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Debussy - Chopin - Mussorgsky

Behzod Abduraimov (piano)

Awards:

This is more than a flawless recital played with technical bravura and a born soloist’s confidence. Abduraimov is a major pianist, worth talking about in the same breath as the international...

Debussy - Chopin - Mussorgsky

Behzod Abduraimov (piano)

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Awards:

This is more than a flawless recital played with technical bravura and a born soloist’s confidence. Abduraimov is a major pianist, worth talking about in the same breath as the international...

About

Behzod Abduraimov joins Alpha for several recordings, starting with this ‘kaleidoscope of miniatures’ – miniatures that are in fact fairly gigantic, and showcase the Uzbek pianist’s extreme virtuosity and sensitivity. ‘Each movement is in itself a miniature, and taken together they form a kaleidoscope of human emotions and images of all kinds’, says Behzod Abduraimov. In his view, the pieces in Debussy’s Children’s Corner are not intended for young piano students, but ‘for adults, so that they can immerse themselves in the world of children with a little nostalgia and a lot of humour’. When it comes to Chopin, ‘each prelude has a different musical essence, creates its own atmosphere. Together they form an arc spanning the distance from the first prelude to the last. So I tried to consider them as a whole’. Finally, Mussorgsky evokes in ten highly expressive movements the paintings at an exhibition held in posthumous tribute to his friend Viktor Hartmann. A ‘Promenade’ heard several times suggests Mussorgsky himself strolling through the exhibition. For Behzod Abduraimov, ‘the “Promenades” play a key role in this cycle: they create the atmosphere before each painting’.

Born in 1990, a protégé of Valery Gergiev under whose direction he has already recorded with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and (during the 2016 BBC Proms) the Munich Philharmonic, Behzod Abduraimov is one of the most promising pianists of his generation.

Contents and tracklist

I. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum
Track length2:13
II. Jimbo's Lullaby
Track length3:22
III. Serenade for the Doll
Track length2:19
IV. The Snow Is Dancing
Track length2:27
V. The Little Shepherd
Track length2:30
VI. Golliwog's Cake-walk
Track length2:57
No.1 in C Major – Agitato
Track length0:36
No.2 in A Minor – Lento
Track length2:13
No.3 in G Major – Vivace
Track length0:51
No.4 in E Minor – Largo
Track length1:54
No.5 in D Major – Allegro Molto
Track length0:34
No.6 in B Minor – Lento Assai
Track length1:50
No.7 in A Major – Andantino
Track length0:35
No.8 in F Sharp Minor – Molto Agitato
Track length1:39
No.9 in E Major – Largo
Track length1:20
No.10 in C Sharp Minor – Allegro Molto
Track length0:32
No.11 in B Major – Vivace
Track length0:32
No.12 in G Sharp Minor – Presto
Track length1:10
No.13 in F Sharp Major – Lento
Track length2:56
No.14 in E Flat Minor – Allegro
Track length0:28
No.15 in D Flat Major – Sostenuto
Track length5:23
No.16 in B Flat Minor – Presto Con Fuoco
Track length1:01
No.17 in A Flat Major – Allegretto
Track length3:11
No.18 in F Minor – Allegro Molto
Track length0:54
No.19 in E Flat Major – Vivace
Track length1:17
No.20 in C Minor – Largo
Track length1:39
No.21 in B Flat Major – Cantabile
Track length1:44
No.22 in G Minor – Molto Agitato
Track length0:42
No.23 in F Major – Moderato
Track length0:55
No.24 in D Minor – Allegro Appassionato
Track length2:23
Promenade I
Track length1:24
1. Gnomus
Track length2:32
Promenade II
Track length0:50
2. Il Vecchio Castello
Track length4:28
Promenade III
Track length0:28
3. Tuileries (Dispute d'enfants après jeux)
Track length1:02
4. Bydło
Track length3:04
Promenade IV
Track length0:45
5. Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
Track length1:08
6. "Samuel" Goldenberg und "Schmuÿle"
Track length2:32
7. Limoges, le marché (La grande nouvelle)
Track length1:20
8. Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)
Track length3:46
9. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yagá)
Track length3:12
10. The Great Gate of Kiev
Track length4:49

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

  • Gramophone Magazine
    Critics' Choice 2021
  • Gramophone Magazine
    January 2021
    Editor's Choice
  • Presto Recording of the Week
    22nd January 2021
  • Record Review
    23rd January 2021
    Record of the Week
  • Gramophone Awards
    2021
    Shortlisted - Piano
  • International Classical Music Awards
    2022
    Nominated - Solo Instrument

May/June 2021

This is more than a flawless recital played with technical bravura and a born soloist’s confidence. Abduraimov is a major pianist, worth talking about in the same breath as the international stars whose names as far more widely known.

January 2021

Each ‘picture’ in the gallery unfolds its own enticing universe, vividly elucidated by the most genial and compelling of tour guides...Abduraimov’s visionary interpretation is on a par with the very finest. His secret ingredient is an acute awareness of orchestral colours (not necessarily from Ravel) and an ability constantly to vary timbre and texture without damaging the natural flow...All in all, a serious candidate for a benchmark recording, capping a most distinguished recital.

March 2021

[Chopin Preludes] The E-flat minor (No 14) is remarkable, occupying the hairline between detail and effect, its unsettling atmosphere a perfect foil to the so- called ‘Raindrop’ that follows. Single lines can speak volumes, despite – or perhaps because of – Abduraimov’s restraint.

22nd January 2021

The Chopin Preludes are beautifully and self-effacingly done, his almost Classical restraint (rubato is used sparingly throughout) making favourites like the ‘Raindrop’ Prelude come up as fresh as paint. But it’s the stupendous account of Mussorgsky’s Picture at an Exhibition that makes this album indispensable...One of the marvellous things about this set is the way Abduraimov manages to conjure not just the Pictures themselves but also the space which each one inhabits.

10th January 2021

Abduraimov’s programme seems designed to display the Tashkent-born pianist’s versatility. Ringing, generously pedalled sounds, rich in harmonics, and a fleetness and precision of execution characterise his account of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

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