Contemporary Uzbek Music for Clarinet and Piano

Sherzod Sobirov Fantasy; Mustafo Bafoyev Buxorcha; Qo‘shiq-poema (Song-Poem);Lirik Hikoya (Lyrical Story); Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (piano reduction) Farrukh Akramov Sonata for Clarinet and Piano; Nurali Erkaev Sonata-Fantaziya; Habibulla Rahimov Poema-ballada; Anvar Ergashev # Sharq Kaprichchiosi (Eastern Capriccio)

Sayyod Mirzomurodov, clarinet and Mariya Akhadjanova, piano.

(Clarinet & Saxophone Classics) SKU: CC0091-CD- Full DDL
https://samekmusic.com/
https://www.sayyodmirzomurodov.com/

Contemporary Uzbek Music for Clarinet and Piano is the first commercial recording given over wholly to this repertoire, and it arrives with several works written for and dedicated to its soloist.

Sayyod Mirzomurodov, an international soloist, chamber musician, and educator, is about as well placed as any clarinettist could be to bring this music to disc: several of the pieces exist because he does.

Across fantasy, sonata and concerto forms, the results trace how melodic inflection, flexible rhythm and Uzbek musical colour have been absorbed into a modern classical language, and the clarinet is given every chance to sing, speak and shift colour within a single breath.

Mirzomurodov's control throughout is remarkable, his virtuosity never in doubt. He and his pianist, Mariya Akhadjanova, seem to feel the architecture of each piece together, shaping its melodic inflections with real precision. The chemistry between them is palpable. Akhadjanova's accompaniments are exceptionally well judged—never intrusive, always complementary, with dynamics carefully weighed throughout.

That partnership is heard at its fullest in the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, arranged here for clarinet and piano and, at twenty-two minutes, comfortably the longest track on the disc. Akhadjanova finds real melancholy in the piano writing, phrased as beautifully as the clarinet's response to it; her control in the pianissimo passages is something to admire. As the intensity builds, Mirzomurodov drops into the instrument's low register, and the emotional tension of the solo part expands to reflect the orchestral original in texture as much as register. The technique is impeccable, there is a great deal to take in across the concerto's span, and it closes in real quiet, controlled and atmospheric to the end.

The listener is then jolted awake by a dramatic piano chord that opens Sharq Kaprichchiosi, and its fast sections are where Mirzomurodov's fingers – and his clean, breath-controlled embouchure – really show what the instrument can do, darting between registers to conjure something close to a rhythmic dance. It is captivating music and captures the spirit of Uzbek music-making at its most infectious.

Uzbek music itself, shaped by centuries of contact with its Middle Eastern neighbours, is built on rhythms and meters considerably more knotty than most Western ears are used to, and this duo tells its stories in vivid, expressive strokes, building intensity with real narrative purpose. The booklet, too, deserves a mention, with concise biographies of the composers whose work fills the disc.

It amounts to a landmark for the clarinet's Central Asian repertoire – and an album that players, educators and listeners alike will want to return to.