This live Appassionata, from a Moscow recital of 1959, is one of the most thrilling piano performances ever recorded. Sviatoslav Richter fills every moment of the first movement with intense drama, creates the illusion of total repose in the central variations, and then takes off in the finale with an exhibition of musical virtuosity and ever-increasing tension that becomes almost unbearably intense (and unbelievably fast and accurate). The studio Pathétique is quite fine, and the Fantasy (sung in Russian!) well performed by all but still rather quaint in its effect. But don't miss that Appassionata!

In celebration of their twentieth anniversary, this essential release from Praga focuses on the artistry of the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter. In an all-Rachmaninov program, Richter is heard in the first two Piano Concertos accompanied by the great conductor Kurt Sanderling in live performances recorded in the 50s - well before he began touring internationally. Praga's hybrid SACD pairs remastered monophonic recordings of the concertos with four of Richter's favorite Preludes recorded in stereo during his first tour of North America in 1960. Praga has employed the best of today's cutting-edge restoration techniques to present these important historical recordings in all their original glory.

The air on Mt. Olympus must have been something like that in Berlin’s Jesus-Christus-Kirche when, in September 1969, the threesome of Richter, Oistrakh and Rostropovich joined Herbert von Karajan for this majestic recording of Beethoven’s underrated Triple Concerto. That there could have been such a meeting of the minds in this gathering of greats is difficult to believe, until one remembers that the three soloists were frequent collaborators who all spoke the same musical language, and after years in the trenches knew each other and their conductor very well. As one would expect, the solo work of the three Russians is brilliant and deeply musical. But just as delightful is the way they adjust from solo to ensemble roles and play together, with perfect unanimity, in the duet and trio passages. Karajan and the Berliners provide a monumental accompaniment, weighty, powerful, and rich in tone. The recording, one of the best from EMI in this venue, has been remastered in exemplary fashion and is impressively detailed and vivid.

This volume from Praga's critically-acclaimed Richter Edition series features an audiophile SACD remastering of the great Russian pianist playing Tchaikovsky. The program pairs the composer's two most popular scores in performances by two uncontested Russian masters. This recording resurrects of one of Sviatoslav Richter;s rare encounters with one of the finest conductors of the 20th century, Yevgeny Mravinsky. Richter is heard in a fiery 1958 recording of the first Piano Concerto, while Mravinsky is featured in a 1956 recording of the Pathetique symphony. This is an indispensable release for anyone interested in these two legendary artists.

Anyone who thinks that there is no longer anything to say on the subject of Sviatoslav Richter’s discography is wrong. For sixty years these recordings, which were made by Deutsche Grammophon at the Tours and Lucerne Festivals in 1965, have slumbered in the Yellow Label’s archives. Carefully restored by Emil Berliner Studios, they are being released now for the very first time. Like many other artists, Richter felt that he could play more freely and give better performances in the concert hall rather than in the studio. These tremendous recordings reveal the pianist at the pinnacle of his powers as a pianist. Indeed, they evoke Van Cliburn's comment: ‘That is the most powerful piano playing I have ever heard’. Richter's interpretations of Beethoven are phenomenal. The performances of the Sonatas Nos. 18, 27, 28 and 31 show a strikingly modern approach that never shies away from taking risks to express the music in its furthest extreme. Pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, a confidante of Richter, was enthusiastic about the artistic freedom, technical brilliance and love of the music conveyed in these recordings. The album is available digitally, as a CD and double LP and includes a recent interview with Elisabeth Leonskaja, an essay by Jed Distler and editorial notes by Markus Kettner. Numerous photographs, some previously unpublished, complete the edition.

Sviatoslav Richter Having learned the fundamentals of music from his father, Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter taught himself the piano and had already given public concerts before entering the Moscow Conservatory in 1937. While still a student, Richter won first prize at the All-Union Contest of Performers of 1945. His playing earned him considerable renown, and by the time of his graduation in 1947 he had devoted fans. In 1949 he garnered the coveted Stalin Prize. Richter gave the 1942 premiere of Sergey Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 6 – the composer's first work in that form for years, and the first one he did not premiere himself.

Classic recordings of Tchaikovsky's orchestral music, focused around the symphonies, ballet suites, concertos and overtures. Recordings from 1962-1992, from Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Pentatone, Musical Concepts, Melodiya and Mercury.

A collection of 66 tracks and approximately 4 hours and 6 minutes of masterpieces by the famous pianist Richter. Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 2-3rd Movement, "Butterfly" from "The Clown at the Vienna Carnival", Handel: Keyboard Suite No. 2, Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 31-2nd Movement (Oleg Kagan), Mozart/Grieg: Piano Sonata No. 16 (2 Pianos) (Leonskaya), Beethoven: Violin Sonata "Spring"-2nd and 3rd Movements, and more.

Franz Liszt composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E♭ major, S.124 over a 26-year period; the main themes date from 1830, while the final version is dated 1849. The concerto consists of four movements and lasts approximately 20 minutes. It premiered in Weimar on February 17, 1855, with Liszt at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting.

As far as discs of the piano sonatas of Prokofiev go, this one with Sviatoslav Richter playing the Second and Sixth in Prague in 1965 and the Ninth in 1956 is about as close to definitive as anything can ever get in this world. Richter's strength and control, his passionate intensity, and his complete command of every aspect of technique and interpretation is brought to bear on Prokofiev's music, music closely identified with Richter and in one case composed by Prokofiev for Richter. Although Richter grew up playing Prokofiev's Second and Sixth sonatas, Prokofiev dedicated his Ninth and final sonata to Richter and Richter's interpretation is the aural incarnation of the music.

There are loads of pianists technically superior than this pianist, but the sheer musicality of his playing makes it captivating. Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra engages in a true partnership with the pianist. Tempest and Polonaise & Waltz are equally impressive. Like so many of other Eastern European orchestras, I get an impression that the music comes from their heart.

Kirill Kondrashin is one of the few Russian conductors to celebrate an international career, next to Eugen Mravinsky, Igor Markewisch and Jascha Horenstein. In 1943 he became principal conductor at the Bolshoi theatre, an institution so important for Soviet musical life, to which he would belong for 13 years. In 1956 he was appointed chief conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic. This position opened doors for him internationally and Kondrashin was able to accept tour invitations from western countries.

For fans of Sviatoslav Richter, it does not much matter if the sound is not all that great and it does not much matter if the repertoire is the same repertoire as always. It does not even matter much if the performances are not the greatest Richter ever recorded. For fans of Sviatoslav Richter, the only thing that matters is that there are new Richter recordings because that all by itself means that they will be some of the greatest performances of the greatest repertoire ever recorded. And this five-disc set of Sonatas by Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt does not disappoint. With recordings dates from 1961 through 1975 and recording venues all in the USSR and its empire, the sound is hard and harsh. But with repertoire ranging from the last three Beethoven Sonatas through Schubert's last Sonata to Liszt's only Sonata, the music has the supreme masterpieces of the Romantic repertoire. And while there are Richter performances here and there that may arguably exceed these, Richter's performances here are as virtuosic, as expressive, as profound, and as transcendent as any he ever recorded. Which makes them some of the greatest performances of the greatest repertoire ever recorded.

It's hard to believe that any pianist, living or dead (or, probably, yet-to-be-born) could match, much less surpass, these performances. It was Richter, after all, who made Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition almost as important an item in the standard repertory of the piano as Ravel's orchestration is in that of the orchestra. And it was Richter's performances of it, as well as his example, that have ignited the interest of subsequent generations of pianists in the Bunte Blätter, heretofore one of the most obscure works in the Schumann canon.

For many decades the orchestras of the German broadcasting service SWR have worked together with many famous musicians from all over the world, including the outstanding pianists selected for this collection, among them Clara Haskil, Jörg Demus, Paul Badura-Skoda, Alicia de Larrocha, Wilhelm Backhaus, and Géza Anda. Furthermore, Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) is regarded as one of the supreme keyboard masters of the 20th century and must feature in any comparative survey of performances of the central repertoire from Beethoven to Brahms.