Events

Franck (arr. Bauer) Prélude, Fugue and Variations, Op. 18
Dilorom Saidaminova The Walls of Ancient Bukhara
Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Interval
Price Fantasie nègre No. 1 in E Minor
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet: Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 75

Behzod Abduraimov stepped onto the international stage at the age of eighteen, when he won first prize at the 2009 London International Piano Competition. Trained initially in Tashkent and then in the USA, he now performs with renowned orchestras worldwide and is a sought-after recitalist. He is praised for his depth of musicality, phenomenal technique and breath-taking delicacy.

His programme is one of scene painting and fantasy, with a mix of the familiar and the less well known. Fellow Uzbek, Dilorom Saidaminova’s composition is a series of eight scene paintings inspired by the sites and sounds of the ancient Silk Road city of Bukhara. The exquisite suite of piano pieces that Prokofiev distilled from his ballet Romeo and Juliet is also scene painting, but of characters rather than sites – Friar Laurence, fiery Mercutio, the Montagues and Capulets. In between these come Ravel’s fiendishly tricky Gaspard de la Nuit inspired by the sinister ‘fantaisies’ of Aloysius Bertrand, and the first of Florence Price’s four Fantasies nègres, this one based on the spiritual  ‘Sinner, please don’t let this harvest pass’.

from The Times, August 2022
‘…. we were held spellbound by the sublime pianism of Behzod Abduraimov in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. He coaxed sound of gossamer beauty from the keys and created shimmering halos around the notes. And, oh, his scales, each one a perfectly formed thing. No wonder the conductor Thomas Dausgaard turned to watch in the cadenzas, intent as any Prommer. This was Beethoven with character, elegance and wit.’

Also available
Season Tickets for all nine concerts in the 2024 Series at a 20% discount.