Il Blog nel Centenario della nascita di Sviatoslav Richter
Richter ... we were very close friends
...he was one that opened my mind to this kind of curiosity
"I think that (Russian pianist) Sviatoslav Richter ... we were very close friends ...he was the one that opened my mind to this kind of curiosity. For example, I have done many times and I recorded Strauss'"Aus Italien." And this was a piece that Richter said to me, 'You have to do this piece.' In fact, when I recorded it with the Berlin Philharmonic he immediately asked that I send the recording to Moscow.
"Or, for example, when I was interested in doing the 'Classical Symphony' of Prokofiev, he said to me, 'Yes, but the Sinfonietta of Prokofiev is much more interesting'. Now, nobody does the Sinfonietta, and I took the score, I loved the piece, and I recorded the Sinfonietta that in fact is part of the recording that I made 'Ivan the Terrible' of Prokofiev."
Io ho fatto, all'inizio della mia carriera, tanti concerti con Svjatoslav Richter, uno dei più grandi pianisti del '9oo, un uomo eccezionale, e lui ripeteva sempre: "Ogni persona, cittadino del mondo, ha due patrie: la sua e l'Italia", che è una frase bellissima, tanto più pronunciata da un russo. Riccardo Muti