Khachaturian: Othello • Battle of Stalingrad

Khachaturian’s involvement in film, which began in Armenia as early as 1934, was long-lived and highly distinctive. + Until 1960, the date of his last film, he wrote principally for Mosfilm and his scores, not least in subsequent arrangements, earned him considerable renown. + His own eight-part concert suite arrangement taken from the epic Battle of Stalingrad (1948–50), is a symphonic fresco of high tension, fully befitting its subject matter. + The suite derived from the score for Othello reveals the full canvas of Khachaturian’s cinematic imagination, from glorious love music to darker scenes of despair.