Youri Egorov plays Schubert 6 Moments Musicaux, D.780 – live 1984

30 year old Youri Egorov playing the work of a composer he was very much in touch with. Years ago, quite soon after I moved to Amsterdam, I sought out Youri's house on Brouwersgracht. I wondered where in such a beautiful place such an interesting and beautiful person would live. It turned out to be right at the top of those four concentric canals which cradle the centre of the city. An intimate and now very expensive street to live on, in the summer it's nestled in leaves, and westward along the narrow canal emerge the most immersive and arresting blue hours. Just outside his door is a bridge – not that they're ever far off in that city, but it's notable that he could simply walk out the door and perch upon one of life's romantic settings. Indeed his looks, his ability, and the time and length of his life emit that same aura. To what extent that location affected the moods of his life is anyone's guess. I only know from my own experience there that the varied moods of this composition could be embodied in the changing environments of those surrounding streets – in the rattle of a bike pulling up for a visit, a sweep down off a bridge while drunk and elated, and the sullen patter of one of those grey downcast drizzles that regularly envelops the city. I imagine his own states of emotion were enhanced by his experience there, that in some way it contributed to the sensitive and cultured readings we've come to associate with him.

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