Sviatoslav Richter

[George]

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.

I trust your ears Holden. Since I have the Philips 50 version, I will pass. Thanks for saving me the money.

[kishnevi]

My Mitropoulos Conducts Mahler set landed today.   Instead of liner notes, the 2011 catalogue of West Hill Radio Archives was included.   

These are not distributed directly to the US because of copyright laws, but they're available on AmazonUK and a few other places outside the US.

Included was a recital of Sviatoslav Richter from 1958 in Budapest

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richter-In-Budapest-February-1958/dp/B001UWOJ90/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1344133321&sr=1-2-spell

And looking for the AmazonUK listing brought up this one as well, not in the catalogue, of Richter's BSO debut

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sviatoslav-Richters-Richter-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B005BK59LY/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1344133321&sr=1-1-spell

(A search using the term "Sviatoslav Richter West Hill Radio"  brought them up, if the links don't work)

Don't know if these might interest the resident Richterians, but I'd figure I could at least point them out.

[George]

Thanks for the info, maybe Que or a moderator could merge this post with the Sviatoslav Richter thread? That way folks who already subscribe to that thread will get notification.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Cool, Jeffrey. Thanks for the mention.

The first disc is notable for a superb performance of Pictures. It's from the same tour that brought us the famed Sofia Pictures, latterly on Philips, but is much much better recorded (creaky piano stool aside). I prefer it to the Sofia performance as the audience isn't as apt to swamp the interpreter.

The Schubert sonata on that disc has had wide circulation on many labels over the years and any Richter Schubert is good Schubert.

The second disc is totally new to Richter's discography, at least outside of private tapes. I've never heard anything about this concert. Wonder what the sound is like?

[not edward]

I can second the recommendation for this disc. Excellent performances of two Richter specialities. Haven't heard anything about the other one, though.

[ccar]

The second disc is totally new to Richter's discography, at least outside of private tapes. I've never heard anything about this concert. Wonder what the sound is like?

                         


                  "One day, at the end of a repetition of the Beethoven First Concerto with the Boston Orchestra, I was so touched
                  by the conducting I kissed the hand of Charles Munch."  S.R.


Many of us remember the famous "conductor statement" of Leonard Bernstein before the Brahms D minor concerto with Glenn Gould. That never resolved question of the soloist versus conductor dominance was revived in my mind while I was listening to the recent CD release of the 1960 debut Richter-Munch-BSO live performances, of the Beethoven C major and the Brahms B flat concertos (DOREMI 7972/3).

I always cherished the Richter-Munch RCA studio recording of the Beethoven No.1, produced on the days after these live concerts. And I could not be surprised by Richter's wonderful rendition of the Brahms No.2 - we know how impressive he could be in this work by his other recordings of the concerto – first with Kondrashin but then with Leinsdorf, Mravinski, Maazel, Georgescu and Rossi. But I was not expecting the way Charles Munch took his stand to drive the BSO in one of the fieriest renditions of this Brahms concerto I can remember.

From Richter's notes we know how he very much admired Munch's conducting, particularly after this Boston tour. But in these live recordings Munch's orchestra is so much present, so intense and alive, I could even imagine if Richter thought for an instant he should also give some sort of "soloist statement" to the public.   
 
                                       
                                             

The DOREMI already issued these wonderful (and truly "historic") performances in 2010. The sound in the WHRA edition is more clear and the balance between the piano and the orchestra is much better. But, curiously, I got the impression these editions were taken from different microphones. The DOREMi seems as if it was taken from inside the stage, with more distortion but with an amazing immediacy and presence. 

[George]

The DOREMI already issued these wonderful (and truly "historic") performances in 2010. The sound in the WHRA edition is more clear and the balance between the piano and the orchestra is much better. But, curiously, I got the impression these editions were taken from different microphones. The DOREMi seems as if it was taken from inside the stage, with more distortion but with an amazing immediacy and presence.

The Doremi CDs I have heard all sound like audience recordings. Ones made by people in the audience with a tape recorder. As a result, they never seem to sound good.

[ccar]

The Doremi CDs I have heard all sound like audience recordings. Ones made by people in the audience with a tape recorder. As a result, they never seem to sound good.

Maybe by someone in the front row ?   

[George]

Maybe by someone in the front row ?   

Perhaps. 

[Mandryka]

That's a very amusing review of the Richter/Munch studio record Carlos. I'm quite tempted to hear the live one.

Op15 has been very much at the front of my mind recently. It's now my preferred Beethoven concerto I think.

I'm curious about what people think of Richter/Eschenbach, recorded nearly 30 years after the one with Munch.

The performance is so challenging, especially in the allegro, that's it's easy to have a knee jerk reaction and say it's just not very good. An off day with an unsympathetic conductor.  That was my initial reaction, as George can testify.

But I don't think things are so simple. First, Richter himself was proud of the performance (p327 of the Notebooks.) Second, the largo shows he is far from having an off day -- IMO his performance there is more impressive than with Munch. Same for the astonishing first movement cadenza. True the third movement is slower than we normally hear - but historically informed performances sometimes play it even slower (Schnooderwoerd), so maybe Richter and Eschenbach were on to something there.

It's the Allegro which is the problem. When you see allegro con brio you expect more vigour . But repeated listening is convincing me that there are ideas in that performance, they've thought it through. They've made it into something extremely dark and serious, which is maybe not what we're used to in this concerto. But there are some strikingly serious and deep things in the music, both in the orchestral intro and in the piano part later on. So maybe that way of playing it is not without some basis.

I don't know, and I wonder what other people think. I will say it's a performance I find fascinating, difficult and in a way, more interesting than the ones with Munch and Ancerl and Kondrashin from the 1960s.

I would say similar things about the Mozart concerto 18 with Barshai, by the way. And the Mozrt 24 with Muti.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The DOREMI already issued these wonderful (and truly "historic") performances in 2010. The sound in the WHRA edition is more clear and the balance between the piano and the orchestra is much better. But, curiously, I got the impression these editions were taken from different microphones. The DOREMi seems as if it was taken from inside the stage, with more distortion but with an amazing immediacy and presence.

Ah, so a recent addition, then. Thanks.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Interesting goodies coming down the pipe:


Beethoven from Brilliant

Beethoven from Praga

And:


[asin]B008K1PWLS[/asin]

[George]

Interesting goodies coming down the pipe:


Beethoven from Brilliant

Beethoven from Praga

And:


[asin]B008K1PWLS[/asin]

The Praga was already released, right?

And is that Scriabin CD the same as the Music and Arts one?

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The Praga was already released, right?

And is that Scriabin CD the same as the Music and Arts one?

Yes to both.

I wonder what improvements in sound are in store for the Scriabin and the Praga?

[George]

Yes to both.

I wonder what improvements in sound are in store for the Scriabin and the Praga?

I recall the Scriabin sounding fine.

The Brilliant is probably a recycling of the Beethoven in the old Green box. They did that with the 3CD Sofronitsky set.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I recall the Scriabin sounding fine.

Yeah, but the Music & Arts issue sounded a bit dim to me, though clean and undistorted. The Arkadia issue was an improvement and I've been happy with it for years. But I'm wondering if Parnassus has done anything dramatic with the sound, along the lines of the Leipzig recital. If so, I'm tempted to plunk down the extra $$ for it...but I don't know...

[Coopmv]

The Doremi CDs I have heard all sound like audience recordings. Ones made by people in the audience with a tape recorder. As a result, they never seem to sound good.

Really, I am interested in a Lili Kraus recording released by Doremi ...

[Kontrapunctus]

Not great sound, but what awesome playing! (Beethoven's last three Sonatas plus late Brahms and a Chopin Nocturne as encores.)

[Mandryka]

I've just ordered this. Have I ordered a pig in a poke?



Russian Performing School, Vol. 18 - Sviatoslav Richter Plays Piano Concertos by Bach, Mozart and Haydn. From the State Radio and TV Archives. [1-3] Bach: Concerto for Keyboard, Two Flutes and Strings No. 6, BWV 1057. Performers: Sviatoslav Richter & Chamber Orchestra of Moscow Conservatoire / Yuri Nikolaevski. Recorded: 1979. [4-6] Mozart: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 18, KV 456. Performers: Sviatoslav Richter & Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra / Kirill Kondrashin. Recorded: 1977. [7-9] Haydn: Concerto for Keyboard and Orchestra , Hob. XVII:11. Performers: Sviatoslav Richter & Minsk Chamber Orchestra / Yuri Tsiryuk. Recorded: 1993

I'm especially interested in how the Mozart is different from the one with Barshai. And I'm exploring Haydn piano concertos a bit so I couldn't resist.

[ccar]

I've just ordered this. Have I ordered a pig in a poke?



I'm especially interested in how the Mozart is different from the one with Barshai. And I'm exploring Haydn piano concertos a bit so I couldn't resist.

For the Bach BWV 1057 this is (AFAIK) Richter's only commercially available version. The orchestra is too heavily balanced - but the piano playing is light, crisp and with an amazing drive. 

The Haydn concerto Hob XVII:11 with Tsiryuk has been available but difficult to get. I´ve always loved it - it's a magic performance.   

In the Mozart 18th concerto, with Kondrashin, Richter is much more livelier than with Barchai. For me, in most of his earlier concerti recordings (1940's to 60's) Richter is perhaps less reflexive but I feel he explores a wider array of dynamic and phrasing details. And there is a sense of youthfulness and sheer intensity I miss in his later (rare) recordings of piano and orchestra concerti.