Pianist
Behzod Abduraimov
garnered plenty of attention with major prizes in the late 2000s decade. Since then, he has landed on the major
Decca
and
Sony Classical
labels, not quite finding the niche into which he clicks. He moved to
Alpha
during the COVID-19 pandemic and here returns with his sophomore release on the label, which landed on classical best-seller lists in early 2024 and seems to have done the trick. The new ingredient this time is a remarkable work from Uzbekistan; the composer,
Dilorom Saidaminova
, was his teacher. Listen to
The Walls of Ancient Bukhara
, a suite of eight short pictorial pieces that
Saidaminova
offered as an Uzbek counterpart to
Mussorgsky
's
Pictures at an Exhibition
. It is not only in the structure that it emerges as a worthy successor to that famous work;
marries unusual tonalities to representation much as
did, and
Abduraimov
's sympathy for the work is clear from his playing. Sample the opening "Mosque Kalon," a deeply spiritual little piece that is miles beyond Soviet Russian representation of the music of the distant republics.
is also fine in the more conventional repertory that bookends the Uzbek music.
Prokofiev
's suite of
Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75
, benefits from his steely rhythmic sense, even if it is hard to say what his
Ravel
Gaspard de la Nuit
adds to the many others on the market. One actually wants to hear even a few more shadows of ancestors from
and perhaps some from the other former Soviet satellites. Teldex Studio sound from Berlin is another attraction on this fine album. ~ James Manheim