Youri Egorov was born in Kazan, USSR in 1954. He began playing at the age of six, and studied under Yakov Zak. He defected from the USSR during a tour of Italy in 1976. He then moved to the Netherlands where he joined his partner Jan Brouwer.
He medaled in numerous international piano competitions. This particular recital and recording was the result of his not being a finalist in the 1977 Van Cliburn competition. A group of supporters at the Van Cliburn competition came together after the competition to give him the same cash award as the winner of the competition. This also led to the concert at Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on 23 January 1978. This recording was from a later recital at Carnegie Hall.
He enjoyed a short but illustrious career with more than a dozen recordings, and appearances with many major orchestras around the world. Tragically, Youri Egorov was one of the many victims of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, and died at the young age of 33 in 1988. His remains are interred in Amsterdam next to those of his partner, Jan Brouwer.
This video consists of three Chopin pieces played at the January 1978 recital at Alice Tully Hall. This is a live recording. A note on the transfer. The LP that this was taken from was very well produced and recorded, however, the particular copy I have is in poor shape. Thus there is some noise in this recording. However, I do not think it detracts significantly from the wonderful performance that harkens back to some of the great romantic style pianists.
The three Chopin pieces are:
Fantasy in F-Minor Op.49
Etude in G-Flat Major Op.10 No.5
Etude in E-Major Op.10 No.3
Recorded: 16 Dec 1978
Location: Carnegie Hall, NYC
Originally issued on Peters International (PLE-121) in 1978.
Recording Engineer: Allan Tucker