France Varpet is a musical ensemble with variable geometry centered on an instrument particularly representative of Armenian culture: the oboe duduk. This version is that of the trio in its traditional structure: a solo duduk, a second duduk which plays the harmonic base (continuous sounds or drones), a dehol (large drum with two skins) for rhythmic support. Another oboe that the duduk is also invited to this concert: the zurna. If the duduk very often appears as the instrument of intimacy and sweetness, even of the painful complaint, the zurna seems to oppose it by its stridence. These two oboes participate in the festivals of Armenian daily life (more broadly in the Caucasian world) and accompany the moments of joy or gravity. France Varpet also celebrates the repertoire of bard musicians (achough, literally "lovers"), notably that of Sayat Nova, an emblematic figure of Caucasian culture which, in the 18th century, sought to unite in its magnificent odes the Georgian, Armenian cultures and Turkish. An invitation to intercultural dialogue long before the multimedia wave of our time.

Levon Chatikyan : duduk solist, zurna
Mouchegh Harutyunyan : dehol
Christopher Begot : second duduk

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Photo (c) Vincent Zanetti