Pierre Boulez, Edison Denisov; Lev Yevgrafov; Nikolai Karetnikov; Anatoli Kuznetsov; Albert Martynenko; Yakov Nazarov; Luigi Nono; Arvo Pärt; Gennadi Rozhdestvensky; Alfred Schnittke; Irina Semyonova; Natalia Shakhovskaya; Gavriil Yudin
Between 2018 and 2020
Viktor Derevyanko; Marina Drozdova; Yevgeni Koroliov; Alexei Lubimov; Lev Markiz; Thomas Sanderling; Natalia Solzhenitsyna
INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BY NADINE DUBOURVIEUX, 1987–8
Edison Denisov; Irina Movius
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
Yudina’s legacy is served by many recordings, a large number of which can be accessed on YouTube. For readers unfamiliar with Yudina’s interpretations, I have put together a selected list of the most recent compact disc issues, which should be easily available. That said, the quick turnover of compact discs that are issued and then withdrawn makes it difficult to keep completely updated. I also include some other recordings of Yudina’s additional repertoire, not least her interpretations of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, which remain among her most important achievements. While not in any way complete, the list I provide will give some idea of the scope of her repertoire and recording activity.
In the last couple of years, through the efforts of Alexei Lubimov and others, many of Yudina’s recordings from concert performances within the Soviet Union, East Germany and Poland have been rediscovered and are in the process of being released. These most recent recordings, including the new discoveries, are indicated at the beginning of the list.
Yudina was an artist who enjoyed recording in the studio, and liked to play right through works as if performing for a live audience, with complete involvement and passion in transmitting her ideas. Nevertheless, many of her recordings come from live concerts, with the inherent advantages and disadvantages of such a system. Moreover, one suspects that the pianos played by Yudina in studio and in concert were often not in good condition or properly tuned. The earlier recordings in particular often show distortion of pitch and sound. Recent reissues have improved the quality through remastering of the original vinyl or shellac versions. We should also remember that Yudina lived in the pre-digital recording age, and up until 1961 all her studio recordings were made in mono.
A Yudina discography is complicated to put together because many of the same works are issued on different labels in different countries, while the quality of the recordings varies enormously from label to label, from issue to issue. For those who wish to have access to a complete updated discography, including Yudina’s earliest shellac historical recordings and LPS, I suggest consulting the online discography compiled by the pianist and writer Jean-Pierre Collot: www.jeanpierrecollot.eu/maria-yudina/discography-of-maria-yudina/. His contribution to Yudina studies is of seminal importance, not only in the publication of his book Maria Youdina–Pierre Souvtchinsky: Correspondance et Documents (Contrechamps, 2020), but in his creation of a complete discography of Yudina’s recordings, which is ordered alphabetically by composer. Currently it is given in French, but will be translated into English in the near future.
Should any reader wish to consult an updated Yudina discography in Russian, I refer them to the volume of hitherto unknown correspondence entitled Ya Vsegda ischu i nakhozhu Novoe . . . Neizvestnaya perepiska Marii Yudinoi (I always search for and find the New . . . The Unknown Correspondence of Maria Yudina), edited by M. Dorzdova, A. Lubimov and K. Zenkin. It will be available from March 2022, and will include an updated discography with complete lists of recordings ordered by chronology rather than composer.
Recent issues
Maria Yudina: Anniversary Edition. Melodiya MEL CD 1002590, 2019, boxed set of 10 compact discs.
CD 1: J.S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, 17 Preludes and Fugues, Nos 1–6, 8–12, 17–19, 21, 22, 24, BWV 846–851, 853–857, 862–864, 866, 867, 869, live concert at Moscow Conservatory Small Hall, 4 November 1950 (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNl_vNVIpGM).
CD 2: J.S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, 19 Preludes and Fugues, Nos 1–10, 12–16, 19, BWV 870–879, 881–885, 887, 889, 892, 893, live concert at Moscow Conservatory Small Hall, 4 December 1950.
CD 3: J.S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Nos 20, 23, 24, BWV 865, 868, 869; Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903. J.S. Bach/Liszt, Organ Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543. Liszt, Variations on Bach’s Cantata No.12, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, S.180. Glazunov, Prelude and Fugue in D minor, Op.62. Studio recordings from the 1950s.
CD 4: Mozart, Sonata in D major, K.284; Sonata in A major, K.331 (live concert, 6 October 1951); Variations in D major on a theme by Duport, K.573 (recorded 1947 or 1948). Beethoven, 12 Variations in A major on a Russian Dance, WoO 71; 32 Variations in C minor on an Original Theme, WoO 80.
CD 5: Beethoven, Sonata No.5 in C minor, Op.10, no.1, recorded 3 May 1950; Sonata No.12 in A-flat major, Op.26, recorded in studio, 8 September 1958; Sonata No.27 in E minor, Op.90, recorded 1961; Sonata No.29 in A major, Op.101.
CD 6: Beethoven, Sonata No.29 in B-flat major, Op.106 (recorded 1952); Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111 (recorded 1958).
CD 7: Schubert, Four Impromptus, D.899; Four Impromptus, D.935. Schubert/Liszt, Am Meer, S.560. Studio recording 1964.
CD 8: Mussorgsky, Meditation (Album Leaf), A Tear, Rêverie, studio recording, 9 September 1949. Myaskovsky, Yellowed Leaves, from Op.31. Szymanowski, Variations, Op.3. Webern, Variations for piano, Op.27, live at Scriabin Museum, Moscow, 1961. Volkonsky, Musica Stricta (fantasia ricercata). Prokofiev, Chose en soi, Op.45a.
CD 9: Debussy, Sonata for cello and piano in D minor (with N. Shakovskaya). Prokofiev, Sonata for flute and piano, Op.94 (with N. Zaidel); Sonata for cello and piano, Op.119 (with L. Yevgrafov). Serocki, Sonatina for trombone and piano (with G. Khersonsky). Stravinsky, Circus Polka for a Young Elephant for two pianos (with M. Drozdova). Lutosławski, Paganini Variations for two pianos (with Y. Ponizovkin).
CD 10: Scriabin, 10 Preludes, from Op.11. Jolivet, three pieces from the cycle Mana. Stravinsky, Septet for piano, flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola and cello (with Leningrad musicians). Tschaikovsky, Concerto No.1, Op.23 (with National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, dir. N. Rakhlin).
Maria Yudina Plays Instrumental Sonatas by Hindemith. Moscow Conservatory Records SMCCD 0235, 2018, compact disc. This and the other MCR titles listed below are from a continuing series issued since 2018.
Hindemith, Sonatas for flute (with N. Zaidel), viola (with F. Druzhinin), double bass (with R. Azarkhin), horn (with V. Buyanovsky) and trombone (with G. Khesonsky).
Maria Yudina Plays Schumann. Moscow Conservatory Records SMCCD 0241, 2019, compact disc.
Schumann, Kreisleriana, Op.16; Des Abends, Op.12, no.1; Vogel als Prophet, Op.82, no.7; Fantasie in C major, Op.17.
Maria Yudina Plays Mozart. Moscow Conservatory Records SMCCD 0242/0243, 2019, 2 compact discs.