Pianist Stephen Kovacevich Dies Aged 86

Stephen Kovacevich, the pianist known for his Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms recordings, has died aged 86. His playing paired explosive energy with calm that he had to earn.

From Los Angeles to London

He was born in San Pedro, Los Angeles, to an American mother and a Croatian father. After his mother remarried his surname became Bishop, and he later chose Bishop-Kovacevich before settling on Stephen Kovacevich. He studied first with Lev Schorr and gave his debut at 11, playing Jean Francaix's Concertino. In 1959 he moved to London to study with Myra Hess, whom he called one of the greatest influences on his life.

His Wigmore Hall debut came in 1961, with Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, a Berg sonata and three Bach preludes and fugues. A New York debut followed in 1967, then tours of the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and the far east. He avoided the competition route. If there had been 95 competitors, he joked, he would have come 96th.

The recordings

Philips signed him in 1968 and issued concertos by Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Bartok, Grieg, Schumann and Richard Rodney Bennett over 15 years. His two Brahms concertos with Wolfgang Sawallisch, from 1992 and 1994, became a benchmark. He recorded the Diabelli Variations twice, for Philips in 1968 and for Onyx in 2008. His Schubert was selective, but included the B flat sonata D960, which he played for existential anxiety rather than peaceful acceptance.

He was especially pleased with his 1977 recording of Bartok's second concerto. His Beethoven sonatas for Philips were fierce and explosive. His complete EMI cycle, begun in the early 1990s, drew praise for the clarity of the early and middle sonatas, while the late ones were admired for how far they probed. A recording of two Takemitsu works with the violinist Sayaka Shoji is due in January.

Conductor, partner, friend

In 1984 he began a second career conducting, mostly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In 1990 he became artistic director and principal conductor of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. In the early 1960s he had a short musical and romantic partnership with Jacqueline du Pré, which produced studio broadcasts and a Warner Classics release of two Beethoven cello sonatas. In recent years he gave joint recitals at the Wigmore Hall with Martha Argerich.

In his late 60s a stroke cost him his speech for a time and made him rebuild his technique, as he said openly later. He also spoke of stage fright that stayed with him all his working life and that he only partly overcame late on. He lived in Hampstead, north London, in his later years, and played tennis, snooker and chess.

He married Bernardine Wall in 1961. They had two sons and divorced in 1967. He also had a daughter with Argerich and a son with the illustrator Basia Janowska. He is survived by his children.

Our View

The recordings give a clear picture of his range. The Diabelli Variations, made twice 40 years apart, offer a natural way to compare his playing at two points in his career. The Takemitsu disc due in January will reach listeners after his death.

Source: The Guardian