Sviatoslav Richter Live in the 1950s
Five two-cd sets contain performances
recorded at Moscow recitals from 1952 through 1958.
Volume 1(PACD 96001/2) recorded in 1954 and 1958, includes the only live concert peformances published
of Richter
playing two major works: Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No.7, which
was written for him, and Tchaikovsky's Piano Sonata in G Op.37. Please click disk image for complete contents.
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Volume 2 (PACD96003/4) was recorded in Moscow in 1952 through
1957. All selections are previously unpublished on CD or LP, with the
exception of the Scriabin Sonata No. 6, which now appears for the first time as part
of the complete recital.
This set includes the only live concerts appearance of Richter
playing Schumann's Humoreske, Op.20, and the earliest one of him playing
the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto. It also includes the earliest
recording of Richter playing one of his greatest interpretations, Mussorgsky's
Pictures at an Exhibition, in a virtuoso performance
from 1952 which contrasts interestingly with his better-known
Sofia performance from 1958. Please click on disk image for complete contents.
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Volume 3 (PACD96005/6) was recorded at Moscow recitals in
1954 and 1958. None has ever been published before on CD or LP.
The 1958 material included some major discoveries. Most of it is made up
of pieces from Liszt's Années de Pélèrinage, only
one of which exists in any other Richter recording. It also offers the
offers the only live performance published of Richter playing Beethoven's
famous "Pathétique" Sonata. The 1954 recital
includes mostly works of Ravel, including the published Richter
performance of Le Gibet from Gaspard de la Nuit
, the only selection of that suite he ever palyed. Two more of the Ravel works,
Pavanne pour une infant défunte and Jeux d'eau
, are the only Richter performances yet published on CD. The disc concludes with three
pieces by Rachmaninov and one by Prokofiev. Please click on disc image for complete contents listing.
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Volume 4 (PACD96013/14) was recorded at Moscow recitals in
1954 and 1956. the obvious highlight of this set is a 1954 performance of Beethoven's Third Piano
concerto conducted by Herman Abendroth, during a visit to Moscow. It was Richter's only performance with Abendroth, and it
crackles with ntensity. the other material is Prokofiev's Sonatas Nos. 6 and 9 and Gavotte from Cinderella, eight of Shostakovich's
Preludes and Fugues (the largest group Richter ever played at one recital), Bartók's 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs,, and Scriabin's Vers La flamme
and Poème. All of the recordings are previously unpublished. Please click on disc image for complete contents listing.
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Volume 5 (PACD96017/18) includes:
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 1828): Piano Sonata in B flat D 960;
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862 1918): Prelude No. 11 La Danse de Puck;
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI (1882 1937): Piano Sonata No. 2 in A minor, Op. 21;
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 1791): Piano Sonata in A minor KV 310;
FRANZ LISZT (1811 1886): Harmonies Religieuses et Poetiques: No. 4; Poloniase No. 2; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 17; Consolation No. 6; Scherzo & March;
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810 1858): 4 Fugues, Op. 72
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