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Behzod Abduraimov's Towering "Inferno" · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

• 0:09
  This is Jed Disler, and welcome to The Piano
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  Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 0:16
  Consider taking out a paid subscription to The
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  Piano Maven, and I've provided a link to do so
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  to my Substack page. You'll find this link in
• 0:25
  our episode description. Paid subscribers get
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  a free download at the start of each month, and
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  your support helps keep this podcast alive throughout
• 0:37
  the year. Over the past years, I've been reviewing
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  just about every new release, it seems, by the
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  pianist Bezad Abdureimov, and these have all
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  appeared on the Alpha label. It's... Interesting
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  that Alpha seems to have evolved from this small
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  independent label to perhaps one of the most
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  industrious and prominent labels on the classical
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  scene. They certainly have an abundance of high
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  quality releases to their credit. I gave a rave
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  review a while ago to Abdou Reymouf's disc that
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  had the Prokofiev 10 pieces from Romeo and Juliet,
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  Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit, and a large work
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  by Dilorum Said Minnova. That was a wonderful,
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  wonderful disc. I also reviewed his Prokofiev
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  Second Concerto that was coupled with the First
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  Concerto by Alexei Shor. Alexi Shore is basically
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  the Richard Nanes of his generation, and I will
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  leave it to you to research Richard Nanes, N
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  -A -N -E -S, and you'll put two and two together.
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  Then there was a wonderful solo disc with Abderramov
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  playing the DBC Children's Corner Suite, the
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  24 Chopin Preludes, and Mussorgsky's Pictures
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  at an Exhibition. That disc deserves its own
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  podcast treatment. But I want to talk about his
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  most recent release, which has been giving me
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  a lot of pleasure. The title of this disc is
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  called Inferno. Although, aside from it containing
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  Liszt's Dante Sonata, I honestly don't see what's
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  so infernal about the rest of the selections.
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  But what really counts is the playing, and my
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  goodness, his playing is so special. Generally,
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  pianists who take on Czerny's La Ricordanza variations
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  have to reckon with Vladimir Horowitz, because
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  Horowitz gave the 1944 world premiere recording,
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  and that's been the gold standard ever since.
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  But Abdo Reymov goes his own way. brings a more
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  rhetorical and bel canto orientation to the table.
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  It's a very poised and elegant performance, although
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  sometimes I prefer Antonio Pompobaldi in this
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  piece because he's more playful. And if you compare
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  both of these pianists in the third variation,
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  Mark Vivace, I think Pompobaldi is much more
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  scintillating. where Abdureimov is more lyrical
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  and thoughtful. I mean, both approaches work.
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  However, Abdureimov serves up one of the noblest
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  and most intelligently shaped recordings that
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  I've heard of Liszt's Dante Sonata. orchestrates
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  the music on the piano from the very first measures
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  and he voices the chords to just the right dynamic
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  perspective where you can ascertain each and
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  every note even in the very very low register
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  And you get long lines and narrative paragraphs
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  instead of mountains of pounded -out octaves
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  that you often hear from young pianists who think
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  this piece is just another Olympic event. And
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  in the central section's lyrical writing, the
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  legato cantabules have a luminosity that stems...
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  mainly from very sophisticated finger control
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  and hand balance, with only discrete help from
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  the sustained pedal. That's really something
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  to hear. In Debussy's Sweet Bergamask, the prelude
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  really can absorb Abduraymov's breadth and his
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  flexibility. This is a performance that's far
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  removed from the kind of prismatic transparency
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  that you get from Walter Gieseking. or the etched
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  linear approach of the old Leon Fleischer recording.
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  And in the minuet, I really like how Abdo Reymov
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  makes timbral distinctions between detached and
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  sustained lines. This creates a kind of three
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  -dimensional texture, as well as bringing out
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  the music's sly humor. And he does a wonderful
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  job with Claire de Lune. He clearly establishes
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  the piece's triple meter at the outset, and he
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  makes expressive points not through rubato, not
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  through lingering or milking a phrase, but purely
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  through touch and dynamic gradations alone. Later
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  on in the piece, he has a little more wiggle
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  room, but he never loses the thread of the basic
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  pulse. I get a sense that Abdureimov really thought
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  this interpretation through from top to bottom,
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  and he avoids every cloying interpretive cliché
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  in the book. And likewise, his Passapied is perfectly
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  paced, and it has a gentle swinging lilt that
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  really appeals. Now, about the Stravinsky Petrushka
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  that closes the disc, quite a few interpreters
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  have built upon Polnini's standard setting 1971
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  recording in many ways, such as the very skittish
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  and playful recording of Yujia Wang, and then
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  the darker colors that Beatrice Rana gets out
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  of this piece. And I think that Abdoramov elevates
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  the work still further in terms of technical
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  detail. His Russian dance, for instance, emphasizes
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  rhythmic centeredness over sheer speed, and he
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  gives uncommon direction to the left -hand chords,
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  where you really hear melodies, and his right
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  -hand octaves are suppler than most pianists'
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  single notes. Maybe he deliberates more than
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  necessary in the middle movement's sudden shifts
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  of mood, but it's still very beautiful. but he
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  navigates the shrovetide fair movements, complex
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  textural masses and broken chords and big climaxes
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  with a wonderful combination of astute textural
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  organization and a kind of controlled exuberance
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  where he really scales the dynamics carefully
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  so that when he gets to the climaxes, they really,
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  really rip. He never gets too loud too soon.
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  I think it's remarkable piano playing. And then
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  as an encore, he gives a kind of melancholic...
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  but still dignified rendition of the Brahms Intermezzo
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  Opus 119 No. 1. And I think this is a perfect
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  way to decompress from this... really gratifying
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  and gorgeously engineered recital program. I
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  highly, highly recommend this disc, and I know
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  you will love it. This is Jed Disler, and you've
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  been listening to The Piano Maven, your friendly
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  podcast guide to piano recordings. I look forward
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  to being with you for our next episode. So until
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  then, take good care.