Richter came to play at my High School in UK, somewhere around 1974-75. I sat onstage about 10 feet away from him, where I could watch his hands. He played, amongst other things, Pictures. I'd love to be able to say he was stupendous - and in many ways he was. You could tell he was extraordinary. BUT...... he had just signed a no-doubt lucrative contract with Yamaha, so he was playing one of their pianos rather than our hall Steinway. In those days Yamaha pianos were really bad. So the sound was pretty execrable - it seemed muffled all the time. Such a disappointment. All the music faculty at the concert were shaking their heads in disbelief...... We had all the greats pass through our school: Rubinstein, Cherkassky, Brendel amongst others - and above all Gilels. Remains to this day the most memorable piano recital I have attended. A huge bear of a man, he just sat down and got on with it as though he was making a cup of tea. The power, the control, the range of touch and dynamics were all unbelievable, as was the freshness of interpretation. It all sounded new-minted. Incredible.
This prompted me to see if you've ever talked about the best complete Prokofiev sonatas recordings, or separate sonatas best recordings. I don't think you've done either. So a request for both of these, please.....
It is the 9th who was written for Richter. I have always found this sonata full of humor. It explains the dedication!
Richter came to play at my High School in UK, somewhere around 1974-75. I sat onstage about 10 feet away from him, where I could watch his hands. He played, amongst other things, Pictures. I'd love to be able to say he was stupendous - and in many ways he was. You could tell he was extraordinary. BUT...... he had just signed a no-doubt lucrative contract with Yamaha, so he was playing one of their pianos rather than our hall Steinway. In those days Yamaha pianos were really bad. So the sound was pretty execrable - it seemed muffled all the time. Such a disappointment. All the music faculty at the concert were shaking their heads in disbelief...... We had all the greats pass through our school: Rubinstein, Cherkassky, Brendel amongst others - and above all Gilels. Remains to this day the most memorable piano recital I have attended. A huge bear of a man, he just sat down and got on with it as though he was making a cup of tea. The power, the control, the range of touch and dynamics were all unbelievable, as was the freshness of interpretation. It all sounded new-minted. Incredible.
Richter was an extraordinary musician, and you aptly described why his playing is utterly compelling, commanding the listener's attention.
Incredibly, for the premiere Richter learnt the seventh sonata in four days.
Such good fun... Richter!
This prompted me to see if you've ever talked about the best complete Prokofiev sonatas recordings, or separate sonatas best recordings. I don't think you've done either. So a request for both of these, please.....