Anatol Ugorski

Leningrad-born Anatol Ugorski has emerged from the eclipse of his motherland's shadow. He has signed his first recording with Deutsche Grammophon, recording works by Beethoven (Diabelli Variations), Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition), and Stravinsky (Trois Movements de Petrouchka).

Here is a pianist who can cater to the individual piece's character: He plays Stravinsky with the crystalline hammering technique of Horowitz and caresses the largo expressivity of Fur Elise With the softness of Gilels.

Ugorski, born in 1942, spent all of his life until 1990 in Leningrad, where he was assigned the piano as his instrument by the examining board of the music school for children. Ugorski wonders even today whether it was only by chance that he came into contact with the instrument. His talent was imminent, but his creativity with regard to technique drew heavy criticism.

When Heinrich Neuhaus, the great piano teacher of Gilels and Richter, heard Ugorski play at the age of 17 he said, "Not talented as a pupil, does not absorb influences. But a gifted pianist." Ugorski worked his way up to an appointment as a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory. He worked there until 1990, when he finally emigrated to Germany.

Inspired by the mystery of Glenn Gould's technique, Ugorski's technique itself is not very clearly defined. His range is so great that it is nearly impossible to classify him as one type or another. His flawless mastery of the keyboard is evinced in his crisp octaves and his ability to juxtapose high velocity against controlled technique.

Although he sometimes reads ahead of the score, he balances his individual interpretation of the score by actually enhancing the piece's expression.

The greatest and most impressive aspect of Ugorski's technique, though, is his use of dynamism. His ability to create such a range of volume is truly remarkable. His fortissimos are piercing and his pianissimos border on silence.

It is his mastery of this latter skill that makes his technique so memorable and distinct. The way he can glide over the keyboard almost levitating the sound is in sharp contrast to the way that he extracts vital energy out of pieces by Mussorgsky. Dynamism and contrast. These two words summarize the appearance (though not the nature) of his technique.

For classical music buffs who are tired of the same old generic sounds of Richter, Brendel, Horowitz or Gilels, Ugorski promises to be a real treat.

He may not be at the top of the charts yet, but after a year, you may see him there. Creative centricity, Scarlattian passion, Chopinesque expressivity and all.