Sviatoslav Richter

[George]

Tracklisting is now available on the above 9CD set. It's due out May 4, 2009. They have decided to omit the lieder CDs:

http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/result?SearchString=sviatoslav+richter+477+8122

[Coopmv]

Tracklisting is now available on the above 9CD set. It's due out May 4, 2009. They have decided to omit the lieder CDs:

http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/result?SearchString=sviatoslav+richter+477+8122

Maybe Amazon will offer a nice price for this set with free shipping just as it did with Martha Argerich's Solo set ...   

[George]

Maybe Amazon will offer a nice price for this set with free shipping just as it did with Martha Argerich's Solo set ...   

I won't be getting it, as I have all but two performances from that set already. I bet JandR's price on this one will be competitive, as they put all new releases on sale. I prefer to get box sets from brick and mortar stores, as they can so easily get damaged in shipping.

[Brian]

Me too, Brian. 

Just did some looking around Naxos' website. It seems they are roughly simultaneously (over the course of a few months) launching three new historical piano series: Richter "The Early Recordings," Gilels "The Early Recordings," and Rachmaninov "The Complete Solo Recordings." And all three projects are to be helmed by Ward Marston.

[The new erato]

Perfect timing for my birthday.

My birthday as well. And Eric Claptons IIRC.

[George]

Just did some looking around Naxos' website. It seems they are roughly simultaneously (over the course of a few months) launching three new historical piano series: Richter "The Early Recordings," Gilels "The Early Recordings," and Rachmaninov "The Complete Solo Recordings." And all three projects are to be helmed by Ward Marston.

Thansk for the info, Brian. Seems strange, as Marston has already mastered the Rachmaninov complete solo recordings. At any rate, its great news to hear that Marston will be working for Naxos.

[The new erato]

Just did some looking around Naxos' website. It seems they are roughly simultaneously (over the course of a few months) launching three new historical piano series: Richter "The Early Recordings," Gilels "The Early Recordings," and Rachmaninov "The Complete Solo Recordings." And all three projects are to be helmed by Ward Marston.

And they've just launched Michelangeli vol 1.  Seems like the remastering studios are working overtime while they're waiting for the expected copyright extension to 95 years....

[George]

Continuing in my backwards-chronological survey of the available Richter Schubert sonatas, today I listened to two recordings of:

D 840

   Paris 19-20 October 1961 (Monitor) – This recording, the earliest of two that Richter made of this work, was made in a studio in Paris. The sound is better than I expected, with enough hiss to ensure that the tapes were not remastered or filtered. Unfortunately the miking was set up too close, as some of the forte chords distort, but this does not present a problem for most of the performance. The first movement begins gently, in a tranquil mood. Richter's conception of this work is clear and presented as such. The second movement improves on this, Richter's tone is gorgeous and his playing amongst the best of his Schubert recordings. He chooses, as he does with his later live recording, to include the two incomplete movements. The third movement did not come off too well for me, I am not sure if this is the fault of the composer or the pianist. The finale was much better, with an extremely catchy rhythm. Richter's intensity builds until the final incomplete measures, where he just stops. I found this effect to be quite sad, though I am grateful that he decided to record the two incomplete movements.

   Salzburg 27 November 1979 – Moving from the studio to a live venue 18 years later, Richter shows a clear difference, not to mention improvement, in approach. Here he benefits from more distant miking that is capable of capturing his immense dynamic range and fairly modern recorded sound. His tempo is slower than his previous recording in the first movement, in fact over 3 minutes slower, something that results in progress from his beautiful 1961 recording to this gorgeously sublime one. In fact, I barely wrote any notes for this movement, for his playing was spellbinding and his tone was delicious, captured wonderfully by the engineers. Luckily, the audience was barely noticeable and was likely as captivated as I was. The second movement is played at a very similar tempo to the 1961 performance, but here Richter's playing is again more special, perhaps a result of the 18 years of experience that separates them. By turns he is tender, playful, fierce and joyful, Richter is impressive to listen to here. In the third movement, he speeds things up by a full minute and a half compared to his 1961 recording, though it does not sound rushed at all. The movement comes off much better in fact, sounding more musical and less repetitive than before. The finale might sound a bit less technically secure than the 1961 performance, but at this point I might be splitting hairs. Overall, a superb performance and my recommendation for the best version of this sonata as played by Richter. It is currently available in the Master Series on Decca.     

[Mandryka]

Continuing in my backwards-chronological survey of the available Richter Schubert sonatas, today I listened to two recordings of:

D 840


   Salzburg 27 November 1979 . . .  Overall, a superb performance and my recommendation for the best version of this sonata as played by Richter.

Yeah -- that performance is one of the best piano recordings of all time I think. 

You used to get it coupled with an outstanding Winterreisse with Peter Schreier.


I remember hearing it for the first time -- over 20 years ago -- and being amazed that any pianist could be so hypnotic and intense. And he gets such beautiful sounds out of the instrument.

How I wish I could have seen him play Schubert.

[George]

How I wish I could have seen him play Schubert.

That would be heaven. 

[ezodisy]

New Richter Series on Naxos begins with this CD, available 3/30/09, already listed at MDT:



Robert SCHUMANN:

Humoreske in B flat major, Op. 20 Recorded in Moscow in 1956

I thought that that's the one on Parnassus but it's not as that one was from '55. The Trover discography is a bit confusing about this, implying that there are two '56 recordings available. Either way I have heard the one on Parnassus and it's definitely worth hearing Richter play this as there isn't a later recording available (I wonder why he dropped it?).

[Herman]

I think this is an appropriate accolade.  There are no pianists, living or dead, who have had as wide a repertoire as Richter's, from baroque to classical to romantic.  Glenn Gould might have excelled at Bach but I am not impressed with his performance of Beethoven or Chopin.  Emil Gilels were excellent at Beethoven but he had never recorded any WTC.  Richter seemed to excel in just about any keyboard works.

"Pianist of the Century" is what one can expect from a marketing dept in a troubled industry. However music lovers should avoid thinking in these toxic terms. Richter is one of my reference pianists in a lot of repertoire, but I'm certainly not going to put all other pianists on a lower level just because they are not this mythic figure Richter.

Having a large repertoire doesn't have to be a good thing. Vladimir Ashkenazy has recorded as big a repertoire as Richter, and it's one of the reasons his reputation has suffered. There a couple spots in the repertoire which Richter has performed without adding much.

And worse, by repeating the "Richter is the Greatest" mantra over and over, people will tell themselves everything Richter does is exemplary. His ultra-slow Schubert D960 may be interesting (personally I cannot stand it), but it should certianly not serve as a reference recording: it bears no resemblance whatsoever with what the composer heard when he composed this sonata.

[George]

I thought that that's the one on Parnassus but it's not as that one was from '55. The Trover discography is a bit confusing about this, implying that there are two '56 recordings available. Either way I have heard the one on Parnassus and it's definitely worth hearing Richter play this as there isn't a later recording available (I wonder why he dropped it?).

Yes, it is clear that Trovar is long overdue for an update.

[ezodisy]

"Pianist of the Century" is what one can expect from a marketing dept in a troubled industry. However music lovers should avoid thinking in these toxic terms. Richter is one of my reference pianists in a lot of repertoire, but I'm certainly not going to put all other pianists on a lower level just because they are not this mythic figure Richter.

Having a large repertoire doesn't have to be a good thing. Vladimir Ashkenazy has recorded as big a repertoire as Richter, and it's one of the reasons his reputation has suffered. There a couple spots in the repertoire which Richter has performed without adding much.

And worse, by repeating the "Richter is the Greatest" mantra over and over, people will tell themselves everything Richter does is exemplary. His ultra-slow Schubert D960 may be interesting (personally I cannot stand it), but it should certianly not serve as a reference recording: it bears no resemblance whatsoever with what the composer heard when he composed this sonata.

Precisely

Anyway everyone who loves Richter already knows that he thought Sofronitsky was the piano god, and without doubt he was right.

[orbital]

His ultra-slow Schubert D960 may be interesting (personally I cannot stand it), but it should certianly not serve as a reference recording: it bears no resemblance whatsoever with what the composer heard when he composed this sonata.

True. It is my favorite version to listen to, which only means that it is the first one that coes to my mind whenever I am in the mood for this sonata. But it is a contrived version (which works). I find it fascinating whenever pianists manage to pull off stuff like that -particularly with popular pieces that  have established traditions. I wonder if it has something to do with the name [read:aura] of the pianist in question, but again, Richter has never been among my very favorite pianists.

[Dr. Dread]

Precisely

Anyway everyone who loves Richter already knows that he thought Sofronitsky was the piano god, and without doubt he was right.

I just figure this is a thread where George goes on and on about Richter. 

[Mandryka]

 

[Richter's D840] . . .   bears no resemblance whatsoever with what the composer heard when he composed this sonata.

Right -- this raises an interesting question.

Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that you're right.

What was Richter's philosophy of performance?

Was he like Gould -- did he think that the performer's job is to bring his own ideas about contrapuntal balances, dynamic levels, rhythmic nuances, articulation, tone colour to the performance -- even when they are specified by the composer?

I have just tried to glance through Monsaingeon's book on Richter to get some elucidation -- but so far with no success.

[George]

What was Richter's philosophy of performance?

I have just tried to glance through Monsaingeon's book on Richter to get some elucidation -- but so far with no success.

I would say that your best bet in getting an answer to the question that you post is to consult his recordings. Someone quoted Richter a week or so ago here as saying that he tries to present the composers intentions as clearly as possible. I am paraphrasing, but it went something like that. This quote can be supported by many examples of Richter's performances, but then there are a number of performances, Schubert sonatas and Beethoven sonatas (Tempest), that run contrary to this quote. So, it seems that he did not have a consistent philosophy on this view.   

[ezodisy]

What makes you think that he doesn't present the composer's intentions in Beethoven's Tempest? I think that that's one of his best recordings.

If you want a performer who doesn't really present them in The Tempest you could listen to Yudina 

[George]

What makes you think that he doesn't present the composer's intentions in Beethoven's Tempest? I think that that's one of his best recordings.

If you want a performer who doesn't really present them in The Tempest you could listen to Yudina 

I love most of her Beethoven, actually. I am not bothered by pianists who, in the eyes of some people, over-interpret.

In the Tempest, there are tempo changes that are not in the score, which I believe is also the case in certain sections of his Appassionata. I agree though, his Tempest is excellent. As I said, I am not bothered by pianists who take some liberties in their interpretations.