NEW YORK — On Saturday, April 13, Pegasus: The Orchestra, led by founder, principal conductor, and artistic director, Karén Hakobyan, conducts the 2023-2024 Season’s Finale in a commemoration of Aram Khatchaturian’s 120th Anniversary at Merkin Concert Hall at 8 p.m.
Soloist will be cellist Sergey Antonov.
The program opens with Stravinsky’s stunning 8-movement Suite from the “Pulcinella Ballet,” highlighting Pegasus’s principals as soloists. The first half concludes with Tchaikovsky’s delightful Variations on a Rococo Theme and features 2007 Tchaikovsky International Competition gold medalist Sergey Antonov (cello) as the soloist.
The second half opens with Beethoven’s colossal Symphony No. 7 and culminates with Khatchaturian’s Waltz from the “Masquerade” Suite, a fitting conclusion to the season.
Grammy-nominated cellist Sergey Antonov enjoys a versatile career as a soloist and chamber musician. Critics throughout the world have hailed him as “destined for cello superstardom” (Washington Post), “combining formidable technique and an incredibly warm, penetrating and vibrant tone to a romantic musical sensibility to create music – making of a highest caliber” (Budapest Sun).
After winning the Gold Medal in the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Russia, Antonov has been touring extensively throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America performing in halls ranging from the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory to Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has collaborated with musicians such as Denis Matsuev, Bernadene Blaha, Kevin Fitz Gerald, Ekaterina Mechetina, Harve A’ Kaoua, Carl Ponten, Dora Schwartzberg, John Lenehan, Colin Carr, Cynthia Phelps, Martin Chalifour, David Chan, among others, as well as his permanent piano partner Ilya Kazantsev. The duo has recorded several CDs of traditional cello-piano repertoire as well as their own transcriptions, recorded in their CD album Elegy.
