Sviatoslav Richter - Great Pianists of the 20th Century, Vol. 82

I bought this volume for the three Prokofiev sonatas, considering the recital on the other disk to be a bonus. After many listenings, this turned out to be one of the best musical purchases I've ever made.

Richter knew Prokofiev personally and was one of the best, if not THE best, interpreter of Prokofiev's music. In fact, Prokofiev entrusted Richter to publicly premiere his 7th sonata after listening Richter perform it for him personally. Add in the fact that sonatas 6, 7 and 8 were all conceived at the same time and fit together as a trilogy very nicely, and here's an ideal coupling. There may be another recording with these three sonatas and Richter floating around, but it's hard to beat getting the sonatas and the Sofia recital at the equivalent of mid-price.

The sound on the sonatas is good. The 6th sonata comes across very clearly. The 7th, especially in the 2nd movement, suffers a bit from a lack of dynamic range. The 8th sounds clear enough for one to...Read more

This is an outstanding collection of classic performances. Pictures At An Exhibition is a perfect vehicle for the legendary pianist Richter whose command of color and expressive depth allows for an incredible rendition. Each picture is brought to life as this live performance finds Richter passionately at the peak of his powers. Historically, these performances hold a special place as a defining moment. Little momentum is lost as the set contains great performances of Schubert and Liszt masterpieces. Finally the 3 mature and powerful sonatas by Prokofiev on disc 2 are a tour de force. Richter combines his rhythmic genius and a very broad palate to definitively present these compelling works. This and the other 2 Richter volumes in this series are highly recommended.

There are some musicians that are almost always compelling. Richter and Horowitz at the piano, Coltrane on the sax, the Beatles ....they all bring a special insight that few others can. It is difficult to put "the best of Richter" on 2 CDs, but this set accomplishes the task well. These performances have been in and out of the catalog for years, inspiring hard-core fans to search the globe for elusive copies. Now is a great time to pick up this CD as you never know when these performances might disappear again. A review of the CDs is almost unnecessary...you can look on any classical CD forum and find fans gushing with the highest praise about the great Richter performances.