Behzod Abduraimov on Inferno

Uzbek pianist and 2009 winner of the London Piano Competition Behzod Abduraimov released his latest album Inferno last month, when we made it our Recording of the Week, having also featured it in our top picks for World Piano Day. I was delighted to chat with Behzod about the album, his approach to both familiar and demanding music, and his upcoming performance plans, including the joy of working with like-minded conductors.

The album title and blazing fire on the cover only tell half the story, because there’s plenty of virtuosity in this album, but there's also subtle colours, light and shade. 

Exactly. In a way, it was like an experimentation with Czerny, because everybody connects Czerny with developing technique using The School of Velocity and The Art of Finger Dexterity, but these variations on the theme by Node make such a charming, lovely piece that nobody expects. 

One can say that Czerny, Debussy or even Petrushka doesn't really match with Inferno, but I’ve been described by some critics as having a demonic power, and it's not something I try to do, but I play as I feel, and so maybe that's why we thought the Liszt is the central piece. My mother, when I was four years old would read to me The Divine Comedy, and she would explain it because it's so difficult. It left an amazing impression, and I have been thrilled by it since then. 

This Dante sonata, it doesn't tell you the whole story, but it's a fantastic fragment described powerfully by Liszt through the music, and you hear the fire in it as well as the quieter reflection.

The Debussy is another marked contrast, and I would say it’s virtuosic but in a different way.

Yes, and of course, it's not my first time to record Debussy. I just enjoy that in Debussy you can improvise with the sound; you can paint with the colours, and for the audience to hear all this contrast and transformation I think it's interesting.

How do you get to the heart of a piece of music with such fresh interpretations when, as with Clair de Lune, it has been played and recorded so many times before? 

First, with any music, it's good to not be influenced by any recordings, great recordings even, and to carefully study the score. We can be very thankful that Debussy was quite accurate with his intentions in the score.

Obviously, it's never the same, but in Debussy we learn all the details, etc., but then the danger is if it becomes too romantic, or too static, so where do we find the balance? That's the most challenging part, I think, in Debussy.

The album culminates with Petrushka - rhythmically explosive, percussive, full of humour and theatrical energy.

It’s very challenging to play. The transcription was created with Arthur Rubinstein asking, can someone write something really challenging these days? Stravinsky said 'Sure, I'll do that'. So, he did this transcription, but when Rubinstein saw it, he said 'No, thank you'. I mean, he was a big virtuoso, and I don't want to be one claiming that he couldn't play it or anything, but the fact is that he never touched it. But we must be thankful to him that we have this masterpiece on the piano.

What’s it like to play that Stravinsky live in a concert situation? 

I don't think about how it's possible to do so - you just go for it, because if you start thinking about it, it becomes very complicated. One must practise many, many, many hours to play that. It's not a secret!

You close the album with quiet reflection in Brahms.

Yes, from the last pieces that Brahms ever wrote for piano. It’s a very short intermezzo, but I think it’s a big summary of his creative life in those three minutes, because he was writing a letter to Clara Schumann, and he said 'Look, I am mixing all these unmixable harmonies together in a very slow tempo, which I've never done before', and you know, Brahms was experimenting with his little piece. We can hear, it's so intimate, expressing the fondest emotions that he had towards Clara. 

I thought that was just a nice bonus to include, because my recital programme starts with all four Brahms pieces and then the rest of the programme from the album.

I notice from your schedule you've been playing some of the big Russian concertos - Tchaikovsky one, Rachmaninov two and three, the Paganini variations, Prokofiev two… Are those works that you really love to play? 

Yes, of course I love to play those works, but I enjoy equally Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann or Brahms, as well as Mussorgsky and big, big Russian works. Music is a universal thing. I don't think I can just say 'Yes, I'm an expert in Russian music and I just love playing that'.

I had a fantastic time two weeks ago with Paavo Järvi playing Beethoven's first piano concerto with LA Philharmonic, and I enjoyed every moment. He’s amazing – such a fresh approach and style.

What’s next for you? 

I'm now looking forward to all the concerts, including working on Beethoven with Maestro Gardner. Then I have some recitals and the summer is not as busy because I wanted to take some time to recharge. If we become robots, something is missing from the music.

I have performances in Istanbul, Macau and Italy, recitals at Bergamo and Brescia and at the Nuremberg Festival I'm playing with the Royal Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto. Later, I'm looking forward to a big tour with the Czech Philharmonic and Maestro Bychkov.