In 2000 BBC Legends brought out Sviatoslav Richter’s June 11, 1975 all-Beethoven Aldeburgh recital, which I reviewed for Classicstoday.com (read review here). Now ICA Classics releases the same program from Richter’s London recital one week later, on June 18, at the Royal Festival Hall. Richter mavens might remember the latter’s “Hammerklavier” sonata released by Stradivarius in less than optimum sound. ICA’s access to the original BBC broadcast source tape, of course, yields far superior sonics, although I prefer the Aldeburgh broadcast’s warmer piano tone and more intimate ambience. However, BBC Legends omitted the Op. 2 No. 3’s first-movement exposition repeat that Richter observed, in order not to exceed the CD format’s then 80-minute time limit. Today’s extended capacity allows ICA to retain the repeat. That aside, no significant differences characterize one recital from the other, although some details come off better in one venue than in the other.
London’s Op. 2 No. 3 finale’s bracing runs and brilliant upward chords slightly push ahead in spots, as does the Trio’s Presto in the Op. 106 Scherzo. The B minor Bagatelle Op. 126 No. 4’s equally precipitous pace is under better control in Aldeburgh, but No. 6’s lyrical section has a slightly more floating singing line in London. Neither the Aldeburgh nor London readings of Op. 2 No. 3’s Scherzo truly lilt with the sparkle of Richter’s Prague performance earlier that month.
Over the years I’ve become less enamored of the concentrated gait of Richter’s Hammerklavier first movement, which now strikes me as overly aloof and sober. But Richter’s timing, articulation, and gripping legato touch consistently hold interest in the Adagio sostenuto, albeit with more poetic and flexible results in Aldeburgh. Despite Richter’s solid and clear fingerwork throughout the formidable fourth-movement fugue, the basic tempo grows slightly slower. Too bad that ICA did not include Richter’s encore, when the pianist came back out on stage, reprised the entire fourth movement, and then everything clicked into place.
