The Six Pictures of 1965 are the clear highlight, evidence of a questing and uncompromising mind, and mixing folk music with Schoenbergian expression. Fascinating… © 2014 Fanfare

…Hayk Melikyan…has power and agility to spare, with plenty of attention to inner voicings. He is never at a loss for style or direction in any of this music, which is pretty impressive when you consider that it really represents two very different styles. He is always flexible and persuasively colorful in the nationalistic material, careful to articulate every line and give it its proper weight in the rest. And any musician who can differentiate between the two voices in the latter, manic half of the Poem, that often sound like a single line chasing its own tail, deserves recognition for his insight and technique.

Grand Piano once again provides some of the best piano engineering in the business. In short, well worth your attention on all fronts. © 2014 Fanfare Read complete review

[In the Polyphonic Sonata]…The recording sustains the dynamic and the frequency spread of the climax perfectly. The performance here…is superbly drawn. The edgy, acidic angularity of the final movement, a toccata, is most effective.

This is an exemplary introduction to the music of Babadjanian. © 2014 Fanfare Read complete review

Melikyan’s performances are very good… © 2014 American Record Guide Read complete review on American Record Guide

Born in 1921 in Armenia, the name of Arno Babadjanian was little known in the Western world until the lifting of travel restrictions came at the end of the Cold War. Mainly working in the world of atonality, the disc opens in his student days with the three-movement Polyphonic Sonata. Completed in 1947 it is in that rather abrasive mood that was fashionable at the time, particularly so in the mass of disjointed notes that form the toccata finale. Little had changed by 1965 for the Six Pictures, save for the fact that he now seems to understand the aims of the twelve-tone technique. Each picture is quite short, the final Sassoun Dance following on from where the Sonata left off. The Poem must have presented many problems…with its massive mood swings and technical demands. Performed by the multi-award winning Armenian pianist, Hayk Melikyan, who proves that he is not only a dedicated advocate, but also a very nimble fingered exponent. The sound of the Armenian recording is very good. © 2014 David’s Review Corner

Here is more extremely good and fulfilling work done by Grand Piano with a well documented and recorded recital played to the manner born by Hayk Melikyan. © 2014 MusicWeb International Read complete review

L’Arménie est à l’honneur avec le compositeur soviétique Arno Babadjanian (1921–1983), dont l’intégrale de la musique pour piano seul tient sur un disque de 55 minutes. Suisse d’origine arménienne, Hayk Melikyan (né en 1980) offre son toucher solide et anguleux (quoique vite asséchant) à cet univers radical qu’illustre à merveille la danse grinçante et virtuose achevant la Sonate polyphonique (1942–1947)—une partition parsemée de difficultés digitales qui rappellent quel grand interprète Babadjanian était lui-même. Par leur dodécaphonisme «soft» (teinté de mélodies arméniennes), les Six Images (1965) étonnent pour une composition de l’URSS de cette époque, s’achevant dans la débauche de la «Danse du Sassoun» qui rappelle le déchaînement de l’emblématique Poème (1966)—morceau obligatoire du Concours Tchaïkovski de 1966. Des pièces fortes, qui valent le détour (GP674). © 2014 ConcertoNet.com