Search - Sergey Prokofiev, Alexander Scriabin, Maurice Ravel :: Out of Later Years, Vol. 2

Unique recording from Richter's final years

M. Hendrik | Ghent, Belgium | 12/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording offers a unique glimpse into the final years of Sviatoslav Richter, a man who was perhaps the greatest pianist of the 20th century. Even at the advanced age of 79, Richter's playing showed little sign of deterioration, dispatching technically demanding works like Ravel's Miroirs and Scriabin's 7th Sonata with seeming ease. This recital was recorded live at Ludwigshafen in 1994 and, aside from the works mentioned earlier, features performances of Prokofiev's 2nd sonata and Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales.



What was primarily of interest to me when I bought this record however, was Richter's performance of Scriabin's "White Mass" sonata. I should note that I consider Richter one of Scriabin's greatest interpreters, greater even than the legendary Sofronitsky. His recordings of the 5th, 6th and 7th sonatas are all unsurpassed in my eyes. The 7th has in fact two recordings by Richter that I know of: this one, and one from an identical recital live at Carnegie Hall in 1965.



The White Mass sonata is a somewhat neglected work among Scriabin's piano sonatas, which is a shame, because it is probably the most compelling, rhythmically complex work he composed. According to legend, Scriabin wrote this piece as an exorcism against the evil 6th sonata, which he feared and even refused to play in public. Its mood was intended to be ecstatic, hence the nickname "White Mass". The music betrays none of this intent however, as the 7th sonata is arguably the darkest, most twisted work of Scriabin's late output--more phantasmagorical than the 6th, and far more violent than the 9th "Black Mass" sonata. Yet, at its core lies a theme of sadness and despair (again, hardly ecstatic), which reaches its climax in the coda.



Unfortunately, performances of the 7th sonata are rare outside complete recordings of Scriabin's sonatas. Few pianists have truly lavished on this piece the attention required to bring out its full complexity. Richter was an "early" champion of the work however, performing the White Mass on tours in 1965 and even as late as 1994, as evidenced by this recording. Richter's playing here is not quite as intense as in his legendary 1965 performance at Carnegie Hall, but it is still a fascinating rendition (especially in the quiet sections and the coda), matched by few modern pianists. Only Ruth Laredo comes close.



The Prokofiev sonata is not a piece I know well, and I will therefore refrain from judging this performance, but Ravel's Miroirs is played beautifully (especially "Oiseaux tristes", "Une barque sur l'océan" and "La vallée des cloches"). It hardly sounds different from Richter's recitals during 1950s in Prague, but perhaps this time darker shades creep in. When listening to "Oiseaux tristes", one cannot help but see the melancholy Richter from Monsaingeon's 1998 documentary, and wonder whether this is how Richter felt in his final years.



Barely three years later Richter died in Moscow from a heart attack, and with him one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century passed away. This recording stands as a unique document of Richter's late career."