Armenian Chamber Players Make U.S. Debut

If the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia aimed to make an auspicious U.S. debut Thursday night at the Alex Theatre, they certainly knew how to go about it.

They have a charismatic conductor, Armenian American Aram Gharabekian, who cuts a striking figure with his flowing gray hair and has the confidence to stop waving his arms altogether, often directing his players with just a glance. They take refreshing chances, programming mostly 20th century music, Armenian and otherwise. And although the 23-member string orchestra’s ensemble playing is not the last word in precision, they make up for it with a suave, warm sound and fresh, gracefully turned phrasings.

The Mozart Divertimento in D, K. 136, received a smooth, mobile, carefully terraced ride from the opening notes, giving way to the vigorous, neoclassical, Armenian folk-flavored Sinfonietta (1966) of Alexander Arutiunian. Then Gharabekian tried something really entertaining, a staged performance of Alfred Schnittke’s zany collage of cascading canons and jokes, “Moz-Art a la Haydn,” complete with Chinese-fire-drill scrambling about, deadpan mugging by the players and amusing, exaggerated pointing of musical details.

There was a U.S. premiere, commissioned by the orchestra, from Edward Hairapetian--”The Lost Balloon,” a mostly tonal mood piece that begins with striking glissandos bubbling up from the strings but mostly drifts by amiably. Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge received an unusually heated interpretation from Gharabekian--red-blooded and fleet, extracting every drop of heightened emotion, particularly when Britten’s vision turns dark and mysterious toward the close.

Gharabekian and company turned to a series of attractive Armenian dances as encores, the last of which (by Arutiunian) made the biggest impression with its cut-and-thrust physicality. The audience, heavily populated by the Armenian community, vociferously approved.