Youri Egorov made a handful of recordings for EMI before his tragic early death at 33 from AIDS. The present "Double Forte" features the pianist's two CD Debussy collections, filled out here with his 1982 Chopin recital. The larger-scaled Chopin works fare best. Egorov's unhurried conceptions of the B-flat Minor Scherzo and F Minor Fantasie shine with personalized poetry. The pianist takes unusual care to bring out the G Minor Ballade's left-hand counterpoints so that they are heard rather than highlighted. By contrast, the Nocturnes float on static dreamclouds, and the foully-tuned piano throughout the Op. 27 No. 2 D-flat selection is hard to endure. Egorov's Debussy, though, is what really counts here, and his strong, sensitively nuanced way with this elusive composer more than holds its own in the company of Arrau, Gieseking, Michelangeli, Paul Jacobs, and others. The Book Two Preludes are particularly ravishing and evocative, as are the Estampes and, to a lesser extant, Reflets dans l'eau. Egorowv's sultry lilt throughout the habanera-tinged La Puerto del Vino and La Soirée dans Grenade alone are worth the price of this release. The slow-motion mood pieces from Preludes Book One work better under Egorov's fingers than friskier selections like La Danse de Puck and Minstrels, which are a tad earthbound and literal here. One hopes that Egorov's fine Schumann EMI recordings will also find an attractively priced home on EMI's "Double-Forte" series.

--Jed Distler