CD reviews: Shoghaken Ensemble:”Traditional Dances of Armenia”

Metro West
Arts & Lifestyle

CD reviews: Prince;
Thursday, April 29, 2004

Shoghaken Ensemble: “Traditional Dances of Armenia” (Traditional Crossroads)
Hasmik Harutyunyan with the Shoghaken Ensemble: “Armenian Lullabies”
(Traditional Crossroads)

Drawing on the musical traditions of the Middle East, Europe and Asia,
Armenian music is at once seductively familiar and thrillingly exotic. On
“Traditional Dances of Armenia,” the Shoghaken Ensemble does more than
preserve fading rural artifacts — the band gives them eternal life though
interpretations that are stunning in their drive, beauty and mystery. While
there’s no denying the marvelous voice of the great Armenian folk singer
Hasmik Harutyunyan, the stark “Armenian Lullabies” does its work a bit too
well. Better to start with the fully caffeinated “Traditional Dances.”

— KEVIN R. CONVEY

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS