Stephen Kovacevich has died at 86, with his death announced yesterday. The pianist had recently been in hospital recovering from a hip operation, bringing an end to a career prized for beauty, clarity and danger at the keyboard.
His own words fit the profile. In 2001, he said: “I don’t live in a subversive way. But I certainly believe in it”. That line captured a player who was admired for taking risks even when he thought many performances failed him.
Horowitz, Rachmaninov and 2001
Kovacevich called Vladimir Horowitz and Sergei Rachmaninov his “greatest of the greats”, and the comparison helps explain the standard he set for himself. He later recovered from a severe stroke in his late 60s, then went on to play Schubert and Rachmaninov with intimacy and intensity.
He also spoke with excitement about hearing a Charles Munch performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique on YouTube, asking: “How the hell did he get an orchestra to play like that?” That reaction was revealing: even late in life, he remained interested in the raw edge of performance rather than neat polish.
Wigmore Hall and recordings
The recordings remain the cleanest record of what he valued. His concerto set with Colin Davis ranged from Bartók to Mozart, while his Beethoven sonatas were described as the writer’s favourite on record.
Those judgments matter now because they show the scale of the loss: this was not just a concert pianist, but a musician whose studio and stage work kept returning to the same risky balance of control and instability. Fans and readers who want the fullest picture should start with the performances that became touchstones for Andrew Clements on Kovacevich’s 75th birthday.
Tom Service wrote the tribute, and the timing gives it extra force: the death came after a hospital stay, after a stroke recovery, and after decades of performances that never aimed for safety. What remains now is the body of work, not a final chapter with a cause attached.
