Several  leading Romanian presses have covered the solo concert that Spain-based Lebanese-Armenian violinist Ara Malikian gave at the proclaimed Sala Palatului Hall in Bucharest on November 7, and a1 TV had hosted Malikian a couple of days before the concert on its Good Morning show.

As reported Hayern Aysor, the concert was entitled “The Incredible Tour of the Violin”, describing the artist’s relationship with his musical instrument. Malikian’s violin was made by a skillful master of Italy’s Modena. It makes it all the way to Lebanon where 3-year-old Ara receives it as a gift from his father, who received it from his father. This makes them inseparable and lays the foundation for a glorious musical tour through time and through the synthesis of different musical genres. Alongside virtuoso performances, through short stories, Malikian presents his and his family’s life starting from the Armenian Genocide, which the artist’s grandfather survived, and ending with his childhood and teenage years in Lebanon and later his study and how he settled in Europe. The audience gave a long standing ovation when the artist performed his own song that he had written on the occasion of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and dedicated it to all the victims and sufferers of the past and present.

Let us remind that the Romanian audience had already been charmed by Malikian’s talent when he performed in Bucharest on 27 May 2016, impressing the audience with performances of his wonderful works, including the work “1915” (dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide), Bach’s works, the traditional Romanian song “The Lark” and Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”. Malikian captivated the Romanian audience with not only his style and performance, but also the confession that he really loves traditional Romanian music. “It is unique, especially for violinists. We had strong emotions when we were performing “The Lark”, and I don’t know if we performed it well or not,” Malikian had stated.

During the concert, Malikian stated that he was Lebanese-Armenian, performed the song “1915” and talked about the Armenian Genocide. “This genocide is not forgotten. It is not even recognized by certain countries. This is why such crimes are still being committed. A genocide is taking place in Syria, and nobody is able to do anything about it,” he had said.

It was during last year’s concert when Malikian had promised to return to Bucharest.

After the November 7 concert, Ara Malikian admitted to Armenia’s Ambassador to Romania Hamlet Gasparyan and the local Armenians that he wanted to give a concert in Armenia and that he was waiting for that moment.

During the concert at Sala Palatului, Malikian was accompanied by Humberto Armas (violin), Hector El Turco (percussions), Cristina Lopez (cello), Jorge Guillen Del Castillo (violin), Tania Bernaez Abad (contrabass0, Nantha Kumar (Indian drum) and Tony Carmona (guitar).