Youri EGOROV

YOURI EGOROV Vol. 2 - page 331-602 Looking a bit weary after having played a long concert the previous afternoon and two shorter concerts in the evening, followed by a house party that had kept him up most of the night, Youri Egorov, nevertheless, wore a cheerful smile andgreeted me warmly as I arrived for our talk. Dressed comfortably in gray jogging pants with matching sweatshirt, he further manifested his informality by wandering around shoeless in dark, heavy socks. He had been the featured artist at the Friday-evening concert in late November at the Hotel Pulitzer in Amsterdam as part of the four-day Grand Piano Festival. I had been fortunate enough to hear him play one of two evening programs, the eleven-o’clock session devoted to the works of Schumann and Scarlatti. I had heard Egorov several years previous to this and wanted to reinforce my impressions of his work. Our interview had been set for the Saturday afternoon following this concert, so I needed to have fresh reactions. Mr. Egorov had invited me to his home located on one of Amsterdam’s ubiquitous canals in an exclusive area in the heart of the city. A ten-minute taxi ride from the Pulitzer Hotel where I was staying brought me to the Egorov home on Brouwersgracht. The house is white, three stories, and narrow, as are all of the homes in the Dutch tradition of architecture. As you walk into the Egorov home, you are immediately in the house—sans foyer, sans reception room, sans parlor; two open rooms meet the eye, one a kind of living room in the foreground, the other a dining area in the background; the kitchen is hidden off behind the dining area. The immediate impression is chichi. The walls are white, as is most of the furniture, the remaining pieces black. The art is contemporary, especially the pieces on the walls that were done by the Dutch artist Aldo Vanden Nieuwelaar. These are modern tubular lights in design. On the white table along the wall to the right is a vase filled with fresh roses, probably from the previous night’s concert. To the left is a very angular staircase that leads to the second floor. From the entrance room, one proceeds immediately into the dining room, which can be separated from the entrance room by pulling the white Japanese-type glass screens from the left wall to the right. Here we sat at a large white table in white chairs of contemporary design, also done by Aldo Van den Nieuwelaar. At one end of the table was a huge stack of books with titles like Ansel Adams, Bathroom Designs, and Moranti. Then there is a set of Sony sound equipment complete with recorder and player. Records are stacked in a tall, slim contemporary set of shelves in a black cabinet that extends from the floor to the ceiling. Egorov’s giant Steinway piano occupies the third floor of the house ...…. << continue reading - BUY book - click here >>