Armenian pianist and improviser Ashot Danielyan showcases his expressive solo playing on Make Classical Music Great Again, a collection of seven spontaneous piano improvisations recorded in 2026. Moving between tranquil melodic passages and more impassioned climaxes, the album embraces classical elegance with a contemplative, deeply emotive sensibility.
“Beginning Of This April” opens the release with beautifully immersive charm, with dual, flowing piano layers accompanying one another blissfully, from the trickling initial allure to the sporadic glistens of emotion. Its steady progression into a more tonally ardent finale is excellent, maintaining a lushly contemplative pace before embracing an intense uptick in expression, before falling back into lusher territory for the finale. The ensuing “Cold Flowers” casts a more elegant glow, melancholic yet hopeful in its twinkling piano work, especially impactful as higher and lower-pitched notes meld beautifully before a serene send-off.
Another highlight, “Warm May Night” emits a sound apt of its namesake, its breezy and meditative piano layers evoking the comforting stillness of night. Elsewhere, “9 Days Until August (dedicated to Frederic Chopin)” also envelops in its tranquility, ideal for star-gazing in its dreamy disposition. Finale “All The Worlds Are Funny” continues the album’s delightfully subdued entrancement, evoking a heartrending balladry in its light piano touches. From more ardent developers like “Beginning Of This April” to the elegance of standouts like “Warm May Night,” Make Classical Music Great Again is an absorbing classical success from Ashot Danielyan.
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“Beginning Of This April” is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Rainy Days and Late Night Drives.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
