New Release by Alexander Gadjiev - “Legends”

Alexander Gadjiev’s new album "Legends" was released on August 22, 2025, on the Fuga Libera.

His album "Legends" takes listeners on a journey through the timeless legends and stories hidden within music, revealing its power to conjure entire worlds. In Debussy’s La cathédrale engloutie, ghostly bells rise from a submerged cathedral, bringing a Breton myth to life. Liszt’s Funérailles rages with thunderous chords, evoking a battle against mortality, whilst Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition unfolds a vivid tapestry of Slavic folklore and European scenes. Prokofiev’s Légende tells an enchanted tale of light and shadow, and Scriabin’s Sonata No. 9 (Black Mass) immerses us in an eerie, otherworldly soundscape. Franck’s Prélude, Fugue et Variation offers a sublime reflection on the soul’s journey, while Bach-Siloti’s Prelude in B minor resonates like a timeless, universal hymn.

The Italian-Slovenian pianist has designed this programme to offer listeners a profound and mythical experience.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) : Préludes - Book 1, No. 10: La cathédrale engloutie (1909-1910)
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) : Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
César Franck (1822-1890) : Prélude, Fugue and Variation, Op. 18 (1860-1862) arr. Harold Bauer for solo piano
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) : Funérailles - from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S.173, No. 7 (1849)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) : Legend, Op. 12 No. 6 (1907)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) : Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68 "Black Mass" (1912-1913)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) : Prelude in B minor (after BWV 855a) (c. 1740) arr. Alexander Siloti
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) : 12 Études, Op. 8, No. 12 in D-sharp minor (1894)

Gramophone von Michelle Assay (Original article)

His latest album re-confirms his maturity, intelligence and high-voltage imagination. […] In Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Gadjiev’s promenader has a spring in his step, conveying an exceptional degree of urgency. […] Gadjiev’s clarity of vision saves Liszt’s Funérailles from turning into a monstrous cliché.

Rondo Magazin - CD zum Sonntag (Original article)

His album “Legends” unfolds music as a mythical web of stories and images. […] With Prokofiev and Scriabin, Gadjiev succeeds in making brightness and shadow audible at the same time. […] Gadjiev shows that the music of the 19th and 20th centuries can still touch us directly today, if one gives it not only precision but also soul.

Textura (Original article)

The pianist's rendering is patient and poetic, with Gadjiev demonstrating keen sensitivity to dynamics, pacing, and phrasing. He never hurries the performance but instead embraces the opportunity to maximize its languorous character. […] His voicing of the tender waltz with which it begins is beautifully rendered, especially when his gentle touch amplifies the music's intimacy and atmospheric quality.

Classical Music Sentinel by Jean-Yves Duperron (Original article)

Alexander Gadjiev's album Legends takes listeners on a journey through the timeless legends and stories hidden within music, revealing its power to conjure entire worlds. […] The Italian-Slovenian pianist has designed this program to offer listeners a profound and mythical experience. […] No need on your part to seek out the composer's descriptive intent since Gadjiev draws a clear outline, expressing exactly the catalyst within each composer's mind.

Musique Classique & Co by Thierry Vagne (Original article)

All “hits,” starting with one of the best renditions of La cathédrale I have ever heard—and I’ve heard many! (Precisely 160… see reference.) Here you find all the qualities of a great pianist: tone, virtuosity, respect for the score, etc. […] These qualities are even more evident in Pictures at an Exhibition, where, without overdoing it, whether in dynamics or characterizations, he guides us—no pun intended—through superb atmospheres.