ARMEN GUZELIMIAN - Concert pianist, collaborative artist, master vocal coach
“Guzelimian was understated but superbly detailed and magisterially musical… he is a chamber music master who contributed just the kind of support that makes everyone sound better. His is the discipline and authority that makes freedom possible and responsible, that makes chamber music serve as a grand model for society.”
Mark Swed, LA Times
“In the Liszt piece, Mr. Guzelimian gave conclusive evidence of a formidable technical competence. He was undaunted and undefeated by any one of the acrobatic hazards which the satanic composer put in his way. But for this pianist, technique is merely a servant. The real goals are musical, not gymnastic.”
Santa Barbara News Press
“What’s more, Mehta had the estimable solo talents of Armen Guzelimian for the piano concerto of Aram Khachaturian…in a soul-wrenching performance. Beyond his technical command of this full-fisted score, with fleetness and clarity as its principal virtues, the pianist was able to curtail bombast in favor of refinement- without diminishing the full effect. He mined the Eastern motives for all their distantly sad ruminations and found a percussive urgency free of clangor, a forward compulsion infection with emotional heat.”
Los Angeles Times
“Armen Guzelimian’s playing is firm and alive, capable of tremendous brilliance and delicacy."
Musical America
"Armen Guzelimian ließ den Bösendorfer hier zum befriedgenden Orchestersatz werden"
"Armen Guzelimian turned the Bösendorfer into a gratifying orchestral replacement"
Kurier - Vienna
The accompaniments are a model of their kind, never taking attention away from the
singer (Thomas Hampson) - always adding their own beauty of sound. The sentimentality
is neither ignored nor overplayed.
Gramophone Magazine (UK)
“ one would be hard put to find a competitor to this recording"
(German Lieder of American Composers)
Repertoire - Paris
“What was special was his ability to impart so much freshness and verve to such a well-worn war-horse
(Grieg Piano Concerto). He made it come to life again, which is no inconsiderable feat”
Los Angeles Times
"Armen Guzelimian was a devoted and sensitive partner, his playing lustrous, tasteful and refined.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“The pianist and violinist (Stephanie Chase) met for the first time six hours before the concert. Guzelimian’s solid musicianship and characterful technique fulfilled the role of equal partner in the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas and gave fluent support in the Chausson and Bartok.”
The Oregonian
“Faure’s C-minor piano quartet ended the evening on a different Gallic note, surging, sighing and singing rapturously in the hands of pianist Armen Guzelimian
– as stylish and forceful a chamber pianist as this part of the world offers.”
Herbert Glass, Los Angeles Times
“Then came the Khachaturian Piano concerto… a showcase for soloist Armen Guzelimian and what sounded like his 30 or 40 fingers….He weathered the work’s finger-busting demands most handsomely.”
Alan Rich
Interview
6-6-2018 Horizon Live Armenian TV.
"... the honeyed glow of Guzelimian's pianism,
with its pellucid voicing and the ability to shape a beautiful singing line...
...a climax (Shostakovitch Trio No.2) that was crowned by Guzelimian's hair-raising triple forte octaves."
Ted Ayala, Crescent Valley Week