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Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter
(20 March 1915-01 August 1997)
Legendary Master of the PIANO
"...the only one of his kind."
That was how one critic was compelled to describe Sviatoslav Richter when he first heard him play, which was also how Clara Schumann spoke of the venerable Franz Lizst. The musical world mourns the passing on August 1, 1997 of a great artist, indisputably one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Richter mesmerized audiences in the West with his exquisite mastery of the keyboard ever since the 1960s when he first made his appearance outside the Soviet bloc countries where he had been renowned for years. He consistently played to sold-out audiences becoming a legend in the process. With his compatriots, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and violinist David Oistrakh, he was responsible for the robust Soviet-American cultural exchange that began in the 1970s.
He was born in Zhitomir in the Ukraine to a family of German ancestry. His father was a respected pianist and piano teacher and his mother an amateur musician who was one of the early admirers of Debussy and Scriabin. He had his first music lessons with his father, becoming a master of the keyboard at the age of 8. The family later moved to Odessa where the young Sviatoslav enrolled at the Odessa Conservatory. In his teens, he was attracted to a career in conducting and at the astoundingly young age of 15 became a conductor for the Odessa Opera and the Ballet Theater, a post he held for four years. He gave his first piano recital at age 19 also in Odessa. Cognizant of his extraordinary talent, his superiors convinced him to study in Moscow with one of Russia's foremost piano teachers, Heinrich Neuhaus. He did so at the age of 22 and soon after completed his studies with the great piano teacher, who later wrote of his star student: "I must say in all honesty that there was nothing more I could teach Richter."
A statement the whole world came to understand. His brilliant technique and his power of expression combined with a repertory that encompassed all styles, from Bach to Shostakovich, gave him a charismatic stage presence - when he played, the audience literally held its breath and listened with undivided attention, their gaze transfixed on the man performing a musical miracle.. He was built like an athlete, with big but supple hands - it was said he could span a whole octave between his thumb and index finger!
He was much beloved in the USSR which awarded him the highest honors for a performing artist, as he was in all of Europe. Moments after the announcement of his death, Russian television aired tributes to him as did French television. France was his adopted country - he lived his most recent years in Paris, but would come back to his country home outside Moscow. His visit this July 5 turned out to be his last - complaining of chest pains he soon succumbed to a fatal heart attack. Burial was at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, the final resting place for most all of Russia's musical icons - Scriabin, Shostakovich and Prokokiev.
The great piano virtuoso may be gone, but he left behind a rich legacy of recordings which we and future generations can all happily enjoy.
Music clip: from Ludwig von Beethoven, Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5 No.2, for Cello and Piano, Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Sviatoslav Richter (piano) (1963, 1967); Beethoven: Complete Music for Cello and Piano; Philips D206206 (442 566-2), Philips Classics Productions 1994.
ΜΕΡΙΚΑ ΔΕΙΓΜΑΤΑ:
AUDIO CD / STEREO
Olympia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
"Double Concerto" for Violin & Cello in A minor, Op.102
I.Allegro
II.Andante
III.Vivace non troppo - Poco meno allegro
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
"Tripple Concerto" for Viloin, Cello & Piano in C major, Op.56
I.Allegro
II.Largo
III.Rondo alla polacca
David Oistrakh, violin, Mstislav Rostropovich, cello, Sviatoslav Richter, piano
Berliner Philarmoniker
Conductor Herbert von Karajan
Cleveland Orchestra
Conductor George Szell
Recorded in 1969
.BACH
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier - The Well-Tempered Clavier
Book I, BWV 846-869
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD-1:
Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C major
Prelude and Fugue No.2 in C minor
Prelude and Fugue No.3 in C sharp major
Prelude and Fugue No.4 in C sharp minor
Prelude and Fugue No.5 in D major
Prelude and Fugue No.6 in D minor
Prelude and Fugue No.7 in E flat major
Prelude and Fugue No.8 in E flat minor
Prelude and Fugue No.9 in E major
Prelude and Fugue No.10 in E minor
Prelude and Fugue No.11 in F major
Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F minor
CD-2:
Prelude and Fugue No.13 in F sharp major
Prelude and Fugue No.14 in F sharp minor
Prelude and Fugue No.15 in G major
Prelude and Fugue No.16 in G minor
Prelude and Fugue No.17 in A flat major
Prelude and Fugue No.18 in G sharp minor
Prelude and Fugue No.19 in A major
Prelude and Fugue No.20 in A minor
Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B flat major
Prelude and Fugue No.22 in B flat minor
Prelude and Fugue No.23 in B major
Prelude and Fugue No.24 in B minor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sviatoslav Richter, piano
Recorded in 1970
NIKOLAI MEDTNER (1880-1951)
SONATE FUR VIOLINE UND KLAVIER No.1 H-MOLL Op.21
Canzona
Danza
Ditirambo
ANTON VON WEBERN (1833-1945)
STUCKE FUR VIOLINE UND KLAVIER Op.7
Sehr Langsam
Rasch
Sehr Langsam
Bewegt
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
SONATE FUR 2 VIOLINEN C-DUR Op.56
Andante Cantabile
Allegro
Commodo (quasi allegretto)
Allegro con brio
ALFRED SCHNITTKE (1934-1998)
SONATE FUR VIOLINE UND KLAVIER No.1
Andante
Allegretto
Largo
Allegretto scherzando
Oleg KAGAN, Violine; Victor TRETYAKOV, Violine; Sviatoslav RICHTER, Klavier; Vassily LOBANOV, Klavier
(20 March 1915-01 August 1997)
Legendary Master of the PIANO
"...the only one of his kind."
That was how one critic was compelled to describe Sviatoslav Richter when he first heard him play, which was also how Clara Schumann spoke of the venerable Franz Lizst. The musical world mourns the passing on August 1, 1997 of a great artist, indisputably one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Richter mesmerized audiences in the West with his exquisite mastery of the keyboard ever since the 1960s when he first made his appearance outside the Soviet bloc countries where he had been renowned for years. He consistently played to sold-out audiences becoming a legend in the process. With his compatriots, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and violinist David Oistrakh, he was responsible for the robust Soviet-American cultural exchange that began in the 1970s.
He was born in Zhitomir in the Ukraine to a family of German ancestry. His father was a respected pianist and piano teacher and his mother an amateur musician who was one of the early admirers of Debussy and Scriabin. He had his first music lessons with his father, becoming a master of the keyboard at the age of 8. The family later moved to Odessa where the young Sviatoslav enrolled at the Odessa Conservatory. In his teens, he was attracted to a career in conducting and at the astoundingly young age of 15 became a conductor for the Odessa Opera and the Ballet Theater, a post he held for four years. He gave his first piano recital at age 19 also in Odessa. Cognizant of his extraordinary talent, his superiors convinced him to study in Moscow with one of Russia's foremost piano teachers, Heinrich Neuhaus. He did so at the age of 22 and soon after completed his studies with the great piano teacher, who later wrote of his star student: "I must say in all honesty that there was nothing more I could teach Richter."
A statement the whole world came to understand. His brilliant technique and his power of expression combined with a repertory that encompassed all styles, from Bach to Shostakovich, gave him a charismatic stage presence - when he played, the audience literally held its breath and listened with undivided attention, their gaze transfixed on the man performing a musical miracle.. He was built like an athlete, with big but supple hands - it was said he could span a whole octave between his thumb and index finger!
He was much beloved in the USSR which awarded him the highest honors for a performing artist, as he was in all of Europe. Moments after the announcement of his death, Russian television aired tributes to him as did French television. France was his adopted country - he lived his most recent years in Paris, but would come back to his country home outside Moscow. His visit this July 5 turned out to be his last - complaining of chest pains he soon succumbed to a fatal heart attack. Burial was at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, the final resting place for most all of Russia's musical icons - Scriabin, Shostakovich and Prokokiev.
The great piano virtuoso may be gone, but he left behind a rich legacy of recordings which we and future generations can all happily enjoy.
Music clip: from Ludwig von Beethoven, Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5 No.2, for Cello and Piano, Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Sviatoslav Richter (piano) (1963, 1967); Beethoven: Complete Music for Cello and Piano; Philips D206206 (442 566-2), Philips Classics Productions 1994.
ΜΕΡΙΚΑ ΔΕΙΓΜΑΤΑ:
Olympia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
"Double Concerto" for Violin & Cello in A minor, Op.102
I.Allegro
II.Andante
III.Vivace non troppo - Poco meno allegro
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
"Tripple Concerto" for Viloin, Cello & Piano in C major, Op.56
I.Allegro
II.Largo
III.Rondo alla polacca
David Oistrakh, violin, Mstislav Rostropovich, cello, Sviatoslav Richter, piano
Berliner Philarmoniker
Conductor Herbert von Karajan
Cleveland Orchestra
Conductor George Szell
Recorded in 1969
.BACH
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier - The Well-Tempered Clavier
Book I, BWV 846-869
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD-1:
Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C major
Prelude and Fugue No.2 in C minor
Prelude and Fugue No.3 in C sharp major
Prelude and Fugue No.4 in C sharp minor
Prelude and Fugue No.5 in D major
Prelude and Fugue No.6 in D minor
Prelude and Fugue No.7 in E flat major
Prelude and Fugue No.8 in E flat minor
Prelude and Fugue No.9 in E major
Prelude and Fugue No.10 in E minor
Prelude and Fugue No.11 in F major
Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F minor
CD-2:
Prelude and Fugue No.13 in F sharp major
Prelude and Fugue No.14 in F sharp minor
Prelude and Fugue No.15 in G major
Prelude and Fugue No.16 in G minor
Prelude and Fugue No.17 in A flat major
Prelude and Fugue No.18 in G sharp minor
Prelude and Fugue No.19 in A major
Prelude and Fugue No.20 in A minor
Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B flat major
Prelude and Fugue No.22 in B flat minor
Prelude and Fugue No.23 in B major
Prelude and Fugue No.24 in B minor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sviatoslav Richter, piano
Recorded in 1970
NIKOLAI MEDTNER (1880-1951)
SONATE FUR VIOLINE UND KLAVIER No.1 H-MOLL Op.21
Canzona
Danza
Ditirambo
ANTON VON WEBERN (1833-1945)
STUCKE FUR VIOLINE UND KLAVIER Op.7
Sehr Langsam
Rasch
Sehr Langsam
Bewegt
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
SONATE FUR 2 VIOLINEN C-DUR Op.56
Andante Cantabile
Allegro
Commodo (quasi allegretto)
Allegro con brio
ALFRED SCHNITTKE (1934-1998)
SONATE FUR VIOLINE UND KLAVIER No.1
Andante
Allegretto
Largo
Allegretto scherzando
Oleg KAGAN, Violine; Victor TRETYAKOV, Violine; Sviatoslav RICHTER, Klavier; Vassily LOBANOV, Klavier
