Anatol Ugorski is one of the very few pianists who experienced a meteoric rise in fame who also kept up and even refined his deep pianistic beliefs. Deeply rooted in the often-cited “Russian tradition” he is also a highly individualistic virtuoso personality. His distinctive commitment to 20th century composers like Messiaen and Boulez is characterized in an anecdote from 1967 when he attended one of the few guest concerts of Pierre Boulez in the Soviet Union. Ugorski was so enthusiastic in public about the Boulez programme featuring Schoenberg, Berg and Webern that he experienced reprimands and threats from the official censorship authorities afterwards.

Ugorski’s interpretations are informed by his personal beliefs. An intrinsic aspect of his artistic personality is that he challenges audiences and critics to discourse; for example, his reading of the Arietta from Beethoven’s op.111 stimulated scholarly discussion over his intense Larghissimo taking more time for the movement than almost all other interpreters. Some considered his tempo to be a wholehearted intellectual testing of the musical material, others were outraged by the freedom he took with his interpretation. Unaffected by such debates, Ugorski holds to the musico-philosophical mantra that there is no supreme interpretative rule or ‘definitive’ interpretation, only the “truth of the moment.”

When it comes to biographical details, Ugorski has always been reluctant to provide personal details about himself. Why? “The music is more important.”

Includes the first international release of Ugorski’s Scriabin Sonatas 2, 3, 5 & 9 as well as rare Chopin recordings

Booklet includes an essay by Eleonore Büning, renowned music critic of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung