Sviatoslav Richter

[Dancing Divertimentian]

He's performed all of them?

Do you have one of these?

Klavierstücke, opus 119 no. 1 - 4
    (Milan, 25 March 1965) [ unpublished ]
    [ labelled 13 April 1965, possibly Bergamo 27 March 1965 ]
        EMI Italy 093 2538192 (CD) [ only available to customers of the Italian bank "CAB" ]
    (Duszniki-Zdroj, 10 Aug 1965)
        Rococo 2146 (LP)

I have his Op.119's from Leipzig, Locarno, and Kempten.

[Mandryka]

Here he is playing Tchaikowsky Op 72/5 -- wonderful performance. Quite special.

http://www.youtube.com/v/VXk50yqo4bs

It's not listed in trovar but it's on spotify here

http://open.spotify.com/track/3xXWiEh3tl9ye6fUYlKXHW

and I found a download of it on amazon here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/P-Tchaikovsky-Meditation-Op-72-5/dp/B00276FFZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318968398&sr=8-1

I've no idea if they're all  the same performances. Does anyone?

[ccar]

Here he is playing Tchaikowsky Op 72/5 -- wonderful performance. Quite special.

http://www.youtube.com/v/VXk50yqo4bs

It's not listed in trovar but it's on spotify here

http://open.spotify.com/track/3xXWiEh3tl9ye6fUYlKXHW

and I found a download of it on amazon here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/P-Tchaikovsky-Meditation-Op-72-5/dp/B00276FFZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318968398&sr=8-1

I've no idea if they're all  the same performances. Does anyone?

In 1983 Richter played the Op.72 no.5 Meditation during a number of recitals. Some were privately recorded but are not commercially available. The one in YouTube is most probably from Munich April 1983, published by Melodiya through various labels – JVC, Olympia, CDK, Regis; there is another recording of the same piece, remarkably similar but from a different recital - Moscow June 1983 - also issued commercially by Melodiya (MEL 1001664).       

[Mandryka]

Does anyone have Richter's recording of Mozart K491, the 24th Piano Concerto, with Muti? If so, could they upload it for me . . . pretty please  .

Ccar, where are you?

[Mandryka]

Outstandingly beautiful Ballade 4 (Chopin) from Milan in 1966. Does anyone have a record of the rest of the concert?


http://www.youtube.com/v/k45IKm9gxaM

[Bogey]

Outstandingly beautiful Ballade 4 (Chopin) from Milan in 1966. Does anyone have a record of the rest of the concert?


http://www.youtube.com/v/k45IKm9gxaM

Cannot find it in his discography.  Is this the Ferrara concert of '66?

[zauberharfe]

No, I'm pretty sure it is a different one... I might have it, I"ll check!

[Holden]

This has to be the best recording of the 4th Ballade that I've ever heard. What makes it for me is the phrasing which is just perfectly exquisite.

When Richter auditioned for Neuhaus he played this piece - "his warhorse".

[Mandryka]

Is this performance of the Kreisler-Rachmaninoff Liebesfreud on record? What do you think? It sounds so modern!

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ma4RQO5lkwQ

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Something new from, of all companies, Praga. Will the old issues resurface? The packaging does say "Richter Edition". Wonder what's coming in the future?



[asin]B007CMTNHA[/asin]

[George]

Something new from, of all companies, Praga. Will the old issues resurface? The packaging does say "Richter Edition". Wonder what's coming in the future?



[asin]B007CMTNHA[/asin]

Hey Don,

All previously released, right?

[not edward]

Praga helpfully provides no recording dates online. One assumes the First concerto is the Moscow 18-Feb-1955 and the Second is the Leningrad 18-Feb-1959. It's a bit harder to track down a likely provenance for the four preludes, but it seems reasonable to assume that they're probably a grab bag from out of copyright commercial recordings.

[George]

Praga helpfully provides no recording dates online. One assumes the First concerto is the Moscow 18-Feb-1955 and the Second is the Leningrad 18-Feb-1959. It's a bit harder to track down a likely provenance for the four preludes, but it seems reasonable to assume that they're probably a grab bag from out of copyright commercial recordings.

This could be simply a reissue of the material on the Russian Revelation CD (RV 10064.) Except that that CD has the two concerto recordings you mention, along with 4 Etudes Tableaux, Op. 33 No. 6 and Op. 39 No. 3,4 and 9.   

I love that this new issue is on SACD, as if those extra bits will improve the sound, given the source material. 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Hey Don,

All previously released, right?

S'up, George.

Yeah, I think you and Edward have got it, at least for the concertos. Hard to say about those Preludes, though.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Here's something new from a company I've never heard of, Divox. It's a repackaging of those old Memoria issues containing a host of Prokofiev from Tokyo. The ninth sonata is a wonderful reading.

It's here at ArkivMusic in the States.


Haven't seen it on Amazon US but here it is on Amazon UK (link seems to be defective):



[asin]B006CAXQ80[/asin]

[not edward]

Divox are a Swiss indie label that may be getting better distribution now as they've moved under the Naxos unbrella.

I have a couple of CDs of theirs (Swiss string quartets and Castiglioni oboe music) and they are definitely aiming for a high-quality product. Good to see such a company picking up this sort of material.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Thanks, Edward. Good to know.

[Mandryka]

According to the concert data in Monsaigngeon's book he played Haydn in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. If you listen to how his style developed you hear, I think, much more seriousness in the later performances, at least in the outer movements.  Those later recordings are fantastic, I've really undervalued them in the past. Someone (I think it was Tom Deacon but I'm not sure) once wrote that, after his heart trouble, when you went to a Richter concert, you felt you were faced with a musician determined to reveal every bit of music in the score.

Well that seems spot on for the late Haydn records -- the ones from Mantua on Decca for example. And I much much prefer them to the earlier ones. I like that intensity a lot.

I was prompted to think about this because I was comparing him in the last sonata -- a record from Milan in 1986 (unpublished) and a record from Mantua 20 years later. I've felt the same whenever I've listened to the same sonata from earlier and later recitals.

[Brian]

Now streamable/downloadable outside the USA via Naxos Music Library and ClassicsOnline:



Mark Obert-Thorn remasters the 1958 Sofia recital. I've never heard this recital recording before, though I'm sure George has! The Schubert impromptu D899/4 truly deserves the description "legendary." MO-T has retained a lot of applause between tracks.

[Holden]

I have the Philips 50 version which is the best I have heard sonically. I'd be fascinated to see what MO-T has done with this recording as a member of NML I am going there now!

Edit: The Philips 50 version beats this hands down. The Naxos version sounds like Richter has put the piano in the Green Room and is playing from there. What's more, the Philips version I'm listening to is only in 224 kbps MP3. There is a slight swirl of sound (from the original LP?). MO-T has removed this swirl. I'd be interested in hearing from those of us who have the recording that I've got to see what you think.