COMPOSERS: Beethoven,Prokofiev And Berg,Schubert,Schumann
LABELS: EMI
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: Sviatoslav Richter Ð Un Portrait
WORKS: Music by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Prokofiev and Berg
PERFORMER: Sviatoslav Richter (piano), with Oleg Kagan (violin), LSO/Lorin Maazel, Moscow Conservatoire Instrumental Ensemble/Youri Nikolayevsky
CATALOGUE NO: CMS 7 64429-2 ADD (1961-79)
This collection offers a generous survey of Richter’s career, from the years 1961-79, concentrating on music of the 19th century, where Richter’s interpretative strengths primarily lie, though there is an intriguing postscript in Prokofiev’s Fifth Piano Concerto (a composer with whom he had a long association) and a robust performance of Berg’s Chamber Concerto.
Richter excels in the lyricism of Schubert’s A major Sonata D664, the verve of his Wanderer Fantasy and in the rich, Romantic textures of Schumann, but his Beethoven too is properly energetic and reposeful by turns. The sound quality is variable, but the performances transcend any such deficiencies. Matthew Rye