Wonderful review by James Manheim of Allmusic.com
"Pianist Raffi Besalyan presents The Sound of Black & White as a collection of works from his native Armenia and his adopted U.S, and indeed, he offers vigorous performances of music by Aram Khachaturian and George Gershwin. The latter group includes an exciting reading of the less-often-heard piano solo version of the Rhapsody in Blue, made by Gershwin."
"Highly newsworthy is the world premiere of the Piano Sonatina by Gershwin specialist Oscar Levant... The Sonatina has a unique post-Gershwin language and makes one wants to hear more of Levant's original music."
"The presence of some of Earl Wild's Virtuoso Etudes after Gershwin also works; the pieces bring a bit of the Russian virtuoso school, Besalyan's specialty."
"The whole thing is brilliantly performed and benefits from superb engineering at Sono Luminus' Virginia studios. A satisfying cross-cultural essay."
Click here to read more.