Word: anahid
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...Anahid Agemian...
Weill: Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra, Op. 12 (Anahid Ajemian; M-G-M Wind Orchestra conducted by Izler Solomon; M-G-M). A selection from Kurt Weill's nearly forgotten early period in Germany. The first movement is modern, the second a sleazy serenade with a crude rhythm jiggling under a high-toned fiddle, the third a romping gallop. Despite the strange orchestration that leaves the mid-range empty, the music is rich harmonically, and contains snatches of Weill's low-down lyricism that was to blossom into Three-Penny Opera, Street Scene, September Song, etc. Performance...
Both Maro, 30, and Anahid, 28, are traditionally trained musicians, graduates of the Juilliard School, and fully able to serve the U.S. concert circuit with the generous helpings of Brahms and Beethoven that keep audiences happy. But planning a program seems to them rather like planning a menu. If the artist does not include something from contemporary life, it is like leaving out the meat and potatoes. Their career in contemporary music got its impetus from the fact that they are of Armenian descent. While still a student at Juilliard, in 1942, Maro had to prepare a concerto and chose...
There is little money in modern music. The Ajemians think they are doing fine if a year's concert fees pay for their transportation, living expenses and special clothes. Says Anahid: "Luckily, we have husbands who make a decent living." But marriage has also complicated their rehearsal problems. Maro is married to an American Oil Co. chemist and lives in California, Anahid to an executive of Columbia Records and lives in Manhattan. The sisters have found a way out of this dilemma. Once they have decided, often via the mails, what works they will play in a coming concert...
...dedication to the cause. They commission new music for violin and piano duos ("We pay quite small fees, but something"). If they did not commission such works, they would be left with Chausson, Haydn, and very little else. Much of what they play is twelve-tone music. Says Anahid: "It's difficult, and some of it sounds awful at first, with all those great jumps all over the place. But often there are quite beautiful melodies...