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In the 1950s, Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter was an almost mythical figure to music lovers in the West. He was was forbidden to travel beyond the Iron Curtain. Beginning in 1956, Deutsche Grammophon sent engineers to Prague and Warsaw to record Richter in improved sound, but the pianist's big breakthrough didn't really come until 1960, when Soviet authorities finally allowed him to visit the West. Between October 15 and December 28, Sviatoslav Richter embarked on an extended concert tour of the United States and Canada. Thirty concerts in 75 days. Fifteen cities. The two dominant American record companies, RCA and Columbia, each expressed an interest in recording Richter during his American tour. First stop was Chicago where he performed Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with Erich Leinsdorf and the Chicago Symphony on October 15, 1960. Two days later it was recorded by RCA, which signed the pianist to a three LP contract. Next stop was New York City and Carnegie Hall, where he embarked on a marathon of five recitals in twelve days, October 19-30 (interrupted for a concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra on the 21st). Six concerts in twelve days is actually something of a stunt, but it certainly caught the attention of the New York press. [would any living pianist dare something like this?] The recitals were not broadcast, but back then Carnegie Hall routinely recorded performances for the personal use of the artist, using their in-house microphone system, which unfortunately dated back to the 1940s (medium-fi mono, obsolete by 1960). Columbia Records saw their opportunity, and negotiated a deal with Carnegie Hall and someone in the Soviet Ministry of Culture, allowing them to issue these taped recitals on LP. Consequently all five recitals were released on ten mono LPs by Columbia Records. RCA threatened legal action, claiming that Richter had signed an exclusive contract with them - at least for the American tour. RCA convinced the pianist to sign a letter demanding that the Columbia LPs be taken off the market. Columbia agreed to the recall and destroyed their inventory. [the account in the booklet paints Columbia Records as the innocent victim of Russian perfidy.] For 55 years, the few surviving LPs have commanded astronomical prices on the used record market. The continued non-availability of the Carnegie Hall recitals has created a mystique around them that may or may not be justified. Judge for yourself. This is the most thorough documentation we have of Sviatoslav Richter in his absolute prime. Twelve days of concentrated piano playing. Unedited. In response to popular demand, Richter returned to Carnegie Hall at the end of the tour for three additional concerts: -- On December 18, he appeared with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic (Concertos by Liszt and Tchaikovsky). Unfortunately no recording session (Bernstein was a Columbia artist). -- The December 23 recital, all-Beethoven, was not recorded. -- The December 26 recital was recorded, this time by RCA using their own stereo microphones, plus a repeat program on December 28 across the river in Newark, New Jersey. Highlights from both were issued on a single RCA LP in 1965. The entire December 26 Carnegie Hall recital, plus the encores from December 28, were issued in a 2 CD set in 2005, "Richter Rediscovered". The rest of the December 28 recital appears for the first time in this new box. Luckily for us, RCA and Columbia are both now owned by Sony. The Cold War is over. After 55 years, we finally have a complete edition of Richter's 1960 American recordings: Seven public recitals on 13 CDs + 3 CDs worth of studio recordings (2 concertos, 3 sonatas). -- October 17: RCA STUDIO RECORDING (Chicago) = CD 1 Brahms Piano Concerto 2 w/ Erich Leinsdorf, Chicago Symphony -- October 19: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 2+3 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No. 3, 9, 12, 22, 23 // Schubert: Impromptu Op.90, No.4 // Schumann: Fantasiestücke Op.12, No.2: Aufschwung // Chopin: Etudes Op.10, No.1 and 12 -- October 21: [Concert with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Concertos by Dvorak and Brahms). Not recorded.] -- October 23: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 4+5 Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas No. 6, 8 + finale of Sonata 8 encored / Sonatine Pastorale, Op.59, No.3 / Paysage, Op.59, No.2 / Pensées - Andante Op.62, No.3 -- October 25: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 6+7 Haydn: Piano Sonata No.60, Hob.XVI No.50 // Schumann: Novellettes, Op.21, No.1,2,8 // Debussy: Suite bergamasque / Images, Book I / L'Isle joyeuse / Images, Book II, No.1 - Cloches a travers les feuilles / Préludes Book I, No.3 - Le vent dans la plaine / Préludes Book I, No.5 - Les collines d'Anacapri -- October 28: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 8+9 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 7 // Schumann: Novellettes, Op.21, No.1,2,8 // Rachmaninoff: Preludes, Op.23, No.1,2,4,5,7,8 Op.32, No.1,2,6,7,9,10,12 // Chopin: Etude Op.10, No.3 / Mazurka Op.24, No.2 // Debussy: Images, Book II, No.1: Cloches a travers les feuilles // Prokofiev: Cinderella Op.95, No.2 - Gavotte -- October 30: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 10 * Schumann: Fantasie Op.17 // Chopin: Scherzo No.4 // Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte / Jeux d'eau / Miroirs No.2 - Oiseaux Tristes // Scriabin: Piano Sonata No.5 // Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op.32, No.12 -- November 2,3: RCA STUDIO RECORDING (Boston) = CD 11 Beethoven Piano Concerto 1 w/ Charles Munch, Boston Symphony -- November 29,30: RCA STUDIO RECORDING (New York) = CD 11+12 Beethoven Piano Sonatas 12, 22 and 23 -- December 26: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 13+14 -- December 28: Newark recital - same program = CD 15+16 Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 60, H.XVI No.50 // Chopin: Scherzo No. 4 / Ballade No. 3 // Rachmaninoff: Preludes Op. 23 No.1, Op. 32 No.9,10,12 // Ravel: Jeux d'eau / La Vallée des cloches // Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 6 -- Dec 26 encores: Prokofiev: Visions fugitives, Op.22 - Selections -- Dec 28 encores: Prokofiev: Cinderella Op.95, No.2 - Gavotte / Visions fugitives, Op.22, No.4 - Animato // Debussy: Préludes, Book I, No.5 - Les collines d'Anacapri // Chopin: Études Op.10, No.10,12 / Mazurka Op.24, No.2 in C ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * The October 30 recital on CD 10 is the only recital on one CD (73 minutes). The four earlier recitals are on two CDs and average 95 minutes each. [for a while I thought there might be some missing music, but this is the October 30 recital in its entirety.] The original printed program featured Liszt's Piano Sonata in B Minor as the first selection. At the last minute and after programs had been printed, Richter made the decision to substitute the Schumann Fantasie for the Liszt Sonata. This still wouldn't account for the short program: The Liszt and Schumann are approximately the same duration. There was only one encore [two nights earlier there had been seven encores]. Perhaps Richter was in a bad mood on the 30th. You'd never guess from the evidence on this CD. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOUND QUALITY and PACKAGING: 11 of the 13 CDs devoted to the 1960 recitals have been newly mastered at 24bit/96kHz by Sony's chief engineer Andreas K. Meyer. - The five October Carnegie Hall recitals, though mono, still sound pretty good. Better than I had expected. There is not a lot of high frequency information on these tapes, but low and mid-range reproduce well. I don't know how much high frequency information there was on the original tapes. They have always had a bad reputation. It was still a pleasant listening experience, once you get used to it. - Meyer also mastered the December 28 Newark recital. - The December 26 Carnegie Hall recital is the same Marion Conaty remastering used for "Richter Re-Discovered" (24bit/96kHz) No complaints. -- If you're concerned about the sound of the October Carnegie Hall recordings, try Disc 9, Track 12 in the free audio samples on Amazon's digital music page (or Disc 7, track 3 for some quiet playing): Sviatoslav Richter - The Complete Album Collection. Studio recordings: Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto is a new 24bit/96kHz remastering by Andreas K. Meyer (at least the third time it has been remastered for CD). Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto and Piano Sonatas 12, 22 and 23 are XRCD remasterings by Kazuie Sugimoto of Sony Japan (they previously sold for $30/disc in North America). Everything sounds wonderful to me. The piano in the Sonatas is a bit clangy, but that's an accurate reproduction of Richter's Steinway. I may not be the best judge of sound - my ears are 65 years old (as is the rest of me). "Original jacket" mini-LP format. Original cover art with program notes on the back. Everything comes packaged in an attractive rigid cardboard box. 56 page booklet with essay by Jed Distler. My only complaint is the lack of an index to the music on these CDs. Sony used to get a lot of complaints about the difficulty of removing CDs from their two-CD cardboard jackets. They must have listened, because this time two-LP sets are packaged as two single CDs with identical covers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the 1960 North American tour, Richter's next Western appearance was another five-concert marathon, this time in London, July 8-18, 1961. Some, but not all of this has been released on BBC Classics. Unfortunately not in a systematic fashion. Nearly all of Sviatoslav Richter's public recitals were recorded - Authorized or not. He is the most pirated pianist in recorded history. There is an enormous data base of recordings: From 1960 alone, there are five recordings of Chopin's Etude Op.10, No.1 in C to choose from: Prague, Bucharest, Kiev, Moscow and New York. I will not attempt a comparative analysis of Richter's recordings. Way beyond my capabilities, and life is too short. I do think this box is one of the best ideas that Sony has ever come up with. And it doesn't even cost a lot. ------------------------------------------------------------------- POINTS OF INTEREST: -- As someone will no doubt point out, the 75 day U.S tour was not actually Richter's first appearance outside the Communist Bloc: Between May 10 and 15, 1960, he gave three recitals in Finland. I don't think they were recorded. -- If the five October Carnegie Hall recitals seem to have had noisier audiences than the December 26 recital, blame the microphones. On December 26, RCA used directional microphones, more sophisticated than Carnegie's in-house microphone system that picked up everything indiscriminately. -- The account of the LP release of the Carnegie Hall recitals in the the Sony booklet goes into some detail. It looks bad for Schuyler Chapin of Columbia Records: Chapin asked the representative of MK (the Soviet Cultural Bureau) if this agreement had Richter's approval. Soon after he received a telegram from Richter confirming his OK. But the telegram was sent from Washington D.C at a time when Richter was in New York. Apparently Chapin never made an attempt to contact Richter personally, relying on intermediaries. -- re the October 30 Carnegie Hall recital: the fine print on page 44 of the booklet reads: "Original LPs: ML6065/6 in set M2L312 (release cancelled)" If the release had not been cancelled, I hope they would have corrected the glaring typographical error on the album cover: Schumann's Fantasia in C, Op.17 is credited to Schubert. The actual first LP release was in Japan in 1979. -- The December 28 recital was given in the "Mosque Theater" in Newark, New Jersey. No - It's not a real mosque. No connection to Islam. The Mosque Theater (original name "Salaam Temple") was a 3500 seat auditorium built in 1925 by the "Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine", better known as the Shriners. Still in use as an auditorium - renamed as "Newark Symphony Hall" so as not to offend. The Shriners are a North American charitable fraternity (related to the Masons) founded in 1870. They run children's hospitals and drive tiny cars while wearing red fezzes. In the early years of the Twentieth Century, they built a lot of auditoriums. In addition to the Mosque Theater in Newark, they built the 3700 seat "Syria Mosque" in Pittsburgh (1911-1991 R.I.P.) and the 4200 seat Medinah Temple in Chicago (famous as a recording venue for the Chicago Symphony), built in 1912 and still standing, though the interior has been gutted and is now home to Bloomingdale's Department Store. -- The October Carnegie Hall recitals were previously released on CD by the small Canadian label Doremi, but they were copied from commercial Columbia LP pressings, not the master tapes to which Sony has access. -- Sony's booklet claims that five selections are previously unreleased. In fact, four were omitted from the Columbia LPs (and Doremi CDs), and are appearing here for the first time: - Chopin: Etude Op.10, No. 12 in C Minor "Revolutionary" -- October 19 - Debussy: Images Book II, No.1 - Cloches a travers les feuilles -- October 28 - Prokofiev: Sonata 8, Op.84, finale encored -- October 23 - Schumann: Novelettes Op.21, No.1, 2, 8 -- October 28 See my comment dated January 24 for details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LATE RECORDINGS: The 1960 Sviatoslav Richter was a far more fiery and risk-taking pianist than the mature Richter many of us have grown accustomed to. Tremendously exciting. As a bonus, the Sony box has two CDs of the mature Richter in concert at the 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Festival (previously released), plus some Schubert pieces recorded in concert at the Aldeburgh Festival. CD 17 = Aldeburgh, 1977 (first CD release) Schubert: Scherzo in D-flat D.593 / Andante in A D.604 / Four Landler D.366 CD 17+18 = Schleswig-Holstein, 1988 Beethoven: Piano Concerto 1 w/ Christoph Eschenbach, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra // Brahms: Sonata 1 // Chopin: Etudes Op.10, No. 1-4,6,11,12 // Liszt: Etudes d'exécution - Harmonies du Soir / Hungarian Rghapsody 17 / Scherzo & March The 1977 Aldeburgh Festival recordings on CD 17 were last seen on a CBS Masterworks 3 LP set sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Benson & Hedges (no engineer is credited). The 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Festival recordings on CDs 17 and 18 appear to be straight reissues of the 1993 CD remasterings (no engineer is credited). -- Missing from the Sony box is the early '70s studio recording of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier that RCA issued on 4 CDs in 1992: Well-Tempered Clavier, The (Richter) It was not an original RCA production, but was licensed from Melodiya. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO THE SONY BOX: BEETHOVEN: Sonata 3 -- 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 2) Sonata 7 -- 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 8) Sonata 9 -- 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 2) Sonata 12 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 2) + studio recording (SONY cd 12), two performances Sonata 22 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 3) + studio recording (SONY cd 11), two performances Sonata 23 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 3) + studio recording (SONY cd 12), two performances Concerto 1 - 1960 Munch, Boston Symphony (SONY cd 11) Concerto 1 - 1988 Eschenbach, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra (SONY cd 18) BRAHMS: Sonata 1 - 1988 Schleswig-Holstein (SONY cd 17) Concerto 2 - 1960 Leinsdorf, Chicago Symphony (SONY cd 1) CHOPIN: Ballade 3 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, two performances (SONY cd 13,15) Etudes Op.10 No.1,3,10,12 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark (SONY cd 3,9,16) Etudes Op.10 No.1,2,3,4,6,11,12 - 1988 Schleswig-Holstein (SONY cd 18) Mazurka Op.24 No.2 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, two performances (SONY cd 9,16) Scherzo 4 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, three performances (SONY cd 10,13,15) DEBUSSY: Images Book 1 No.1-3, Book 2 No.1 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 7,9) L'Isle joyeuse - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 7) Preludes Book 1 No.3,5 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark (SONY cd 7,16) Suite Bergamesque - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 7) HAYDN: Sonata 60 (Hob 50) - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, three performances (SONY cd 6,13,15) LISZT: Consolation 6 - 1988 Schleswig-Holstein (SONY cd 17) Etudes d'execution transcendante No.11 - 1988 Schleswig-Holstein (SONY cd 17) Hungarian Rhapsody 17 - 1988 Schleswig-Holstein (SONY cd 17) Scherzo and March S.177 - 1988 Schleswig-Holstein (SONY cd 17) PROKOFIEV: Sonata 6 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, three performances (SONY cd 4,14,16) Sonata 8 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 5) Cinderella: Gavotte Op.95 No.2 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, two performances (SONY cd 9,16) Paysage Op.59,No.2 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 4 Pensee Op.62 No.3 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 4) Sonatine Pastorale Op.59,No.3 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 4) Visions fugitives No.3,4,5,6,8,9,11,14,15,18 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark (SONY cd 14,16) RACHMANINOV: Preludes Op.23 No.1,2,4,5,7,8 - 1960 Carnegie Hall + Newark (SONY cd 9,13,15) Preludes Op.32 No.1,2,6,7,9,10,12 - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark (SONY cd 9,10,13,15) RAVEL: Jeux d'eu - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, three performances (SONY cd 10,13,15) Miroir No.2 "La Vallee des cloches" - 1960 Carnegie Hall and Newark, two performances (SONY cd 13,15) Oiseaux tristes - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 10) Pavane pour une infante defunte - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 10) SCHUBERT: Andante D604 - 1977 Aldeburgh (SONY cd 17) Impromptu D899 No.4 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 3) Landler D366 No.1,3,4,5 - 1977 Aldeburgh (SONY cd 17) Scherzo D593 No.2 - 1977 Aldeburgh (SONY cd 17) SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C Op.17 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 10) Fantasiestucke Op.12 No.2 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 3) Novelettes Op.21 No. 1,2,8 - 1960 Carnegie Hall, two performances (SONY cd 6,8) SCRIABIN: Sonata 5 - 1960 Carnegie Hall (SONY cd 10) -------------------------------------------------------------------- ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO ALL OF RICHTER'S WESTERN RECORDINGS: All of Richter's recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, RCA, Columbia, EMI, Philips, Decca and Teldec are now available in four inexpensive mega-boxes. I thought it would be useful to prepare a cross-index to the material in the four boxes. See my January 29 review of Complete Decca, Philips & DG Recordings (Limited Edition) " INDEX TO RECORDINGS OF SVIATOSLAV RICHTER BY WESTERN RECORD COMPANIES "