Inferno (cd)

Behzod Abduraimov (piano)

Czerny: Variations on a Theme by Rode, Op. 33
Liszt: Après une lecture du Dante, fantasia quasi sonata
Debussy: Suite Bergamasque
Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka
Brahms: Intermezzo in B minor, Op. 119 No. 1

Behzod Abduraimov's performances combine great musical depth with phenomenal technique: ‘He has a magical touch,’ wrote The Times. This recital is yet another illustration of his many talents, beginning with variations by Carl Czerny, a pupil of Beethoven and teacher of Liszt. Next, the famous Après une lecture de Dante (with a title borrowed from Victor Hugo) represents Liszt’s Année de pèlerinage en Italie.

Another era and another poetic inspiration follow with Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, an allusion to the festivals of the Lombard commedia dell'arte. The atmosphere shifts to the animation of Saint Petersburg with Stravinsky’s 1921 piano transcription of his ballet Petrushka, capturing the magic, the crowds, and the rhythmic life of the famous puppets. A peaceful Intermezzo from Brahms’s Klavierstücke Op. 119 concludes this "infernal" and wide-ranging programme.