Concludendosi il Centenario della Nascita di Sviatoslav Richter
Richter is not afraid of silence: rests are no less meaningful than notes and chords
Gennadi Tsipin Evaluates Richter's playing
by Gennadi Tsipin and translated by Beatrice Frank
Richter's art is that of powerfull performing passion. There are many performers whose playing caresses the ear, pleases with elegant honing of pictures, with the pleasantry of tonal colors. Richter's playing staggers or else stuns the listener, leading him out of the customary sphere of sensations agitating him to the depths of his soul. This pianist's interpretations stunned listeners when he played Liszt's "Transcendental Etudes," Brahms's Second Concerto, the Tschaikovsky First, Schubert's Der Wanderer, Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky, or any number of works by Bach, Schumann, Franck, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Szymanowski, or Bartok. From habitues at Richter concerts one might sometimes hear that they had a strange experience, a condition not altogether unusual at performances by this pianist. Music long well- known now appears as if enlarged, expanded in scale. All now becomes more monumental, more significant. Andrei Byeli once said that people who listen to music have an opportunity to experience that which giants feel and experience; in the Richter auditorium these sensations that this poet had in mind are well-known. . . . One characteristic of Richter's performing art is the repudiation of anything outwardly garish or pretentious; in the 1970s and 80s this tendency reached its peak. Everything that might divert the public from what was basic and most important in the music by focusing attention on the performer and not on what was being played was discarded. . . . People who know Richter well speak of his modesty and his unselfish attitude toward those around him, to life, and to music. For several decades Richter has unceasingly forged ahead. He moves, it would seem, lightly and inspiredly, to the matter at hand. He rigorously pursues his never-ending, super-human work. Over the years this has changed very little. Richter believes that with age one should not diminish but increase the creative load and elevate one's goal- for performance. . . . A distinctive mark of Richter's work is precise inner organization. As those around him know, Richter is incompatible with any manifestation of carelessness or slipshod attitude towards his work, and inherently does not suffer anything that might be done any way. Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus recounted his first meeting with Richter: "A student suggested that I hear a young person from Odessa who wished to enter my class at the Conservatory. 'Has he completed music school?' I asked. 'No, he hasn't studied anywhere.' I must confess that this reply puzzled me somewhat. A person who had not had a music education was planning to enter the Conservatory. It should be interesting to see this bold spirit. And so he came. A tall, slight youth, with light hair, blue eyes and a lively, marvelously attractive face. He sat down at the piano, placed his large, soft, nervous fingers on the keyboard and began to play. "He played very restrainedly, I would say, even extremely simply and strictly. His performance immediately captured me with a kind of marvelous penetration into the music. I whispered to my student: 'In my opinion he is a brilliant musician.' After the Beethoven Sonata #28 the youth played a number of his own pieces and read some at sight and all those present wished he would stay and play. . . . From that day on Sviatoslav Richter became my student. . . ."
— An excerpt from Portraits of Soviet Pianists by Gennadi Tsipin. Gennadi Tsipin teaches piano and lectures on performance and pedagogy at the Moscow University. Tsipin performs , teaches , and has written more than 20 books and many articles on musical subjects . Beatrice Frank, a performer and teacher in the Washington, D.C. area, studied at the Moscow Conservatory for almost three years. CLAVIER 1996.
Richter is not afraid of silence: rests are no less meaningful than notes and chords.
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Hindemith, Reger, Richard Strauss, and Gershwin. He is not an admirer of atonal music and plays only a few pieces by Alban Berg. The pianist plays extensively the Russian piano repertoire, performing works by Glinka, Mussorgsky, Tschaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Scriabin, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Miaskovsky, and Shostakovich. Richter started to make recordings in make recordings in 1948, and up to now has produced more than any other pianist. While Horowitz and Gould preferred to record in a studio, Richter likes to record live during his performances. In the 1970s Richter's recordings of well-known Schubert sonatas were a revelation with their unpretentious lyricism taking on the character of deep philosophical meditation. His rhythmical precision and incredible ability to unify what some called incoherent music, gave these sonatas structural unity. In February, 1958 Richter recorded Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, a work that shows a mature pianist at his best with poetry, humor, and the grotesque in music, as well as heroic power. Despite technical imperfections, the recording won several international awards and was a bestseller for years. Sviatoslav Richter championed Tchaikovsky's piano music, recording the Piano Concerto #1, The Seasons, numerous miniatures, and the rarely performed Sonata in G Major. His recordings of Rachmaninoff include the Piano Concertos #1 and 2, Preludes, and Etudes-Tableaux, which he enriches with passion, energy, and vigor. His unconventional interpretation of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 includes both first and second movements played much slower than all other performers, including the composer himself. The spectrum of his emotions is brighter than that of Rachmaninoff, and a sense of serene pathos prevails over tragedy. Richter is one of the best interpreters of Prokofiev, with recordings of Sonatas #7, 8, and 9 and Piano Concertos #1 and 3. The tremendous energy, virtuosity, long melodic lines, and lyricism that a pianist should have to perform Prokofiev's music are compatible with Richter's artistic temperament. Music critics characterize Richter's performing style as a perfect balance between glaring emotions and refined intellectualism. In his early years he sometimes played with a wild expressiveness, but his latest concerts are more balanced and his interpretations philosophical in nature. All unconventional, Richter's interpretations stem from his commitment to the score and not from musical eccentricity. He avoids the well-established cliches and tries to discover new musical facets, even among the warhorses of the repertoire, , for phrasing, pedaling, and counterpoint. Richter has said: "I do not like the musical analysis that kills your fantasy, and as such is an enemy of the art. Let us stop talking about music; let music express itself." Richter is completely absorbed in a piece of music and possesses the rare ability to maintain the emotional tension throughout lengthy slow movements and bravura passages. He is not afraid of silence: rests are no less meaningful than notes and chords.
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