World Premiere Recordings

Armenian music specialist Mikael Ayrapetyan provides ample evidence of the contribution Stephen Elmas’s Mazurkas make to the piano repertoire and to the musical heritage of Armenia and beyond. The first volume in this edition was released in October 2022.

REVIEWS:

Armenian music specialist Mikael Ayrapetyan provides ample evidence of the contribution Stephen Elmas’s Mazurkas make to the piano repertoire and to the musical heritage of Armenia and beyond. The first volume in this edition was released in October 2022. Elmas was born in Smyrna (Turkey) and was a child keyboard prodigy whose very conservative music and his withdrawal from the world due to deafness late in life may have a lot to do with is almost complete absence from musical reference books. He escaped the Armenian genocide and the burning of Smyrna in 1922 and ended his career in Switzerland while his piano, manuscripts and other papers housed now in Yerevan, Armenia. See also 01W001, his full-bloodedly Romantic piano concerto.

-- Records International

This survey of Armenian composer Stephan Elmas’ piano music continues with a volume of Mazurkas. Fine performances from Mikael Ayrapetyan who has made a particular study of Armenian music. Another welcome release from Grand Piano.

-- Lark Reviews