Sergey Kosemyan: Cello on Concert Stage and in Nature

Unfortunately, this is true. This trend continues to this day. In addition to the above-mentioned demand, there is a shortage of professionals who can pass on the professional traditions of the masters of the past to a new generation. The cello is an extremely expensive instrument. Many of the great cellists of the past played collectible instruments belonging to various foundations and private collectors. To reach a professional level, a combination of several factors will be required — firstly, a natural talent, a mentor, hard work and a tool that will help to fully reveal the entire palette of aural colors.

Who are some of your mentors? And what qualities should he have?

It so happened that I studied with masters from different countries. Adopting their experience and techniques, I remember a wonderful teacher and, above all, a good person, Alexander Chaushyan Sr., under whose guidance I began studying the Bach suites that I am performing today in this project. Alexander Chaushyan had a great pedagogical gift. I always attended his lessons with great enthusiasm. Subsequently, in a very short period, I managed to learn a lot from Mstislav Rostropovich, who answered all my professional questions and shared the secrets of the technical and musical aspects of cello performance. I was also lucky to know and communicate closely with such outstanding artists as Geronti Talalyan, Robert Amirkhanyan, Stepan Shakaryan, Medea Abrahamyan and Edvard Mirzoyan. The Sonata for Cello and Piano by Edvard Mirzoyan, which is dedicated to Rostropovich, was first performed by me in Paris, after which this sonata became a mandatory work at the Pierre Lantier International Competition. Later, when I was in Yerevan, visiting Edvard Mikhailovich Mirzoyan, when I received from him as a gift the notes of this sonata with the author’s personal autograph.

Please tell us about your most memorable performance and how you came up with the idea to record in nature?

In 2015, the cello was performed for the first time in the ancient Sanahin Temple in Armenia. I recorded Bach’s music and the idea of this project was born from there. And after arriving in the US, I began to implement this plan. As for the concert. I have performed a lot on different stages of the world and with different orchestras as a soloist, but the most memorable concert took place again in 2015 in Yerevan, where together with the outstanding musician, pianist, organist and composer Hovhannes Manukyan, by the way, who dedicated his compositions to me. For the first time in Armenia, we performed all 5 Beethoven sonatas for cello and piano in one concert. The concert lasted about three hours and left unimaginable impressions that will be repeated in the United States in the near future.

We have heard your cello playing in Rudolf Kharatyan’s outstanding ballet, “Two Suns,” staged in Yerevan in 2015 and subsequently repeatedly broadcast by the prestigious Mezzo TV channel. It was an unprecedented event in the history of Armenian music and stage choreography.