Richter plays Beethoven

[Renard8214]

Покой и воля

[pianoestoril]

@xgnothixseautonx what the hell? impotent and failed comediant I guess

[bhaihay1]

@xgnothixseautonx

No thank you, imbibe from an impotent penis? you can't even fuck your mother!

[bonsema1]

Richter would sometimes play this famous bagatelle for an encore. With much success. It is famous for it mid-section sweep across the keybord and with typical Beethoven "think big " musicality work itself out of the base notes again. I would guess that after " fuer Elise " this Bagatelle might be the second most famous and beloved.

[Mezzopianofortist]

Pure genius !!

[schnittke79]

Anyone know the date of this performance?

[StreamOfMetal]

@schnittke79 It looks like early 80´s

[BassicStorm]

@StreamOfMetal this was 1976 i think 

[andretatontos]

his face looks sad ;(

[shopindani]

just amazing,it,s sounds so wonderful .. briliant sviatoslav..

[sevieht]

i wish i was the guy in the background when the camera is on Richter, then everyone who saw this would have seen my orgasm face lol

[maratom34]

Thanks for posting.  I attended a richter concert in baltimore in 1966

[vankan0]

Richter is one of the all time greatest. This recording is no exception. Thanks for sharing.

[cicerone63]

He was always under the perpetual pression of the Soviet politic, was impossible for him to explicate private opinions and the mother was treated kike an hostage during Richter's concetrs outside URSS. I don't know if this situation was reflected on the piano.......

[sam0xin]

1.000.000.000.000.....stars rating

1000's of performed masterpieces from baroque to XXI century.

ONE RICHTER !

[chaussonaph]

Helas....

[sam0xin]

That is YOUR !..... point of view...mine is..." I DON'T THINK SO....! arturon111 !

at least you/me/others... can form the chart of this list by continents...Arrau the best frome south American c-t,Gould NO. 1 from n. American & ...you know then...!?

[sam0xin]

p.s. arturon111 it is same to say " Jupiter 1000 times Better then Mars...BY WHAT ...??!! IN ALL ...? respects ? Are You sure ?& So by your chart number of 1000 times...means Richter is ALMOST A PIANO TUNER....!?

[l1mmg0t]

you stupid kids arturon111. how come you stay home play with your little brother and he is on the stage.

[arturon111]

i am not a kid i play professionally and know what i am talking about,....Richter was a great pianist, no question about it,... however, Arrau was not only a great pianist but a great artist with much more spiritual depth, listen to both pianists play Beethoven's op. 111 for example. Technique is not only being able to play fast, but what quality of sound a pianist produces and control. Arrau had the speed, the control and the most beautiful singing sound in the piano

[fireb0rn]

@arturon111

spiritual depth... lol. what does that even mean?

[username1p]

I believe this was one of the only pianist that was able to bring to the piano, all while during difficult passages, a consistant and natural mode, whereas others get lost and lose track of themselves. Richter follows through a gives a true and honest performance. One of my favorite performers of all time.

[broomdalf]

Gould was true honest, whether or not that was always good

[username1p]

No beef with Gould, but his performances of many Bach works are well played out, but he tends to have a certain idea in his head how he wants it to sound. For example turning a Mozart Adagio into an allegro, Gould wants to do it his way, and my friend the genreral audience may not be ready for that. You understand?

[broomdalf]

Oh I well agree. He interprets music as he wishes, and sometimes it turns out amazingly, as does most of his Bach, other times it turns out something like his rendition of Moonlight Sonata. Which I find to be one of the worst.

If one thinks about it though, the audience was not ready for much of Beethoven's music itself when it was written.

[jvertol1]

Besides which, most contemporary musicologists - i.e. those who actually delineate the 'boundaries' of Classical and Romantic, hesitate to call any of Beethoven's music truly 'Romantic.' Even later in his career, with all the innovations he brought to music, he is considered a 'Pre-Romantic.' The music of Beethoven, though it inspired and awed the full-fledged Romantics like Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, and Liszt, is much closer to the Classical style of his early contemporaries.

[jvertol1]

The point of which, deflep44, is that a) while davidweiner23's discourteous comments did not necessarily merit a courteous response (as he wishes), they do merit a correct one. If you wanted to pick away at the individual words he used, his choice of the word 'gay' to describe the piece is much more at fault than his choice of 'classical.'

[MadMadMadTom]

Has anyone noticed that he pulls the same faces as Morrisey?

[mdoub]

I think he looks like Marlon Brando in The Godfather during this video.

[christophleipzig]

He IS Marlon Brando! ;)

[keelan111]

Perfect musician though Richter was, he got all flustered when somebody brought up Glenn Gould's inimitable ability to bring out the voices in 4 part harmony. He said something to the effect of "O ya! I could do that if I really wanted to! RLY GUISE!!"

[yourforte]

keelan111, any decent pianist can do that; most choose not to bring out individual voices when playing music that's not contrapuntal.

[Ecthelon]

I don't think so. Richter was a modest man, who was seldom satisfied with any of his performances.

[darkmaides]

i almost cried.

[Arturocm77]

Genius

[exponentu]

As much as I admire Richter in general, I think this is, for him anyway, a poor performance. Off-hand, brusque, too uniformly loud. This piece needs above all Innigkeit, and I think that is missing here.

[gspaulsson]

Classical: "of ... the formally and artistically more sophisticated and enduring types of music ...". Maybe we should use "rococo" for the classical period, to avoid confusion. And what's with pre-1900? Plenty of greats post-1900: Rachmaninoff, Strauss, Sibelius, Elgar, Rodrigo, Villa-Lobos ... & the moderns: Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofieff, Bartok, Schoenberg, Britten, etc. There will be many more.

Not all of it big stuff. This is a mere bagatelle.

[spookyben]

One of the rare artists who puts himself so much into the music that you feel closer to the composer. Have loved his recordings since first hearing him in the 70s.

[otterhouse]

Great performance!

-----------------------------

Rolf, Netherlands.

I am a collector of classical 78's and lp's

Click "otterhouse" above to see (and hear!)

some of my collection.

[grayhazer]

and this is one of his mellowest pieces

[hazeofmarijuana]

Mothah fuckah plays a piano like a g, man!

[DanielLaszloKovacs]

So clear, so open, open to me, to us, to everyone! Light and heavy at the same time.

[davidweiner23]

I'm a classical lover, but this piece is

totally gay

[deflep44]

Shows how much you know... this piece is actually romantic, written later in his life as he was the transition. Not all composed music before 1900 is classical dipshit.

[davidweiner23]

I was using classical as a general term

to encompass all periods. On second listen

it really isn't all that bad. Thank you for the

courteous response!

[davidweiner23]

I was using classical as a general term

to encompass all periods. On second listen

it really isn't all that bad. Thank you for the

courteous response!

[davidweiner23]

I was using classical as a general term

to encompass all periods. On second listen

it really isn't all that bad. Thank you for the

courteous response!

[davidweiner23]

I was using classical as a general term

to encompass all periods. On second listen

it really isn't all that bad. Thank you for the

courteous response!

[deflep44]

thats why youre a dipshit, it doesn't encompass all periods

[davidweiner23]

jesus christ, I held back from using profanity

and tried to be cool, but you've turned out to be a real idiot and an asshole. Almost everyone, even in the classical community, casually uses the term "classical" to describe all the periods, until they want to get specific. Go fuck yourself, seriously

[deflep44]

gladly

[PoopShitMario]

"classical" is an adjective of something that possesses qualities of a classic. Like, tonal indicates something that possesses tone. If you wanted to indicate the period of music, you'd say Classical, capitalizing it, even mid-sentence. Are you implying that this Beethoven piece does not possess qualities of a classic, deflep44?

[mrn93]

a piece of music cannot in it's self have a sexuality. So obviously you were using gay as a synonym for bad or worthless, i would suggest that you expand your vocabulary.

[davidweiner23]

thanks dad, for that lesson.

[mrn93]

nope not a dad just gay =]

[Lucithen]

Its so sweet to see how modest Richter was - he was not afraid to play smaller works such as this bagatelle, and by trusting and respecting the composer entirely, he brings out such beautiful music. This piece stuns me with its beautiful simplicity.

[Brennafugg]

this is really dreadful, quite dreadful and appalling. Who is this aged imposter who dares, dares I say attempt this mockery of truth? Let us run him up by his trousers!

[afertyus1000]

well, beethoven in his later sonatas could'nt stand the piano as an instrument and said it had defects [i know he was going deaf] but he could imagine the music in his head

[Viruw]

Can anyone give me their honest appraisal of how they feel Richter compares to Horowitz? I happen to think Horowitz had a richer tone and depth to his romantic interpretations that rivals Richters' - Also his understanding of the Piano technically, as a machine, seems to be unsurpassed. What do people think? Thanks

[englishplayer40]

Horovitz didn't have anywhere near the depth of musicianship of Richter, sure his romantic interpretations were eye-catching but most of the time just too plain flamboyant at the expense of the music. Richter however didn't sacrifice musical quality for showmanship, he was capable of both.

[francorussie]

I think Horowitz, however brilliant, used more superficial effects with not much emotional power. Richter combined insanely strong technical skills with intellectual insight & emotional power. Yet sometimes in a specific case H's performance may have been better that R's and R's could be better than H's. Generally I prefer Richter for his intellectual & emotional power.

[donchevmeister]

Bravo:)

[dmcII]

Horowitz (for most of his career) was first a showman and technician and secondly, an artist. Thats not to say his playing was dull. He was awesome. But it wasn't until much later in life that he started to show the emotion that Richter did. Richter could pretty much hold his own against Horowitz technically. But he also had an artistic dimension that made him more interesting. Horowitz reputedly once said that the only contemporary Russian pianist whose playing he liked was Richter.

[etude12]

Iterestingly, I think toyoboelll is deaf- deaf ppl can see well, and somehow toyoboelll can see boredom, but there is no word on how it sounds.

[samcukor]

i 'love' how you underappreciate the mystery in life and judge out of fear

[smithsherman]

What I hear,"between the notes" is his industrial anxiety not to betray big brother

metronome and the objectivist apostles who crowd the deathcamp in his head...where every feeling is subjugated to the jackboot of absolutest authoritarian objectivist structuralism.Every feeling was selected to go the left...on arrival.

[yarzacc]

'on arrival' indeed! -Have you considered detailing those spaces? That would be great if you could!

[truecrypt]

May be listening "between the notes" should be replaced by simply listening? ;)

Then you'll find no need for pseudo intellectual jargon.

[LVB1770]

Dear smithsherman, WHAT??? Why must you always speak like this? So, are you saying he's plays mechanically? I believe so. Why do you insist on bashing great pianists? I just don't get it? Why do you insist on using largely phrased sentences, which may confuse the crap out of the average you tube user? Anyway, I still like you and thanks for turning me on to some of the older recordings.

[toyoboeIII]

What I see is the intense boredom he feels in having to play the blasted piano day in day out. Frankly, he would rather - you can tell from his eyes - be foutring a cat. (pardon my French)

[marcelmombeekeigen]

I don't think he was bored to play the piano, he played with whole is body and soul... but I do not like his style...

[toyoboeIII]

you are most certainly entirely entitled to your view.thank you for sharing.

[Liedliebhaber]

It seems to me as though his emotional interpretation is internal. He doesn't fake an orgasm on the bench like Lang Lang or something. I think that we've undergone a period of self-indulgence inflation. If you don't watch and just listen, you'll find his playing VERY expressive.

[marcelmombeek]

yes ofcourse it is expressive, but not "impressive", his emotion stays inside, I want to hear it...

[dmcII]

Liedliebhaber, I couldn't agree more. Actually Richter believed strongly that the pianist should serve the composer down to the very last detail. He went to extraordinary lengths to make sure that nothing in his appearance would distract from the music. Thats why he appears so uninspired when he plays. But his music is beyond words.

[loosetea]

THank you! Classical pianists aren't dancing bears (or shouldn't be). Anyone who wants to see someone act out music needs to go to the opera. Even there, good luck finding a singer who puts so much music and depth of emotion, without the distractions of circus antics. Instrumental music is the human condition in sound, at best, and that's what Richter conveys, without distracting displays of visual antics. He remains one of the greatest musicians, and master of his art.

[thunder1909]

That is what you see. How do you know what he feels when he plays the piano. I agree with that Richter uses absolutely no or very little facial expressions, but that doesn't make a pianist good or bad, his playing does.

[dmcII]

Smithsherman, I can't tell if you are more full of shit or more full of yourself. Either way its not pretty. Fortunately I couldn't care less what you think.

[petie32]

-What I read is basically illiterate. Please tell us what you REALLY mean.

[scottbos68]

ive always liked his beethoven - you can hear love between the notes more so than some of the other pieces he plays i think

[smithsherman]

This kind of "beauty"...to quote RealRussians...reminds me of the sound of Einsatzgruppen "reorganizing" Byelorussian

villages in 1943.This is RealRussian's concept of "talented people"

[yarzacc]

wow, thats great, could you give your memories in a cadence by cadence examination of this perfprmance, that would be great

[truecrypt]

Actually RealRussian's concept is lot more attractive than your arrogance. Do you enjoy inflaming YouTube users?

[MatBitesDog]

Richter is obviously a talented pianist. But I feel like his playing is more an exercise then an art.

[optimusito]

You are a clown

[marcelmombeekeigen]

agree, there are not so much recordings from richter where he shows us his capability to be a good musician, but he was a good pianist, being pianist or musician is a big difference...

[truecrypt]

Really?

Very original approach to Richter's recordings. Never say it in public especially to musicians... They will laugh for a very long time! ;)

[scottbos68]

he plays what is written he is accurate but i think the playing is not always alive

i feel that he comes alive when he plays beethoven and haydn - you can hear love and joy between the notes

[RealRussiansOnly]

smithsherman; Have your mommy give you a nice hot bath and some hot coco before putting you to bed. And don't forget to ask the Lord to forgive you for degrading talented people that spent their lives creating beauty for ordinary mortals.

[smithsherman]

Dear Gerryrains, Reading in Russian and English

has been no help to you in music.When one listens to Richter irons out the humanity

and feeling in Rachmaninoff's works...What can 1 say other than quote Bunin..."Beware

of the jealous peasant taking over"

[RealRussiansOnly]

gerryrains: thank you for your comments. I think that I have read in russian and english more about rachmaninov and richter than most people. What you have said is no secret, but I appreciate your interest and love of music.

[pupniktomatoface]

lets see who can post the most comments...

richters hair here is ace yes

[smithsherman]

Usually comments by Florestan are very accurate,but this 1 on Reinecke is not.

He left several rolls...not 1.& they're very reliable...but that bothers those

who don't want to see a Viennese style

so different from our dogma.

[smithsherman]

My God...RealRussians is waking up from his NKVD dreams to realize that YouTube is a ...

"Democracy". Okay,Bruckner...forget historicity.

This a simply boring & dry as yesterday's toast.How's that for contemporary appraisal?

[RealRussiansOnly]

gerryrains: You are half right - as of now You tube is seemingly a democracy and everyone may voice an opinion; wherein I have the right to disagree. Rach. was a mighty pianist but limited in personal repertoire. Richter had repertoire of more than 800 compositions memorized. No comparison: chickins & goats!

[gerryrains]

RealRussiansOnly,

Of course Richter had a larger repertoire than Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff played the piano, composed, and conducted. Richter, quite sensibly, stuck to his strength. He played the piano superbly and, while doing so, developed a huge repertoire. Rachy never had the time to do that. If you read any biography of Rachmaninoff you will discover that he hated to play his own works and throughly enjoyed playing the works of other composers.

[RealRussiansOnly]

ghostpianst: you are right and I appreciate the sound advice. But in certain cases fighting degredation is chivairous and a counter weight that prevents the dark forces from gaining an upper hand.

[RealRussiansOnly]

So Richter, the great oak, towering above the musical mushrooms of the century devoted 75yrs to music so that his playing could be evaluated by bloody, snot gurgling zombies on U-tube. Time to purify this planet of imbeciles & degenerates; there is no other solution.

[ghostpianist]

just let them

the poor guys can't express their opinions elsewhere; nobody listens.

[BrucknerEnthusiast]

'smithsherman' brings up the subject of historic Beethoven playing and authenticity. Fine. But let's remember that current notions of what may or may not be authentic are changing, even today (see the chapter on old 78rpm recordings in "Performing Beethoven" by Robin Stowell, Cambridge University Press).

The issues involved are enormous, and often the specialists fail to understand the full extent of the problem.

[gerryrains]

BrucknerEnthusiast,

As a fellow Bruckner lover I salute you. And thanks for providing the name of a book that I would like to buy.

[gerryrains]

RealRussiansOnly,

When it comes down to it, the Internet and YouTube are still democracies, and their users have the right to express their opinions. Would you really wish to be the dictator of the world? Of course Richter is marvelous. The only pianist who (1) recorded CDs and (2) in my opinion was superior to Richter was Rachmaninoff. Being second to him is surely no disgrace.

[pupniktomatoface]

did rachmaninov do CDs? i've got CDs of his 78's or whatever records.. yukyuk dont answer this pleeeeeeeeeeeease thankyou.

[smithsherman]

Dear Great Richter, U R not so sure because U haven't the vaguest idea of historic Beethoven playing.But even forgetting that,this is boring,clunky,vapid & dry.

Only those who lacking vision to their real soul identity will have a performer up on a pedestal for their god.

[TheGreatRichter]

I am not sure

[lourak]

I think Richter is rushing this piece. There are so many beautiful suspensions and complex harmonies that should be savored more. He just passes through them without the necessary inflexions that are called for.

[LVB1770]

lourak, I love Richter but you have a good point here and I must say I agree with you.

[smithsherman]

Dear Lourak, For a change I completely agree with you.Richter

wouldn't recognize this music if it hit him like a 5000

pound boulder falling from the Empire state building.

This performance has absolutely nothing to do with

the Beethoven playing as left by people from that time on Edison.

[lourak]

I'm willing to go up to 1000 pounds on the boulder but no higher. Sorry...

[FlorestanEusebius]

"People from that time" left commercial Edison wax cylinder recordings? The first ones were on the market around 1900, so these people must have been pretty old. Reinecke was the oldest at 80 to make only an unreliable piano roll in 1905, but even he was only 3 when Beethoven died.

[pupniktomatoface]

florrie, i salute you for your impecable taste in all matters of discretion.

eubie i can only feel you have let us all down on that matter of the fake bank notes, my dear... nevertheless your maths is remarkable and no one will ever blame you for not keeping it to yourself like a true hero

[friekunater]

richter where do you live??? there is a teacher in my town with the last name of richter. please respond

[leomulder]

hahah. This is a very common name. : P

[LVB1770]

friekunater, Richter lives in Heaven now but his playing

with live on forever.

[dmcII]

Friekunater, Richter's address is heaven now (at least I hope so). He died in 1997 so I don't think there's any connection to your teacher.

[ANaqvi]

richter is (acutally unfortunately now it's was) a piano god...

[mltube]

If god, then he still is, and will always be :-)

[madmarre]

he could smile a bit lol

[donchevmeister]

Who may be able to compare with this giant of the piano!!??

Thanks a lot for share his videos

[twinkletree]

Richter always seems so remote when he plays. He makes even the simplest things sound infinitely complex and profound, and he does this with modesty and tasteful restraint. Incredibly powerful musician and pianist.

[cahitozgur]

thanx for post, keep posting richter !

[n4t0ch3]

What a treasure!! Richter at his best! Thank you for posting this. I wish more people could hear the way the music should really sound. It is as much a spiritual delight as education for many. Particularly ones who do not hear much and hav the audacity to compare this magisterial playing to Arrau's pitiful sleep-walking Beethoven readings

[pedroV2003]

Absolutely my all time favorite classical pianist, and IMO, no one played Beethoven better. Thanks.

[afertyus1000]

he was a true genius,his documentary moved me to tears at the end as an old man described his life as a waste! he is similar to my father [only he does'nt play]

[poslednieje]

right, people should know more about his life, listen his performance gets an extra dimension

[pianist007]

thanks for posting richter, such a treasure