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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Dvorák: Piano Concerto. Schubert: Fantasy in C Major D760 'Wanderer'
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin / Liszt / Mussorgsky / Schubert: The Sofia Recital 1958
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Winterreise/Piano Sonata in C, D840
Peter Schreier, Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Fantasy for Piano Duet - Grand Duo (Live)
Sviatoslav Richter, Benjamin Britten
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 20 Jun 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 - Chopin: Etudes and Polonaise
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on 18 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110, 111 by Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 3 Mar 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto K. 466 / Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3; Rondo WoO. 6
Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanislaw Wislocki, Wiener Symphoniker, Kurt Sanderling
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier Book I
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 1 Oct 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1; Variations on a Rococo Theme
Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Wiener Symphoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: The Piano Concertos / Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos.10,19, & 20
Sviatoslav Richter, London Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2001
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Lyric Pieces
Classical - Released by Live Classics on 27 Mar 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5; Piano Sonata No. 8
Sviatoslav Richter, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Witold Rowicki
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hugo Wolf : Mörike-Lieder
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1975
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff, Concerto pour piano n°2 (Miroir)
Sviatoslav Richter, Gabriel Tacchino, Stanislaw Wislocki et André Cluytens, Orchestre Philarmonique de Varsovie et Orchestre de la Société des Conservatoires
Classical - Released by Miroir on 18 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos 7, 12 & 23 "Appassionata"
Classical - Released by Supraphon a.s. on 28 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Quintette "La Truite", Wandererfantasie
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Piano Quintets Nos.1 & 2
Sviatoslav Richter, Borodin Quartet
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Liszt: Scherzo and March, Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (excerpts) & other piano works
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Jan 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck/Liszt: Piano Quintet/Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses/Ave Maria etc.
Sviatoslav Richter, Borodin Quartet
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sviatoslav Richter : Piano Recital 1994
Solo Piano - Released by SWR Classic on 3 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concerto No.1; Piano Concerto No.2
Sviatoslav Richter, London Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2001
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo