CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Behzod Abduraimov, Piano
Part of: Keyboard Virtuosos I
Behzod Abduraimov is also performing October 25.
Performers
Behzod Abduraimov, Piano
Program
CHOPIN Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 28
DEBUSSY Children's Corner
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition
Encores:
TCHAIKOVSKY Lullaby, Op. 16, No. 1 (arr. Rachmaninoff)
PROKOFIEV "Mercutio" from Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75
LISZT Etude No. 3 in G-sharp Minor, "La campanella" from Grandes études de Paganini
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating before intermission.The Trustees of Carnegie Hall gratefully acknowledge the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Gregg L. Schenker in support of the 2019-2020 season.
In honor of the centenary of his birth, Carnegie Hall’s 2019–2020 season is dedicated to the memory of Isaac Stern in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to Carnegie Hall, arts advocacy, and the field of music.
At a Glance
CHOPIN Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 28
In an age replete with keyboard virtuosos, Chopin’s combination of bravura technique and poetic feeling defined a new school of Romantic pianism. Patterned after Bach’s keyboard preludes in all 24 major and minor keys, Chopin’s Op. 28 Preludes pack a weighty musical and emotional punch despite their extreme brevity. Franz Liszt, whose own tone poems were strongly influenced by Chopin, characterized them as “poetic preludes, analogous to those of a great contemporary poet, who cradles the soul in golden dreams, and elevates it to the regions of the ideal.”
DEBUSSY Children’s Corner
In this beguiling suite composed for his three-year-old daughter, Debussy impishly quotes a well-known passage from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Harold Bauer, who premiered Children’s Corner in 1908, confessed that he was oblivious to the allusion until the composer pointed it out to him.
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition
Mussorgsky’s highly personal and innovative voice was long obscured by well-meaning editors and orchestrators who considered his unconventional harmonies and orchestrations crude. Pictures at an Exhibition and other masterpieces can now be heard in their original state, enabling audiences to see Mussorgsky not just as a Russian nationalist, but as an authentic genius who was decades ahead of his time.
Bios
Behzod Abduraimov
Behzod Abduraimov performs with leading orchestras worldwide, collaborating with prestigious conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hrůša, and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
Mr. Abduraimov serves as artist-in-residence with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, appearing in recital and twice under Lorenzo Viotti. Other highlights this season include concerts with the Orchestre National de France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Abduraimov also gives concerto and recital performances at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, in addition to recitals as part of the International Piano Series in London and the Master Pianists Series at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Other recital stops include Spivey Hall near Atlanta and the Melbourne Recital Centre, among others. He directs Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with Camerata RCO as part of the 20th anniversary season of Istanbul’s İş Sanat Concert Hall. Mr. Abduraimov has also established a relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra, which he directed from the piano this year in performances of works by Beethoven and Mozart.
Recent engagements have included appearances with the Orchestre de Paris as part of its Rachmaninoff Weekend, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and The Cleveland Orchestra. In July 2018, Mr. Abduraimov returned to the Hollywood Bowl with a spectacular performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the LA Phil under Gustavo Dudamel. Summer 2019 included returns to the Verbier, Rheingau, La Roque–d’Anthéron, and Lucerne festivals. Last season, he was presented in recital by the 92nd Street Y, Chicago’s Symphony Center Presents, Vancouver Recital Society, Tippet Rise Art Center, Kölner Philharmonie, and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Born in 1990 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Mr. Abduraimov began studying piano at age five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum. In 2009, he won first prize at the London International Piano Competition with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. He also studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University in Missouri, where he is artist-in-residence.