Igor Lazko
Encyclopedia
Igor Lazko (b. St Petersburg, 1949), is a Russian classical pianist
who has made a distinguished international career as performer, recording artist and teacher of other pianists.
was six years old he was admitted to the special school for young musicians in the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where his professors were Pavel Serebryakov
and Lekhovitskaya . He was profoundly affected by the example of Glenn Gould
's playing during his tour in the Soviet Union in 1957, and from this and from Gould's recordings he drew a wealth of inspiration: the pianist describes this in a published article.
At a very young age he displayed exceptional gifts and when only 14 he became the youngest laureate in the history of the Johann Sebastian Bach International Music Competition at Leipzig
, receiving from them the Bronze Medal. Soon afterwards (in 1965) he recorded the Two- and Three-Part Inventions for the Russian Melodiya
record label, the disc which was to mark the start of his career as a concert performer.
His hard work and his exceptional talent opened for him the very finest teaching that Russia had to offer. He perfected himself at the higher Tchaikowsky Conservatory in Moscow in the class of Jakov Zak, successor of the master Heinrich Neuhaus
, and took the First Prize in all his paths of study. From 1974 to 1977 he pursued a career as soloist and chamber musician in the Soviet Union, and was soloist with the Leningrad Philharmonic.
. In this period he recorded the six Partitas and the Goldberg Variations
of J.S. Bach, as well as works of Tchaikowsky and of other composers. The concert which he dedicated to the memory of the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould
was proclaimed 'the best interpretation of the 1982-1983 season' in Belgrade. Intensively engaged in the musical life of the country, his Belgrade Festival recital of 1987 consisted entirely of Serbian composers, while his 1989 recital was a Russian programme of Moussorgsky, Tchaikowsky ('The Seasons' op. 37, which he also recorded in Belgrade) and Rachmaninoff. His 1987 recital with violinist Črtomir Sišković also combined Bach, Mozart and Tchaikowsky. After winning the 1981 Contemporary Music Congress at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
, his career also began to develop further in France. In 1985 at the 'Music Like Bach' Festival of Nanterre
, he performed practically the complete klavier works of J.S. Bach.
, Mariss Jansons
, Vladislav Chernushenko and Valery Gergiev
, with the Philharmonic Orchestras of Leningrad and Moscow
, the National Chamber Orchestra of Canada, and with many European ensembles. Based in Paris since 1992, he continues to perform and teaches at the Schola Cantorum
, at the National School of Music of Fresnes
and in particular at the Russian Conservatory Alexandre Scriabin in Paris.
He is President Director of the Nikolai Rubinstein
International Piano Concours (founded 1996) and is the Founder and President of the International Concours of the Conservatoire Russe Alexandre Scriabine (2001), in Paris. He is closely involved with the Jūrmala
(Latvia
) International Academic Music Competition for pianists, which reached its 11th Season in 2010.
Igor Lazko has given innumerable tours in France, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Italy, Greece and the United States. Also he gives very numerous demonstrations and Master-classes across the whole of Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Germany, etc.) and in the United States.
He is pianist of the Trio Mendelssohn, with violinist Alexandre Stajic and cellist Dorel Fodoreanu.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
who has made a distinguished international career as performer, recording artist and teacher of other pianists.
Early career in Russia
Igor Lazko is descended from a family renowned for its musicians through several generations. When hewas six years old he was admitted to the special school for young musicians in the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where his professors were Pavel Serebryakov
Pavel Serebryakov
Pavel Alexeyevich Serebryakov was a Russian pianist.Serebryakov began touring the USSR after ranking 2nd at the I National Competition . A professor at the Leningrad Conservatory, he was the institution's rector from 1938–51 and from 1961 until his death...
and Lekhovitskaya . He was profoundly affected by the example of Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
's playing during his tour in the Soviet Union in 1957, and from this and from Gould's recordings he drew a wealth of inspiration: the pianist describes this in a published article.
At a very young age he displayed exceptional gifts and when only 14 he became the youngest laureate in the history of the Johann Sebastian Bach International Music Competition at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, receiving from them the Bronze Medal. Soon afterwards (in 1965) he recorded the Two- and Three-Part Inventions for the Russian Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...
record label, the disc which was to mark the start of his career as a concert performer.
His hard work and his exceptional talent opened for him the very finest teaching that Russia had to offer. He perfected himself at the higher Tchaikowsky Conservatory in Moscow in the class of Jakov Zak, successor of the master Heinrich Neuhaus
Heinrich Neuhaus
Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus was a Soviet pianist and pedagogue of German extraction. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964. He was made a People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1956...
, and took the First Prize in all his paths of study. From 1974 to 1977 he pursued a career as soloist and chamber musician in the Soviet Union, and was soloist with the Leningrad Philharmonic.
Belgrade
From 1978 to 1992 he was professor at the University of BelgradeUniversity of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
. In this period he recorded the six Partitas and the Goldberg Variations
Goldberg Variations
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form...
of J.S. Bach, as well as works of Tchaikowsky and of other composers. The concert which he dedicated to the memory of the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
was proclaimed 'the best interpretation of the 1982-1983 season' in Belgrade. Intensively engaged in the musical life of the country, his Belgrade Festival recital of 1987 consisted entirely of Serbian composers, while his 1989 recital was a Russian programme of Moussorgsky, Tchaikowsky ('The Seasons' op. 37, which he also recorded in Belgrade) and Rachmaninoff. His 1987 recital with violinist Črtomir Sišković also combined Bach, Mozart and Tchaikowsky. After winning the 1981 Contemporary Music Congress at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
, his career also began to develop further in France. In 1985 at the 'Music Like Bach' Festival of Nanterre
Nanterre
Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located west of the center of Paris.Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre....
, he performed practically the complete klavier works of J.S. Bach.
Range
Igor Lazko has worked with such orchestral directors as Yuri TemirkanovYuri Temirkanov
Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov is a Russian conductor of Circassian origin.Yuri Temirkanov has been the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic since 1988.-Early life:...
, Mariss Jansons
Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons is a Latvian conductor, the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons. His mother, the singer Iraida Jansons, who was Jewish, gave birth to him in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after her father and brother were killed in the Riga Ghetto...
, Vladislav Chernushenko and Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
, with the Philharmonic Orchestras of Leningrad and Moscow
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953...
, the National Chamber Orchestra of Canada, and with many European ensembles. Based in Paris since 1992, he continues to perform and teaches at the Schola Cantorum
Schola Cantorum
The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private music school in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera...
, at the National School of Music of Fresnes
Fresnes, Val-de-Marne
Fresnes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The Fresnes Prison is located there.-Name:...
and in particular at the Russian Conservatory Alexandre Scriabin in Paris.
He is President Director of the Nikolai Rubinstein
Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein
Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.-Life:...
International Piano Concours (founded 1996) and is the Founder and President of the International Concours of the Conservatoire Russe Alexandre Scriabine (2001), in Paris. He is closely involved with the Jūrmala
Jurmala
Jūrmala is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometers west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River...
(Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
) International Academic Music Competition for pianists, which reached its 11th Season in 2010.
Igor Lazko has given innumerable tours in France, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Italy, Greece and the United States. Also he gives very numerous demonstrations and Master-classes across the whole of Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Germany, etc.) and in the United States.
He is pianist of the Trio Mendelssohn, with violinist Alexandre Stajic and cellist Dorel Fodoreanu.
Artistry
Igor Lazko is a pure artist and an authentic pianist. He is also an outstanding chamber-musician. He possesses to the very highest degree that art of 'speaking' through the piano which is the mark of the greatest interpreters. He has the resources of an infallible technique (perhaps owing to his regular practice of the work of J.S. Bach). The refined lyricism of his playing and his symphonic projection of sound, allied to the spiritual power of his discourse give a great authenticity to his interpretations, 'a feast of sound of a very great beauty: with him the music becomes again what it was at its origin, limpid, simple and pure.' (A.M.M.).Recordings mentioned
- Two- and Three-Part Inventions (J S Bach) (Melodiya 10" 33D 19399/400)
- Concerto for piano and orchestra in F minor (J S Bach) with Leningrad Chamber Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov (1968).
- Goldberg Variations, Bach (Belgrade): PGP - Produkcija Gramofonskih Ploċa Radio-Televisije Beograd, SOKOJ RTB 2330172 (Sleevenotes April 1985, Issued 1987).
- Partitas, Bach (Belgrade): PGP RTB 3130096 (Issued 17 January 1985)
- The Seasons (Tchaikowsky), op 37a. PGP RTB 2130513.
- w. Crtomir Siskovic (vln), violin: Sonata in G minor 'Didone abbandonata' (Tartini); Suite no 1 (Svara Danilo); Sonatina in G minor (Antonin DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
). PGP RTB 230049; Jugoton LSY-66243. - w. Alexandre BrussilovskyAlexandre BrussilovskyAlexander Brussilovsky is a Russian-born French violinist and conductor.Alexandre Brussilovsky was born in Ukraine and completed his musical education at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Yuri Yankelevich, Maya Glezarova, Felix Andrievsky and Leonid Kogan...
, violin: Sonata for violin and piano in A majorViolin Sonata (Franck)The Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano by César Franck is one of his best known compositions, and considered one of the finest sonatas for violin and piano ever written...
(César FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
); Sonata for violin and piano in E flat major (Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
). Suoni e colori, ORCD 6712 (August 2000). - w. Brussilovsky (vln), Nathanaelle Marie, works by Khandoshkin, Afanassiev, CuiCésar CuiCésar Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
, BalakirevBalakirevBalakirev may refer to:* Mily Balakirev, a Russian pianist, conductor and composer* Balakirev the Buffoon, a 2002 Russian television adaptation of Lenkom play...
, MussorgskyMussorgskyMussorgsky can refer to:*The Mussorgsky family of Russian nobility;*Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer belonging to that family.*Mussorgsky , a 1950 Soviet film about the composer...
, Tchaikovsky, TaneyevTaneyevTaneyev is the name of two composers.* Aleksandr Taneyev , Russian nationalist composer* Sergei Taneyev , Russian composer...
, Arensky, Rachmaninoff, Efrem ZimbalistEfrem ZimbalistEfrem Zimbalist, Sr. was one of the world's most prominent concert violinists, as well as a composer, teacher, conductor and a long-time director of the Curtis Institute of Music.-Early life:...
. Suoni e colori, 53005. - w. Brussilovsky (vln), Amaury Wallez (bassoon), Michel Lethiec (clar.), Glinka: Trio Pathetique in D min. Suoni e colori 53004.
Sources and references
- Ghyslaine Guertin (Ed), Glenn Gould, Pluriel: Texts collected and presented by G. Guertin (at Conferences at Universities of Quebec and Montreal, 13–15 October 1987), including an article by Igor Lazko on Gould's 1957 Soviet tour. (Louise Courteau: Verdun, Quebec, 1988). ISBN 2-89239-063-X
- 2007 Forest Hill Musical Days programme note biography of Lazko