TIGRAN MANSURIAN (b.1939): Agnus Dei for Clarinet and Piano Trio, Postludium in memoriam Oleg Kagan for Clarinet and Piano Trio, Canti paralleli for Mezzo-Soprano, Piano and Chamber Orchestra (First Recordings).

Description: The main work here is the half-hour eight-song cycle of Armenian poetry, Canti paralleli of 2012. The 2006 Agnus Dei is a three-movement instrumental reflection on the liturgical text, featuring the same ensemble used by Messiaen in his “Quartet for the End of Time”. All three works have their grave and stark moments, but the mood is not unrelieved, as one finds in some of his contemporaries in and around the Caucasus like Kancheli: there is music of great tenderness and ready melodic appeal here. No texts. Mariam Sarkissian (mezzo), Julian Miklis (clarinet), Anton Martynov (violin), Daria Ulantseva (piano), Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra; Alexander Rudin (cello).