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.