2023 marked the 240th anniversary since Padre Antonio Soler’s death, a prominent composer of 18th Spain, bridging late baroque and pre-classical eras.
Dr. Hayk Arsenyan, a NYC-based concert pianist and scholar of Iberian early music, offers a series of masterclasses, lectures, solo piano performances of Soler’s controversial Fandango and piano sonatas in an hour-long program, and book presentations of his newly released book in Spanish “El Mundo De Soler” (“Soler’s World”) published by the Boileau Editorial de Musica in Barcelona (May 2022).
New York based pianist Dr. Hayk Arsenyan has appeared in numerous recitals throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas, in venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Salle Cortot (Paris), Cadillac-Shanghai Concert Hall (China), Kumin Hall (Tokyo), Petranka Mozarteum (Prague), Auditorio Delibes (Valladolid), Dar-Al-Assad Opera House (Damascus), Sala Cervantes (Havana), MoBU (Sao Paolo), Tchaikovsky Hall (Moscow), Philippines National Museum (Bacolod), and televised recitals at the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, the Phillips Collection Series in Washington DC and at the Nixon Presidential Museum in Los Angeles.
At the age of 11 Mr. Arsenyan made his debut at the Armenian Philharmonic performing his own Requiem for the piano and orchestra. At the age of 17, he made his European debut as a soloist with the Radio France National Philharmonic Orchestra and was awarded a platinum medal by the City of Paris. In 2007, Mr. Arsenyan debuted at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall performing with Pinchas Zukerman and the Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia.
A long-time professor at NYU Tisch School, Dr. Arsenyan has presented guest lectures and masterclasses at universities and conservatories around the globe, such as University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, the Hong Kong University, Waseda University in Tokyo, Manhattan School of Music in NY, University of Texas in Austin, and National Conservatory in Damascus. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa and a Master’s degree from the Gnessins Music Academy in Moscow. In 2007 he received a full-tuition Yevgeny Kissin award for Professional Studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York. Mr. Arsenyan also studied the piano at École Normale Supérieure de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot.
Although there are several treatises published on the music of Antonio Soler, none of them offer a performance guide to his keyboard sonatas on the modern instrument while keeping the historical pertinence of style.
The book "El Mundo de Soler" ("Soler's World") provides a thorough stylistic analysis and performance observations within the context of Iberian keyboard traditions, as well as political and musical scene in 18th century Spain.
Learn more about the book on the authour's page.
Topics discussed in lectures and masterclasses:
• Provide a brief sketch of Soler’s biography, as well as the political and musical scene in 18th-century Spain
• Discuss history of music publishing and printing in Spain
• Include a historical overview of 18th-century keyboard instruments that were used in Spain and Portugal, such as the Cristofori and Antunes fortepianos
• Explore the relationships between composers and their royal patrons
• Examine Iberian keyboard traditions that influenced Soler’s works
• Identify stylistic peculiarities and compositional techniques that set Soler apart from his famous contemporary Domenico Scarlatti.
• Analyze general stylistic characteristics and performance practices of Soler’s keyboard sonatas and Fandango