Beyond Rachmaninov. Evening of early 20th century songs with Anush Hovhanissyan soprano, Jasurbek Khaydarov bass and Iain Burnside piano.

The Times named Anush Hovhannisyan The Face to Watch in Opera 2020 followed by the Opera Magazine featuring her as the cover for 2020 July/August issue. Nominated for 2018 International Opera Awards, Soprano Anush Hovhannisyan made a name for herself as one of the brightest young sopranos of her generation followed by her highly acclaimed debut with Scottish Opera as Violetta La Traviata, which seen The Sunday Times acclaiming “a ‘star is born’ moment.”

Anush represented Armenia at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2017 broadcasted to millions of audiences on the BBC channels worldwide. She is the Winner of the First Prize, Deutsche Grammophon and Royal Danish Opera special prizes at the 2016 Stella Maris Competition and the 1st Prize Winner of the 2014 Concours Suisse Ernst Haefliger International Swiss Competition. She started her career as a member of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme between 2013 and 2015 when she extensively performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

Based in London she has worked with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Philharmonia Orchestra, Opera Holland Park, Opera Rara, BBC Proms. She has worked with renowned conductors of our times such as Semyon Bychkov, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Nicola Luisotti, Daniel Oren, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Mark Elder, Carlo Rizzi and Sir Antonio Pappano.

Her recordings include A Century of Song, Vol. 2 & Vol.4 for Vivat with renowned accompanist Malcolm Martineau, Rimsky-Korsakov Romances for Stone Records with Sergey Rybin (a Sunday Times ‘Album of the Week’), Songs by Scriabin for Decca’s complete piano anthology of his music with Valentina Lisitsa and Woolf Works with Royal Ballet, now available on Opus Arte DVD.

Anush Hovhannisyan graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatory and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland supported by the ABRSM scholarship. She is a Samling Artist, winner of the Clonter Opera Prize, the Bayreuth Prize from the Wagner Society of Scotland and the Karaviotis Prize at the Les Azuriales International Singing Competition.

Iain Burnside – piano 

Internationally acclaimed as a leading collaborative pianist, (pretty much ideal, BBC Music Magazine) Iain Burnside has worked with many of the world’s great singers. His discography features over fifty CDs, spanning a huge sweep of repertoire. Highlights include the Gramophone Award-winning NMC Songbook, Schubert cycles with baritone Roderick Williams on Chandos and a series of English Song for Naxos. He enjoys a close relationship with Delphian, featuring boxed sets of Medtner and Rachmaninoff (“the results are electrifying” Daily Telegraph) as well as explorations of Scottish, English and Irish repertoire. He is Artistic Director of the Ludlow English Song Weekend and curates programmes for a variety of festivals and at Wigmore Hall, most recently with a spotlight on Russian song.

Burnside is also an award-winning broadcaster, familiar to listeners of BBC Radio 3, earning a Sony Radio Award for Voices. He has pioneered a particular form of dramatic concert, with works based variously around Franz Schubert, Clara Schumann and Ivor Gurney. His most recent piece, A View from the Villa, unpicks Wagner’s relationship with Mathilde Wesendonck, and will feature at festivals in 2021. He has a long association with the Guildhall School and gives masterclasses at home and abroad whilst also holding the position of Artistic Consultant to Grange Park Opera.

“His lightness of touch, his expertise in balancing and supporting the voices, and his sheer love for this exquisite repertoire are simply matchless.” Primephonic

“…l’accompagnement superlatif de Iain Burnside, formidable créateur d’atmosphères…” Forum Opéra

“Every beautifully placed word is matched by Iain Burnside’s recreation of Britten’s pianistic subtext, glinting with many a revealing musical gloss.” BBC Music Magazine

“Burnside’s pianism and musical instincts are second to none, revealing harmonies and connections not hinted at in previous recordings.” BBC Music Magazine

“Burnside played with understated elegance and great subtlety throughout.” The Guardian

Jasurbek Khaydarov Bass

Jasurbek Khaydarov began his musical career at an early age. In 2019, he was admitted to the faculty of vocal studies of the Gnessin academy of music. In 2023, Jasurbek got Bachelor’s degree in “Performing arts”, currently pursuing a master’s degree. From 2020 to 2021, he worked as an opera singer artist at the Young Opera Artists Program of the Helikon opera in Moscow. In September 2022, he joined the Young Opera Artists Program of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He has been studying vocal with the Artistic Director of the Program Dmitry Vdovin. In addition, he has attended master classes with Sergei Leiferkus, Ildar Abdrazakov, Semjon Skigin, Alessandro Amoretti, Mzia Bakhtouridze and many others. He participated and sang at concerts with famous Russian musicians and     conductors such as Yuri Bashmet, Anton Grishaev, Dmitry Korchak, Dmitry Jurowsky and many others.

Philip Ross Bullock is a British academic. He is a Professor of Russian Literature and Music at the University of Oxford, a fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and the academic director of  The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities.  He is the recipient of the 2009 Philip Leverhulme Prize for Modern Languages, and the author or editor of several books.

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