Preview: Behzod Abduraimov at the Folly Theatre
Uzbek pianist wows audiences with sensitivity and technical prowess
Friday, March 5, 2010
By the time most kids are 8 years old, they’ve gone through a list of life ambitions a mile long. By that age, Behzod Abduraimov was already well on his way to becoming an international concert pianist.
Abduraimov began learning piano at age 6 and started performing with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ubzekistan at age 8. In 2009, at age 18, Abduraimov was the youngest winner of the prestigious London International Piano Competition, with a riveting performance of Prokofiev’s Concerto #3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra that brought the audience to their feet.
Now he’s ready to wow Kansas City audiences by performing all 24 Chopin Preludes as well as Lizt, and Rachmaninov’s monster 1893 Suite no. 1 for two pianos with his teacher at Park University, Stanislav Ioudenitch. The concert, presented by Friends of Chamber Music, will start at 8 pm on Friday at the Folly Theatre.
Abduraimov has been studying at Park University’s International Center for Music under Ioudenitch since he was 16, peppering his studies with performances with symphony orchestras around the world. Ioudenitch is also Uzbek and the 2001 winner of the Van Cliburn competition, so the pressures of performance and subtlety and emotion of playing at this level are aces up his sleeve.
Speaking with Abduraimov over the phone, one is struck by his dedication to practicing and his passion about the composers whose work he performs. He practices four to five hours a day, he says, in addition to a normal load of academic class at Park.
Whatever piece or composer he is performing next is his favorite, he says, and that may well be the key to his success.
“I have to really love Chopin, and understand him and love him myself so that then my audience can love him, as well," Abduraimov said. “Everything must come from the heart. For me, it comes from the heart and flows through my fingers into the piano.”
For someone as technically proficient as Abduraimov, the challenge is finding the emotion in the music and communicating it, he says. Speaking of Friday’s performance, he says research is key. “First off you really have to know why Chopin wrote this piece and what he felt at that time. Then you try to express it.”
The coming year presents new excitement for Abduraimov, as he makes his performance debut outside of competition with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall as well as a recital at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. He’ll also spend time touring Asia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. With two more years at Park to complete, there is no end to his development in sight. The classical world will have its new phenomenon. But for right now, Kansas City gets to enjoy him.
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