Igor Alexeyevich Komarov (1927-1981)

[kriatina]

Are there any Russian pianists/musicians here on Piano street who can tell me a little bit more about Igor Alexeyevich Komarov (1927-1981), because I have just heard an LP from 1975 where he plays on side A: Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti and on side B: Chopin as I have never heard before played. I am very impressed. Has anyone an opinion the way he plays Chopin and I have also read that he was brilliant in playing Beethoven, but I have never heard him play Beethoven.

Thanks from Kristina.

[dima_76557]

Are there any Russian pianists/musicians here on Piano street who can tell me a little bit more about Igor Alexeyevich Komarov (1927-1981)

Sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot give you much more than just a tiny bit, because Igor Alexeyevich was here before my time, and I am the first more or less serious musician in my family. Nobody I asked had every heard of him, but this is in Moscow. From the scarce material that is available to read about him in Russian (mostly reminiscences of older people who really liked him), he seems to have been quite something, especially when he became older. In the beginning of his career, he seems to have had a comparatively ugly, metallic tone for a Neuhaus student (strange that he is not on the wikipedia list for "Heinrich Neuhaus"). Later, he became professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He was also known for his wittiness in conversation. As a pianist, he seems to have been at his best with Bach, Scarlatti, and the French composers, works of which he played in the best St. Petersburg tradition. I read somewhere that 3 CDs with everything he ever recorded were issued in the USA only, not even in the Soviet Union. A YouTube search does not return very much:
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[kriatina]

Hello, dima_ogorodniko,
Thank you for your kind reply and the information you have sent me.
I am surprised that there is such little information about Igor Alexeyevich Komarov, 
because when I listened to him playing Chopin I felt that he is really a very special pianist.
He plays Chopin with great feeling and I have never heard Chopin played so well before.
The recording was from a live concert recorded in the “Estonia” Hall (Tallin) on January 22 1975
 and I am very enthusiastic about his soft touch and wonderful interpretation.
 
Thanks from Kristina.