ARGENTINA MEETS ARMENIA AT PIERRE ABOU KHATER AMPHITHEATER
By Matthew Mosley
The Daily Star
on_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=102666
June 5 2009
Lebanon
Michael Ashjian ‘Miniatures’ is a lyrical bit of Lebanese tango
Interview
BEIRUT: "I’ve been in hiding for 10 years." The voice of pianist and
composer Michael Ashjian rises from the phone after "Miniatures,"
his Tuesday-evening concert at the Pierre Abou Khater Amphitheater. "I
was looking deep inside myself, asking ‘What can make me happy?’ With
this music, I’ve finally discovered the answer."
The concert saw a series of Ashjian’s 12 short compositions
performed by a fluctuating group of musicians, including a guitarist,
flautist, bassist and accordionist. Ashjian played the piano for his
tango-inspired tracks.
Last seen in performance in 1999 at the Byblos Festival, a series
of personal crises led Ashjian to beat a decade-long retreat from
performance. While teaching piano at the Lebanese Conservatoire,
Ashjian tried all manner of diversions in his quest for happiness.
"I even took dance classes," he says.
But composing remained at the forefront of his mind. "Composing
haunted me," he says. "I was always trying to write, but it didn’t
feel authentic."
Three years ago, Ashjian began work on a series of compositions
inspired by Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine tango maestro. "I feel a
deep connection to Latin American culture," explains Ashjian. "Their
kind of music allows freedom of expression. It allows you to live in
the moment. They have created such a beautiful culture. It expresses
a real love of life."
Piazzolla became Ashjian’s musical inspiration as he grappled to
find an authentic mode of self-expression. "Piazzolla has influenced
generations of musicians," says Ashjian. "I still have so much more
to learn from him."
For audience members unfamiliar with Piazzolla’s revolutionary
style, Ashjian’s tunes may have come as something as a surprise. The
strident, dramatic tone of traditional Argentine tango was rarely
to be heard. Instead, tango rhythms were fleshed out with romantic,
elegiac instrumentation.
"Friendship," Ashjian’s second piece, paired rippling guitars with
swooning violins, the tone more expressive of yearning than tempestuous
passion. An emotional, atmospheric guitar solo brought the piece to
a close.
Several of the most moving works were dominated by the cello. On
"Cello Fall," the concert’s penultimate piece, the soaring, mournful
character of Ashjian’s melodies was heightened by Angela Hounanian’s
animated playing.
There were electrifying moments for the violin. The vertiginous,
high-pitched sawing on several pieces was the closest Ashjian’s music
came to traditional tango. Michel Kheirallah, first violinist with
the National Symphony Orchestra, provided the masterful bowing.
"I called Michel in fear," recounts Ashjian. "He’s always so busy. He
told me he’d listen to my music, but wouldn’t be involved if he didn’t
like it. Thankfully, all my colleagues at the Conservatoire seemed
excited by the music."
The composer now wants to form a group of musicians to give tango
compositions a higher profile in Lebanon. "There are so many exciting
new Argentinean composers," he says. "I’m hoping to fix a more stable
ensemble."
Ashjian’s final piece, "Tango in Armenian Flame," saw the composer
uniting his own heritage with the Latin culture that inspires him. "For
most of this project, I was feeling very international," he says. "I
didn’t want to force anything, the melodies came very naturally. They
don’t come from any particular place.
"When I came to write this final piece, I’d met with a friend who’d
just returned from Armenia. My nostalgia was refreshed. I was also
very angry at the time about a personal experience of injustice. From
this I generalized – the piece is an opus against injustice, personal,
social and political."
Though a native of Lebanon, Ashjian spent eight years in Armenia for
his musical training, so his ties to that country are strong. "Tango
in Armenian Flame" pitches an Armenian melody against a fiery tango
backdrop. The extreme ends of the piano’s scale are used, the contrast
creating drama in a manner reminiscent of Bernstein.
These pieces seem to have proven cathartic for Ashjian. "I felt I
was losing the line between reality and dreams," he says. "I got to
the point where I really had to have something to show. Now, nothing
can stop me."
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