All Around Bach
Bach: Goldberg Variations
Khachaturian: Concerto Edition
Throughout his life, Bach often arranged works by other composers and continually rearranged his own. <...> I have always found this subject of great importance: as a pianist, if one chooses the modern grand as the medium for these pieces, one is performing Bach exclusively in “arrangement” form. In this context I decided to examine the creative interrelations among works by several composers separated by time and space: from Vivaldi to Busoni, from Bach to Franck and Liszt, in order to conceive a programme for this album with the figure and the oeuvre of Bach as connecting element: “All Around Bach”........
"...The "Aria" with different Veränderungen (changes or variations) is a journey that takes a lifetime. In my life, this recording is a personal part of the path I have chosen. If someone else would like to join me for a step of the way, I'll be glad to welcome them."
"The Armenian pianist Stepan Simonian, who resides in Hamburg, the Russian conductor Daniel Raiskin, and the Rhine State Philharmonic, which Aram Khachaturian himself accompanied a good forty-five years ago during his visit to Germany, get things going on this quasi-authentic recording of these two concertante works for piano and orchestra timelessly reflecting each other like a mirror in a mirror."
Bach: Toccatas for Piano, BWV 910-916
“...this release strikes me as one of the most exciting accounts of Bach’s toccatas on piano”
Rob Haskins, American Record Guide
“A brilliant debut, Stepan Simonian already proved to be one of the greatest Bach-Interpreter of his generation”
Andreas Grabner, BR Klassik