There’s a reason these well-produced radio recordings could not be released while Sviatoslav Richter was alive: they are dreadful. Both works, except for the exotic middle movement of the Saint-Saëns that contains exquisite touches in a few spots, basically proceed at rehearsal tempos. Rhythms are uniformly heavy, efforts at characterization minimal. The finale of the Gershwin is a joke, that of the Saint-Saëns just plain sad. There’s no need at all to list Richter’s deficiencies at length. He was well past his prime in 1993, and only the choice of repertoire offered intriguing possibilities that, alas, remain almost completely unfulfilled. His fans won’t care, while others have many options in this repertoire. As a conductor, Christoph Eschenbach is very kind to his soloist: he manages to be even duller. Stay away. [5/25/2010]
