Raised in Gorizia, a town in the culturally diverse area on the border between Italy and Slovenia, Alexander Gadjiev speaks many languages—both spoken and musical ones. For his Pierre Boulez Saal debut, the pianist presents an unusual program of tone paintings from France and Russia, including works by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Olivier Messiaen alongside Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. He also performs his own improvisations and new works by Andrea Miazzon, Joachim Carr, and Guillem Palomar, who completed his composition studies at the Barenboim-Said Akademie.