Here is what amounts to an SACD upgrading of Sviatoslav Richter in Prague Volume 4, featuring the celebrated pianist in live broadcast performances of Beethoven’s Op. 110 sonata (June 2, 1965) and Diabelli Variations (May 18, 1986). While nothing can change Op. 110’s slightly clangorous patina in loud sections and ill-tuned notes, Praga’s surround-sound remastering reveals a warmer ambience than before and extra bottom to Richter’s sonority. Perhaps this makes his controversially slow tempo for the second-movement Allegro molto sound more plausible than before. At the same time, the additional resonance blurs rapid left-hand figurations that sound clearer on the original CD. I detect stronger mid-range presence in the Diabelli Variations’ surround-sound remastering, although no significant timbral difference distinguishes the SACD from its earlier CD incarnation.
At 71, Richter still commanded an imposing dynamic range and powerful fingerwork, albeit with less suppleness and control in lighter, more rapid sequences, as borne out in Nos. 9 and 10, 19 and 23. If the pianist’s tempo for the first variation’s Alla Marcia is more “funebre” than the “maestoso” Beethoven indicates, his ever-so-slight delays between No. 13’s notes and rests reveals a sense of comic timing not usually associated with the older Richter’s sometimes dour music making. I also like how he tosses off the concluding minuet variation in a relatively simple and even offhand fashion, rather than treating it with kid gloves. On balance, Praga’s remains the best of Richter’s commercially released live Diabelli Variations traversals, although I ultimately prefer the stronger architecture, emotional contrasts, and pianistic finesse distinguishing recordings from Claudio Arrau, Stephen Kovacevich, Rudolf Serkin, Peter Serkin, and Charles Rosen.
