Album Review: Sviatoslav Richter

To the large pile of recordings made by Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997), a new jewel must be added. This new release of material recorded 60 years ago gives us 4 Beethoven sonatas recorded in 1965. Three of the live recordings were made at the Lucerne Festival in September 1985, and the fourth was made at Richter’s own festival in Tours, France, at La Grange de Meslay in May 1965.

Sviatoslav Richter performing in the opening season at La Grange de Meslay, 1964

In 1965, Richter was on a tour of Italy with a full recording studio in tow, provided by Deutsche Grammophon. He had his own fully equipped recording van, microphones, extra-long cables, tape recorders, a producer and an additional sound engineer, together with his own chauffeur. They taped his recitals in Italy and released those on record. However, on this same tour, other recordings were made but never released. In their archives, DG has found even edited copies, but the final step of bringing them before the public was never taken. Speculation about the cause for such an unrealized investment begins with the possibility of technical shortcomings that couldn’t be fixed at the time. Richter was known for his meticulous attention to the detail of his audio releases – even the recordings of the Italy recitals had their ‘minor slips and inaccuracies’ repaired through the use of ‘parallel passages and even recordings from other recitals’.

The four sonatas on this recording, Nos. 18, 27, 28, and 31, show the complexity of a master performer at the height of his career. Richter had long commented that studio recordings never truly captured what happened at a live performance, and in these ‘lost recordings’, we can hear the risks with tempo, dynamics, and emotional expression that Richter took in pursuit of a live performance.

In an interview with Elisabeth Leonskaja, who was left in charge of Richter’s artistic legacy, she discusses the importance of these recordings and what they add to our knowledge of Richter’s capabilities. She praises in particular the Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101, as being astonishing.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major op. 101 – IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit. Allegro

A comment that Richter made to the filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon in 1996 indicated that he (heretically), regarded the op. 101 Sonata as ‘horribly difficult, more so than the op. 111, and even riskier than the Hammerklavier…’.

After discovery in the archives, the recordings were restored by the Emil Berliner Studios in Berlin, and corrections were made for pitch fluctuations and interference, such as ambient noise and audience sounds were removed.

If you’re familiar with Richter, these recordings will delight you. If you’re not familiar with his Beethoven recordings, these recordings will set a new standard that few will ever match.