Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, Frederic Chopin :: Sviatoslav Richter: In Memoriam

More Richter indispensabalia!

Discophage | France | 09/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Emil Gilels toured the U.S. in 1955 his response to critics who raved about his performances is said to have been: "Wait until you hear Richter!" Now that's gallantry. Only in May 1960 was Richter allowed to tour outside of the Soviet block, and it was not farther than Finland. Five month later a big US tour was arranged, whose culmination was a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall (one of them is documented on Richter Rediscovered). In July of the next year it was London, in October Paris, in May 1962 came Florence in Italy followed by Vienna in June and again in September for two programs of concertos, then back to Italy in October and November, and Paris in December (all these informations and more used in this review come from the wonderful Richter website maintained by Paul Geffen).



In those years Richter was arguably at the apex of his pianistic and musical powers (one at the service of the other) and some of those concerts were recorded and released, in equal share between DG and EMI (Beethoven's 17th Sonata, Schubert's 13th and Wanderer Fantasie, Schumann's Papillons, Fantasie, Faschingsschwank aus Wien and 2nd Sonata went to EMI, and have been collected with other recordings on Sviatoslav Richter in Portrait). The DG material was originally scattered on three LPs, published around 1962-63 and representing Richter's near complete solo output owned by the German firm (there are also a number of concertos, and Rachmaninoff's 2nd had a choice of 6 Preludes as a filler, recorded in studio in Varsaw in 1959).



DG reissued part of the material from these LPs on CD as Sviatoslav Richter Plays Scriabin, Debussy & Prokofiev, an indispensable acquisition for the Richterite, as it has Scriabin's 5th Sonata and Prokofiev's 8th (see my review for more discographic information); the present CD is the equally indispensable complement to this earlier release. Though there are a few duplications between them (the Debussy pieces and the three short Prokofiev Vision Fugitives), they give the complete solo Richter on DG, including the studio Rachmaninoff Preludes from 1959. DG has issued another, double CD (447355), which collated all this material but not the two Chopin Ballades and is difficult to find anyway (and not listed on the present website).



The previous reviewers' ranting at the coughs and other sonic deficiencies needs to be seriously qualified. As mentioned, the Rachmaninoff Preludes are studio recordings, and only the last one is a noisy concert take, from Venice, 17 Nov 1962. Audiences in Florence, 23 Oct 62 (Bach, Schubert) were coughingly sonorous but those of Wembley, July 28 - August 1 1961, were utterly silent (Haydn 32nd Sonata Hob XVI:44, Chopin Ballade 3, Debussy Preludes). It would be tedious to go into the details of Geffen's attempt at a precise locating and dating of the various pieces attributed by DG's documentation to an anonymous "Italian Tour 11/62". Chopin's Ballades are OK, only the Polonaise-Fantaisie has audience presence and some coughs. The Etude op. 10/12 has some audience noise but not op. 10/1 (yet Geffen attributes both to the same concert), although one can hear a slight but constant click which could be the pianist's fingernails hitting the keyboard (and some of his breathing too). The Schumann and Prokofiev pieces have their good share of coughs and audience noise. Obviously the first two Debussy Estampes (silent) do not come from the same concert as the third (noisy), and indeed Geffen gives for them the indication of "Rome, 31 Oct, and Palermo, 9 Nov 1962". There is tape hiss in all the Debussy pieces, though.



But whatever the surrounding blimps (and again they do not concern all the recital), they are nothing in the face of such interpretive mastery. Richter's Bach is mostly reflexive and dreamy, with a soft touch, poles apart from Gould's more baroque percussiveness. Likewise his Chopin Ballades and Polonaise are, I find, overall pensive and dreamy rather than heroic. On the other hand the two Etudes are fittingly heroic and display a fine sense of color and dynamic shading, and the same can be said of his Rachmaninoff. His Haydn is a gem (there is a much later version, recorded in Mantua in 1987, on Decca), but my favorite is possibly his Debussy. I find Richter's sense of atmosphere and subtlety of touch ideally suited to the French composer.



So, again, as the complementary DG CD, no Richterite can afford to be without this.



"

*cough* Focus on the music

clavis76 | Washington, DC, USA | 05/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richter's live perfomances interest me far more than his studio recordings (and thankfully, outnumber them)!



What pianist today would dare attempt some of the feats Richter considers "essential" to every live performance. A pianist myself, I have been enamored with Richter since first hearing a recording of his. I remember literally standing in front of the CD player knowing that this man was one of the best. I stood there for about an hour, just listening...I couldn't move!

I now own nearly all of his recordings, and consider them my finest discs.



I have seen many top pianists live...Phillippe Entremont, Jean-Yves Thib., Andre Watts, Leon Fleischer, Murray Perahia...to name a few. Undoubtedly, they are all 'good pianists'.



Richter is an exceptional pianist. He, along with Michelangeli, Cziffra, and a select few others, captivate me.



4th Chopin Ballade is evidence enough...every other interpretation I've heard is...well...subdued, not melodic enough, and the coda always to slow!! Not so with Richter. And Richter's Bach? Amazing. Correct tempo, beautiful voicing; he manages to blend the all too ignored melodic/ romantic side of Bach with the maestro's perfect compositional structure. If you really want a treat...even if you're not a huge "Bach" listener, I highly, highly recommend the CD "Out of Later Year, Vol. 6" w/ Sviatoslav Richter. The French Overture is downright remarkable (the composition and performance equal each other)!



Yes, this recording has coughing on it; yes, people clear their throat; and yes, the recording quality is sub-par by todays dolby xx.xx standards.



In all honesty, I never noticed one cough, cleared throat, or bit of "hiss" until someone pointed it out to me.

Let Richter play for you; trust me, you'll stop hearing the coughs if you listen to the music.

"

Slightly inconsistent, but classic solo Richter

jsa | San Diego, CA United States | 03/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is enough great Richter here to warrant five stars to this DG compilation - poetic Bach, a gem-like Haydn sonata, mesmerizing Debussy estampes & preludes, & the six Rachmaninoff preludes that accompanied Richter's classic recording of the second piano concerto when the original DG LP was released. The preludes, along with what are arguably the most magical estampes I have ever heard, are reasons enough to recommend this 2-cd set.



I would be remiss in not pointing out a couple of drawbacks, however. Richter's Chopin illustrates the occasionally wayward aspect of the great pianist's playing, especially the two ballades included here which both suffer from ultra-slow opening bars. While Richter was seeking something poetic, the pace is simply inconsistent with the overall architecture of these pieces. That being said, this same slow treatment works brilliantly in the opening measures of Pagodes. Once you hear it, you'll be convinced that there is no other way to play it. Richter casts a magical spell here that has never been equalled.



The polonaise-fantasy is also somewhat inconsistent, with excessive rubato applied liberally for effect which, to my way of thinking, does not work very well. For a stunning polonaise-fantasy one must turn to Horowitz, who truly owned this piece. Likewise, one hearing of Claudio Arrau's distinguished Abegg Variations demonstrates that not everything Richter touched turned to gold. Here Richter is very fast, rattling off the variations like a technical exercise whereas Arrau's approach, no less of a technical tour-de-force, is far more musically oriented. There are no reservations whatsover about Richter's Chopin etudes which are impressive indeed.



One more thing: prepare yourself for a jolt after the last of the Debussy pieces on the second disc when Richter launches into Rachmaninoff's massive op. 23, no 2 prelude. It's like a giant howitzer shot coming after the delicacy of Debussy, especially in that the sound is much fuller. This is incredible Rachmaninoff - Richter absolutely dominates each prelude in an unrivalled display of technical authority & poetry.



Highly recommended!"