1	Concerto In D Major, BWV 1054: Allegro			
2	Concerto In D Major, BWV 1054: Adagio e piano sempre			
3	Concerto In D Major, BWV 1054: Allegro			
4	Concerto G Minor, BWV 1058: Allegro			
5	Concerto G Minor, Bwv 1058: Andante			
6	Concerto G Minor, Bwv 1058: Allegro Assai			
7	Piano Concerto No.25 In F Major, K.503: Allegro maestoso			
8	Piano Concerto No.25 In F Major, K.503: Andante			
9	Piano Concerto No.25 In F Major, K.503: Allegretto

Sviatoslav Richter – piano

Orchestra de Padova e del Veneto
Yuri Bashmet – conductor

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter (Святослав Рихтер; March 20, 1915 - August 1, 1997) was a Soviet pianist. Sviatoslav Richter was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. He was well known for his vast repertoire, effortless technique and poetic phrasing.

Richter was born in Zhitomir, Ukraine but grew up in Odessa. Unusually, he was largely self-taught although his organist father provided him with a basic education in music. Even at an early age, Richter was an excellent sight-reader, and regularly practiced with local opera and ballet companies. He developed a lifelong passion for opera, vocal and chamber music that found its full expression in the festival he established in Grange de Meslay, France. He started to work at the Odessa Conservatory where he accompanied the opera rehearsals. He gave his first recital in 1934 at the engineer club of Odessa but did not formally study piano until three years later, when he enrolled in the Moscow Conservatory, which waived the entrance exam for the young prodigy after it was clear he would not pass. He studied with Heinrich Neuhaus who also taught Emil Gilels, and who claimed Richter to be “the genius pupil, for whom he had been waiting all his life”. In 1940, while still a student, he gave the world premiere of the Sonata No. 6 by Sergei Prokofiev, a composer with whose works he was ever after associated. He also became known for skipping compulsory political lessons at the conservatory and being expelled twice during his first year. Richter remained a political outsider in the U.S.S.R. and never joined the Party. ---last.fm

download: uploaded yandex 4shared mediafire solidfiles mega zalivalka filecloudio anonfiles oboom

back

1. Mozart: Piano Concerto No.20 In D Minor, K.466 - 1. Allegro		14:44
2. Mozart: Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K.466 - 2. Romance		10:18
3. Mozart: Piano Concerto No.20 In D Minor, K.466 - 3. Rondo (Allegro assai)		8:12

Sviatoslav Richter - piano
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra
Stanislaw Wislocki - conductor

4. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 In C Minor, Op.37 - 1. Allegro con brio		17:22
5. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37 - 2. Largo		10:01		
6. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37 - 3. Rondo (Allegro)	8:46

7. Beethoven: Rondo In B Flat For Piano & Orchestra, WoO6	9:24

Sviatoslav Richter - piano
Wiener Symphoniker
Kurt Sanderling – conductor

Let’s get the bad news out of the way immediately. In the Mozart, the orchestral support provided by the Warsaw Philharmonic under Stanislaw Wislocki is never particularly refined. The upper strings are especially nasal-sounding; listen to the nerve-jangling edginess of the violin passagework in the finale, or the shrill tutti lead-in before the first-movement cadenza. Now for the good news. Sviatoslav Richter lives dangerously (he always did), with tremendously forceful playing that’s as implacable as it is highly organized. Interestingly Richter’s speeds aren’t exceptional. It’s just that his sense of rhythm and pacing are so alert and his approach so iron-willed and unyielding that you’re totally gripped by the performance.

Those observations apply even more forcibly to the 1962 reading of the C minor Beethoven concerto with the Vienna Symphony under Kurt Sanderling, which offers superior orchestral playing and better recorded sound. Again, it’s the rigor and ferocity of Richter’s playing that’s crucial. A mood of pronounced seriousness is struck right at the outset in Sanderling’s accompaniment, with emphatic accents and a certain heaviness and grandeur setting the scene for Richter’s first entry. His initial 16th-note salvo is pointedly brutal in effect, and the same snarling acerbity persists. Although critics often complained about the hardness of Richter’s tone in his early recordings, the amazing contrast he finds in the more lyrical textures of the second subject group is another feature that sets this performance apart.

You hear the more sensitive side of Richter’s playing in the calm, contemplative unfolding of the Adagio, too, before the same eruptive virtuosity as before holds you enthralled in the finale. Note how Sanderling follows Richter’s lead in the short orchestral fugato mid-way through the movement–and the masterfully controlled presto at the close is thrilling. These are astonishing performances, only really comparable with others by Richter himself. The Praga label has reissued a live 1956 recording in which Richter was accompanied by the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra under Bretislav Brakala in the Beethoven Third. The piano playing is very similar, but the orchestral sound and recording quality are poor. DG’s new transfers are brightly lit, with a certain brittleness to the piano sound, but this is an essential reissue. --- classicstoday.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

uploaded yandex 4shared mega mediafire solidfiles zalivalka cloudmailru oboom

back

01 – Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 – I. Allegro agitato
02 – Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 – II. Andante sostenuto
03 – Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 – III. Allegro con fuoco
04 – Fantasy in C Major, D.760 ‘Wanderer’ – I. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
05 – Fantasy in C Major, D.760 ‘Wanderer’ – II. Adagio
06 – Fantasy in C Major, D.760 ‘Wanderer’ – III. Presto
07 – Fantasy in C Major, D.760 ‘Wanderer’ – IV. Allegro

Sviatoslav Richter – piano
Bayerishes Staatsorchester München
Carlos Kleiber – conductor

The rather undiscriminating enthusiasm that greets everything Richter did actually does him a disservice I believe. He was a complex personality and a complex artist. His active repertory was large, for which I am as grateful as other folk because whether he was at his best or at his most perverse we can always rely on Richter for a thinking artist's approach to whatever he chose to record. In the last resort there are not all that many pieces I would rather hear played by him than by anybody else, and when I would it's sometimes because I have hardly ever heard them done by anybody else, like this Dvorak concerto. Anyway this has to be a fine performance by any rational assessment. I have heard it said that the piano part seems to be written for a player with two right hands. These days my own piano technique is more suggestive of two left feet, so I have not tried to verify the claim. It's not a work I return to very often, but there is no mistaking the care and affection that has gone into the way Richter handles it, and he certainly persuades me that it deserves better than the critical superciliousness that it is often treated to. The Wanderer Fantasy is another proposition entirely, a truly great and profoundly original piece of music. Here I am happy to agree that we find Richter at his best and that in a work of major stature. This is a big-toned Richter, although you will hear the familiar self-communing pianissimo in the variations. His approach is basically straightforward, like Pollini's, only with far greater warmth and humanity about it. This time there is nobody I would actually prefer to Richter, but the performance that seems to me fully the equal of his is from the 20-year-old Kissin, who also has the benefit of more up-to-date sound. Kissin gives a more romantic account of the first section with more give and take in the tempo. After that it's all a matter of details when one tries to compare them. To appreciate Richter at his true greatest, as in say Schumann's C major Fantasy or the Britten concerto or some of his Chopin and much of his Debussy or on this disc I suggest that we need to think more critically about things like his travesty, albeit a thoughtful one, of the Appassionata and ask ourselves whether there are not really a number of different Richters. I think that his final greatness really lies in his profound humanity not in some supposed demigod status. Anyway I am only too happy to join in recommending this disc. --- DAVID BRYSON (Glossop Derbyshire England)

download: Flac Mp3

back

CD 1 
1. Piano Sonata No.30 E Major, Op.109* (Ludwig Van Beethoven). Rec. 22.01.1972
2. Piano Sonata No.31 Ab Major, Op.110. Rec. 10.10.1965
3. Piano Sonata No.32 C Minor, Op.111. Rec. 12.01.1975

CD 2 
1. Piano Sonata No.6 In F Major, Op.10/2. Rec. 20.12.1980
2. Piano Sonata No.7 In D Major, Op.10/3. Rec. 20.12.1980
3. Piano Sonata No.39 In D Major (Joseph Haydn). Rec. 02.05.1985
4. Piano Sonata No.47 In B Minor. Rec. 02.05.1985

CD 3 
1. Piano Sonata No.1 In F Minor, Op.2 (Ludwig Van Beethoven)
2. Piano Sonata No.9 In E Major, Op.14/1
3. Piano Sonata No.12 In Ab Major, Op.26.
Rec. 16.10.1976

CD 4
1-3. Scherzo No.1,2,4 (Frederic Chopin)
4-7. Etude,Op.10 No.1,3,10,12
8-10. Nocturne No.4,5,6. 
Rec. 10.01.1965 (1, 2, 3, 6), 12.10.1965 (4), 04.12.1954 (5), 31.07.1980 (7), 06.10.1971 (8, 9, 10)

CD 5
1. The Seasons, Op.37 : May `White Nights` (Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
2. The Seasons, Op.37: June `Barcarole`
3. The Seasons, Op.37: November `On The Troika`
4. The Seasons, Op.37: January `By The Fireside`
5. Etudes - Tableaux, Op.39 No.1,2,3,4,7,9 (Sergei Rachmaninov)
Rec. 03.03.1966

CD 6
1. Suite For Keyboard No.2 In F Major (George Frideric Handel)
2. Suite For Keyboard No.9 In G Minor
3. Suite For Keyboard No.12 In E Minor
4. Suite For Keyboard No.14 In G Major
5. Suite For Keyboard No.16 In G Minor
Rec. 31.07.1980

CD 7
1. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Vallee D`Oberman (Franz Liszt)
2. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Au Bord D`Une Source
3. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Sposalizio
4. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Sonetto 123 Del Petrarca
5. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Gondoliera
6. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Camzone
7. Annees De Pelerinage (Years Of Pilgrimage): Tarantella
Rec. 02.03.1956

CD 8
1. Fantasiestucke, Op.12 (Robert Schumann). Rec. 10.05.1970
2. Symphonic Etudes, Op.13 And Posthumous Etudes. Rec. 22.01.1972
3. Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op.26. Rec. 10.10.1976

CD 9
1. Movements For Piano And Orchestra (Igor Stravinsky) with Yuri Nikolayevsky. Rec. 22.12.1984
2. Piano Concerto No.2 * (Bartok) with Evgeny Svetlanov. Rec. 06.05.1967
3. Kammermusik No.2, Op.36-1 (Hindemith) with Yuri Nikolayevsky. Rec. 22.05.1978

CD 10
1. Piano Sonata No.10 In G Major, Op.14/2 (Ludwig Van Beethoven). Rec. 29.11.1962
2. Piano Sonata No.17 In D Minor, Op.31/2 'Tempest'. Rec. 10.10.1965
3. Piano Sonata No.18 In Eb Major, Op.31/3

Sviatoslav Richter – piano

download:

CD01: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

CD02: yandex 4shared mediafire solidfiles mega zalivalka ziddu

CD03: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

CD04: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

CD05: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

CD06: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka anonfiles

ziddu

CD07: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

CD08: yandex 4shared mediafire solidfiles mega zalivalka ziddu

CD09: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

CD10: yandex 4shared mediafire mega solidfiles zalivalka ziddu

back

CD 1 - J.S.Bach, WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER BOOK I BWV846-859
01. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.1 in C malor, BWV 846
02. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.2 in C minor, BWV 847
03. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.3 in C-sharp major, BWV 848
04. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.4 in C-sharp minor, BWV 849
05. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.5 in D major, BWV 850
06. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.6 in D minor, BWV 851
07. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.7 in E-flat major, BWV 852
08. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.8 in E-flat minor, BWV 853
09. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.9 in E major, BWV 854
10. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.10 in E minor, BWV 855
11. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.11 in F major, BWV 856
12. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.12 in F minor, BWV 857
13. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.13 in F-sharp major, BWV 858
14. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.14 in F-sharp minor, BWV 859

CD 2 - J.S.BACH - WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER BOOK I BWV 860-869
01. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.15 IN G MAJOR, BWV 860
02. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.16 IN G MINOR, BWV 861
03. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.17 IN A FLAT MAJOR, BWV 862
04. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.18 IN G SHARP MINOR, BWV 863
05. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.19 IN A MAJOR, BWV 864
06. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.20 IN A MINOR, BWV 865
07. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.21 IN B FLAT MAJOR, BWV 866
08. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.22 IN B FLAT MINOR, BWV 867
09. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.23 IN B MAJOR, BWV 868
10. J.S.BACH - PRELUDE AND FUGUE NO.24 IN B MINOR, BWV 869

CD 3 - J.S.Bach - WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER BOOK II BWV 870-882
01. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.1 in C major, BWV 870
02. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.2 in C minor, BWV 871
03. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.3 in C sharp major, BWV 872
04. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.4 in C sharp minor, BWV 873
05. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.5 in D major, BWV 874
06. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.6 in D minor, BWV 875
07. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.7 in E flat major, BWV 876
08. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.8 in D sharp minor, BWV 877
09. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.9 in E major, BWV 878
10. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.10 in E minor, BWV 879
11. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.11 in F major, BWV 880
12. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.12 in F minor, BWV 881
13. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.13 in F sharp major, BWV 882

CD 4 - J.S.Bach - WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER BOOK II BWV 883-893
01. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.14 in F sharp minor, BWV 883
02. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.15 in G major, BWV 884
03. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.16 in G minor, BWV 885
04. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.17 in A flat major, BWV 886
05. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.18 in G sharp minor, BWV 887
06. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.19 in A major, BWV 888
07. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.20 in A minor, BWV 889
08. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.21 in B flat major, BWV 890
09. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.22 in B flat minor, BWV 891
10. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.23 in B major, BWV 892
11. J.S.Bach - Prelude & Fugue No.24 in B minor, BWV 893

CD 5 - L.V.Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Nos.3, 4, 27
Piano Sonata No.3 in C major op.2-3
01. 1st mov. Allegro con brio
02. 2nd mov. Adagio
03. 3rd mov. Scherzo: Allegro - atlacca
04. 4th mov. Allegro assai
Piano Sonata No.4 in E flat major op.7
05. 1st mov. Allegro molto e con brio
06. 2nd mov. Largo con gran espressione
07. 3rd mov. Allegro - Minore
08. 4th mov. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso
Piano Sonata No.27 in E minor op.90
09. 1st mov. Allegro.
10. 2nd mov. Rondo.

CD 6 - L.V.Beethoven & J.Brahms
L.V.Beethoven Six Variations in F major Op.34
01. Theme
02. Variation I
03. Variation II
04. Variation III
05. Variation IV
06. Variation V
07. Variation VI
08. Coda
Six Variations in D major Op.76
09. Theme
10. Variation I
11. Variation II
12. Variation III
13. Variation IV
14. Variation V
15. Variation VI
Fifteen Variations with Fugue in E flat major Op.35
16. Introduction
17. Theme
18. Variation I
19. Variation II
20. Variation III
21. Variation IV
22. Variation V
23. Variation VI
24. Variation VII
25. Variation VIII
26. Variation IX
27. Variation X
28. Variation XI
29. Variation XII
30. Variation XIII
31. Variation XIV
32. Variation XV
33. Finale
J.Brahms From Six Piano Pieces Op.118
34. Intermezzo in A minor No.1
35. Ballade in G minor No.3
36. Intermezzo in E flat minor No.6

CD 7 - R.A.Schumann
Bunte Blatter op.99
01. 3 Stucklein
01. A dur
02. e moll
03. E dur
02. 5 Albumblatter
01. fis moll
02. h moll
03. As dur
04. Ges dur
05. Es dur
03. Novelette
04. Praludium
05. Marsch
06. Abendmusik
07. Scherzo
08. Geschwindmarsch
04. Symphonische Etuden op.13
09. Theme
10. Etude 1
11. Etude 2
12. Etude 3
13. Etude 4
14. Etude 5
05. Variationen (Anhang zu op.13)
15. Var.1
16. Var.2
17. Var.3
18. Var.4
19. Var.5
06. Etuden
20. Etude 6
21. Etude 7
22. Etude 8
23. Etude 9
24. Etude 10
25. Etude 11
26. Etude 12

CD 8 - F.P.Schubert - Piano sonatas Nos.9, 11, 13
Piano sonata No.9 in B major Op.147 D.575
01. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
02. 2. Andante
03. 3. Scherzo; Allegretto
04. 4. Allegro giusto
Piano sonata No.11 in F minor D.625
05. 1. Allegro
06. 2. Scherzo; Allegretto
07. 3. Adagio (from D.503)
08. 4. Allegro
Piano sonata No.13 in A major Op.120 D.664
09. 1. Allegro moderato
10. 2. Andante
11. 3. Allegro

CD 9 - F.P.Schubert - Piano sonatas Nos.14, 19, Impromptu No.2
Piano sonata No.14 in A minor Op.143 D.784
01. 1. Allegro giusto
02. 2. Andante
03. 3. Allegro vivace
Piano sonata No. 19 in C minor D.958
04. 1. Allegro
05. 2. Adagio
06. 3. Menuetto; Allegro
07. 4. Allegro
08. Impromptu No.2 in A flat major D.935

CD 10 - F.P.Schubert, Piano sonata No.21, Moments musicaux Op.94, Impromptus Op.90
Piano sonata No.21 in B flat major D.960
01. 1. Molto moderato
02. 2. Andante sostenuto
03. 3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza
04. 4. Allegro ma non troppo 
Moments musicaux Op.94 D.780
05. No.1 in C major
06. No.3 in F minor
07. No.6 in A flat major
Impromptus Op.90 D.899
08. No.2 in E flat major
09. No.4 in A flat major

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Richter was born in Zhitomir, Russian Empire (now Ukraine).

Even at an early age, Richter was an excellent sight-reader, and regularly practiced with local opera and ballet companies. He developed a lifelong passion for opera, vocal and chamber music that found its full expression in the festivals he established in Grange de Meslay, France, and in Moscow, at the Pushkin Museum. At age 15, he started to work at the Odessa Opera where he accompanied the rehearsals. In 1949 Richter won the Stalin Prize, which led to extensive concert tours in Russia, Eastern Europe and China. He gave his first concerts outside the Soviet union in Czechoslovakia in 1950. In 1952, Richter was invited to play Franz Liszt in a film based on the life of Mikhail Glinka, called Kompozitor Glinka (Russian: Композитор Глинка, "The Composer Glinka"; a remake of the 1946 film Glinka). The title role was played by Boris Smirnov.

In 1960, even though he had a reputation for being "indifferent" to politics, Richter defied the authorities when he performed at Boris Pasternak's funeral. (He had played Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 1 at Joseph Stalin's funeral in 1953, with David Oistrakh.) Sviatoslav Richter (who had received the Stalin and Lenin prizes and became People's Artist of the RSFSR), gave his first tour concerts in the USA in 1960, and in England and France in 1961. Richter's first concerts in the West took place in May 1960, when he was allowed to play in Finland, and on October 15, 1960, in Chicago, where he played Johannes Brahms's Second Piano Concerto accompanied by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Erich Leinsdorf, creating a sensation.

As late as 1995, Richter continued to perform some of the most demanding pieces in the pianistic repertoire, including Maurice Ravel's Miroirs cycle, Sergei Prokofiev's Second Sonata and Frédéric Chopin's études and Fourth Ballade. Richter's last recorded orchestral performance was of three Mozart concerti in 1994 with the Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra conducted by his old friend Rudolf Barshai. Richter's last recital was a private gathering in Lübeck, Germany, on 30 March 1995. The program consisted of two Haydn sonatas and Max Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Beethoven, a piece for two pianos, which Richter performed with pianist Andreas Lucewicz. Richter died at Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow from a heart attack, after he suffered from a depressed state of mind caused by his inability to perform in public. At the time of his death, Richter was rehearsing Schubert's Fünf Klavierstücke, D. 459.

download (CD1-CD4):

uploaded yandex 4shared mega mediafire solidfiles zalivalka cloudmailru oboom

back

CD 1: J.S.Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach

[1]-[3] Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor BWV1052
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Sanderling
Recorded 22.04.1955

[4]-[6] Keyboard Concerto No.3 in D major BWV1054
[7]-[9] Keyboard Concerto in G minor BWV1058
Students' Orchestra of the Moscow State Conservatory
Yuri Nikolayevsky
Recorded 19.12.1983

CD 2: Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat major K271
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded 25.03.1966

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto No.17 in G major K453
Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Rudolf Barshai
Recorded 10.04.1968

CD 3: Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor K466
Moscow State Symphony Orchestra
Karl Eliasberg
Recorded 20.05.1958

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto No.27 in B flat major K595
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Kirill Kondrashin
Recorded 28.03.1973

CD 4: Mozart, Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto No.14 in E flat major K449
Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Rudolf Barshai
Recorded 27.05.1973

Ludwig van Beethoven

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor Op.37
Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Sanderling

[7] Choral Fantasy in C minor Op.80
USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Kurt Sanderling
Recorded 22.03.1952

CD 5: Schumann, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Robert Schumann

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto in A minor Op.54
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
George Georgescu
Recorded 17.04.1958

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op.23
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Kirill Kondrashin
Recorded 09.04.1968

CD 6: Brahms, R.Strauss
Johannes Brahms

[1]-[4] Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major Op.83
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
George Georgescu
Recorded 17.04.1958

Richard Strauss

[5] Burleske in D minor
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Recorded 18.12.1961

CD 7: Chopin, Franck, Haydn
Frédéric Chopin

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor Op.21
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded 22.12.1966

César Franck

[4] Les Djinns
Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra
Kirill Kondrashin
Recorded 30.12.1952

Joseph Haydn

[5]-[7] Piano Concerto in D major Hob.XVIII/11
Minsk Chamber Orchestra
Yuri Tsiryuk
Recorded 19.11.1983

CD 8: Dvořák, Sergei Prokofiev
Antonín Dvořák

[1]-[3] Piano Concerto in G minor Op.33
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded 29.05.1966

Sergei Prokofiev

[4]-[6] Piano Concerto No.1 in D flat major Op.10
Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra
Kirill Kondrashin
Recorded 31.05.1952

CD 9: Bartók, Britten
Bela Bartók


[1]-[3] Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor Op.21/Sz95
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded 06.05.1967

Benjamin Britten

[4]-[7] Piano Concerto No.1 in D major Op.13
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded 28.05.1967

CD 10: Berg, Hindemith
Alban Berg

[1]-[3] Chamber Concerto for piano, violin and 13 wind instruments
Oleg Kagan, violin
All-Union Radio and TV Large Symphony Orchestra
Rudolf Barshai
Recorded 09.04.1972

Paul Hindemith

[4]-[7] Kammermusik No.2
Moscow Conservatory Orchestra
Yuri Nikolayevsky
Recorded 22.05.1978

For years I have longed to hear two Richter concerto recordings, and one of them is on this huge 23-concertos-in-all; it is the Haydn D major Concerto 11 HOB XVIII/11.** So I bought the collection, only to discover the Haydn is listed as one of a number of other previously unreleased Richter recordings, all of them with live audiences, and many of them quite different versions than the ones I already own.

The previously unreleased recordings here are Bach 1, 3, 7; Mozart 9, 17, 20, 27; Beethoven 3, Choral Fantasy; Tchaikovsky 1; Chopin 2; Dvorak 2; Prokofiev 1; Britten D major Op 13; Haydn 11; Prokofiev 1, Tchaikovsky 1. I mark them an asterisk.

Those previously released are Mozart 14; the Schumann; Brahms 2; Strauss Burlesque; Franck Les Djinns; Bartok 2; Berg Chamber; Hindemith 2,

What you get from Sviatoslav Richter is that rare quality: power - power which always means power to spare - power which always provides that rare quality in an artist: breadth, latitude.

Hurray, first we are given a bunch of Bach recordings! No. 1 BWV 1052 [USSR State S.O. Kurt Sanderling 22 Aril 1955*] No 3. BWV 1054 [Students' O. of Moscow State Conservatory 19 December 1983*] G minor BWV 1058, same band, same date*].

The Bach recordings are interesting, and none more so than the No 1 in D minor which is incontinently slow, for one is used to the famous version we all heard first on LP with the Prokofiev 1 on the verso and which captures one of Bach's major compositional characteristics, his drive. That force is rather lost here. The other two concertos reveal Richter's amazing ability to play silence. No other pianist commanded such a talent for allowing for and filling to the brim with meaning, pauses. To my mind the version of No 3 in D major BWV 1054 with Yuri Bashmet conducting on TELDEC captures the greatness at its greatest of Bach and Richter in partnership. You are faced with a towering mystery and are grateful for the opportunity. But that may be because that is the first version of it I ever heard, and fell I love for the first time, and we all know what that means.

Five Mozart Concertos are included, two of them first releases. No 9 K271 [USSR S.O. Evgeny Svetlanov 26 March 1966]; No. 14 K449 [Moscow Chamber O. Rudolf Barshai 27 May 1973]; No 17 K453 [Moscow S.O. 10 April 1968]; No 20 K466 [Moscow State S.O. Karl Eliasberg 20 May 1958*]; No. 27 K595 [Moscow P.O Kirill Kondrashin 28 March 1973*].

The Mozart Concertos are not music Richter had the inside dope on. And besides, except for the middle movements, Mozart tends to produce boilerplate in his concertos. His busy lazy habit is to grandly develop musical content whose paltriness or infantility will not sustain such grandeur. (If you want to hear Richter play Mozart, fabulously get all his recordings of the Mozart violin sonatas with Oleg Kagan, a musical marriage unique in classical recording.) The vulgarity of Mozart is hard to elude - all those spangles - and Richter does not even grasp it, so it escapes him completely. And his playing is, as well, as his wife would say, occasionally harsh - Mozart, whatever his defects, was never unkind. Indeed Mozart is at times more fun than a cradlefull of puppies, but Richter, who is not a humorist, does not get that either. Hardly anyone does. Most musicians take Mozart to be Very Serious Classical Music. Fiddlesticks. Mozart is primarily an entertainer. Richter is not. Mozart cares about his audience; Richter does not. Richter cares only about the music. Mozart was also an entertainer. Of this Richter knows nothing. It is no wonder Richter did not get him - except here in those slow movements, when all, all, all, is heaven.

Here we have Beethoven No 3 [Moscow Youth S.O., Kurt Sanderling 22 March 1952*] and The Choral Fantasy Op 80 [same band, conductor, and date*, though I have this on another label.]

He was not a great Beethoven player either, because his tone is percussive. Beethoven requires a round sound; the music has depth not altitude; you don't go to Beethoven for the exalted even when you do; you go for the psychological veracity of the sudden inner movement of the psyche, depth. This surprised at the time, and it still surprises. I heard Richter's debut concerts in New York and met him then. A lovely great big red-faced man with huge hands and an ill-fitting cutaway; he was very welcoming to me. It was after the all-Prokofiev concert. On opening night he played Beethoven such as you had to be there to believe (recordings exist; my Bravos are on them). The Appassionata was played with a power titanic. Well, Beethoven was a virtuoso pianist requiring a virtuoso pianist. And this one brought the house down. Rubenstein said Richter could do with a piano what he had never known could be done. The Carnegie Hall audience was dumbstruck. And yet. And yet Beethoven's piano music is not written for a pianist of diabolical and celestial power (such as Richter's); lesser pianists can play it more greatly. It was great playing; it was not great Beethoven. The performance was one of astounding intensity, but Beethoven is a composer who is not interested in intensity. In Beethoven intensity is impertinent. Beethoven's solo piano music identifies the person who hears it, not the person who plays it. That is its revolution and requirement. This was not really within Richter's gift. Through no fault of his, his inner instrument was not the right one for it, nor was his predilection, which was purely musical, for Beethoven is not just about music.

The Brahms Concerto [USSR State S.O. George Georgescu, 17 April 1958] is probably one Richter would have said he preferred to the great famous Chicago S.O. with Leinsdorf, but Richter's sense of his own performances was often nutso. The violins here are thin, and the orchestra does not have the body of the Chicago band which Brahms' magisterial sound requires, but the reading is honorable, and Richter's solo passages and passages accompanied by fewer instruments are exquisite and quite different from what you find in the Chicago version.

On the same disc is the Strauss Burlesque [same orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky 1961.] One wonders why Richter decided to play the Strauss Burlesque. Perhaps its coldness suited his aloof temperament. He remarked at the end of his life that he had missed playing Scarlatti - but, oh, I wish he had learned instead, and instead of the Strauss, the concertos and sonatas of Baldassaro Galuppi - a perfect composer for him in terms of rhythmic affinity and power.

Richter's playing of the Bartok Concerto 2 is stupendous and frightening. When cold meets cold, as in this case, the piano burns hot ice. [May 1967 USSR State O., Svetlanov]. And later in May that year, the same personnel in a "previously unreleased" (although I have it on Russian Revelation) Britten 1*. This piece is played with great application by the master. If not exactly in Britten's line, the piece has lots of oomph and big splashy movements which Richter and everyone has a firm grasp on and which are played by him wholly for their formal and classical restrictions and releases. Its modernism takes care of itself. You couldn't ask for a better rendition.

Richter's particular and powerful and inbred sense of rhythm makes him an especial master of those composers in whom rhythm is pronounced - rhythm: the inhalation and exhalation of the music - not Beethoven, not Chopin - but Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, and Schumann. And so we are given the live recording of Schumann's Op 54 [17 April 1958 Georgescu conducting the USSR State S.O.] taken at a good clip, but played with great tenderness and intimacy still, and dynamism like no other.

Of the Tchaikovsky 1, have three different conductors playing it with him, I like them all and I like this one very much. It's a piece a pianist can get washed up on after a while. Richter played it 50 times in public from 1941 on, then stopped. It would seem that he had nothing more to say, and the public had nothing more to hear: Tchaikovsky wax build-up. People think they've heard it. Too bad, because it is maybe the greatest of all concertos and as Richter said, along with the Dvorak 2, the most difficult to play. It is a work of great majesty. And Richter, an artist of royal inner bearing, carries it like a robe on his broad shoulders. This [9 April 1968 Moscow P.O, Kondrashin*] is the most gracious of all the versions. Why listen to anyone else.

Richter reinvented the Dvorak 2. This recording [29 May 1966, Moscow P.O, Svetlanov*] has people coughing right into their coffins. It may be that they wanted Richter to pay attention to them, which was not his way. His platform manner was always odd, with that petulant walk and head cocked away from the crowd. He didn't want to pay attention to the audience or the audience to him; he wanted the audience to pay attention to the music. Anyhow, the writing of the opening of the concerto is banal. You think it would be better used in one of his trios or dumki - but then it takes off and we get what Dvorak does best. All the furniture is beautifully managed and placed around. And Richter's playing of the andante is supernal. It is night music. So close your eyes while listening to it.

Prokofiev 1* [Moscow Youth S.O. Kondrashin, 31 May 1952*] Richter owns it. No one else owns it. This may be the same recording I have on LP, one of the first records sifting West to the USA in the late 50s. Bach 1 on the other side, if I recall. I still have it somewhere. Anyhow, the thrill has not gone. Listen to Richter come down just a mille-second ahead of the beat, as Margot Fonteyn used to do. It brings the whole thing up to a rare, inherent, and necessary excitement. And, musically, it is right on the money.

Chopin 1 [USSR State S.O., Svetlanov 22 December 1966*] As is the custom with Richter, he adds nothing, and by doing so subtracts nothing. However, keeping in mind that Schubert is a composer whose heart is broken, while Chopin is a composer who is out to break your heart, one longs to be touched. It is said of Richter that he is the pianist by whom one should hear a piece played before you hear it played by any other. Sometimes it is true of him that one never wants to hear him play it again, because for Richter the music only has content, never the composer. I wonder if this isn't sometimes a mistake. He is nowhere near being a good Chopin player. Sometimes one has to be in love with the music to play it, and sometimes also with the composer, as with Chopin: his fragrance, his towering temper, his grief, his harmonics, his classicism, his masculinity, and the long eyelashes of his seductiveness. So while Richter's Chopin playing may be great playing, it is not great Chopin. To contradict all this, however, at the great Sophia Concert after Mussorgsky and Liszt and Schubert, he gave a Chopin prelude. On that day Richter said he did the greatest playing of his life, and nobody listened. Listen to it now. Or just listen to the prelude. Has it ever been played more perfectly, more justly! Don't answer.

César Frank's Les Djinns [Moscow Youth S.O. Kondrashin 30 December 1952] He is said to have performed this concerto only twice. What an odd piece! And to go to all the trouble to learn it - like the Scriabin concerto. He was a great Franck player, like Gieseking. It is a piece which does not invite re-listening, but it does require it. It is written in the grand 19th Century style that eventually became silent movie music, full of waterfalls and torrents and storms at sea and mountain heights draped in blizzards.

Alban Berg's Chamber Concerto [All-Union Radio and TV Large S.O., Rudolph Barshai 9 April 1972] is a cranky piece, and Richter has no competition in performance history or contemporary styles to distract him from delivering the goods. As soon as things opened up in Russia, he involved himself in modern music, and what a gift he brings. Here's a good case of absolute music absolutely performed as music and nothing else besides. He has no fear in performing it. And why is that? A towering genius is a structure one has to inhabit, and a technical prowess is a talent nascent and developed, yes, but Richter was also a musician of great musical modesty. He is never showy. Every musical line is rendered for itself alone, no "personality" involved. How about that?

Hindemith's Chambermusic Concerto No 2 [Moscow Conservatory O. Yuri Nikolayevsky 22 May 1978] is one of many Richter promotions of this composer. Again, he is delivering the music without context, exactly as written. And what a gift to us it is. There are not many composers of classical music who are inherently humorous. Rossini is a famous example and Hindemith is another. See if you don't agree.

Richter loved Haydn. He made revolutionary recordings of his sonatas. And here he exposes an act of criminal negligence in being guilty of not playing more of the Haydn Concertos, for this is one of his greatest performances. He gives the Concerto 11 in D HOB XVIII/11 [Minsk Chamber O., Yuri Tsiryuk 19 November 1983*] a big reading. There is no immolation on the poniard of period style. Richter takes hold of the concerto and delivers it fully and modernly and with great musical compassion and fullness and a thoroughgoingly gutsy respect for the humor of the piece in every passage. Haydn was the great master of musical management; he knew exactly what an instrument or an orchestra should do and could do when and where and how much. This resplendent talent Richter understood and meets head on. As Richter said of him Haydn is always fresh, and Richter has you lean forward into the gift of that spontaneity. He's not picayune or dainty. He gives Haydn the revelation of the grand style. You can feel the music surge with Richter's timing, his refusal to metronome it, yet his delight in playing it exactly as written. Richter is the great master of modulation, and here you have it caress and open up the music for you. You marvel at the beauty of Haydn's piano writing, and that is because Richter knows it better than anyone. You have never heard Haydn played until you hear Richter play. It is reason enough to buy, as I did, all the other 22 Concertos besides.

The program notes are eccentric, thank goodness, and excellent. If a couple of the concertos are not first releases, but so what? The intention is genuine, and the collection is wonderful, and, of course, hugely inexpensive.

Richter is represented at all ages here, but the lovely thing is to often hear him when he was young and setting the musical world on its ear - ears. So the versions from the 50s and 60s are to be treasured and wondered over. His power, his verve, his daring, his consummate musical hold, his unmatched discretion, his honoring of detail, his tone from what realm of heaven, his range of hand, his drive, his stillness, his ability to make all sorts of distinctions between his left and his right hand, his architectonic hold, his refusal to sully a piece with a particular emotion, the vast repertory he brought us - it is no wonder he was voted the greatest musician of the 20th Century.

Such a denomination is, on the other hand, inconsequential, for who is to say, except the voters who said so? All of the attributes listed above mean nothing in such an election. The only thing that matters is the musicality itself. And that matters everything. And that's why he won. And that is why you listen to Richter and must listen to him or be impoverished.

* means first CD release of the concert, but not necessarily the concerto. **. (The other one being the Saint-Saens 2nd, of which I have seen only a Technicolor snatch.) --- Bruce Moody, amazon.com

download:

uploaded: CD01 CD02 CD03 CD04 CD05 CD06 CD07 CD08 CD09 CD10

ziddu: CD01 CD02 CD03 CD04 CD05 CD06 CD07 CD08 CD09 CD10

yandex: CD01 CD02 CD03 CD04 CD05 CD06 CD07 CD08 CD09 CD10

ifolder: CD01 CD02 CD03 CD04 CD05 CD06 CD07 CD08 CD09 CD10

back

CD 1
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

4 Marches, Op.76
1. 2. G minor 3:28

Waldszenen, Op.82
2. 1. Eintritt 2:00
3. 2. Jäger auf der Lauer 1:08
4. 3. Einsame Blumen 2:01
5. 4. Verrufene Stelle 3:18
6. 5. Freundliche Landschaft 1:09
7. 6. Herberge 2:20
8. 7. Vogel als Prophet 2:43
9. 8. Jagdlied 2:11
10. 9. Abschied 3:36

8 Fantasiestücke, Op.12
11. 1. Des Abends 4:08
12. 2. Aufschwung 2:50
13. 3. Warum? 3:19
14. 5. In der Nacht 3:45
15. 7. Traumes-Wirren 2:06
16. 8. Ende vom Lied 5:20

CD2
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K.466
1. 1. Allegro 14:43
2. 2. Romance 10:18
3. 3. Rondo (Allegro assai) 8:13

Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanislaw Wislocki

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)

Piano Concerto No.5 in G major, Op.55
4. 1. Allegro con brio 5:04
5. 2. Moderato ben accentuato 4:00
6. 3. Toccata 1:54
7. 4. Larghetto 6:41
8. 5. Vivo 5:06

Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Witold Rowicki

CD3
Sergey Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943)

Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18
1. 1. Moderato 11:10
2. 2. Adagio sostenuto 11:54
3. 3. Allegro scherzando 11:38

Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanislaw Wislocki

4. Prelude in C, Op.32, No.1 1:16
5. Prelude in B flat minor, Op.32, No.2 3:11
6. Prélude in B flat, Op.23, No.2 3:19
7. Prelude in D, Op.23, No.4 4:27
8. Prelude in G minor, Op.23, No.5 3:45
9. Prelude in C minor, Op.23, No.7 2:24

CD4
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54
1. 1. Allegro affettuoso 14:28
2. 2. Intermezzo (Andantino grazioso) 5:13
3. 3. Allegro vivace 10:20

Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Witold Rowicki

4. Introduction & Allegro Appassionato for piano & orchestra, Op.92 15:43

Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanislaw Wislocki

Noveletten, Op.21
5. No.1 in F (Markiert und kräftig) 5:14

Toccata in C, Op.7
6. Allegro 6:35

CD5
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

Piano Sonata in G minor, H.XVI No.44
1. 1. Moderato 9:58
2. 2. Allegretto 3:48

Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

3. Ballade No.3 in A flat, Op.47 7:13

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)

Préludes - Book 1
4. 2. Voiles 3:50
5. 3. Le vent dans la plaine 2:02
6. 5. Les collines d'Anacapri 3:06

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)

Piano Sonata No.8 in B flat, Op.84
7. 1. Andante dolce - Allegro moderato - Andante - Andante dolce come prima - Allegro 15:51
8. 2. Andante sognando 4:18
9. 3. Vivace - Allegro ben marcato - Andantino - Vivace 9:42

CD6
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)

Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, Op.23
1. 1. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso - Allegro con spirito 22:09
2. 2. Andantino semplice - Prestissimo - Tempo I 6:55
3. 3. Allegro con fuoco 7:07

Sviatoslav Richter, Wiener Symphoniker, Herbert von Karajan

CD7
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Rondo in B flat for piano & orchestra, WoO6
1. Fragment, ergänzt von Carl Czerny 9:22

Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37 Kadenz: Ludwig van Beethoven
2. 1. Allegro con brio - Cadenza: Beethoven 17:14
3. 2. Largo 10:02
4. 3. Rondo (Allegro) 8:47

Sviatoslav Richter, Wiener Symphoniker, Kurt Sanderling

CD8
Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

1. Polonaise No.7 in A flat, Op.61 Polonaise-Fantaisie 12:15

12 Etudes, Op.10
2. No. 1 in C 2:03
3. No. 12 in C minor "Revolutionary" 2:27
4. Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52 11:12

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)

Estampes
5. 1. Pagodes 6:09
6. 2. Soirée dans Grenade 5:26
7. 3. Jardins sous la pluie 3:16

Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915)

Piano Sonata No.5 in F sharp major, Op.53
8. Allegro - Presto con allegrezza Meno vivo - Prestissimo 10:47

CD9
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)

1. Prelude and Fugue in C (WTK, Book I, No.1), BWV 846 4:41
2. Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor (WTK, Book I, No.4), BWV 849 8:52
3. Prelude and Fugue in D (WTK, Book I, No.5), BWV 850 2:50
4. Prelude and Fugue in D minor (WTK, Book I, No.6), BWV 851 3:39
5. Prelude and Fugue in E flat minor / D sharp minor (WTK, Book I, No. 8), BWV 853 10:27

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

6. Allegretto in C minor, D.915 6:08

17 Landler, D.366
7. Ländler in A major 5:24

Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

8. Abegg Variations, Op.1 7:56

Sergey Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943)

9. Prélude in G sharp minor, Op.32, No.12 2:13

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)

Visions fugitives, Op.22
10. 3. Allegretto 1:15
11. 6. Con eleganza 0:26
12. 9. Allegretto tranquillo 1:03

Although numerous CD incarnations of Sviatoslav Richter's Deutsche Grammophon recordings have graced the catalog, collectors surely will welcome this complete "original jacket" edition, programmed in accordance with the original LPs and newly remastered. These 1956-62 recordings capture Richter in his prime, and include performances that not only retain reference status (the Rachmaninov Second and Profokiev Fifth concertos with Rowicki, selected Rachmaninov Preludes, Prokofiev's Eighth sonata, plus Schumann's Waldszenen and Toccata) but also belie Richter's often expressed aversion to studio recordings.

Granted, the Tchaikovsky First with Karajan and Beethoven Third with Sanderling are relatively staid in relation to alternative Richter studio versions on other labels. No complaints, however, regarding material stemming from the pianist's 1962 tour of Italy that contains long-held favorites among Richter fans such as the Chopin Fourth Ballade, the Scriabin Fifth sonata, Debussy's Estampes, and, for my money, the best recording ever made of Schumann's Op. 1 Abegg Variations--well, one of the two or three best, anyway! Consider this release a one-stop shop for those seeking a well-rounded survey of Richter's multifaceted, individual, and occasionally idiosyncratic artistry. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Dedicated fans of Sviatoslav Richter may already have the performances contained on these nine discs, but any listener unacquainted with the Russian pianist's work could not do better than to start here. Recorded between 1956 and 1962 and released on Deutsche Grammophon between 1957 and 1965, these performances were most Western listeners' first introduction to Richter. The range of repertoire is enormous: from Bach to Prokofiev, with stops along the way for Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and especially Schumann. The range of emotions is equally vast: heroic and lyric, tender and passionate, sensual and cerebral, subtle and virtuosic. The most impressive aspect of Richter's performances, though, is neither the range nor the repertoire, but Richter himself. With his golden tone, coruscating technique, and inspired interpretations, Richter is not only faithful to the spirit of the music, but fulfills it through the medium of his supple, sensitive, and supremely poetic artistic personality. Richter's virtuosity is on display in his blistering account of Schumann's Toccata, his poetry in his lyrical reading of Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie, and his warm romanticism in his triumphant interpretation of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto. Though the recordings are antique -- most are monaural and the rest are stereo -- Deutsche Grammophon's remastering makes them as acceptable as possible to listeners raised on digital sound. --- James Leonard, Rovi

download:

easybytez:  CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5 CD6 CD7 CD8 CD9

ziddu:  CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5 CD6 CD7 CD8 CD9

4shared:  CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5 CD6 CD7 CD8 CD9

ifolder:  CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5 CD6 CD7 CD8 CD9

yandex:  CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5 CD6 CD7 CD8 CD9

back

Modest Mussorgsky

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

1 I. Promenade 1:35
2 II. No. 1 "Gnomus" 2:27
3 III. [Untitled] (Interlude, Promenade theme) 0:44
4 IV. No. 2 "Il vecchio castello" 4:27
5 V. [Untitled] (Interlude, Promenade theme) 0:23
6 VI. No. 3 "Tuileries" (Dispute d'enfants apres jeux) 0:56
7 VII. No. 4 "Bydlo" 2:14
8 VIII. [Untitled] (Interlude, Promenade theme) 0:33
9 IX. No. 5 "Балет невылупившихся птенцов" 1:09
10 X. No. 6 "Samuel" Goldenberg und "Schmuyle" 1:41
11 XI. Promenade 1:07
12 XII. No. 7 "Limoges, le marche" (La grande nouvelle) 1:17
13 XIII. No. 8 "Catacomb?" (Sepulcrum romanum) and
"Cum mortuis in lingua mortua" 1:55
14 XIV. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua 1:57
15. XV. No. 9 "Избушка на курьих ножках" (Баба-Яга) 2:51
16 XVI. No. 10 "Богатырские ворота" (В стольном городе во Киеве) 5:01

Franz Schubert

17. Moment musical in C, Op. 94/1 5:48
18. Impromptu in E-flat, Op. 90/2 4:16
19. Impromptu in E-flat, Op. 90/4 7:20

Frederic Chopin

20. Etude in E, Op. 10/3 "Tristesse" 4:13

Franz Liszt

21. Valse oubliee n° 1 in E-sharp 2:53
22. Valse oubliee n° 2 1-flat 5:53

Etudes d'Execution transcendante
23. N° 5 in B-flat "Feux Follets" 3:36
24. N° 11 in D-flat "Harmonie du Soir" 9:26

Sviatoslav Richter - piano

Recorded Live, Budapest, Sofia, February 1958

This legendary recording captures Sviatoslav Richter in a live recital in Sofia in 1958. I first heard it on the DG "Panorama" double CD of selections of Mussorgsky's works. The sound was quite poor: the piano was tinny, there was noticeable surface noise that came and went, and the dynamic range was compressed and lacked depth. Still, the performance was so compelling that I found myself listening to it over and over again. Even after buying the Byron Janis recording on Mercury with much better sound, I missed the intensity and power of Richter's performance.

So when this newly remastered version became available, I immediately bought it, hoping that it would be an improvement. The sound of this new remastering is what this performance has deserved all along. The surface noise is almost totally gone, and the sound of the piano is much more natural, without the dry, compressed sound of the previous version. The audience is still noisy, with coughs throughout, but you get used to it after a couple listenings. The same is true of the infamous fluffed note in the opening; it's there, it's grating the first few times, then it almost takes on a certain charm all its own.

But the real power of this recording is the incredible performance by one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Some have said that this is the greatest piano recording ever made of anything, period. While that is perhaps an overstatement, it's certainly not far from the truth. This is an essential recording, not just because it's the definitive recording of "Pictures", but because of the power and beauty of Richter's artistry. I still enjoy the Janis recording with its clean sound and accomplished playing, but Richter's total involvement with the music surpasses Janis and all others.

My only complaint is that while the notes include a short biography of Richter, there's nothing about the recital itself, nor are there any comments about the process used in this latest remastering. This is an unfortunate oversight, especially when Philips could have justifiably used this as a stunning example of their newest remastering techniques. --- pm444 "pm444" (Okemos, MI USA)

download

back

Piano Sonata No. 30 In E Major, Op. 109
1. Vivace Ma Non Troppo 	3:10
2. Prestissimo 	2:16
3. Andante Molto Cantabile Ed Espressivo 	12:38

Piano Sonata No. 32 In C Major, Op. 111
4. Maestoso. Allegro Con Brio Ed Appassionato 	7:54
5. Arietta. Adagio Molto Semplice E Cantabile 	16:10

Piano Sonata No. 18 In E Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3
6. Allegro 	9:02
7. Scherzo. Allegretto Vivace 	4:27
8. Menuetto 	4:09
9. Presto Con Fuoco 	4:00

Sviatoslav Richter - piano

Live In Moscow Conservatory, 12.12.1963.

Beethoven's last three sonatas mark a culmination in the classical-romantic sonata form, and Beethoven's farewell to the genre. Pizarro explains: "Beethoven not only aesthetically and emotionally heralds the arrival of the Romantic Age in music but also profoundly alters what had been the accepted parameters of sonata form. Man has become the centre of the universe as can be heard through the outpouring of emotion, as human condition and the circle of human life is depicted in these three works. As an example one may witness Beethoven's description of death and the ascendance to heaven in the final movement of Op. 110. Because of these three works, it was possible for Liszt to create his Sonata in B minor, Brahms could create his Op. 5, Schumann could create his three sonatas and his famous Fantaisie – the list goes on and on. Just as important is Beethoven's role in not only advising piano builders in the directions they must take but also supplying the musical material for these instruments. In many cases his piano writing will only find the proper instruments almost a century later! These three works are the "big bang" for the Romantic age of piano music and the beginning of the Golden Age of the pianoforte." ---linnrecords.com

Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter is still regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He was known for the depth of his interpretations, his virtuoso technique, and his vast repertoire. His career was truly launched with he won the Stalin Prize in 1949, leading to extensive concert tours across Russia, Eastern Europe, and China. For this release, which was recorded in Leipzip in 1963, he beautifully performs Beethoven’s final three piano sonatas, Op. 109, 110, and 111, as well as several of his other sonatas, including the “Appassionata” and “Der Sturm.” ---naxosdirect.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett bayfiles

back