Richter Archives, Vol. 1: Beethoven Late Piano Sonatas (Live

BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 I

Classical Music

"• Played by Sviatoslav Richter 1952-55 • Richter shows all the needed skills and understanding of the composers mystical compositions. • Reference recordings!"

Classical Music

His passing most unfortunately coming on the same day as the dreaded Stalin's, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), most fortunately, left to posterity a far better, less lethal legacy. His music, often marked rhythmically and instrumentally by the violence and war which surrounded him after his return to the Soviet Union, is all the more dramatic as a result. Few could capture that drama as well as his countryman Sviatoslav Richter, a pianist seemingly born to play his music. These 1956-8 Moscow recordings of the Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 9, capture Mr. Richter at the height of his interpretative powers.

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ensemble: Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Rudolf Barshai. Soloist: Sviatoslav Richter.

Richter Archives, Vol. 9: Moscow 1974 Recital (Live)

Richter Archives, Vol. 16: Poulenc & Reger

Richter Archives, Vol. 10: Carnegie Hall Recitals 1960 (Live

Richter Archives, Vol. 15: 1965 Carnegie Hall Recital (Live)

Richter Archives, Vol. 18: 1958 Budapest Recital (Live)

Richter Archives, Vol. 20: Janácek & Hindemith (Live)

It's hard to focus the chaotic discography of Richter, that has not left complete editions of his favorite composers. We got only scattered recordings both studio and live. With this release, Urania wants to collect two composers less frequented by the Russian pianist. Fortunately we have the great piano sonata of Schubert and the extraordinary Wandered Fantasy. Unfortunately there are not organic editions of the piano works of Liszt, but this anthology contains famous compositions - for example the Piano Sonata - and it can give a general idea of Richter's approach to the masterworks of the german repertoire of the XIX Century.

Sviatoslav Richter was the first pianist of international repute to create in his repertoire a reasonable balance between Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, the quadrumvirate of the Wiener klassik. No other concert pianist has ever included in his repertoire such a conspicuous number of Viennese compositions, nor gone back so far (the early Haydn sonatas are from the 1760s) in his research info the Wiener klassik.Richter is far more interested in the pre-Beethoven aspects of Haydn than in the pre- Schubert ones. The use of the terms “pre-Beethoven” and “pre-Schubert” does not signify that such aspects are exclusive to these composers, merely that we are used to identifying them thus, despite the fact that they are the foundations of the Viennese classical period. Richter has rarely performed Schubert since 1986 - although his interpretation of the Sonata in G major astounds and stupefies those who hear it - and equally rarely performs Mozart; only the Fantasia K475, the Sonata K457 and the Sonata K 533/494. His interpretation of the drama of the Fantasia and the Sonata K457 draws parallels with the darkest moments in Don Giovanni.

It is impossible to talk about Sviatoslav Richter and his mastery of the piano in normal terms of speech. Each time an article on him comes out, it is liberally dotted with superlatives, reminiscent of an ecclesiastical way of speech fathered by the church and which now seems to be going out of fashion. Both critics and concert-goers associate Richter's name with expressions of wonder and enthusiasm. It would therefore seem that Richter appeals to the soul of his listeners rather than to their intellect. The present release features Grieg’s Lyryske Stikke and Debussy’s Six preludes, recorded live in Athens, Kozani, and Cosenza

The year 2015 marks the 100th birthday anniversary of one of the greatest classical pianists of all time. On this new volume of the Richter Archives series, most items are on CD for the first time.

Volume One of Two discs of both repertoire and recordings new to the Richter discography and therefore much sought after by collectors. Previously unreleased except private CD-R sold in Canada. Live concert recordings where the sound will not be hi-fi in any way but this is the only way collectors will hear his views on those works and we know they will love.

Richter Archives, Vol. 8: 1990 Savona, Italy Recital (Live)

(6th) "Richter's friendship with Prokofiev dated back to their student years, and Prokofiev entrusted him with the premieres of the Sixth and Seventh Sonatas and wrote the Ninth Sonata for him". (7th) "a superb achievement" "a big wartime work... that can easily sound sentimental if played with less elegance than this, and a brilliant final toccata in 7/8 rhythm [Gramophone] (8th) "(the recording) is the Prokofiev 8th Sonata which encompasses breadth and depth in a way none can match"[Penguin Guide3*]"

Richter given first-class modern digital sound, and on top technical form... playing of consistent poetry... charming nostalgia... first recommendation for Tchaikovsky's piano music(� Penguin Guide 3*) "breathtaking, inspiring artistry" (Gramophone)

Classical Music

Richter Archives, Vol. 2: Chopin Recitals 1954-1977 (Live)