PIANO SONATA FANTASIESTUCKE

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.

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.”

Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Profil Edition Günter Hänssler has already released boxed sets of Richter’s interpretations of works by Ludwig van Beethoven (PH16030), Franz Schubert (PH17005), as well as Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms (PH17967). The edition presented here on eleven albums is dedicated to the two composers Sergey Rakhmaninov and Sergey Prokofiev. The two Russian (Soviet) composers were formidable pianists, like the composers mentioned above, and left for posterity compositions for their instrument with some incredibly difficult passages. To master them, in order to penetrate towards their musical core, requires first and foremost excellent piano technique.

(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

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Supraphon's properly pitched, 24-bit remasterings of Sviatoslav Richter's 1956 Schumann Fantasiestücke, Waldszenen, and G minor Marsch convey a richness in the bass and boosted midrange presence quite different from the brighter, leaner sonic image characterizing Deutsche Grammophon's Dokumente and Originals series transfers. Richter habitually omitted Grillen and Fabel from Fantasiestücke, yet he played the other six pieces beautifully. The pianist's gorgeous legato touch justifies his unorthodox stretching out of Warum's last section, while his supple and sharply honed fingers make easy work of Aufschwung and Traumes Wirren. Although Richter likened the recording studio to "the torture chamber", he sounds free as a bird throughout his ravishingly tinted, technically dazzling Waldszenen. Lastly, a live November 1959 C major Fantasy stands out for a sense of risk and forward impetus in the first two movements that's largely absent from Richter's 1961 EMI studio effort, despite the cramped sonics. If you've missed these recordings in the past, don't hesitate now.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Sviatoslav Richter was one of the greatest interpreters of the 20th century. Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' Sonata was one of the main features of Richter's programming in the summer of 1975 in Prague London and Aldeburgh. This is the first time that this London recital has been issued commercially on CD in an authorized version and it is remastered here in excellent stereo.

Svyatoslav Richter was born in Ukraine on March 20, 1915. His father came from a family of businessmen, but earned a living as organist and choir director in Odessa. He brought up his son alone, and Svyatoslav had had no regular pianistic training at a conservatory when he began working as rehearsal pianist at the Odessa Opera at the age of fifteen. His exceptional talent enabled him to make his concert debut in 1934. His talent was recognized by Heinrich Neuhaus, the famous Russian piano teacher with German roots who included him in his master piano class at Moscow Conservatory in 1937. Neuhaus’s influence can hardly be overestimated. He trained him in enormously subtle dynamics, pronouncedly Romantic playing with certain composers and great reserve with others. In 1986 in a rare interview, Richter stated that Neuhaus had made his hands freer and softened his tone. On this release, Richter performs Beethoven alongside the USSR Symphony Orchestra and the Moscow Philharmonic.

Classical Music

Classical Music