Review by: Jed Distler
Artistic Quality: 10
Sound Quality: 10
Each of the three works that Behzod Abduraimov presents in this program consists of small, strongly individual pieces that ultimately add up to more than the sum of their parts. Abduraimov’s impressive interpretations bear this out; he manages to tap into each piece’s character, while unifying them by way of timing and carefully thought out tempo relationships.
In Debussy’s Children’s Corner, for example, the pianist’s measured pace allows breathing room to his distinctions between legato and detached articulation. The foreground and background components emerge in clear and consistent perspective throughout Jimbo’s Lullaby and Serenade for the Doll, while the clipped phrasing of Golliwog’s Cakewalk conveys more bite and rhythmic spring than usual.
Even in a catalog awash with distinctive Chopin Preludes cycles, Abduraimov’s stellar technique, intelligent musicianship, and feeling for nuance stand out. Note No. 3’s alluringly shaded left-hand runs, No. 5’s cross-rhythmic definition, and the crystalline shimmer of No. 8’s busy textures. Abduraimov’s fleet poise in virtuoso showpieces like Nos. 16, 19, 22, and 24 veer closer to the classicism of Pollini’s 1974 traversal than to the improvisatory Argerich or Arrau’s epic dynamism.
A few textual observations: Unlike Pollini, who executes No. 9’s controversial dotted eighth- and 16th-note pattern to conform to the accompanying triplet, Abduraimov plays it as written. However, like Pollini (as well as Alfred Cortot and Ivan Moravec), Abduraimov favors the “traditional” E-natural on the final beat of No. 20’s third measure, rather than the “controversial” Urtext E-flat that Arrau, Rudolf Serkin, and Alexandre Tharaud prefer.
If anything, Abduraimov opens himself more to the inherent drama in Mussorgsky’s Pictures, yet without doing violence to the music. It’s true that the pianist reinforces octaves here and there, and adds effective right-hand tremolos to Gnomus, yet such emendations enhance rather than distract from Mussorgsky’s intentions. Abduraimov’s steady tread in the Promenades allows the music’s asymmetry to speak for itself. He takes his time over Bydlo’s oxcart ostinatos, yet never drags, and eschews the capricious and cutesy tempo changes that younger pianists deem necessary in the Unhatched Chicks Ballet.
The repeated notes of Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle are as perfectly aligned and voiced as the rapid alternating chords of the Limoges Marketplace coda. And to hear how one can produce massively resonating sonorities without banging, check out The Great Gate at Kiev’s climactic pages. Debussy, Chopin, and Mussorgsky add up to a triumphant triumvirate in Abduraimov’s hands, together with Alpha’s first-class engineering.
Recording Details:
Reference Recording: Debussy: This one; Michelangeli (DG), Chopin: Moravec (Supraphon), Mussorgsky: This one; Bronfman (Sony)
- Behzod Abduraimov (piano)
