# Sviatoslav Richter: Where to Begin?



## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

Somehow, in 40+ years of listening to/collecting classical music, I've managed to never hear a single performance by Sviatoslav Richter. I want to get to know his work but given the breadth of his repertoire and the number of recordings (studio and concert) available, I don't know where to begin. Which performances/recordings would you recommend as a place to start? Thanks!


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Begin here:


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

I appreciate Sviatoslav Richter's pianism very much, but I find it quite hard to tolerate the collection of often crude contemporary Soviet and Eastern European recordings I've managed to get a hold of. Any recommendations for better recorded performances would be warmly welcomed.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

No here: the _Beethoven 23rd sonata in Carnegie Hall_
1st Mov.: 



2nd Mov: 



3rd Mov: 




There are various other recording by him of that work, including Early Kiev, Early Prague, the RCA studio recording, etc.

His recordings with Kondrashin are other examples of the early, very vital Richter
_Franck: Les Djinns_ 



_Liszt: Concerto 1_ 




The _Prague Schubert Sonata 21_ illustrates a much more introvert, thoughtful and unusual approach he could also excel in:


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)




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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Sviatoslav Richter playing Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.5 ("Egyptian") remains my favorite performance from this astounding Russian:


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

This is a nice little gem:









Haydn Piano Sonatas 40, 41, 44, 48, 52

There is a companion, but it is out of print and horrifically expensive:









Haydn Piano Sonatas 2, 24, 32, 46


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Mussorgsky: _*Pictures At An Exhibition*_. Richter had a 'special relationship' with that work, the 1956 Prague and 1958 Sophia recordings being prime examples.

There is a now-scarce collection of recordings he made for "Prague Spring" festivals, issued by Praga (the 1956 Pictures is part of it).

His interpretation of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations is unique, if not in spirit (it's in the 'seven ways from Sunday' sector) then in execution.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

See if you can find the "Live in Hungary" box set at a good price. I never regret getting this.










Sorry, I may have spoke to soon. I got mine for $30, but I see it's gone up.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Just thinking of solo recitals for the moment, I think there are three periods:

Very early - 1950s, what I've heard has been disappointing - the 1951 Diabelli Variations for example, or the Bach and Schumann from 1948.

Pre Heart Trouble - up to mid 1970s - these recordings have a virtuoso piano quality about them. 


After the heart trouble - late 1970s onwards. These recordings are deep. 


My own preference is for late recordings, I don't care about wrong notes and slower tempos. I'm not a piano teacher! One thing I like about them is the sense of someone really searching to get to the heart of the music. 

If that strikes a chord then I'd say explore the recordings on Live Classics, there's an all Bach recital with a sonata, and one with Ravel's Mirroirs and some late Brahms. Or you could explore the late Beethoven sonatas and Mozart on Philips (Authorised Recordings, or "The Master".) Or the 1989 Mozart recital in London on Philips, Or the 1977 concert with Suite Bergamasque and some remarkable Chopin on Orfeo.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> See if you can find the "Live in Hungary" box set at a good price. I never regret getting this.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 It's the recordings in this box which make me think that Richter was the greatest pianist ever recorded.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Now moving to the chamber music, these are very memorable recordings. I need to think about the brahms violin sonatas and Beethoven and Bach cello sonatas. 

Franck violin sonata with Oistrakh
Ravel Trio with kagan
Beethoven and Mozart Violin sonatas with Kagan 
Brahms Quintet with Tatrai
Dvorak Quintet with Borodins
Schumann Trio 2
Dichterliebe with Dorliac 
Winterreise with Schreier
Schumann Marchenbilder with Bashmet
Schubert duo with Kagan
Bach concertos with Talich 

I haven't explored his concerto recordings as much, apart from Mozart. If it interests you, I'll try to put together a list of the ones which I think are specially successful.


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## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> Now moving to the chamber music, these are very memorable recordings. I need to think about the brahms violin sonatas and Beethoven and Bach cello sonatas.
> 
> Franck violin sonata with Oistrakh
> Ravel Trio with kagan
> ...


Mandryka, thanks so much for your time and efforts in responding to my request for guidance--your recommendations are extraordinarily helpful. And yes, please, concerto recommendations would be welcome.


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## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

Many thanks to all of you who've responded so far! I'm already accumulating quite a list...


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Oh one really nice one I forgot is Szymanowsky's Mythes with kagan on live classics. A wonderful seductive thing.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Has anyone heard any of the volumes in the "Richter Edition" by Praga Digital? They seem to be carefully remastered versions of what were originally live performances of Richter in what was then Czechoslavkia. I have read how much Richter did not care for doing studio recordings and that he preferred live concert settings. I have also heard that the Eastern European live recordings were much better than those in the Soviet Union. In any case, I appreciate any recommendations among these:


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I have heard the Praga Edition with Shostakovich and Chopin which I enjoyed for the Shostakovich especially. Good sound - hard metalic sound which really suits Richter's anti-romantic, modernist understanding of Shostakovich's op 87


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

There's a wonderful performance of Richter doing Beethoven's First Piano Concerto with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony. One of my favorite performances.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

hpowders said:


> There's a wonderful performance of Richter doing Beethoven's First Piano Concerto with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony. One of my favorite performances.


That was Richter's personal favorite of Beethoven's concertos, by the way--and I agree it's a wonderful performance. He was often unusual in his tastes--but whenever he had an unusual preference he seems to have seen something nobody else did. His favorite among Schubert's sonatas, for example, was the long, repetitive #18 in G major, and i find his way with that one utterly incomparable. Glenn Gould, who unlike me wasn't a Schubert nut, thought the same.

If one gets interested in collecting Richter's recordings, this website has what looks like a complete list:

http://trovar.com/str/RichterD.html#reg

*p.s.* A newcomer to Richter might enjoy Bruno Monsaingeon's famous documentary:






It's got some minor inaccuracies and major misrepresentations, but it includes snippets from many notable performances, and in any case I find it a very moving film.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Blancrocher said:


> _That was Richter's personal favorite of Beethoven's concertos,_ by the way--and I agree it's a wonderful performance. He was often unusual in his tastes--but whenever he had an unusual preference he seems to have seen something nobody else did. His favorite among Schubert's sonatas, for example, was the long, repetitive #18 in G major, and i find his way with that one utterly incomparable. Glenn Gould, who unlike me wasn't a Schubert nut, thought the same.
> 
> If one gets interested in collecting Richter's recordings, this website has what looks like a complete list:
> 
> http://trovar.com/str/RichterD.html#reg


It showed in the performance-a wonderfully playful account. I'll see if I can order it again. I had it on vinyl and don't have it anymore.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Some of Richter's concerto performances are very challenging to listen to. There's a Beethoven op 15 with Eschenbach made in 1988 nearly 30 years after the famous one with Munch.

The performance is so challenging, especially in the allegro, that it's easy to have a knee jerk reaction and say it's just not very good. An off day with an unsympathetic conductor. That was my initial reaction.

But I don't think things are so simple. First, Richter himself was proud of the performance (p327 of the Notebooks.) Second, the largo shows he is far from having an off day -- IMO his performance there is more impressive than with Munch. Same for the astonishing first movement cadenza. True the third movement is slower than we normally hear - but historically informed performances sometimes play it even slower (Schnooderwoerd), so maybe Richter and Eschenbach were on to something there.

It's the Allegro which is the problem. When you see allegro con brio you expect more vigour . But repeated listening is convincing me that there are ideas in that performance, they've thought it through. They've made it into something extremely dark and serious, which is maybe not what we're used to in this concerto. But there are some strikingly serious and deep things in the music, both in the orchestral intro and in the piano part later on. So maybe that way of playing it is not without some basis.

I don't know, and I wonder what other people think. I will say it's a performance I find fascinating, difficult and in a way, more interesting than the ones with Munch and Ancerl and Kondrashin from the 1960s. 

I would say similar things about the Mozart concerto 18 with Barshai, by the way. And the Mozart 24 with Muti.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Richter's playing is as good as any but unfortunately half of his recordings seem to have inadequate sound quality and many of them were made using out-of-tune pianos!

Try his Schumann and Grieg concertos with Matacic and his Dvorak concerto with Kleiber


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

revdrdave said:


> Mandryka, thanks so much for your time and efforts in responding to my request for guidance--your recommendations are extraordinarily helpful. And yes, please, concerto recommendations would be welcome.


Mozart PC 22, best with Kondrashin, from Moscow in 1967, but also good with Barshai. Avoid the one with Muti. And the Haydn concerto with Yuri Tsiryuk. I feel less confident to recommend him doing concertos, I haven't explored the music so much.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

These recordings have received a digital enhancement, quite OK :angel:


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Where to begin? Youtube.


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

Thanks for the Monsaingeon documentary!


Blancrocher said:


> ...His favorite among Schubert's sonatas, for example, was the long, repetitive #18 in G major, and i find his way with that one utterly incomparable. Glenn Gould, who unlike me wasn't a Schubert nut, thought the same.


Here's *Glenn Gould on Sviatoslav Richter*, noting toward the video's end, Gould's affirmation of Richter being one of the most powerful communicators in music. In the video is an excerpt of Richter's performance of the G major by Schubert.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I like Richter´s G-major D894 a lot, especially the recording in the Brilliant Classics 5CD box (May 1978. First movement 26:18!)


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## shadowdancer (Mar 31, 2014)

One of my favorite:


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