Youri Egorov

[Todd]

About a year-and-a-half or two years ago or so, I bought an EMI twofer on Youri Egorov playing piano works by Robert Schumann.  A good number of Schumann fans and piano fans had written comments ranging from the strongly favorable to the dizzyingly effusive about the set and Egorov's playing, so it seemed a safe bet.  It was.  Egorov's Schumann is among the best committed to disc to my ears, and so I decided I should try to find more of his EMI recordings.  Of particular interest to me was his Debussy Preludes.  But then I saw the prices resellers were asking for that twofer – $40-$100+!  I'd wait.  EMI would have to reissue some of his recordings I reasoned.  They have.  In fact, they have released all of his commercial studio recordings made for EMI during his tragically short career.  The set is more than a keeper.

The set opens with the Debussy I so wanted.  My prior uninformed desire was justified.  Egorov's Debussy is superb.  His take on the Preludes offers much.  One gets to revel in some incredibly nuanced piano and pianissimo playing.  Egorov is one of those wonderful pianists who is, if anything, even more interesting when playing at the lower end of the spectrum.  His dynamic and tonal shading astonishes.  He'll play fast and lithe, slow and delicately, and with effortless panache, gliding along with a color palette surpassed by few.  When playing fast he can and often does shimmer.  (Les tierces alternées and Feux d'artifice from the second book of the Preludes and Jardins sous la pluie from Estampes are the best examples of this.)  The louder passages don't come off as well – that is, they're imperfect.  Hammerless Debussy this is not, but nor is it banging.  Some of the loudest playing does take on a metallic, slightly hard sound, but certainly no more than some other greats.  Egorov's Debussy is not perfect – only Gieseking and Michelangeli deliver that – but it is of a very high level indeed.

As is his Schumann and Chopin.  They're probably even better.  Egorov has Schumann's number.  Every piece in the two solid discs devoted to Schumann's music is almost perfectly realized.  In Carnaval, Egorov brings out the distinct traits of both Florestan and Eusebius and he plays with virtuosic glee – though never self-indulgence.  His Arabeske is light and beautiful, his Toccata firm, motoric, and driven.  His Kreisleriana has bold playing where needed, but is most notable for the quieter, more wistful, and more plaintive sections.  Papillons is light and flitting, though the concluding piece has a wonderful grandness to it.  And his Bunte Blätter has a finely crafted, occasionally disjointed feel to it.  The (far too) few Chopin selections are uniformly superb.  The selection of Nocturnes are all perfectly atmospheric, the two recordings of the Fantaisie perfectly characterized, and the single Ballade and Scherzo each swell with romantic abandon but both are reined in by sublime taste.  And the two Etudes point out what was lost.  Fast, virtuosic, and dazzling (Op 10/5) and nuanced, delicate, and beautiful (10/3), Egorov could very well have delivered an unrivalled complete set had he lived long enough.

Not all the music making is at the same level.  His single Bach work in the set – the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor (BWV 903) – doesn't really hit the spot for me, nor does his Mozart K475.  He doesn't seem to get all the way into the style.  But the biggest misgivings are with the two Mozart concertos (K453 and K466) and the Emperor.  The two Mozart concertos are characterized by a somewhat romantic style, which I have no problem with, but Egorov seems too intent on almost returning to the Dresden china doll style.  Yes, his playing is amazingly beautiful and nuanced, but it just doesn't sit as well with me.  The great D minor loses some dramatic power that it surely deserves.  Don't get me wrong, the recordings are quite good, they're just not what I generally look for.  The Beethoven suffers similarly, with one difference: Egorov delivers what is probably the most beautiful slow movement I've yet heard.  It is simply amazing.  The outer movements, though, lack the drive and energy I crave. 

But the misgivings are minor.  At his "worst," Egorov captivates with his tonal beauty and limitless rhythmic and dynamic nuance.  At his best, he plays on the same level as the best recorded pianists.  The occasionally clangy, metallic sound and fortissimo hardness may be as much do to the mostly early digital recordings, but in any event they mean nothing in the context of mostly inspired playing.  This set actually exceeded my high expectations, even if it is imperfect.  One can only surmise what Egorov may have done had he not died so young.  One wonders what his Liszt may have sounded like.  (I'm thinking the Consolations, perhaps, or the Années.)  The world was robbed of what would have been amazing Chopin recordings.  Rach 2 – man, what that could have been.  As with Dinu Lipatti, one can only ponder.  But I think Egorov is better.

An extraordinary set.

[SonicMan46]

Hi Todd - thanks for your usual superb post - don't know much about this tragic pianist, but was just reading his short bio HERE - will certainly take a close look at his recordings!  Dave 

[ezodisy]

The world was robbed of what would have been amazing Chopin recordings. 

We got some of them at least. He played both sets of etudes in recital -- op. 10 were released on CD, op. 25 from the same recital were not due to audience noise (sounds like nonsense to me). His live Prokofiev 8 is one of the best too, likewise his Shostakovich sonata 2. Nice review Todd.

[mn dave]

My set has shipped.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Great write-up, Todd.

Egorov died much too young, his prime years still ahead of him even as he looked back on an already dazzling career. Had time allowed he was surely one step from superstardom. It's a testament to his talents that in such a brief stint on the concert circuit he left behind a sizable legacy. His fans certainly remember him.

He sprang to notoriety (in America, at least) after the 1977 Van Cliburn competition where his controversial third place finish sparked a wave of sentiment for him which led to a group of fans - spearheaded by an American impresario - taking it upon themselves to raise $10,000 for him - a sum equaling the grand prize total.

He was survived by a supportive group of friends who saw to it that his legacy should not be forgotten by forming the Youri Egorov Foundation (Stichting Youri Egorov). Along with providing an admirable public service by making available what rare live Egorov material there is, the Foundation is also dedicated to one of Egorov's pet projects: seeking out and giving material aid to talented Russian musicians who haven't the means to make their way up the normal chain of study. Nikolai Lugansky is probably the most notable beneficiary of the foundation's support.

(If anyone's interested, Fanfare March/April 1993 (Vol. 16, No. 4) is a good place to read all about the history of Egorov. It's where I got much of the above information).

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Almost forgot,

Todd, do you notice any differences in the sound quality in this new Schumann? I too have the earlier Schumann two-fer (and the Debussy) and am curious if there's any sonic improvement.

[Peregrine]

Yeah, thanks for the review, Todd.

This has sat in my virtual basket at Amazon for a while and have just ordered, along with a Mahler 3rd (Kubelik/Audite).

Will look forward to listening. It's going for a fantastically low £11.99 over at Amazon UK if anyone's interested...

[ezodisy]

It's going for a fantastically low £11.99 over at Amazon UK if anyone's interested...

That is bloody ridiculous!

[Todd]

Todd, do you notice any differences in the sound quality in this new Schumann?

Nope, it's the same remastering, as is the Debussy.  The only disc that appears to be newly remastered is the seventh disc, which is a live recital.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Thanks, Todd.

[springrite]

I have a few Egorov CDs. Will listen to them again this week.

[dirkronk]

I remember when Egorov first hit the scene, and I still have the first couple or three LPs. Loved his playing, but the recordings were frustrating. One of the EMIs in particular represented the worst of digital and analog worlds at that time: insuperably harsh recorded quality and warped vinyl! Still, there was that playing...nice to know that his legacy, limited though it may be, is again available in affordable (and hopefully more mellifluous) form.

Seems to me that Egorov's first couple of records were released on the Peters International label, at least here in the US--live Schumann recordings, IIRC. Does anyone remember for sure? I'm not where I can check my collection right now.

Speaking of short piano careers, has anyone ever released Terence Judd's recordings on CD? I've seen one disc with two piano concertos on it, but that's all--and I have a several-LP set of other works worthy of being remembered.

Cheers,

Dirk

[mn dave]

I like this box so far, Todd. Even the Mozart. 

Thanks again for the recommendation!