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Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter[note 1] (March 20 [O.S. March 7] 1915 – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,[1][2][3][4] and has been praised for the "depth of his interpretations, his virtuoso technique, and his vast repertoire".[5]
Richter was born inZhytomyr,Volhynian Governorate, in theRussian Empire (modern-day Ukraine), the hometown of his parents. His father,Teofil Danilovich Richter [de] (1872–1941), was a pianist, organist and composer born to German expatriates, who from 1893 to 1900 studied at theVienna Conservatory. His mother, Anna Pavlovna Richter (née Moskaleva; 1893–1963), came from anoble Russian landowning family, and at one point had studied under her future husband.[6][7] In 1918, when Richter's parents were inOdessa, theCivil War separated them from their son, and Richter moved in with his aunt Tamara. He lived with her from 1918 to 1921, and it was then that his interest in art first manifested itself: he first became interested in painting, which his aunt taught him.
In 1921 the family was reunited, and the Richters moved to Odessa, where Teofil taught at theOdessa Conservatory and, briefly, worked as organist of aLutheran church. In the early 1920s Richter became interested in music (as well as other art forms such as cinema, literature, and theatre) and started studying piano. Unusually, he was largely self-taught. His father gave him only a basic education in music, as did one of his father's pupils, aCzech harpist.[8]
Even at an early age Richter was an excellentsight-reader and regularly practised with local opera and ballet companies. He developed a lifelong passion for opera, vocal and chamber music that found its full expression in the festivals he established in La Grange de Meslay, France, and in Moscow at thePushkin Museum. At age 15, he started to work at theOdessa Opera, where he accompanied the rehearsals.[9]
On March 19, 1934, Richter gave his first recital, at the Engineers' Club ofOdessa; but he did not formally start studying piano until three years later, when he decided to seek outHeinrich Neuhaus, a pianist and piano teacher, at theMoscow Conservatory. During Richter's audition for Neuhaus (at which he performedChopin'sBallade No. 4), Neuhaus apparently whispered to a fellow student, "This man's a genius." Although Neuhaus taught many pianists, includingEmil Gilels andRadu Lupu, it is said that he considered Richter to be "the genius pupil, for whom he had been waiting all his life", while acknowledging that he taught Richter "almost nothing".
Early in his career Richter also tried composition, and it even appears that he played some of his works during his audition for Neuhaus. He gave up composition shortly after moving to Moscow. Years later, Richter explained this decision as follows: "Perhaps the best way I can put it is that I see no point in adding to all the bad music in the world".[10]
By the beginning of World War II Richter's parents' marriage had failed and his mother had fallen in love with another man. Because Richter's father was a German, he was under suspicion by the authorities and a plan was made for the family to flee the country. Due to her romantic involvement, his mother did not want to leave and so they remained in Odessa. In August 1941, his father was arrested and later found guilty of espionage, being sentenced to death on October 6, 1941. Richter did not speak to his mother again until shortly before her death nearly 20 years later in connection with his first US tour.
In 1943 Richter metNina Dorliak (1908–1998), an operatic soprano. He noticed Dorliak during the memorial service forVladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, caught up with her at the street and suggested to accompany her in recital. It is often alleged that they married around this time, but in fact Dorliak only obtained a marriage certificate a few months after Richter's death in 1997.[11] They remained living companions from around 1945 until Richter's death; they had no children.[12][13] Dorliak accompanied Richter both in his complex private life and career. She supported him in his final illness, and died herself less than a year later, on May 17, 1998.
Since his death it has been suggested that Richter was homosexual and that having a female companion provided asocial front for his true sexual orientation, because homosexuality was widely taboo at that time and could result inlegal repercussions.[14][15][16] Richter was an intensely private person and was usually quiet and withdrawn, and refused to give interviews. He never publicly discussed his personal life until the last year of his life when film-makerBruno Monsaingeon convinced him to be interviewed for a documentary.
In 1949 Richter won theStalin Prize, which led to extensive concert tours in Russia, Eastern Europe and China. He gave his first concerts outside the Soviet Union inCzechoslovakia in 1950.[17] In 1952, Richter was invited to playFranz Liszt in a film based on the life ofMikhail Glinka, calledThe Composer Glinka (remake of the 1946 filmGlinka). The title role was played by Boris Smirnov.
On February 18, 1952, Richter made his sole appearance as a conductor in the world premiere of Prokofiev'sSymphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E minor, withMstislav Rostropovich as the soloist.[18]
In April 1958 Richter was on the jury of the firstTchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. WatchingVan Cliburn's performance ofRachmaninoff'sConcerto No. 3, Richter wept with joy; he awarded Cliburn a 25, a perfect score.
In 1960, even though he had a reputation for being "indifferent" to politics, Richter defied the authorities when he performed atBoris Pasternak's funeral.[19]
Having received the Stalin and Lenin prizes and become People's Artist of theRSFSR, he gave his first tour concerts in the US in 1960, and in England and France in 1961.[20]
In 1948 Richter and Dorliak gave recitals inBucharest, Romania, then in 1950 performed inPrague andBratislava,Czechoslovakia. In 1954, Richter gave recitals inBudapest, Hungary. In 1956, he again toured Czechoslovakia, then in 1957, he toured China, then again performed in Prague,Sofia, and Warsaw. In 1958, Richter recordedProkofiev's5th Piano Concerto with theWarsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton ofWitold Rowicki – the recording which made Richter known in the United States. In 1959, Richter made another successful recording ofRachmaninoff's2nd Piano Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic onDeutsche Grammophon label. Thus the West first became aware of Richter through recordings made in the 1950s. One of Richter's first advocates in the West wasEmil Gilels, who stated during his first tour of the United States that the critics (who were giving Gilels rave reviews) should "wait until you hear Richter."[21]
Richter's first concerts in the West took place in May 1960, when he was allowed to play in Finland, and on October 15, 1960, in Chicago, where he playedBrahms's2nd Piano Concerto with theChicago Symphony Orchestra andErich Leinsdorf, creating a sensation. In a review,Chicago Tribune music criticClaudia Cassidy, who was known for her unkind reviews of established artists, recalled Richter first walking on stage hesitantly, looking vulnerable (as if about to be "devoured"), but then sitting at the piano and dispatching "the performance of a lifetime".[22] The resulting recording[23] won theGrammy Award forBest Classical Performance – Concerto or Instrumental Soloist for that year.
Richter's 1960 tour of the United States culminated in a highly acclaimed series of concerts atCarnegie Hall, the 25 October 1960 recital being particularly praised.[24][25]
Richter disliked performing in the United States.[26] Following a 1970 incident atCarnegie Hall in New York City, when Richter's performance alongsideDavid Oistrakh was disrupted by anti-Soviet protests, Richter vowed never to return.[21] Rumours of a planned return to Carnegie Hall surfaced in the last years of Richter's life, although it is not clear whether there was any truth behind them.[27]
In 1961 Richter played for the first time in London. His first recital, pairing works ofHaydn andProkofiev, was received with hostility by British critics.Neville Cardus concluded that Richter's playing was "provincial", and wondered why Richter had been invited to play in London, given that London had plenty of "second class" pianists of its own. Following a July 18, 1961, concert, where Richter performed both ofLiszt's piano concertos, the critics reversed course.[28] The resulting recording[29] with theLondon Symphony Orchestra conducted byKirill Kondrashin was acclaimed by many critics as the best ever made of those works.
In 1963 after searching in the Loire Valley, France, for a venue suitable for a music festival, Richter discovered La Grange de Meslay, several kilometres north of Tours. The festival was established by Richter and became an annual event. While in France, Richter recorded a highly acclaimed performance ofSchubert'sWanderer Fantasy.[30]
In 1970 Richter visited Japan for the first time, travelling across Siberia by railway and ship as he disliked flying. He played Beethoven, Schumann, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Bartók and Rachmaninoff, as well as works by Mozart and Beethoven with Japanese orchestras. He visited Japan eight times.
Richter's repertoire included many works from the modern era. On 14 June 1969 Richter performed theRavelPiano Concerto for the Left Hand at Genoa with Riccardo Muti conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica del Teatro Comunale di Genova.[31]
While he very much enjoyed performing for an audience, Richter hated planning concerts years in advance, and in later life took to playing at very short notice in small, most often darkened halls, with only a small lamp lighting the score. Richter said that this setting helped the audience focus on the music being performed, rather than on extraneous and irrelevant matters such as the performer's grimaces and gestures.[32]
Richter died atCentral Clinical Hospital in Moscow from a heart attack on August 1, 1997, aged 82. He had been suffering from depression due to an inability to perform caused by changes in his hearing that altered his perception of pitch.[33]
In 1981 Richter initiated the international December Nights music festival, held at thePushkin Museum, which after his death in 1997 was renamedDecember Nights of Sviatoslav Richter.
In 1986 Richter embarked on a six-month tour of Siberia with his belovedYamaha piano, giving perhaps 150 recitals, at times performing in small towns that did not even have a concert hall. It is said that after one such concert, the members of the audience, who had never before heard classical music performed, gathered in the middle of the hall and started swaying from side to side to celebrate the performer.[34]
In his last years Richter gave a few concerts for students that were free of charge (February 14, 1990: Teatro Romea, Murcia, Spain, also March 1, 1990: matinee concert in Teatre Municipal, Girona, Spain).[35][36]
An anecdote illustrates Richter's approach to performance in the last decade of his life. After reading a biography ofCharlemagne (he was an avid reader), Richter had his secretary send a telegram to the director of thetheater in Aachen, Charlemagne's favoured residence city and his burial place, stating "The Maestro has read a biography of Charlemagne and would like to play at Aquisgrana (Aachen)". The performance took place shortly thereafter.[37]
As late as 1995, Richter continued to perform some of the most demanding pieces in the pianistic repertoire, includingRavel'sMiroirs cycle,Prokofiev'sSecond Sonata andChopin'sétudes,Ballade No. 4, andSchumann'sToccata.[38][39]
Richter's last recorded orchestral performance was of threeMozart concerti in 1994 with the Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra conducted by his old friendRudolf Barshai.[40]
Richter's last recital was a private gathering inLübeck, Germany, on March 30, 1995. The program consisted of twoHaydn sonatas andReger'sVariations and Fugue on a Theme by Beethoven, a piece for two pianos, which Richter performed with pianistAndreas Lucewicz.[41]
At the time of his death he was rehearsingSchubert'sFünf Klavierstücke, D. 459.[42]
As Richter once put it, "My repertory runs to around eighty different programs, not counting chamber works."[43] His repertoire ranged fromHandel andBach toTchaikovsky,Scriabin,Szymanowski,Berg,Webern,Stravinsky,Bartók,Hindemith,Britten, andGershwin.
Richter worked tirelessly to learn new pieces. For instance, in the late 1980s, he learnedBrahms'sPaganini andHandel Variations, and in the 1990s, several ofDebussy'sétudes and pieces by Gershwin, and works by Bach and Mozart that he had not previously included in his programs.
Central to his repertoire were the works of Schubert,Schumann, Beethoven, J. S. Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev and Debussy.[44] He is said to have learned and memorized the second book of Bach'sThe Well-Tempered Clavier in one month.[45]
He gave the premiere of Prokofiev'sSonata No. 7, which he learned in four days, andNo. 9, which Prokofiev dedicated to Richter. Apart from his solo career, he also performedchamber music with partners such asMstislav Rostropovich,Rudolf Barshai,David Oistrakh,Oleg Kagan,Yuri Bashmet,Natalia Gutman,Zoltán Kocsis,Elisabeth Leonskaja,Benjamin Britten and members of theBorodin Quartet. Richter also often accompanied singers such asDietrich Fischer-Dieskau,Peter Schreier,Galina Pisarenko and his wife and long-time artistic companionNina Dorliak.[46]
Richter also conducted the premiere of Prokofiev'sSymphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra. This was his sole appearance as a conductor. The soloist was Rostropovich, to whom the work was dedicated. Prokofiev also wrote his 1949 Cello Sonata in C for Rostropovich, and he and Richter premiered it in 1950. Richter himself was a passable cellist, and Rostropovich was a good pianist; at one concert in Moscow at which he accompanied Rostropovich on the piano, they exchanged instruments for part of the program.[citation needed]
Richter explained his approach to performance as follows: "The interpreter is really an executant, carrying out the composer's intentions to the letter. He doesn't add anything that isn't already in the work. If he is talented, he allows us to glimpse the truth of the work that is in itself a thing of genius and that is reflected in him. He shouldn't dominate the music, but should dissolve into it."[47]Or, similarly:[according to whom?] "I am not a complete idiot, but whether from weakness or laziness have no talent for thinking. I know only how to reflect: I am a mirror ... Logic does not exist for me. I float on the waves of art and life and never really know how to distinguish what belongs to the one or the other or what is common to both. Life unfolds for me like a theatre presenting a sequence of somewhat unreal sentiments; while the things of art are real to me and go straight to my heart."[48]
Richter's belief that musicians should "carry ... out the composer's intentions to the letter", led him to be critical of others and, most often, himself.[47] After attending a recital ofMurray Perahia, where Perahia performed Chopin'sThird Piano Sonata without observing the first movement repeat, Richter asked him backstage to explain the omission.[49] Similarly, after Richter realised that he had been playing a wrong note in Bach'sItalian Concerto for decades, he insisted that the following disclaimer/apology be printed on a CD containing a performance thereof: "Just now Sviatoslav Richter realised, much to his regret, that he always made a mistake in the third measure before the end of the second part of the 'Italian Concerto'. As a matter of fact, through forty years – and no musician or technician ever pointed it out to him – he played 'F-sharp' rather than 'F'. The same mistake can be found in the previous recording made by Maestro Richter in the fifties."[50]
| External videos | |
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 Richter performing live (London, 1989)Chopin's12 Études, Op. 10 and12 Études, Op. 25 |
Despite his large discography, Richter disliked making studio recordings,[51] and most of his recordings originate from live performances. Thus, his live recitals from Moscow (1948),Warsaw (1954 and 1972),Sofia (1958), New York City (1960),Leipzig (1963),Aldeburgh (multiple years), la Grange de Meslay nearTours (multiple years),Prague (multiple years),Salzburg (1977) andAmsterdam (1986), are considered among the finest documents of his playing, as are other live recordings issued during his lifetime and since his death on labels including Music & Arts, BBC Legends, Philips, Russia Revelation, Parnassus, and Ankh Productions.
Other critically acclaimed live recordings by Richter include performances ofScriabin's selected études, preludes and sonatas (multiple performances),Schumann'sC major Fantasy (multiple performances),Beethoven'sPiano Sonata No. 23 (Moscow, 1960),Schubert's B-flat Sonata (multiple performances),Mussorgsky'sPictures at an Exhibition (Sofia, 1958),Ravel'sMiroirs (Prague, 1965),Liszt'sB minor Sonata (multiple performances, 1965–66), Beethoven'sPiano Sonata No. 29 (multiple performances, 1975) and selected preludes byRachmaninoff (multiple performances) andDebussy (multiple performances).[52]
Despite his professed aversion for the studio, Richter took the recording process seriously.[53] For instance, after a long recording session for Schubert'sWanderer Fantasy, for which he had used aBösendorfer piano, Richter listened to the tapes and, dissatisfied with his performance, told the recording engineer "Well, I think we'll remake it on theSteinway after all".[54] Similarly, during a recording session forSchumann'sToccata, Richter reportedly chose to play this piece (which Schumann himself considered "among the most difficult pieces ever written")[55] several times in a row, without taking any breaks, to preserve the spontaneity of his interpretation.[citation needed]
According to Falk Schwartz and John Berrie's 1983 article "Sviatoslav Richter – A Discography",[56] in the 1970s, Richter announced his intention of recording his complete solo repertoire "on some 50 discs". This "complete" Richter project did not come to fruition, however, although twelve LPs worth of recordings were made between 1970 and 1973 and were subsequently reissued (in CD format) by Olympia (various composers, 10 CDs) andRCA Victor (Bach'sThe Well-Tempered Clavier).
In1961, Richter's RCA Victor recording withErich Leinsdorf and theChicago Symphony Orchestra of theBrahmsPiano Concerto No. 2 won theGrammy Award forBest Classical Performance – Concerto or Instrumental Soloist. That recording is still considered a landmark (despite Richter's dissatisfaction with it),[57] as are his studio recordings of Schubert'sWanderer Fantasy, Liszt's two Piano Concertos, Rachmaninoff'sSecond Piano Concerto and Schumann's Toccata, among many others.[58]
Richter appeared in a 1952Soviet film, playingLiszt inKompozitor Glinka (The Composer Glinka; Russian:Композитор Глинка).
Bruno Monsaingeon interviewed Richter in 1995 (two years before his death) and the documentary The Enigma[59][60] was released in 1998.
The Italian critic Piero Rattalino has asserted that the only pianists comparable to Richter in the history of piano performance wereFranz Liszt andFerruccio Busoni.[61]
Glenn Gould called Richter "one of the most powerful communicators the world of music has produced in our time".[62]
Nathan Milstein described Richter in his memoirFrom Russia to the West as the following: "Richter was certainly a marvellous pianist but not as impeccable as he was reputed to be. His music making was too dry for me. In Richter's interpretation ofRavel'sJeux d'eau, instead of flowing water you hear frozen icicles."[63]
Van Cliburn attended a Richter recital in 1958 in the Soviet Union. He reportedly wept during the recital and, upon returning to the United States, described Richter's playing as "the most powerful piano playing I have ever heard".[64]
Arthur Rubinstein described his first exposure to Richter as follows: "It really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Then at some point I noticed my eyes growing moist: tears began rolling down my cheeks."[62]
Heinrich Neuhaus described Richter as follows: "His singular ability to grasp the whole and at the same time miss none of the smallest details of a composition suggests a comparison with an eagle who from his great height can see as far as the horizon and yet single out the tiniest detail of the landscape."[65]
Dmitri Shostakovich wrote of Richter: "Richter is an extraordinary phenomenon. The enormity of his talent staggers and enraptures. All the phenomena of musical art are accessible to him."[66]
Vladimir Sofronitsky proclaimed that Richter was a "genius", prompting Richter to respond that Sofronitsky was a "god".[67]
Vladimir Horowitz said: "Of the Russian pianists, I like only one, Richter."[68]
Pierre Boulez wrote of Richter: "His personality was greater than the possibilities offered to him by the piano, broader than the very concept of complete mastery of the instrument."[69]
Marlene Dietrich, who was Richter's friend, wrote in her autobiography,Marlene: "One evening the audience sat around him on the stage. While he was playing a piece, a woman directly behind him collapsed and died on the spot. She was carried out of the hall. I was deeply impressed by this incident and thought to myself: "What an enviable fate, to die while Richter is playing! What a strong feeling for the music this woman must have had when she breathed out her life!" But Richter did not share this opinion, he was shaken".
Gramophone critic Bryce Morrison described Richter as follows: "Idiosyncratic, plain-speaking, heroic, reserved, lyrical, virtuosic and perhaps above all, profoundly enigmatic, Sviatoslav Richter remains one of the greatest recreative artists of all time."[70]
On listening toBach: "It does no harm to listen to Bach from time to time, even if only from a hygienic standpoint."[71]
OnScriabin: "Scriabin isn't the sort of composer whom you'd regard as your daily bread, but is a heavy liqueur on which you can get drunk periodically, a poetical drug, a crystal that's easily broken."[72]
On picking small venues for performance: "Put a small piano in a truck and drive out on country roads; take time to discover new scenery; stop in a pretty place where there is a good church; unload the piano and tell the residents; give a concert; offer flowers to the people who have been so kind as to attend; leave again."[73]
On his plan to perform without a fee: "Music must be given to those who love it. I want to give free concerts; that's the answer."[74]
OnNeuhaus: "I learned a lot from him, even though he kept saying that there was nothing he could teach me. Music is written to be played and listened to and has always seemed to me to be able to manage without words... This was exactly the case with Heinrich Neuhaus. In his presence I was almost always reduced to total silence. This was an extremely good thing, as it meant that we concentrated exclusively on the music. Above all, he taught me the meaning of silence and the meaning of singing. He said I was incredibly obstinate and did only what I wanted to. It's true that I've only ever played what I wanted. And so he left me to do as I liked."[75]
On playing: "I don't play for the audience, I play for myself, and if I derive any satisfaction from it, then the audience, too, is content."[76]
After playing someHaydn for a television programme while touring in the US, Richter said, after much coaxing by the interviewer and embarrassment on his own part, that Haydn was "better thanMozart".
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