Last night I was reminded afresh of why real life concerts and recitals are, or at least can be, better than recordings. Young keyboard lion Behzod Abduraimov came to town, and I just had to hear him. I got my front row, center tickets and was seated about ten feet from the Steinway B with my line of sight directly between piano and piano bench.
The very Liszt-heavy evening opened with the Wagner/Liszt Liebestod. Abduraimov went for the superheated approach, reveling in the most virtuosic music, blazing through it. To be sure, he delivered more beautiful and touching playing as required, and this was romantic era music to the core. Next came the reason to attend the recital, the Liszt sonata, in a scorching performance. Abduraimov obviously has technique to burn, and he did. He pushed himself at times, playing with some audible slips in some of the most challenging passages (some dizzying octaves, for instance), but here's a case where that didn't matter one iota. While his average volume level was below that of Joseph Moog (heard in the same hall, in the same seats, and on the same piano), in the loudest fortissimo passages, Abduraimov delivered crushingly loud playing. This all contributed to a sense of musical excitement at least equal to Nelson Freire's 1982 University of Maryland performance. But there was more than high-voltage excitement. Abduraimov backed way off in the quietest, tenderest moments. Perhaps Abduraimov subscribes to the Faust interpretation of the sonata that Igor Kamenz does, perhaps not, so maybe he wanted to portray Gretchen themed music tenderly, or maybe he just wanted to play the music that way, but whatever the motivation or interpretive reasoning, the playing was dreamy and gentle. The fugue? Well, it was a model of clarity and evoked a most satisfying baroque-romantic hybrid. Bringing the whole thing in at a brief timing, Abduraimov delivered one of the greatest renditions of the piece I've heard.
The second half of the recital was devoted to the piano extracts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. The pianist's recording of the Sixth Sonata is pretty much as good as any pianist who might present it now - meaning FFG and Yuja Wang, specifically - and his recording of the Third Concerto can compare with any pianist alive or long dead, so it was not really surprising that he delivered here. Again, he could and did play some of the gentler music with a lovely sound and varied touch, and he could and most certainly did thunder in the loudest passages. His take on the Montagues and Capulets movement was titanically conceived, and would make for a rousing encore.
Writing of encores, Abduraimov returned to Liszt with La Campanella. He delivered another scorcher. Clean, fast, with massive dynamic swings, and some ear-splitting upper register playing for effect, the pianist's affinity for Liszt was clear.
I'd say this is the best recital I'd attend this year, but Benjamin Grosvenor will be here in March to play Kreisleriana.
I also learned last night that no less a pianist than Marc Andre Hamelin will be guest curating next season of Portland Piano International and will be the first pianist to perform. Woe unto me.
