Search - Dvorak, Richter, Borodin Quartet :: Piano Quintets

Indispensable accounts of two Dvorak quintets, early and la

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tracking down the best recordings by Sviatoslav Richter--one can choose presently from about 160--can be a snakr hunt; he was shy of the studio and was often caught in live performances with indifferent sound. This doubling of a very early Dvorak piano quintet with the familiar Quintet Op. 81 comes from a live concert at the Prague Festival in 1982. Richter never missed a summer there, and usually the Czech engineers captured him in adequate to good sound.



Here the sound is very good considering the source. The piano is warm and full, without clang or edginess. The Borodin Quartet are in good balance with the pianist. Of course these are extraneous details. The central fact is that Richter was a genius, and every note he plays here is riveting. He isn't in his near-violent mode but very lyrical and relaxed. The early quintet is all coltish charm, hinting at Dovrak's later melodic gifts.



They are fully evident in the great later quintet, which here opens slowly and reflectively. This approach works because of Richter's skill at shaping a line, and the Borodin sound comfortable, though one shouldn't expect perfect intonaiton from the two violinists. The second movement Andante con moto is taken much slower than marked (the first two movements take three times longer than the last two). But Richter knows how to manage extremely slow tempos, and we are drawn in by his every phrase. (The slowness of this movement is the only thing that makes me not want this performance as my only Op. 81, though.) The Scherzo fairly flies by, but not the finale, where Richter plays with more overt drama than anywhere else.



All in all, a somewhat eccentric but compelling performance. Five stars for a great artist."