Ilya Beshevli - Night Forest [CD]

"WHEN MY LIFE WAS HARD ON ME, I WENT TO HIKE ALONE, AWAY FROM THE CITY NOISE AND LIFE PROBLEMS", EXPLAINS BESHEVLI, REVEALING THAT AS HE TRAVELS A CHANGE IS UNDERTAKEN IN APPROACH TO HIS MUSIC, AS HE ACQUIRES COLOURS THAT DIFFER FROM PLACE TO PLACE THE RECORD'S OPENING TITLE-TRACK SKILFULLY CAPTURES THIS; AS BESHEVLI, INCLINED TO TEMPO AND TEXTURE CHANGES, TRANSPORTS THE LISTENER FROM A QUICKENING AND DRAMATIC SOUNDSCAPE WHICH THEN BREAKS INTO A CALMER MORE SERENE CHORUS. BESHEVLI WAS BORN INKRASNOYARSK, ONE OF SIBERIA'S BIGGEST CITIES, IN A MUSICAL HOUSEHOLD: HIS FATHER A PROFESSIONAL COMPOSER AND HIS MOTHER A MUSICOLOGIST. DESPITE HIS BACKGROUND, BESHEVLI DISLIKED STUDYING MUSIC; STRUGGLING TO MAINTAIN ATTENTION SAT AT THE PIANO WHILST FRIENDS ENJOYED THE OUTDOORS. IT WASN'T UNTIL THE AGE OF 21 THAT HE STARTED PLAYING AGAIN, WHEN SUBSTITUTING FOR HIS GRANDMA WHO WAS WORKING IN THE LOCAL NURSERY. WITH NO INTERNET AND NOTHING IN PARTICULAR TO DO, ATTENTION INEVITABLY TURNED TO THE NURSERY'S PIANO AND WHAT BESHEVLI DESCRIBES AS 'SOME SORT OF DESTINY' EXPLAINING HIS CHANCE RE-INTRODUCTION TO PLAYING PIANO, BESHEVLI STATES: 'NOT HAVING HIGHER MUSICAL EDUCATION IS GOOD AND BAD AT THE SAME TIME; I FEEL LIKE I'M LACKING BASIC KNOWLEDGE, BUT OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM USUALLY KILLS THE INDIVIDUALITY. MAYBE I WOULD HAVE BECOME AN ACADEMIC MUSICIAN, BUT MOST PEOPLE WOULD HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ME. NEVERTHELESS, I'M STUDYING AT MUSIC UNIVERSITY AT THE MOMENT AND WE'LL SEE WHAT THIS WILL BRING' BESHEVLI'S DEPICTS HIS EMOTIONS AND LIFE EXPERIENCES THAT ARE SHAPED BY HIS SURROUNDINGS AND REACTIONS TO THEM. ILYA'S BEAUTIFUL COMPOSITIONS HAVE BEEN COMPARED TO THAT OF YANN TIERSEN AND LUDOVICO EINAUDI, BUT WITH HIS OWN DISTINCTLY SIBERIAN TAKE ON THE MODERN CLASSICAL GENRE. HIS EXPERT INTERTWINING OF DIFFERING MOODS AND TEXTURES PLAY OUT EXQUISITELY ON NIGHT FOREST. HAVING PERFORMED ACROSS RUSSIA IN THE LIKES OF THE KRASNOYARSK STATE OPERA & BALLET THEATRE, KRASNOYARSK MUSEUM CENTER A