Search - Schubert, Richter :: Sviatoslav Richter, Vol. 3: Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 13 in A Major / Piano Sonata No. 14 in A Minor / Impromptus Nos. 2 & 4

Excellent Schubert; still available on another label

hjonkers | The Netherlands | 02/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are recordings that were made during one of Sviatoslav Richter's Japan tours. They date from February 1979, Tokyo. This particular disc, of the Olympia label, seems to be out of the catalogue. Fortunately, you can still acquire the disc on Regis Records, a label that licensed many more discs from Olympia. With a search for `richter regis' you can easily find this disc, and about seven other fine items too. What can you find there, then? It includes Schubert's A major D664 sonata, the A minor D784 and the E flat and A flat impromptus D899. Schubert's music was a terrain at which Richter felt particularly at home, possibly because his own character had many similarities with Schubert's music. Additionally, this music only asks for minimal virtuosity, but utmost musicality. It was therefore an excellent terrain to show how much he had to offer apart from his legendary technique. He often succeeded in that and he was surely among the best Schubert players in history. There are some moments I wondered if a younger Richter wouldn't have played a little better (he was nearly 65 here) but generally this is an indispensable document. First there is the D664 A Major sonata, one of Schubert's sunniest compositions, with a dreamy first part that has a continually returning main theme, a peaceful Andante and finally a joyous finale. Richter takes the first movement at quite a broad tempo but that only adds to its beauty. He reads the music exceptionally well, is extremely expressive all the way through and seems to be in total relaxation, just as Schubert must have been when he wrote it. It's twelve minutes of pure music he delivers with that first movement, and however often the main theme returns, I really can't get enough of its beauty. I wish Richter had recorded the somewhat similar D959's final too! OK, and if you hadn't been lulled into total tranquillity yet, the sublimely serene second movement will help. The final movement is sublime too, but in another way: its quirky changes between loud chords and runs and charming dancing-steps are brought out like never before. Richter's great dynamic variety is most welcome here. Sometimes he pounds quite hard but it's never disturbing. A most humorous and charming finish, after all. The A minor sonata is something quite different. The whole piece breathes an exceptionally sad mood: be it the first part with its frequent outbursts, the falsely quiet second part or the disturbing finale, with some passages that sound like a danse macabre. Richter is again exceptional in this work, though I wish he would have used the pedal a little more frequently in the louder passages. Now it can sound unnecessarily rough at times. But it's not that bad after all. And it's good to hear that Richter, unlike Brendel or Zacharias to name two, dares to play every ff indication in the first movement really fortissimo and nothing less. The quieter parts of the piece are governed masterfully, once again. Sometimes I get the idea that Richter is somewhat too much relaxed, but he handles the gripping first movement very well at any rate. The solemnity of the second part comes out well too though I'd like a little more strength in the section after 25 measures (at 2'10). And as you might expect, he is his whole self in the third movement, that's almost made for him, with its wild runs that make me think of Prokofiev at times. Apart from then high speed and angriness he exposes, I also like his excellent voicing for the left hand: no note remains hidden. At the end sequence, I miss that little bit of pedalling that would have made it really excellent. He does a very impressive job with the whole sonata anyway, although he might have been even better at this at an earlier age. That is the case with the two Impromptus anyway. Richter plays the E flat impromptu very neatly and correctly and all, but his earlier accounts (like the one of the 1958 Sofia recital) are far more driven and intense. This rendition is quite bland, as a result: especially the coda doesn't have half the fire of his stormy Prague rendition. The same is effectively true of the A flat: nice but for the edge-of-your-seat-readings go elsewhere. Olympia could have included better fillers than these anyway. This is what we get however, and with two commanding and superior readings of two sonatas the disc is recommendable enough. At a basement price, as well. Of course, it depends on your taste if you really NEED this (for some 10 dollars more you can get the excellent 5-disc Schubert set by Christian Zacharias on EMI, for example) but it's a good choice at any rate. For some rays of sunshine with the A major sonata and a dark world in the A minor, this an excellent disc."

Simply unsurpassable!

Patrick Pierre-Louis | Delmas, Haiti | 04/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Richter is at his best he is quite unsurpassable. In this album there are two disconcerting versions of two great Shcubert Sonatas played here with such idiosyncrasy that the overall performance imposes itself and leaves its mark forever. Richter does not try here to enchant us but to give to each note its total weight of feelings. The first movement of sonata 664 is unsually taken at very slow tempo while the las movement is conducted at abnormally fast pace. This deliberate contrasting effet is surprising when judged by traditional standards and as often Richter provides us with a very personnal reading but makes it sound as a universal reference. This is even more thruthfull of sonata 784. The contrast between the gravity of the second movement and the energy of the third is so extreme that the tension thus produced is unbearable.For a less imperative version of sonata 664 I usually refer to Arrau. As to Sonata 784, despite Richter monumental performance, my choice would go to Joa Pires less constrasted and maybe less thought provoking but more fluid interpretation. Still, in the latter sonata, Richter is unforgettable."