Anatol Ugorski was a Russian-born German classical pianist and academic teacher.
17 Facts About Anatol Ugorski
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Anatol Ugorski studied at the Leningrad Conservatory, and played works by composers such as Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez rather than the usual repertoire for Russian pianists.
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Anatol Ugorski became professor of the Hochschule fur Musik Detmold, remaining in the post until 2007.
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Anatol Ugorski was born in Rubtsovsk on 28 September 1942 into a poor family, growing up with five siblings.
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Anatol Ugorski was summoned by the Rectorate and suspected of being politically unreliable, because of his passion for Western contemporary music.
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Anatol Ugorski's career was stopped for more than ten years and he was confined to work in the provinces, as accompanist of a Young Pioneers choir.
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Anatol Ugorski confided that he performed his best Scarlatti concert for children in the industrial city of Asbest.
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The Anatol Ugorski family escaped without preparation or papers for East Berlin, living in a refugee camp for several months.
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Anatol Ugorski performed either solo or with orchestras such as the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Czech Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Orchestre de Paris.
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Anatol Ugorski regularly played at important festivals around the world, including the 1992 Salzburg Festival, where he played the Diabelli Variations, excerpts from Messiaen's Catalogue d'oiseaux, and Schubert's Wanderer-Phantasie.
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From 1992 to 2007, Anatol Ugorski was professor of piano at the Hochschule fur Musik Detmold, where he lived.
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Anatol Ugorski stepped in once more from 2010 to 2014, when his successor, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, was on leave.
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Anatol Ugorski is remembered not only for performances but inspired public lectures.
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Anatol Ugorski was a member of the jury of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
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Anatol Ugorski was married to the musicologist Maja Elik; their daughter Dina was born in 1973, studied piano in Leningrad, and became a piano professor in Detmold and Munich.
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Anatol Ugorski died of cancer in Lemgo on 5 September 2023, at the age of 80.
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Anatol Ugorski recorded Shostakovich's Piano Quintet with the Delial Quartet for Oehms Classics in 2014.