I was lucky to be the first Israeli pianist to tour Azerbaijan and to perform with the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic (since Azerbaijan got independent).
I visited twice- In the first visit I played a recital and met with students at the univeristy where I had a talk about “being a pianist in the 21st century”. The first visit led to an invitation to return to perform the Beethoven Third Piano Concerto at the Philharmonic hall. In the second visit I gave a masterclass at the academy and a solo recital. The hosting was exceptional, I have been asked to give press conferences, radio shows, interviews. I returned to the USA (where I lived at the time) with 27 stories in newspapers. What an experience! I can only hope to return there again.
You can read some reviews on my visit here:
Listen to the cadenza of Beethoven´s 3rd Piano Concerto (live). Unfortunately I can only publish the cadenza for copyright reasons:
Listen to my encore: Beethoven’s “Tempest” sonata, third movement, Allegretto: