a Spanish pianist from Catalonia. One of the great piano legends of the 20th century, Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", Time "one of the world's most outstanding pianists" and The Guardian "the leading Spanish pianist of her...

, Leonard Pennario

Leonard Pennario

Leonard Pennario was an American classical pianist and composer.He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School remaining in L.A. for his entire career. He first came to notice when he performed Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto at age 12, with the...

 and Alberto Portugheis

Alberto Portugheis

Alberto Portugheis is a pianist, born on December 31, 1940 in La Plata, Argentina, to parents of Russian and Romanian descent. He is an international pianist and teacher, now living in London. After winning first prize at the Geneva Concours de Virtuosité, Portugheis embarked on an international...

.