Richter

[Belle]

I'm sure this pianist has been discussed here twenty times over, but I'm on a Richter bender at the moment. Also emailing a sister and sending her the great man's recordings from the 50s and 60s. His Bach is a personal favourite, even though I detect some slight intonation problems in the strings (or it a transition away from portamento?). An endless source of pleasure. That final movement!! It's a volcano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I73tndGNi3Y

Also today, "Pictures at an Exhibition" - the Sofia recording. Devastating!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CitIXrkQfzo

[Lance]

You selected a great "bender," Sue! Unquestionably one of the greats. Richter's is probably the largest discography I have of any single pianist. And live recordings are still coming around!

[John F]

One of Richter's most sensational interpretations is of Beethoven's Appassionata sonata, on a par with his Pictures at an Exhibition. We first heard it in the recording made in Moscow in 1960, and here it is:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS1fyFFCRRw

For a Richter discography:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E5nLXi ... EFVY6/view

It's not absolutely complete - somehow Richter's recordings on the American Artia label are missing - but these have been published on other labels as well.

[Belle]

That discography is a wonderful resource; thank you. Listened to the "Appassionata". The Andante con moto was a revelation!! I love this movement. A prayer. A hymn. Ecstatic.

Richter's is a thrilling performance. A high-wire act before the final iteration of the theme of the Andante con moto. The final movement; volcanic. For many years I neglected listening to this sonata - possibly having over-heard it in my earlier life. But when you hear a performance like this you have to ask yourself; "why"? The coda is the fastest I've ever heard in my whole life - and it works!!

Been listening to this tonight before turning in: doesn't look like I can get a copy of this through Amazon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEFhy1h6Enc

[Rach3]

Many great, of course, here one that seems to get overlooked, his Decca recording of the first two Brahms Piano Sonatas,at live recitals in Italy,1987,I believe that Decca here.This link is to the opening of the 1st Sonata, links to the remainder of the 1st Sonata are set forth in "Show More" at the YT link given here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcryruLBC5o

[maestrob]

Many great, of course, here one that seems to get overlooked, his Decca recording of the first two Brahms Piano Sonatas,at live recitals in Italy,1987,I believe that Decca here.This link is to the opening of the 1st Sonata, links to the remainder of the 1st Sonata are set forth in "Show More" at the YT link given here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcryruLBC5o

TMK, Richter is the first and only major pianist to champion these early works by Brahms (Ugorski, Biret & Melnikov have all recorded them by now). I find the two early sonatas weaker than III, yet still worthy of Brahms.

[Holden Fourth]

Another Richterphile here. His WTC is my favourite and I love his LvB. Of all the recordings of his I've heard there are a few which stand head and shoulders above any others.

First is his Brahms PC2 - I have the version with Leinsdorf and the Chicago SO
Next is his solo Rachmaninov. Nobody plays the Etudes-Tableaux or the Preludes like Richter does.
His Appassionata has been mentioned and I'll second that recommendation
Schubert's last piano sonata gets a very special treatment.
...and finally his Schumann. A great Wanderer Fantasy, and also a CD containing the Fassingsschwank, Papillons and the Op 17 Fantasy is one of my desert island discs.

[Rach3]

Another Richterphile here. .. A great Wanderer Fantasy, and also a CD containing the Fassingsschwank, Papillons and the Op 17 Fantasy is one of my desert island discs.

While there other performances of some of the ones you mention that I prefer, agree the Richter's you mention are very,very special. My introduction to Richter was his Philips 35mm lp of the 2 Liszt concertos with Kondrashin, LSO,still unequaled ; for Schubert , Richter's D.894 Sonata and D.664 Sonata ; and quite agree about the Schumann you mention, mine the original Angel lp of live 1962 performances in Italy of Fassingsschwank,Papillons, and Op.22 Sonata ( Op.17 not on that lp ).There of course is the Leipzig recital of LvB's Opa.109-111.

[Holden Fourth]

...how could I forget Richter in Leipzig.......

[Belle]

I'm grateful for that discography as I'll use it to try and get more CDs of Richter's performances. Have been watching the Monsaingeon documentary again. Surprised to find Richter with a lovely sense of humour! Never forgotten, always loved. (Same for Kleiber.)

[John F]

Monsaingeon also did a book, "Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations," which is very revealing about his personality, musical tastes, etc. Much of it is Richter's journal of his listening, mainly to recordings, in which he's candid about which of his own recordings he likes (very few) and what he thinks of other performers. He would invite people to his apartment for listening sessions; at Christmas time he played Bach's Christmas Oratorio in the Karl Richter DG recording.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sviato ... 0691095493

[Rach3]

Monsaingeon also did a book, "Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations," which is very revealing about his personality, musical tastes, etc.

Quite agree, a must-read for Richter fans , or just CM fans period.

[maestrob]

Monsaingeon also did a book, "Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations," which is very revealing about his personality, musical tastes, etc. Much of it is Richter's journal of his listening, mainly to recordings, in which he's candid about which of his own recordings he likes (very few) and what he thinks of other performers. He would invite people to his apartment for listening sessions; at Christmas time he played Bach's Christmas Oratorio in the Karl Richter DG recording.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sviato ... 0691095493

Karl Richter's Christmas Oratorio & B minor Mass are staples in my library since they were first issues on LP. Available now in a box set with all of Karl Richter's recordings, available used for about $30....

[Lance]

The discography is fantastic, and exceedingly well done. Since it was released in 2012, many more of Richter's recordings have been released or reissued. A shame that discography is not brought up to current date or at least contains a supplement to recordings issued when that discography was completed.

The Cascavelle 3-CD set [3041] illustrates Richter as a collaborative pianist who was thought to be married (but I guess wasn't legally) ... to Nina Dorliac, soprano. I was not greatly pleased with her voice, but it is interesting to hear Richter in this role. I had to think twice about dropping $54/USD on this set, but I see it on Amazon now for $1,256.77. Apparently it is not available presently, having been issued in 2002. I acquired it in 2005. So, if anybody wants it, I might be willing to part with it for $1,250.00 and save your $56.77!!!

[Belle]

Richter and Dorliac co-habitated but I got the impression both were homosexual and that this was a domicile agreement at times not dissimilar to the one where he slept under somebody's piano. The comment was made that he was 'unconcerned about luxury'. You'd want to feel like that living in the old Soviet Union!!!

Richter's comments about Prokofiev were rather sobering; that he wasn't to be trusted and could easily destroy a person.

[John F]

Dorliac and Richter made a number of recordings in the 1950s - Musorgsky's "The Nursery," Prokofiev's "Ugly Duckling," Glinka songs - and I like them. Later he recorded Lieder with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Peter Schreier. Some rehearsals and performances are here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... av+Richter

[Len_Z]

Richter has always been my favorite pianist. I had the honor of hearing him live on several occasions and, even though it was at the very late stage of his career, each and every one of them has affected me greatly. On top of everything that's already been mentioned here, I'd like to add his recordings of Tchaikovsky's and Rachmaninov's solo piano pieces, Richter's rendition of Schubert's Die Winterreise with Peter Schreier, his multiple ensemble recordings with Oistrakh and Rostropovich (especially, Ludvig van's Violin and Cello Sonatas), and above all his greatly overlooked Liszt's b-minor Sonata. His rendition of it issued on Music and Arts is my favorite one in this extremely crowded field, and I've always wondered: is the best performance of the best piano sonata ever written, by default, also the best recording in the world?:))))

[Holden Fourth]

This discography was unknown to me until now. I’ve always gone to the Trovar discographybutidon’t think it’s been updated for quite a while.

[Rach3]

Richter's comments about Prokofiev were rather sobering; that he wasn't to be trusted and could easily destroy a person.

Richter in "Notebooks":
"Sergey Prokofiev was an extremely interesting person, but...dangerous.He was capable of hurling you against a wall..He was violent...Principles weren't exactly his strong point.If necessary, he was perfectly capable of writing to order, as was the case with "Zdravitsa",which was commissioned to mark some birthday or otherof Stalin's, an ode to his honor...But the piece is absolutely brilliant.A monument,it's true, but a monument to himself, to Prokofiev! He wrote it with a kind of insolence, a noble amorality."

[Belle]

Why didn't he tell us what he really thought?!!

[Chalkperson]

Now, fifty years later you appreciate his genius, and you think you know about classical music.


you know nothing.?