Bartok

"Tjeknavorian led [the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra] with authority ... a remarkable performance [of the Concerto for Orchestra] in which every nuance of the piece was ably communicated ... uncommonly alert leadership" - Tokyo Mainichi Daily News

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Beethoven

" This Fifth really does offer something a bit different ... rhythmic touches and niceties of instrumentation stand out brilliantly without in any way impeding the dramatic sweep or natural momentum of the music" - Washington Post

Borodin

"This set ... a winner ... offers the best performances of the First and Third Symphonies ... equal to or better than any competitive recordings" - Fanfare

Khachaturian

"The most extensive recording of Gayaneh to date ... performed with a surety of control, rhythmic precision, freedom from vulgarization, and above all imperious authority, that the music has surely never enjoyed before... Tjeknavorian makes a majesterial, even charismatic impression" - High Fidelity

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Prokofiev

"It's quite some time since I heard a new recording of this music [Romeo and Juliet suites] .,, which leapt out at me quite as much as this" - Classic CD

Rimsky-Korsakov

"A refreshing and totally gripping new look recording of Scheherazade ... The finale, with its spectacular storm and shipwreck, has exhilarating animation and bite. Tjeknavorian shows great imaginative flair ... His own gently luscious arrangement of Rimsky's most famous melody, better known as the Chant hindue, caresses the ear beguilingly" - Penguin Guide ***

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Saint-Saens

"[Tjeknavorian's] tempo choices [Third Symphony] are convincing without exception; he is never breathless, but does not allow the music to dawdle . Handsome" - Washington Post

Shostakovich

"Loris Tjeknavorian gave an exciting and compelling [performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony] and the orchestra responded magnificently to the occasion a superbly controlled interpretation" - Johannesburg Citizen

Sibelius

"Loris Tjeknavorian is a serious and thoughtful [Sibelius] interpreter... we [do not] find him trying to score interpretative points or playing to the gallery" - Gramophone

Stravinsky

"... a very clear and sensitive performance ... Tjeknavorian follows Stravinsky's indications quite faithfully, and gets beautiful playing from the LPO strings'' - Hi-Fi News

Tchaikovsky

"...a vigorous and committed reading [of the Fourth Symphony] .. Tjeknavorian's is a vivid and energetic portrayal with the uniqueness of the master's touch" - Records & Recording

Terterian

"Symbolic music of barbarous austerity, spectacularly played and recorded". - Classic CD

"His gift for musical composition is remarkable" - Carl Orff

"He feels few, if any debts, to the Western classical tradition. Armenian religious chants, clearly non harmonic in their inspiration, have obvious significance for him however' - London Times

"A fine composer, an experienced conductor, a real musician" - Lukas Foss

Ballet Fantastique

"The Ballet Fanfastique is a splendid inspiration ... The colors of the music are presented in beautiful detail" - Salzburger Nachrichten

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Simorgh

"... the melodic and rhythmic vitality of is phenomenal. Tjeknavorian's technique is admirably basic: he knows how to be artfully simple and he never clutters up the texture with unnecessary details. Every note tells ..." - Records & Recording

Othello

"Tjeknavorian's [Othello], in two acts, makes use of simple catchy tunes, generally repeated, sometimes with almost hypnotic effect. Its chief virtue is the highly colorful scoring" - London Times

"I can believe with no doubt at all that in the context of modern ballet (much more serious now, than before: seldom today a divertimento) this Othello score is enormously effective'' Gramophone

Symphony No 1 (Requiem for the Massacred)

"... Iacks nothing in sincerity ... its gestures really grow into something beyond the level of purely subjective metaphors" - London Guardian

Symphony No 2 (Credo Symphony)

"... a symphony that proves to have been made by a genuine musician.. Where the music was most suggestive, it whirled around on the same spot in an aleatoric manner, the final stereophonic echo of bells creating a clairvoyant ecstasy..." - Helsinki Uusi Suomi

Erebouni

"..tensely eventful with impressive variety of string scoring. The stratified texture, alternation of modal and diatonic ideas, including fragmented Armenian folk music, and use of improvisation, were indeed fascinating" - London Times

The Life of Christ

" shutting one's eyes, one could imagine oneself in some dark church, witnessing a ceremony that had survived unchanged through the centuries...music that celebrates the glory of the human voice as well as the glory of God... an impressive concert climax .. of unassailable magnificence" - London Guardian

Requiem for the Massacred. London Percussion Virtuosi, London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. Unicorn RHS334 

“…As might be expected from a composer of more than thirty film scores, Loris Tjeknavorian is extremely resourceful in his scoring. His Requiem for the Massacred is, in fact, “a symphony in four uninterrupted movements for percussion and trumpet”…  “…the nine members of the London Percussion Virtuosi plus celesta (Robert Nobel) and trumpet (Howard Snell) and an exceptionally vivid recording amply illustrate the composer’s ear and resourcefulness…Although pitched instruments are used as well as the purely percussive, the traditional melodic material used is so fragmented as to be virtually unrecognizable…the secular tune of “Tzizernak”…[is] as perfect as the Londonderry Air, and Tjeknavorian makes sparsely effective use of it in the sad quiet moment before the angry ending of the work…”  January 1976

Sibelius. Symphonies: No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63; No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal LRL1 5134 

“Loris Tjeknavorian is a serious and thoughtful interpreter, and in neither of these two readings do we find him trying to score interpretative points or playing to the gallery…” November 1976

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathetique”. London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal LRL1 5129 

“Loris Tjeknavorian, composer as well as conductor, from Iran but of Armenian extraction, provides not just a name to conjure with but a positive and attractive musical personality. This is his first recording for RCA and challenges comparison on a well-trodden course. It is to Tjeknavorian’s credit that this strong and passionate reading stands up so convincingly even in company with [all the other] fine versions…  “His tempi for both the first two movements are very much on the slow side, but in each he justifies his preference in performances that bring out the warmth and lyricism of Tchaikovsky while playing down the neurosis…all through the Symphony the honesty of Tjeknavorian’s reading is matched by an impressive concentration. In his measured view of the first movement I was sometimes reminded of Horenstein…but Tjeknavorian never sounds square, and the development section, starting with its thunder-clap is as exciting here as in any version I know…”

 “…The recording is outstandingly fine, full of detail, with excellent spread but richly co-ordinated…the RCA sound here is splendid by any standards.” November 1976  “…bold and exciting…” August 1980

Borodin, Orchestral Works. National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian.


 “Loris Tjeknavorian’s first RCA discs received a fair clutch of outstanding notices, including positive responses in these columns…At best, in Borodin, [Tjeknavorian] strikes me as being excellent. The Iranian, Kurdish temperament is obviously instinctively close to music which the writer Stasov characterized as having “a giant strength and breadth, colossal sweep, dynamism and drive’. At times Tjeknavoian conducts like a young Stokowski, with lithe, driving rhythms, a fierce spontaneity and, often, gorgeous orchestral colours. Though fast, the Prince Igor items are here sweet-toned and articulate; the Petite Suite is engagingly done; and the Second Symphony is splendidly carried off, with plenty of drive between the fermatas in the opening and glorious wind-playing in what is altogether a beautifully judged account of the eloquent slow movement…” August 1977

Khachaturian. Gayaneh-Ballet. National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknaovrian. RCA Red Seal RL25035 

“…now at last here is the full score…conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian, who has an obvious sympathy and understanding of the idiom…The playing is first class and the recording very good indeed, with just the right degree of resonance to make the orchestra glow…” April 1977  “The most distinguished of the RCA recordings made by Loris Tjeknavorian is his complete recording of Khachaturian’s Gayanneh [sic] ballet, using the superior original score…played with arresting vigour by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, and atmospherically recorded.” June 1983

Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93. National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal RL25049 

“Loris Tjeknavorian and the National Philharmonic have the advantage of superb recorded sound to commend them…” July 1978  Khachaturian. Symphony No. 1 (revised version). London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal  “The performance says all that can be said for the piece; the recording is clean and colourful…” May 1979

Borodin. Smyphony No. 2 in B minor. In the Steppes of Central Asia. Nocturne for Strings…National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal

  “Tjeknavorian conducts [the “Polovtsian Dances”] with flair and eloquence…The principal work on the record is the Second Symphony, and this is generally magnificently done here. Colours darkly glow (the recording is deep, dark, sumptuous very powerful) and rhythms are handled with a profound regard for their natural resilience and for the sweep of the paragraphs they so tempestuously command. The slow movement is outstandingly eloquent…Listening to Tjeknavorian’s potent reading, I am reminded again of Stasov’s characterization of Borodin’s musical personality: “a giant strength and breadth, colossal sweep, dynamism, and drive”. A fine record.” October 1979

Tchaikovsky. Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal 

“…those who have enjoyed Tjeknavorian’s version of the Pathetique…should not be disappointed…” August 1980  Rimsky-Korsakov. Scheherazade, Op. 25. London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian. Chalfont digital.

 “This is a very good performance…The pressing is immaculate and the sound extremely brilliant and clearly detailed…Tjeknavorian paces the music briskly throughout, pushing the first movement to a passionate climax. IN the second, the ‘presence’ of the famous brass fanfares (with lots of rasp to the trombone timbre) is made the more effective by gentle, distanced echoes. The orchestral playing at the close is particularly atmospheric…The finale is the highlight of the performance. Tjeknavorian takes a furious overall temp, and the LSO players are kept on their toes from the very first bar…the articulation is often amazingly clear, the result is exhilarating with the orchestra clearly enjoying, indeed reveling in the breathless forward thrust. The climax is riveting and here the recording is at its most brilliant – it makes the ears positively tingle!” November 1980  “…a very brilliant account, with Tjeknavorian pacing the music briskly, especially the exhilarating finale where the LSO players obviously enjoy being stretched. The slow movement too moves forward strongly…the reading is consistent overall and the final climax (of the last movement) is almost overwhelming.” October 1984

Borodin, Symphonie: No. 1 in E flat major; No. 3 in A minor. “Unfinished”. National Philharmonic Orchestra/Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal 

“Borodin’s First Symphony is not so symphonically sure of itself as the justly famous Second in B minor, but it has a memorable Scherzo which is very well done here. The vigour of the outer movements is fully communicated…the music-making…has vigour and life and much of the music’s charm comes over. The recording is resonant and full-blooded, with plenty of bloom for the woodwind…” February 1981
 

Saint-Saens. Symphony No 3 in C minor, Op. 78. “Organ”. Noel Rawsthorne (org); Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/ Loris Tjeknavorian.

Chalfont digital  “…Tjeknavorian’s first movement is full of energy and bustle with a contrasting hush at the opening of the poco adagio…” July 1981

Sibelius. Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43. London Symphony Orchestra/Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal.

 “There is a lot to be said for such a full-bloodedly Tchaikovskian account of Sibelius’s second as this. It enjoyed its lushness and warmth, its expert building of towering and slightly histrionic climaxes, in the finale especially, where the string section’s deep affection for their big tune is eloquent and infectious; all concerned, you feel, love this symphony dearly and had a wonderful time recording it.”  June 1982

Khachaturian. Spartacus-suite. Masquerade-suite. Russian Fantasy. London Symphony Orchestra/Loris Tjeknavorian. RCA Red Seal.

 “Tjeknavorian is a naturally sympathetic conductor of Khachaturian’s music as we know form his splendid RCA set of the original score of Gayaneh. He is obviously at home here and secures vivid and (in the famous Adagio from Spartacus) passionate playing from the LSO. The recording is lively and spectacular.” November 1982

Tjeknavorian. Othello-symphonic suite, Op. 31. London Symphony Orchestra/Loris Tjeknavorian. HMV digital.

 “…this Othello score is enormously effective…all those sonics are there, splendid ones. They are beautifully originated by the LSO, and beautifully recorded by EMI. I am sure I would enjoy actually playing the music, and am equally sure that if I were a dancer I would enjoy dancing to it.” November 1985