Sviatoslav Richter - The 100 Anniversary: Essential (2015)

For the 100th anniversary of Sviatoslav Richter, Firma Melodiya presents its arguably biggest project in its semicentennial history. The name of Sviatoslav Richter is inscribed in gold in the history of music. He was not just “more than a pianist,” he was even more than a musician. An owner of composing, conducting, artistic, directing and acting gifts, a connoisseur of literature, arts and philosophy, with a will of iron he made all his gifts serve the art of pianism. An “artist of planetary scale,” as of the critics put it, Richter was like that in everything – in his unbounded repertoire that he never stopped replenishing until his last years, in his priestly frenzy of hours-long rehearsals, in the geography and number of performances, – over 3 500 concerts in 770 places of the world for 55 years of his musical career! (“He was somewhat fathomless, Richter,” said one of his famous colleagues). However, after he conquered the world (almost literally), he remained indifferent to ovation and eulogies of the press, painfully experienced each of the “defects” he noticed in his performance, and at the end of his way confessed before the journalist Bruno Monsaingeon: “I don’t like myself.”

Track List:

CD 1
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
01. Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K. 595: I. Allegro (Live) (13:48)
02. Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Fat Major, K. 595: II. Larghetto (Live) (8:13)
03. Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K. 595: III. Allegro (Live) (10:04)
04. Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K. 595: III. Allegro (Encore) [Live] (9:31)
Robert Schumann
05. Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54: I. Allegro affettuoso (Live) (14:39)
06. Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54: II. Intermezzo - Andantino grazioso (Live) (4:47)
07. Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54: III. Allegro vivace (Live) (10:36)

CD 2
Ludwig van Beethoven
01. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3: I. Allegro (Live) (9:16)
02. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3: II. Scherzo - Allegretto vivace (Live) (4:38)
03. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3: III. Menuetto - Moderato e grazioso (Live) (4:22)
04. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3: IV. Presto con fuoco (Live) (4:34)
Frederic Chopin
05. 12 Etudes, Op. 10: No. 12 in C Minor "Revolutionary" (Encore) [Live] (2:50)
Franz Schubert
06. Piano Sonata No. 6 in E Minor, D. 566: I. Moderato (Live) (7:14)
07. Piano Sonata No. 6 in E Minor, D. 566: II. Scherzo - Allegro vivace (Live) (5:47)
08. Piano Sonata No. 6 in E Minor, D. 566: III. Allegretto (Live) (7:28)
09. Concerto Pathétique, S. 258 (Live) (18:01)

CD 3
Ludwig van Beethoven
01. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111: I. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato (Live) (8:11)
02. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111: II. Arietta - Adagio molto semplice e cantabile (Live) (15:14)
03. 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126: No. 1 in G Major (Encore) [Live] (3:22)
Frederic Chopin
04. Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 3 in B Major (Live) (5:56)
Richard Wagner
05. Elegie, WWV 93 (Live) (2:10)
Claude Debussy
06. Images, Book 1, L. 110: I. Reflets dans l'eau (Live) (4:38)
07. Images, Book 1, L. 110: II. Hommage à Rameau (Live) (7:42)
08. Images, Book 1, L. 110: III. Mouvement (Live) (3:26)
09. Hommage à Joseph Haydn, L. 115 (Encore) [Live] (2:50)
Sergey Rachmaninoff
10. 13 Preludes, Op. 32: No. 1 in C Major (Live) (1:25)
11. 10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 8 in A-Flat Major (Live) (3:19)
12. 10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 7 in C Minor (Live) (2:28)

CD 4
Ludwig van Beethoven
01. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1: I. Allegro (Live) (5:46)
02. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1: II. Adagio (Live) (4:34)
03. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1: III. Menuetto - Allegretto (Live) (3:47)
04. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1: IV. Prestissimo (Live) (6:23)
Robert Schumann
05. Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26: I. Allegro (Live) (8:10)
06. Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26: II. Romanze (Live) (3:22)
07. Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26: III. Scherzino (Live) (2:02)
08. Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26: IV. Intermezzo (Live) (1:51)
09. Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26: V. Finale (Live) (5:43)
Frederic Chopin
10. Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat Major, Op. 61 (Live) (12:16)
11. Waltzes, Op. 34: No. 3 in F Major (Live) (2:07)
12 Waltzes, Op. 70: No. 3 in D-Flat Major (Live) (3:12)
13 Mazurkas, Op. 63: No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor (Live) (1:56)
14 Mazurkas, Op. Posth. 67: No. 3 in C Major (Live) (1:15)
15 Mazurkas, Op. Posth. 68: No. 3 in F Major (Live) (1:08)
16 Mazurka in A Minor, B. 140 (Live) (3:26)

CD 5
Cesar Franck
01 Piano Trio in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1, No. 1, FWV 1: I. Andante con moto (Live) (12:06)
02 Piano Trio in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1, No. 1, FWV 1: II. Allegro molto (Live) (7:31)
03 Piano Trio in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1, No. 1, FWV 1: III. Finale - Allegro maestoso (Live) (13:55)
Maurice Ravel
04 Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: I. Modéré (Live) (9:26)
05 Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: II. Pantoum - Assez vif (Live) (4:45)
06 Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: III. Passacaille - Très large (Live) (7:36)
07 Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: IV. Final - Animé (Live) (6:50)
08 Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: IV. Final - Animé (Encore) [Live] (6:55)
Ernest Chausson
09 7 Mélodies, Op. 2: VII. Le Colibri (Live) [Bonus Track] (6:08)
10 Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19: III. Le temps de lilas (Live) [Bonus Track] (4:09)
Maurice Ravel
11 5 Mélodies populaires grecques (Live) [Bonus Track] (10:34)

Performers:
Sviatoslav Richter, Piano