Richter Plays Schubert

It's Richter, which means at the very least it's Schubert worth listening to. It's very easy to get converted to this man's style at the keyboard. He's great on so many fronts. I have the Complete Album Collection (18 CDs Sviatoslav Richter: Complete Album Collection), and while the sound there is highly variable--as in pretty crummy for the Carnegie Hall October 19, 1960 performances--these Melodiya discs are just fine, not surprising since, though live, they were recorded 1978 and 1979. And yes, it's Richter, which means you get increasingly drawn into the interpretation. It's both deeply thought out and deeply expressive. Do we have his like today?

Excellent service and goods.

fantasticallysensible interpretation

In the world of great pianos sonatas by composers ranging from Beethoven to Prokofiev, Schubert's 21 Sonatas are too often neglected. Schubert's late piano sonatas are some of the greatest piano compositions and no pianist helped us realize this more than Sviatoslav Richter. No pianist has blended the classical, melodic, sensitive and dark elements to be found in Schubert's music better than he did. Richter performed over half of the sonatas, and here he plays the two versions of the 6th and a rendition of Nos. 9, 11, 13, 18 and 19. All of the recordings are from the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and range between 1971 - 1979.Full CD content found here:http://www.pianistdiscography.com/discography/pianistLabel.php?cdnum=1487&labRich=22&PIANIST=1In addition to the sonatas which are played wonderfully, this CD also contains some short Ländlers and Ecossaisen you won't find by Richter anywhere else. I highly recommend Richter's renditions of other Schubert works not included here, which include Sonatas 14-19 and 21, the Wanderer Fantasie. Those looking to round out the rest of the Schubert Sonatas can go for Wilhelm Kempff or Radu Lupu, but Richter is the best.

Richter's Schubert is second to none, so this wonderful set is like an early Christmas present. Transfers are great, performances do not appear elsewhere. Get this set!

What can I say? I am a life-long fan of Richter.

Sublime

There are some incredible performances here, and this is a real treasury of otherwise unobtainable recordings of live recitals given by Richter, for the most part in Moscow. There are a few oddities on the discs, including a couple of unfinished sonatas. While Schubert's Unfinished Symphony is famous, nobody warns you that the first movement of sonata D625 simply stops in the middle of a bar, while D566 is here performed in two different versions, depending on whether you believe the composer intended adding a final fourth movement - or not, as the case may be. Disc 4 consists largely of odd movements that Schubert might - or again, might not - have intended to be constituent parts of otherwise uncompleted sonatas, while the three Moments musicaux (why only three?) are among the least satisfactory performances on this disc. But all this is irrelevant. Magisterial, gripping, breath-taking performances of sonatas D664 and D894 (in the latter, Richter sounding almost as if he is playing the hushed opening of the first movement while in the grip of some visionary, trance-like state) would, even on their own, justify the relatively modest price of this four-disc set. They are old Russian recordings from the Melodiya stable; nevertheless, the sound is perfectly acceptable. But be prepared for a bit of audience noise - and, of course, rapturous applause! In live performance, Richter had an inimitable way of casting a magic spell on his audience; it is rather wonderful that evidence of that extraordinary gift has been preserved for the rest of us to enjoy.

This Richter issue is most wonderful. I have been a fan of him for many, many years, and this Schubert live-album from Moscow shows him at his very best. His poetic readings ar simply unparalled and the set is a must for Schubert lovers too. Do not hesitate, buy it!

Melodiya nous propose ici 4 disques de concerts inédits de Richter, enregistrés entre 1971 et 1979 dans la Grande Salle du Conservatoire de Moscou (prise de son remarquable pour l'époque et la salle). Trois disques de sonates, suivi d'un disque de pièces isolées, tirées ou non de grands cahiers.Alors certes, Richter dans Schubert est déjà très bien documenté, et dans de très bonnes conditions. Mais ces disques sont tout de même essentiels. Tout d'abord les petites sonates : D.566 (deux fois, en trois et en quatre mouvements), D575, D.625, D.664. Richter leur apporte le même soin que les grandes sonates, et les aborde tout à fait sérieusement, sans que pour autant les écraser par un excès de dramatisme ou par un monumentalisme architectural trop envahissant. Ensuite D.894 & D.958. Pour D.958, nous disposions déjà d'un live londonien, mais surtout d'un immense studio salzbourgeois. Ici nous somme entre les deux, nettement devant Londres (en particulier grâce à la prise de son), mais un cran en-dessous de Salzbourg, en particulier à cause d'une tension un peu moins maîtrisée (aléas du live). D.894 est toujours aussi fascinante sous les doigts du pianiste soviétique, avec ce premier mouvement ample et incroyable de douceur. La captation est proche dans le temps du document publié par Brilliant, mais s'avère nettement meilleure.Le dernier disque, composé de petites pièces pour piano et de trois impromptus tirés de D.899 peut paraître quantité négligeable, mais il est d'égale importance avec le reste du coffret. Tout d'abord il apporte quelques inédits à la discographie de Richter (et oui, c'est encore possible, malgré le volume impressionnant de disques consacrés aux concerts de Richter) : le scherzo D.593, l'andante D.604, quelques écossaises D.734 & D.421 ainsi deux allemandes D.790. Et le piano de Richter n'a peut-être jamais eu autant de charme que dans ces œuvres. La nostalgie est immense, mais le piano garde toujours une forme de naïveté indispensable.

Even if you have other performances of Richter playing these Schubert sonatas this set is still worth buying. Richter seems more relaxed on home turf in Moscow than at other venues such as London and Tokyo where he performed most of the same works, and his playing has that extra element of flexibility, spontaneity, risk and fire. The early sonatas and D958 are especially fine. The great G major sonata D894 is taken a little quicker than his Aldeburgh performance and lacks a little of the fierce concentration of that performance which for me is his greatest interpretation of that sonata (and a musical landmark). But overall this is a 'must have' of Richter on top form in recordings that have never been issued before to my knowledge.

Per ricordare il centenario della nascita di Sviatoslav Richter, la casa discografica russa Melodia ha iniziato a pubblicare nel 2015 alcune registrazioni effettuate dal grande pianista in concerti pubblici eseguiti nel Paese natale.Il primo di questi cofanetti - contenente quattro CD - riguarda la registrazione di opere di Schubert, eseguite nel corso di quattro concerti tenuti al Conservatorio di Mosca, rispettivamente il 6 ottobre 1971, il 2 maggio e il 18 ottobre 1978 e l'8 giugno 1979.Come noto, Richter - mentre rifuggiva dalle sessioni in studio - amava soprattutto esibirsi in concerti pubblici (ne dava oltre un centinaio all'anno), rivolgendosi al pubblico colto e agli studenti alle prime armi, eseguendo i repertori più disparati da Bach a Debussy, generalmente in pezzi solistici, ma anche accompagnandosi con orchestre o con altri solisti in brani cameristici, comunque cercando sempre di estrarre tutta la forza e il sentimento insiti nei brani eseguiti, avvalendosi inoltre di una tecnica stupefacente che lasciava esterrefatti gli ascoltatori.Ciò vale anche per le registrazioni contenute nei CD qui recensiti che, come detto, sono relativi tutti ad opere di Schubert, e precisamente le Sonate D.566 (ripetuta in due concerti, una volta nella forma in tre movimenti, un'altra nella forma in quattro), D.575, D.625, D.664, D.894 e D.958, oltre a tredici brevi pezzi, fra cui sei "Scozzesi", uno scherzo, una marcia, tre "Momenti musicali" e tre Improvvisi, eseguiti quali bis al termine dei suddetti concerti, tutte esecuzioni finora inedite.Non si tratta delle prime registrazioni di Richter - tratte da nastri degli anni '50 che solo la Melodia possedeva e curava gelosamente, di cui per tanti anni circolarono in Occidente solo copie "pirata" - bensì di esecuzioni effettuate nel pieno della maturità di Richter, che aveva allora tra i 56 e i 63 anni, dotato di una tecnica ancora formidabile, percepibile soprattutto nei mutamenti improvvisi di tono (da pianissimo a fortissimo e viceversa) e di tempo (da lentissimo a velocissimo in un battibaleno).Anche in relazione a questi "scatti" improvvisi, l'esecuzione delle sonate qui riprodotte (di cui l'unica famosa è la D.958, eseguita nel '71), non riprende la semplicità che si può ascoltare nelle storiche riproduzioni di Schnabel, né la serenità idilliaca cui ci ha da ultimo abituati Schiff, bensì comporta maggiore tensione e una sorta di "scavo" continuo della partitura, sempre eseguita nella sua letteralita' ed interezza, con tutte le ripetizioni scritte, peraltro senza mai annoiare: un fluire continuo, poetico, a tratti interrotto da subitanei scatti, per riprendere nuovamente il filo interrotto.Composizioni generalmente molto lunghe, che però non stancano mai, anzi si vorrebbe che continuassero all'infinito, per godere ancora di più dei piacevolissimi temi di Schubert e della stupefacente tecnica - che appare peraltro affatto naturale - di Richter.Dopo le Sonate, vere chicche sono rappresentate dai pezzi eseguiti quali bis, brevi ma ricchissimi di contenuto, con un Richter ancora più sciolto e disponibile per il diletto del pubblico.Se a ciò si aggiungono una tecnica di registrazione eccezionale - sembra di avere Richter davanti mentre lo ascolti in salotto - e un libretto veramente ricco di annotazioni sulla biografia e sull'arte del grande pianista, il cofanetto in questione risulta veramente interessante e...speriamo che la Melodia rilasci altri inediti per la gioia degli ascoltatori!

Perfection remarquable d'un enregistrement en direct (comme tous ses enregistrements).Richter était un maître du piano et de la musique.

excellent deal highly recommended

(Fast) alles von Richter ist mehr als hörenswert und wenn er Schubert spielt isrdas fast existenziall. Nichts für schwache Nerven (es gibt viele Pianisten die "netter" spielen)aber wenn mann tiefe in den Seelen von Schubert und Richter hineinsehen will - erschütternd!

20年位前（1997年頃）、NHK-FMで変ホ長調の即興曲を聴き、またその録音（一緒にピアノ・ソナタ第18番も放送された。ただし、5月3日と即興曲と同日にされているが、もしかすると実際はこのアルバムで示されれいる様に5月2日）を繰り返して聴く度に、感銘を覚えた。感傷的過ぎるが、リヒテルがドイツ系の家系で父親がソ連政府に処刑されたことなどを、この曲の、そしてこの演奏の、そこはかとない哀しみに重ね合わせたものだ。やっと入手できたこのアルバムで、改めてリヒテルの自らの出自の表明を窺えた様に思う。

I'll keep this review short - there are lengthy reviews concerning venues and recording details elsewhere. I would simply say that although I have dozens of recordings of Richter already, including Denon-issued stuff from Japanese performances of Schubert at Suntory Hall and Budokan, and quite good Schubert recordings from the Salzburg Festival too, this set came as a very nice surprise. The sound is pretty decent, not the best but you forget that once the performances take you over. The playing is wonderful throughout and I'm really delighted with the whole set, it's a bargain at this price and an example of Richter pretty much at his inimitable best.

Richter a une vision plus que personnelle de Schubert. Ce n'est pas le coffret pour découvrir ce géant (plutôt Rachmaninov, Moussorgsky ou Prokofiev), mais pour ceux qui le connaissent déjà, c'est une porte ouverte vers d'autres horizons de Schubert. Immense, comme toujours.