It’s getting hard to remember if I used things before or not, but in this case, I don’t care, because it’s one of my favorite works of classical music. I was a trumpet player, and in that vein, my favorite work — by far — is this concerto, written by the Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian. It’s dramatic, lyrical, and redolent of Eastern Europe. After years of playing things like the concertos of Haydn and Hummel and earlier works from the Baroque period, to discover the Arutiunian was a breath of much-needed fresh air.
This is a terrific performance, even if the soloist looks utterly bored by the proceedings. His playing, however, indicates that he is not.