At his best, Raffi Besalyan’s formidable, assured technique and rich, varied sonority serves Rachmaninov well. The authority and sweep that he brings to the C-sharp minor Prelude’s central climactic section is a case in point, along with the G minor Op. 23 Prelude’s rhythmic swagger and beautifully arched inner voices. Elsewhere, Besalyan’s capabilities yield less memorable results.
For example, he does not articulate the Op. 23 No. 7 Prelude’s swirling runs with the point and concision of Richter or Ashkenazy, and he projects the Op. 32 No. 10 G-sharp minor’s right-hand motivic ostinato too much in the foreground. His Op. 33 No. 6 E-flat minor Etude-Tableau sounds relatively slow and square when measured against faster, lither, and more powerful traversals (i.e., Nikolai Lugansky and Hélène Grimaud).
Similarly, Besalyan’s capable yet essentially bland Corelli Variations lack the dynamic contrasts, coloristic resources, and textural diversity distinguishing recent versions by Nareh Arghamanyan, Alexander Melnikov, and Bernd Glemser. However, Besalyan considerably loosens up for the four small and attractive Arno Babajanian pieces, singing out their heartfelt melodies in shapely arcs. Sono Luminus offers this recital in both high definition surround sound and conventional two-channel stereo. Of the two, I prefer the surround sound for its warmer, more resonant ambience.
