SVIATOSLAV RICHTER

 

Mozart: Piano Sonata K 282, K 545, K 310

Chopin: Études Op.10: No.1 to No.6, No.10 to No.12, Études Op.25: No.5, 6, 8, 11

 

Filmed at the Barbican Centre, London, 29 March 1989

 

Bonus: Chopin: Étude Op.10 No.4 and No.12

Rachmaninov: Étude-Tableau Op.39 No.3

 

Broadcast by BBC on 28 October 1969

 

Lovingly restored, using the finest state-of-the-art technology, Classic Archive features great performances from legendary artists, offering a unique historical glimpse into our classical heritage!

 

• The circumstances of the Barbican recital were far from ideal. Richter, notoriously temperamental and known on occasion to cancel concerts at a moment’s notice, was apparently unaware until shortly before the concert that it was to be filmed. To use his own term, he detested filmed or televised concerts

• After considerable, evidently heated discussion, he agreed to the filming on the condition that no camera would be in his field of vision. This challenge was overcome

• More difficult for the film crew, used to expending 50,000 watts of lighting power when televising such an event, was Richter’s insistence on restricting the lighting to a single 40- watt bulb, trained directly on the music. By this time, this was his standard practice.

• His aims were twofold: on the one hand, to focus maximum attention on the music; on the other, to de-emphasize the importance of the performer

• If we feel short-changed by the predominantly black screen in the Barbican recital, we should remember that the small amount of Richter we are allowed to see is very much more than he would have liked us to see. Ideally, he would have preferred a light that illuminated only the music

 

4:3 fullscreen

Sound Formats: PCM Stereo

Region Code: 0

Booklet Notes: Tracklist in English, French, German

Running Time: 90 mins

 

CLASSIC ARCHIVE

Medici arts DVD NTSC 3085208