Igor Lazko,, is a Russian classical pianist 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 he 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 Sophia 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 he recorded the Two- and Three-Part Inventions for the Russian Melodiya record label, the disc which launched his recording career. 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 the USSR he performed in duo with the cellist Alexey Lazko, and in trio with Mirra Lvovna Furer-Lazko.
Belgrade
From 1978 to 1992 he was professor at the University of Belgrade. In this period he recorded the six Partitas and the Goldberg Variations of J.S. Bach, as well as works of Tchaikovsky and of other composers. The concert which he dedicated to the memory of the Canadian pianistGlenn 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 and Rachmaninoff. His 1987 recital with violinist Črtomir Šišković 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.
Range
Igor Lazko has worked with such orchestral directors as Yuri Temirkanov, 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 NationalSchool 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 and is the Founder and President of the International Concours of the Conservatoire Russe Alexandre Scriabine, in Paris. He is also associated with the Jūrmala 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 and in the United States. Performances from the Piano Loop Festivals at Split in 2017 and 2018 can be seen on YouTube. 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. 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.'.
Concerto for piano and orchestra in F minor with Leningrad Chamber Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov.
w. Alexey Lazko : Works for piano and cello by Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, Brahms, Rachmananinoff, etc. 'Cellist's Golden Repertoire. Kompozitor SPb CD 75.
w. Črtomir Šiškovič : Sonata in G minor 'Didone abbandonata' op. 1 no. 10; Suite no 1 ; Sonatina in G major op. 100. PGP RTB 230049; Jugoton LSY-66243.
