Album: Behzod Abduraimov, Prokofiev, Liszt & Saint-Saëns (Decca)

The young Uzbeki pianist Behzod Abduraimov won the 2009 London International Piano Competition, gaining praise for characteristics that are clear on this debut programme, with interpretations of Prokofiev, Liszt and Saint-Saëns.

His Danse Macabre has a neurotic, sinister air, far from the florid fantasy of the Jonathan Creek theme, and he tackles Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No 6 with both youthful eagerness and maturity. That maturity is even more evident in Liszt's reflective Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude, whose subtle shifts of timing and emphasis he negotiates with apparently effortless command.

Download: Danse Macabre; Piano Sonata No 6; Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude