Sviatoslav Richter

[George]

My seminal Richter recording was bought in the late 80s, the Tokyo recital of D664 and D784 plus 2 impromptus. I'd been searching for a replacement for works I'd had on LP (Ashkenazy and Kempff) and I got more than I could ever have hoped for. This started my love affair with Richter yet it was a while before I bought another Richter recording. The next one made me a life long devotee of this man, surely one of the top three pianists of the 20th century.

I'm curious, what was "the next one?" 

[Holden]

..and hence my love affair with Richter's LvB began....

[George]

..and hence my love affair with Richter's LvB began....

Cool. I need to check and see how many of those performances appear in the Master Series, as I don't have any of the Richter GPOTC sets.

[rubio]

On the way to work today, I listened to some of disc one from this set. Decent sound and some lovely Bach playing.

I look forward to hear more comments about this set!

[George]

I look forward to hear more comments about this set!

I heard most of disc one today and so far the performances are electric! Classic early Richter!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Cool. I need to check and see how many of those performances appear in the Master Series, as I don't have any of the Richter GPOTC sets.

Yes, the contents of the all-Beethoven volume in Richter's GPOTC can be found on the Master Series, excepting the Appassionata which is the RCA recording.

[George]

Yes, the contents of the all-Beethoven volume in Richter's GPOTC can be found on the Master Series, excepting the Appassionata which is the RCA recording.

Sweet!! Then I already have all of that set. 

[Mandryka]

Well, thank you George for prompting me to listen to that Praga D960 again

I kind of knew it was very good -- but it had been years since I had heard it.

I think it is an amazing recording, but I still like the Aldeburgh CD a lot too. There's something particularly electric about the big crash seven minutes in to the first movement in the Aldeburgh. You can sense how astonished the audience were!

Still -- I think your probably right. The Prague performance is the best overall.

I'm very interest to hear what you make of D850 in the Praga set. The second movement of that is my personal favourite Richer Schubert recording. It seems to me to evoke such a wide range of emotions. I go damp eyed every time I listen to it.

[George]

I'm very interest to hear what you make of D850 in the Praga set. The second movement of that is my personal favourite Richer Schubert recording. It seems to me to evoke such a wide range of emotions. I go damp eyed every time I listen to it.

I haven't heard that one in awhile. I look forward to comparing it to the Moscow performance form the same year. I have the Living Stage transfer of that one. If not this week, I plan to do so over the weekend.

[George]

I look forward to hear more comments about this set!

After hearing the first half of this set, I'd say it's a fairly typical Urania release. The dry as a bone sound ranging from poor to fair/good. The performances are consistent with other early Richter that I have heard - raw, intense and percussive. I need to hear more before I can say if I would recommend it. 

[George]

I've been looking over the available Schubert sonatas by Richter and found that there are three performances that I don't have. They are on two Victor CDs, VICC-60077 and VICC-60076. I imagine they are OOP, so if anyone has them, please PM me? I'd like to make my survey of his Schubert sonatas complete.

They look like this:

60077 and

60076
                                                                     

[George]

I just found this interesting page on Richter recordings.

http://www.culturecatch.com/music/sviatoslav_richter_top_ten_four

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I've been looking over the available Schubert sonatas by Richter and found that there are three performances that I don't have. They are on two Victor CDs, VICC-60077 and VICC-60076. I imagine they are OOP, so if anyone has them, please PM me? I'd like to make my survey of his Schubert sonatas complete.

I believe you can still find some (many?) of these Victors, but you have to look overseas as this is a Japanese-based company. Maybe HMV Japan or some other Asian site.

Keep a close eye on these Victors, though, as many are merely Olympia/Regis recordings in different garb.

Here's Victor Entertainment

[George]

I believe you can still find some (many?) of these Victors, but you have to look overseas as this is a Japanese-based company. Maybe HMV Japan or some other Asian site.

Thanks Don!

Keep a close eye on these Victors, though, as many are merely Olympia/Regis recordings in different garb.

According to Trovar, the two Victors that I listed are supposed to be different performances than their counterparts on other labels.   

[Dancing Divertimentian]

According to Trovar, the two Victors that I listed are supposed to be different performances than their counterparts on other labels.   

They certainly look interesting. What's on them?

[George]

They certainly look interesting. What's on them?

Between them, they have three Schubert Sonata performances that I have not heard yet.

Munich 23 July 1978 - D566
Munich 23 July 1978 - D625
Munich 23 July 1978 - D664

Not sure what else. PM incoming...

[George]

I uploaded Richter's live Prague D 960 (my favorite performance of this work) in FLAC format for a friend so I thought I'd post the link here for those who would like to check it out:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=45732805cf458166b5ad86680473e6606583907f94eaf5e3

[George]

Reviews of D 850

   Prague 14 June 1956 (Praga) – I also have this performance on Music and Arts, but the high frequencies are less filtered on this CD, so I used it for this review. From the opening chord on, it is impossible to forget that this is early Richter. The percussive tone, the relentless tension and forward momentum all are characteristic of his early performances and this one is no exception. At times the drive was too much and I longed for a bit more relaxed approach. Also, many of the forte chords just sound too loud. The second movement slows things down, but not in the sublime way many of his other Schubert recordings slow things down. His playing is tender and expressive, but certainly not nearly as profound his later recordings of other sonatas would later become. The harsh forte chords unfortunately return as well, this time sounding even more out of place. Third movement brings us back to the tension and drive of the first movement, with a delightfully played playful second subject that provided some balance to the much louder, more boisterous first one. However, the slow central section revealed the poor health of Richter's piano and failed to move me in any way. Thankfully, Richter plays the finale well, beginning with a charming, light, playful style. However, overall this performance does not rate highly with me. I sincerely wish that he had recorded this sonata in the 1960s or 1970s, for I think his playing style from that time would have been better suited for this sonata.   

   Moscow 11 August 1956 (Living Stage) – Sounding a bit more rushed and sloppy than the Prague performance, in worse sound, the first movement here was a disappointment. Since this is the only other available performance of this sonata by the pianist, I was hoping for more. Unfortunately, recorded only two months later than the Prague, it was more of the same, at least in the first movement. Like the Prague, the second movement also revealed issues with the tape/piano. The playing was somewhat better, being more coherent, but still not exactly tender or profound either. Unfortunately, the sound becomes really distorted on the forte chords here and in the next movement, making a subpar interpretation sound worse. The same issue plagues the finale. Overall I prefer the Prague performance for it's less rushed and better played first movement and its better sound.

[George]

The Schumann Fantasie on this Supraphon 2008 CD, SU 3795-2, is labeled as being recorded on November 1, 1959. Is this a misprint? There was a Fantasie on Praga from November 2, 1959 and I think they are the same. Does anyone know if they are the same performance?

Here's a link to the CD in question: http://www.amazon.com/Schumann-Fantasie-Waldszenen-Fantasiest%C3%BCcke-Marsch/dp/B0012Y1HQ4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232855851&sr=8-4

George

[ezodisy]

Perhaps he played through midnight, hence the confusion. I remember there was a Mingus concert (in Paris, I think) which resulted in a simialr mistake.

Just a suggestion, even if unlikely