Here’s a major coup for Sviatoslav Richter fans. The great pianist’s 1960 American debut tour included a triumphant series of five Carnegie Hall recitals. Such was the demand for tickets that another concert was added on December 26th, with the program repeated across the Hudson at Newark’s long-defunct Mosque Theater. RCA Victor recorded both recitals, but only a handful of items were issued a few years later–and never were released on CD. BMG now presents the Carnegie Hall concert intact, along with the Mosque Theater encores. Richter mavens should know that the Ravel, Chopin, and Rachmaninov items previously issued on LP stem from the Mosque Theater tapes. It seems unlikely that they’ll be reissued, but the Carnegie versions offer substantially the same interpretations. Discographical nitpicking aside, there’s some fantastic stuff here.
Richter’s Haydn C major is crisper, more propulsive, and more finely shaded than both his September, 1960 Melodiya and October, 1960 Carnegie Hall Columbia recordings, and the ease with which he tosses off the first movement’s cruelly exposed double notes simply astounds. Harris Goldsmith’s perceptive annotations discuss the pianist’s mercurial tempo shifts (as opposed to the composer’s!) in Chopin’s Third Ballade and Fourth Scherzo. I prefer Richter’s more straightforward 1977 studio recording of the Fourth Scherzo, as well as a staggering live 1976 version in a four-disc set from Music and Arts. Richter’s 1961 studio Third Ballade on DG retains the subjective qualities of the present Carnegie Hall rendition, yet better coheres, with a more controlled coda.
If in Richter’s hands Ravel’s Jeux d’eau evokes not so much a fountain as the grand rapids (the Mosque version is a bit more settled in the opening section, in fact), the same composer’s La Vallée des Cloches speaks miracles of color coding and infinite nuance. Ditto Richter’s gorgeous Rachmaninov Preludes, especially the G-sharp minor selection. The Prokofiev Sixth adds little to what we know from Richter’s numerous other recordings of this sonata (the 1966 recording on Philips has the best sonics) but confirms his understanding of the composer’s often overlooked lyrical persona. Richter also uncovers the tart humor and elusive poetry in a canny representation from Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives. Of the Chopin encores, I’m most taken with the patrician delicacy Richter brings to the strange little C major Mazurka (Op. 24 No. 2). Perhaps this release will inspire Sony to reissue the entire Richter October, 1960 Carnegie Hall series. Don’t bet on it, but bet that BMG’s limited edition set is not going to be around forever. Buy it now, while you can.
