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Sviatoslav Richter

PsB

Citizen of Nowhere™
I have just been watching a biography of this fascinating pianist. The 1998 film by B. Monsaingeon is largely based on interviews shortly before he died and footage of some of his great performances. It is quite long (in 2 parts) and very interesting. It combines the story of his life, his views on music, on composers and fellow musicians, playing at Stalin's funeral, touring, etc. The man had quite a sense of humour. I have always found him a bit of mystery, and this film helps to understand him better.

Well worth watching for anyone with an hour or two to spare and an interest in the great classical pianists of the 20th century.

The second part follows on YouTube.
 
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My father in law lent me a DVD of this documentary and it was very enlightening.A remarkable and enigmatic figure. One of the absolute greats.
 
I understand that Richter himself was not happy about the documentary and made it under duress from his "wife" (Nina Dorliak) as well as others in the periphery. Apparently his apparent melancholy in the documentary was very much down to the editing, and that not all of what was filmed was like that. That said, I still love the documentary and of course the pianist.
 
I watched the first half yesterday, very interesting stuff. Fascinating that he never bothered with exercises or scales etc when learning, he just set his sights on a work and learnt how to play it. I now need to buy some of his Chopin...
 
I now have to get some of his Prokofiev (and maybe even some Rachmaninov), as those are the 2 composers where he was supreme.
 
I watched the first half yesterday, very interesting stuff. Fascinating that he never bothered with exercises or scales etc when learning, he just set his sights on a work and learnt how to play it. I now need to buy some of his Chopin...
On a very different note do you have these ? They are on the box set mentioned by spiderbox, but otherwise worth a punt on their own

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00005CCAD/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

The music is quite simply bonkers; brilliant if you are in the right mood.

And of course his Rach 2 which is the only one I can listen to on the rare occasions I want to hear that sort of thing.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000001GQD/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21



And his hammerklavier on bbc legands
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004Y6OG/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

But I find it really frustrating that there are so many incomplete and sonically iffy version of the late schubert and beethoven sonatas.
 
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Thanks, will look into them. I've got the Rach 2 / Tchaikovsky 1 on DGG. The Tchaikovsky being my introduction both to that work and to Richter. Hearing anyone else playing it just sounds wrong to me! May well have been my first classical album, certainly a long time ago anyway.
 
By the way, at the concert of the Hammerklavier from 1975 on BBC legends, he played the last movement again as an encore!
 
My Richter fix dropped through the mailbox yesterday, I bought the Complete DDG Solo & Concerto box and also the WTC on RCA as it was nice and cheap. Not ventured beyond the DGG box, and it's very nice. I've always loved his Rach 2 and Tchaikovsky 1 and it's nice to have the rest in their correct sleeves and track playlist. I was tempted by the large box, but I usually find myself getting confused and a bit lost in such things. I like the way this is just a collection of the original LPs.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
The larger box is a bit of a mixture, which a lot of less than perfect later recordings mixed in with some terrific stuff from the 1960s. I'm afraid finding the best Richter recordings is tricky with one-stop solutions like boxed sets (and much of the best is on semi-legitimate labels like Music & Arts). The WTC is, im(notso)ho, the best recording of the WTC, albeit that the sound is far from perfect. No one quite holds the concentration in the longer fugues like Richter, and some of the virtuosity in preludes like the C-Min from Book I is astonishing.
The Scriabin and solo Prokofiev from the DGG set is wonderful.
You ought to pick this set up as well:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NFLVFFK/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
The WTC is, im(notso)ho, the best recording of the WTC, albeit that the sound is far from perfect. No one quite holds the concentration in the longer fugues like Richter, and some of the virtuosity in preludes like the C-Min from Book I is astonishing.

I gave the first disc of the WTC a spin yesterday and it is stunning. The piano recording, which is so often criticised, isn't in anyway offensive to my ears, it may not shout 'hi-fi reference recording quality', but there is nothing hugely wrong with it - it sounds great emerging from tubes and big Tannoys anyway. His playing is, as ever, astounding. I'm no expert/haven't heard too many versions/can't read music etc etc but I suspect I'm going to prefer this to the Gould, which is the only other version I've heard at length.
 
I think "we" have discussed the WTC on another (maybe Bach) thread. The Gould is certainly worth having, especially as it is so completely different to the Richter, but the Richter is so spiritual that none surpasses it for me.
I actually treated myself to the SACDs of this recording, which are an improvement, but probably not enough to justify the price.
 
I have Richter performing WTC on a 3 LP set (one side of one LP is blank). Melodiya is the label (I think, but the LPs are in a box somewhere).
 
Thanks, will look into them. I've got the Rach 2 / Tchaikovsky 1 on DGG. The Tchaikovsky being my introduction both to that work and to Richter. Hearing anyone else playing it just sounds wrong to me! May well have been my first classical album, certainly a long time ago anyway.

The Rach 2 is fabulous. Makes my Askenazy on Decca seem mechanical in comparison.
 


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