Sviatoslav Richter

[Dancing Divertimentian]

This is very good -- it has the most intense Prokofiev 9 that I have heard from Richter or indeed anyone else.

Sound quality is fine

Alas...more duplication.

But...if the sound is good - particularly in the second sonata - this might be a good investment!

Any idea how this second sonata stacks up (performance-wise) to the 1965 Praga and/or 1950 Ankh? Sound-wise neither of these get high marks but are imminently tolerable.

In the ninth sonata the 1981 Tokyo (on Memoria) is very impressive and very well recorded. The ninth from Praga (1956) is good, too, yet once again troubled by so-so sound.

Not to put you on the spot but duplication is getting to be problem for me with Richter so any input as far as comparisons would be welcome.

[Mandryka]

Alas...more duplication.

But...if the sound is good - particularly in the second sonata - this might be a good investment!

Any idea how this second sonata stacks up (performance-wise) to the 1965 Praga and/or 1950 Ankh? Sound-wise neither of these get high marks but are imminently tolerable.

In the ninth sonata the 1981 Tokyo (on Memoria) is very impressive and very well recorded. The ninth from Praga (1956) is good, too, yet once again troubled by so-so sound.

Not to put you on the spot but duplication is getting to be problem for me with Richter so any input as far as comparisons would be welcome.

Give me a couple of days.

From memory, my pressing of the Tokyo 9th has very much inferior sound, and the performance is less intense. But leave it till I have checked.

[not edward]

If Canadian, the exchange rate for the British pound is quite attractive now.  I've have a couple of orders filled with no problem from presto (uk)   They have a couple of Richter - Parnassus in stock, including the Leipzig
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Parnassus/PACD96032

Good to know. I'm not sure why I didn't think about ordering from the UK, since orders from there usually arrive quicker than ones from the US. Now if only there weren't obscene import charges on orders above $20--I hate having to order things piecemeal.

I'll be interested in comments on that Prokofiev issue too. How's the 2nd sonata? I'm aware that it's technically possible to play the piece better than the performance on the Praga issue: I'll just have to hear it to believe it.

[Coopmv]

Good to know. I'm not sure why I didn't think about ordering from the UK, since orders from there usually arrive quicker than ones from the US. Now if only there weren't obscene import charges on orders above $20--I hate having to order things piecemeal.

I'll be interested in comments on that Prokofiev issue too. How's the 2nd sonata? I'm aware that it's technically possible to play the piece better than the performance on the Praga issue: I'll just have to hear it to believe it.

I once placed a single order at close to $200 USD and there was no duty imposed by the US Custom.  But who knows, this may change with the federal government drowning in a sea of red ink ...

[not edward]

Maybe someone else has posted on it, but does anyone have a verdict on these issues?

[George]

Haven't heard it (or bought it) yet, edward, sorry.

[Mandryka]

Alas...more duplication.

But...if the sound is good - particularly in the second sonata - this might be a good investment!

Any idea how this second sonata stacks up (performance-wise) to the 1965 Praga and/or 1950 Ankh? Sound-wise neither of these get high marks but are imminently tolerable.

In the ninth sonata the 1981 Tokyo (on Memoria) is very impressive and very well recorded. The ninth from Praga (1956) is good, too, yet once again troubled by so-so sound.

Not to put you on the spot but duplication is getting to be problem for me with Richter so any input as far as comparisons would be welcome.

The 9th on the Melodya disc is superior to the Tokyo concert on Memoria -- better sound, a more lively and electric performance.

The sound quality of the  2nd sonata  is absolutely fine -- a bit of background noise but you can hear the music very well, with no pain. I don't have any other recording of him in Prokofiev 2 (as far as I remember)

He uses a fantastic steely soviet piano which I appreciate very much in this music.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The 9th on the Melodya disc is superior to the Tokyo concert on Memoria -- better sound, a more lively and electric performance.

The sound quality of the  2nd sonata  is absolutely fine -- a bit of background noise but you can hear the music very well, with no pain. I don't have any other recording of him in Prokofiev 2 (as far as I remember)

He uses a fantastic steely soviet piano which I appreciate very much in this music.

Thanks, Mandryka. I may have to get this if only for the second.

[Scarpia]

Good to know. I'm not sure why I didn't think about ordering from the UK, since orders from there usually arrive quicker than ones from the US. Now if only there weren't obscene import charges on orders above $20--I hate having to order things piecemeal.

Were you ever charged import duty?  I have ordered from mdt, many times, as well as from sites in Germany, France and Australia.  The total charge is usually well over $20, and I have never been charged anything.

[Mandryka]

Mozart: Piano Sonata in B flat major, K570
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata no.4 in C minor, op.29 "from Old Notebooks"
Debussy: Etudes nos.1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10 & 12
Debussy: Preludes, Book II, nos.11 & 12

Doremi: DHR7796

This CD contains  a hallucinatory, ecstatic, vibrant  performance of 7 Debussy Etudes.

I also quite enjoyed the Mozart sonata (K570) – I like Richter's style in Mozart.

Sound -- I have a very good hi-fi, and so that gets to the music in the CD. But you need to have a good hi-fi. These Etudes are very revealing -- so it's probably worth upscaling you system.

[Bogey]

First spin.  This excerpt from back of cover:

Before the recording was completed  five sessions later, Richter, an unrelenting perfectionist, had played both of Liszt's redoubtable concerti several times in order to realize the finest performance of which he was capable.  Certain movements were repeated without pause, Richter's only refreshment consisting of a sugar cube or small chocolate square, quantities of which he kept on the piano at all times.  The standards he set for himself would have intimidated a pianist with lesser stamina; during the final session, all had agreed that the concertos were"in the can", but the pianist, with a gleam in his eye, noted that there was still time left to record the First Concerto once again.  To everyones amazement, his last take surpassed all his previous performances.  A burst of applause greeted him as he arose from the piano.

[George]

Great story, Bill! 

[Mandryka]

Schubert, Impromptu in A flat major, Op 90/4), Praga (1972) and Olympia (1979); Impromptu in A flat, D 935 no. 2, Melodyia (1950)

I thought the Praga recording showed some of the best and worst characteristics of SR's Schubert. On the plus side, this is very exciting. On the minus side, it's vulgar. Great big dynamic contrasts – huge crashing forte passages followed by tear  jerking pianissimos.

I thought the Olympia perforemnce is better. There's still some exiitement – though it's not as electric as the Prague performance. But in terms of depth of feeling it's much more interesting – the recording seems to have a soupçon of the  special Richterian melancholy which he can sometimes (rarely) evoke, and which I find like.

I also listened to the A flat impromptu D935/2 on Melodyia. I thought this was really for Richter freaks only – as before the vast dynamic range was exciting and electric, but overall the result is a bit shallow maybe.

The Olympia record also has a nice perfromance of the E flat Op 90/2.

[George]

Schubert, Impromptu in A flat major, Op 90/4), Praga (1972) and Olympia (1979); Impromptu in A flat, D 935 no. 2, Melodyia (1950)

I thought the Olympia perforemnce is better. There's still some exiitement – though it's not as electric as the Prague performance. But in terms of depth of feeling it's much more interesting – the recording seems to have a soupçon of the  special Richterian melancholy which he can sometimes (rarely) evoke, and which I find like.

I also listened to the A flat impromptu D935/2 on Melodyia. I thought this was really for Richter freaks only – as before the vast dynamic range was exciting and electric, but overall the result is a bit shallow maybe.

The Olympia record also has a nice performance of the E flat Op 90/2.

Haven't heard the Praga (or the Melodiya, for that matter), it's not part of the "Richter in Prague" set. Do you have a link to the CD?

[Mandryka]

Haven't heard the Praga (or the Melodiya, for that matter), it's not part of the "Richter in Prague" set. Do you have a link to the CD?

Disc 14 track 5 of the big box, George. With the D960 and a Liszt Polonaise.

In fairness to SR, it sounds to me that he's playing it as a rousing encore -- the final bar is very "rousing" and the audience leap in with applause. It makes a good lollipop.

This is the Melodyia (I like the Bartok a lot on it)

[ccar]

Schubert, Impromptu in A flat major, Op 90/4), Praga (1972) and Olympia (1979); Impromptu in A flat, D 935 no. 2, Melodyia (1950)

I thought the Praga recording showed some of the best and worst characteristics of SR's Schubert. On the plus side, this is very exciting. On the minus side, it's vulgar. Great big dynamic contrasts – huge crashing forte passages followed by tear  jerking pianissimos.

I thought the Olympia perforemnce is better. There's still some exiitement – though it's not as electric as the Prague performance. But in terms of depth of feeling it's much more interesting – the recording seems to have a soupçon of the  special Richterian melancholy which he can sometimes (rarely) evoke, and which I find like.

I also listened to the A flat impromptu D935/2 on Melodyia. I thought this was really for Richter freaks only – as before the vast dynamic range was exciting and electric, but overall the result is a bit shallow maybe.

The Olympia record also has a nice perfromance of the E flat Op 90/2.

Mandryka, thanks for the comments. Your impressions on the Impromptus gave me a nice pretext of relistening to Richter and these beautiful pieces.

As usual is not easy to order his multiple recordings. So, I tried to make an updated list (AFAIK) of Richter's commercial recordings of the Schubert Impromptus. 

      D.899 No.2 – Moscow 1950; Sofia 1958; Tokyo 1979
      D.899 No.3 – Kiev 1964; Budapest 1967; Moscow 1967; Kiev 1967
      D.899 No.4 – Sofia 1958; Budapest 1958; Kiev 1959; New York 1960; Kiev 1967; Duvrovnik 1967; Budapest
                           1967; Moscow 1967; Praga 1972; Munich 1978; Tokyo 1979
      D 935 No.2 – Moscow 1952; Salzburg 1972

And here are also some impressions of the readings I find more interesting or characterful: 
   
E flat major Op.90 D.899 No.2 – the Tokyo 1979 has the best sound and impresses me the most by the fluent but poised drive, beautiful color/tone, nice contrasts between hands and overall dramatic tension; the Sofia 1958 is a much more energetic reading but with very imaginative phrasing details; the Moscow 1950 is full of drive, almost like an etude, but for me is perhaps too quick and less interesting

B flat major Op.90 D.899 No.3 - the Kiev 1964 has a distant sound but I found this performance very special – the intimacy and apparent detachment gives the piece an almost religious hymnic character; the latter readings have better sound, more contrasts and dramatic tension, but the unique ambiance and poetry of the 1964 reading is almost miraculous.

A flat minor Op.90 D.899 No.4 – listening to the Sofia 1958 recital it is difficult to imagine a more intense and dramatic interpretation of this piece; some may feel it is too intense, but beneath the tension there is still poetry and beautiful singing phrases; the contrast of the Sofia recital with the Praga 1972 is immense – this is a much more intimate and poetic, almost solar reading, with beautiful piano colors and poignant phrasing; the Budapest 1967 strikes for the apparent poised detachment and sadness; the Tokyo 1979 has better sound and for me it gives the more noble character of the piece, combining intimacy and dramatic tension, with wonderful color contrasts and phrasing.     
       
A flat major Op.142 D.935 No.2 – it is curious to compare the reflective Moscow 1952 A flat major reading with the Moscow 1950 recording of the E flat major. Obviously these are two completely different pieces but it is amazing how the young Richter could already give such contrasting characters. And for me it is also interesting to notice how in the 1952 reading Richter could already build that dreamy and dramatic tension we associate to most of his Schubert. And if we listen to the Salzburg 1972 we get an even slower and darker reading of the A flat major – with even more contrasts and tension – almost like one of his late Schubert sonatas.               

[Mandryka]

Very good, ccar.

I love that Sofia D.899 No.4.  I still think that Prague one is brash by comparison. "Solar" is a more charitable word for it -- I certainly see what you mean.

[DavidRoss]

Gee, I never noticed before how much Richter looks like a pissed off Tommy Smothers.

[ammar]

The resemblance is even more uncanny when you find out that they're both carrying a pink plastic lobster out of shot 

(and no, that isn't a euphemism, before anyone asks -  http://ahmedfernando.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/richters-pink-plastic-lobster/ )

[not edward]

The resemblance is even more uncanny when you find out that they're both carrying a pink plastic lobster out of shot 

(and no, that isn't a euphemism, before anyone asks -  http://ahmedfernando.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/richters-pink-plastic-lobster/ )

And an even more uncanny coincidence is that within a couple of years of Richter's death, the first episode of Futurama was bringing that plastic lobster to life on TV!