Inferno

Behzod Abduraimov's interpretations combine great musical depth with phenomenal technique: "He possesses a magical touch," wrote The Times. This recital is further impressive proof of his versatile abilities. It begins with variations by Carl Czerny, a student of Beethoven and teacher of Liszt. This is followed by the famous Après une lecture de Dante—whose title is borrowed from a poem by Victor Hugo—representing Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage: Italie (1846–1849). A different era, a different poetic source of inspiration (Verlaine): the Suite bergamasque, an allusion to the festivities of the Lombard commedia dell’arte, which Debussy composed between 1890 and 1905. It continues with another celebration, this time in Saint Petersburg, with "its crowds, its booths and its little traditional theatre, the figure of the magician and conjurer... and the animation of the puppets—Petrushka, his rival and the ballerina," as Stravinsky himself noted. In 1921, he created a piano transcription of his ballet Petrushka, which had been composed ten years earlier. This infernal program concludes with Brahms, featuring a peaceful Intermezzo from the Klavierstücke, Op. 119.