Sviatoslav Richter
Having learned the fundamentals of music from his father, Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter taught himself the piano and had already given public concerts before entering the Moscow Conservatory in 1937. While still a student, Richter won first prize at the All-Union Contest of Performers of 1945. His playing earned him considerable renown, and by the time of his graduation in 1947 he had devoted fans. In 1949 he garnered the coveted Stalin Prize.
Richter gave the 1942 premiere of Sergey Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 6 -- the composer's first work in that form for years, and the first one he did not premiere himself. This resulted in wild acclaim for both performer and composer. Thereafter, Richter was a great proponent of Prokofiev's music, premiering also the Seventh and the Ninth Sonatas, the latter of which is dedicated to him.
Though word of Richter's excellence (and occasional poor-quality recordings) had spread outside of Russia, his foreign engagements were limited to Eastern Bloc countries (and, in one case, China) where Soviet officials felt there was reduced risk of defection. However, his 1958 performance of Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra (on tour in Leningrad) generated such excitement that he was finally permitted to tour the United States, further bolstering his reputation as a virtuoso. Engagements in all of world's musical centers followed. Richter was known as a pianist of transcendent abilities, particularly adept at highlighting the nuances of different styles. Though his interests focused primarily on music of Beethoven, and Prokofiev, he was also highly regarded for his Schubert, Schumann, Bach, Debussy, and Ravel; and in the early 1960s he made a memorable recording of Benjamin Britten's Piano Concerto with the composer conducting.
Richter did not favor studio recordings; therefore, most of his recordings are from live performances. Many of them, particularly those from Soviet concerts, suffer from indifferent sound quality and excessive audience noise, but his playing had an electric quality that transcended these handicaps.
The pianist earned a reputation for being difficult and aloof. He was notoriously apt to cancel performances on whims, or arrive late without explanation or apology. However, those who heard him were rarely disappointed. He preferred intimate concert settings over big auditoriums, and thus returned many times to the Aldeburgh and Spoleto Festivals. He was the centerpiece of the Fêtes Musicales, held annually beginning in 1964 at Grange de Meslay, near Tours.
Among his greatest recordings are his Schubert sonatas, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev concertos, Liszt concertos (these have the benefits of first-rate sound), and his Schumann. He has also served as a chamber musician and accompanist, playing piano duets with Britten, and accompanying Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, among others.
© All Music Guide /TiVo
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The Birthday Edition - Sviatoslav Richter, Vol. 5
Klassik - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.12.2014
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The Birthday Edition - Sviatoslav Richter, Vol. 6
Klassik - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.12.2014
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Sviatoslav Richter 100, Volume 19 (Live)
Sviatoslav Richter, Oleg Kagan, Natalia Gutman
Klassik - Erschienen bei JSC Firma Melodiya am 01.01.2015
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Schumann: Fantasia in C Major, Op. 17: I. Il tutto fantastico ed appassionato
Klassik - Erschienen bei The state51 Conspiracy Ltd am 03.04.2020
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Schumann: Fantasia in C Major, Op. 17: II. Moderato con energia
Klassik - Erschienen bei The state51 Conspiracy Ltd am 03.04.2020
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Richter and the Piano
Klassik - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 10.11.2015
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Bach: Trio Sonata No. 4: Beethoven: Sonatas No. 7, No. 13 & No. 30
Ivan Sokol, Sviatoslav Richter, Miklas Skuta, Daniela Ruso
Klassik - Erschienen bei Firefly Entertainment am 01.06.2013
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Beethoven: Sonatas No. 7 and No. 29
Sviatoslav Richter, Miklas Skuta
Klassik - Erschienen bei Firefly Entertainment am 01.06.2013
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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18
Klassik - Erschienen bei Past Classics am 01.10.2009
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Schumann & Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos
Klassik - Erschienen bei Musical Concepts am 07.05.2013
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Russian Performing School (L'École instrumentale russe)
Galina Barinova, Sviatoslav Richter, Leonid Royzman
World Music - Erschienen bei Russian Compact Disc am 04.10.2011
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Piano Masterpieces, Vol. 5: Ferenc Liszt & Robert Schumann
Sviatoslav Richter, London Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Klassik - Erschienen bei Jube Classic am 06.01.2015
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Piano Masterpieces, Vol. 4: Sviatoslav Richter (Recorded 1960 & 1962) [Live]
Klassik - Erschienen bei Jube Classic am 06.05.2014
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Piano Masterpieces: Sviatoslav Richter plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert (Sviatoslav Richter)
Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanislaw Wislocki
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Jube Classic am 07.01.2014
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Works For Piano
Klassik - Erschienen bei Ina Archives am 31.01.2012
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Beethoven Sonata No 3
Klassik - Erschienen bei Best Buy Classical am 04.04.2012
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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No. 3, No. 7, & No. 19 (Svjatoslav Richter)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Denon am 01.01.2009
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Schumann, R.: Waldszenen / Fantasiestucke (Excerpts) (Richter) (1956)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Naxos Classical Archives am 01.01.2000
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Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Richter, George Georgescu, Bucharest George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Electrecord.com am 06.10.2017
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Sviatoslav Richter in the 1950s, Vol. 7
Klassik - Erschienen bei Parnassus am 14.01.2014
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Richter plays Beethoven & Mozart
Klassik - Erschienen bei Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica am 01.01.1977
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