Sviatoslav Richter plays Mozart Sonata in B flat major (1/3)

[Zwrqhmusic88]

Richter is the best!!! I wish I could here him live.

[JohnnySigzRude]

The best interpretation i'v heard of this sonata.

[JohnnySigzRude]

Oh my god! Is it possible to play this good?!?! Noone close to this interpretation..

[americanprincess94]

Thanks for the complement and the advice I'll definately take it into consideration. I think Richter is an excellent pianist and an obveously talented and experienced performer. I'm not judging him. I'm not saying I could play it better either (definately not!) And I definately didn't mean for you to get offended (sorry)

By the way I have found many of your postings extremely helpful in choosing repetoire for my exam.

Hope you have a great day!!!

TMW

[americanprincess94]

This recording is nice but rather emotion-less. It lacks feeling and charecter.

[truecrypt]

Dear mericanprincess94,

Though you are currently studying for your grade 10 piano exam, you understand very little in piano performance yet. Let's wait another 10-15 years. May be then you'll know better... Meanwhile continue practicing and try to be more critical toward yourself. Good luck with exam...

[americanprincess94]

@truecrypt I'm not sayimg it's a bad performance. What I'm saying is that it could be better if there were more feeling. And I have heard a fair amount of piano performance. But it also seems it might have something to do with the recording.

[truecrypt]

@americanprincess94

It also might have something to do with your somewhat limited listening experience or over-reliance on other YTers' comments. Be careful criticizing great musicians.

When 10th grader reproach Richter for "lack of feeling and character" something is wrong with this 10th grader and not Richter.

You have a pretty voice though. Just practice well and don't rush to judge...

[twigglesjworth]

@truecrypt wow. People like you are what's wrong with the art music scene. People try and engage, and pathetic snobs turn their noses up. I honestly have no words to describe how irritable you make me feel...

[ronbobathon]

@twigglesjworth LOL, I know what you mean, all this internet hostility, can't we have a good discussion for once? In all fairness, I have seen a lot of Richter bashing, and the general sentiment is lack of emotion. Truecrypt assumed AmPrincess was a troll, and reacted to that. She responded to show she is trying to objectively criticize, but too late. Personally, I think this has too much emotion. This mvmt is always over-done. I play this whole sonata, and performers alway add/chg mark/dyns

[truecrypt]

@ronbobathon

No, I didn't assume that AmPrincess was a troll! My only point was that though 10th-grader can have an opinion, criticizing great masters takes more than just throwing around words like "emotionless" or "lack of feeling and character".

As for twigglesjworth - he IS a troll.

Re "good discussion" - I'm always for it - as long as minimum respect and knowledge are present.

[BassicStorm]

@truecrypt :D

[lu1think]

Richter's playing is thoughtful, lucid, and free of exaggeration. This is particularly difficult to do in a life recording where people want to show off how good of a pianist one can be rather than how good a piece of composition is.

It takes a truly humble pianist to pay true hommage to a truly great composer like Mozart.

[lu1think]

Richter's playing is thoughtful, lucid, and free of exaggeration. This is particularly difficult to do in a livee recording where people want to show off how good of a pianist one can be rather than how good a piece of composition is.

It takes a truly humble pianist to pay true hommage to a truly great composer like Mozart.

[sukkot54]

@americanprincess94 dude, if this had any more feeling and character it would jump out and bite you. no one plays with more feeling than SR. maybe by feeling you mean chicken fat? (schmaltz) the kind of cheap sentiment bad pianists squeeze out of mozart by playing him like he is writing lullabys? listen to the second movement.

[bordaz1]

I agree, there's very little nuance to this recording. At the same time, I think Mozart would be proud of the clarity he gets in every quick passage

[gwozdezzz]

I love the way he takes the endings of the piano passages... so sweet but bright and living at the same time. Richter is the pianist I want to sound like....

[lovesGenet]

Really hard-edged ad it's not what he wants either.The mike is maybe tooclose .Later on his Mozart became less strident.I agree with freeqwer.Richter had the most perfect equipment and judgement so why is his Mozart sound so harsh.Hear Haskil,MariaPirez,Schiff,Say.I­'ve hear 11 y.o. play better Mozart, so many others in this music.Strange that a man who plays Hadyn so wel could not become diff when playing Mozart.

[GeneralKuno]

Mr. Truecrypt,

I think you have a description error. This is the first movement (Allegro).

Just pointing this out. Otherwise, thanks for posting this.

[truecrypt]

@GeneralKuno

Thanks a lot!

Copy/paste feature sometimes plays this kind of jokes! ;)

[klvinbagoly]

You know, Richter was expert in many styles, but as said by himself, he "didn't find the key" to Mozart. In this sonata I can hear his romantic vehemence displayed instead of being truly harmonic like Mozart. (Oh, but the K 545 sonata refutes this charge!)

[gbmillion]

Excellent.

[quinto34]

His Haydn is equally awesome

[freeqwerqwer]

Mozart is certainly most difficult to play right. Richter is forcing too much out of the composition. One senses that this pianist is intelligent but is not a happy being. His tone is not delicate but harsh , his chords too exhorting, and tempo not perfectly steady. But though lacking in decorum and delicacy he does have a good sense of architectural form, I would give him that much. Fortunately, he doesn't play with wierd ideosyncracies like that alzheimer pianist Horowitz.

[kasyapa]

everyone is bad, in your view.

[freeqwerqwer]

You forced me to rehear this Richter video of Mozart's B flat sonata. His tone isn't even Mozart like. Richter is wrong for this. He plays it too heavily and without inspiration. The old pianist is wrong for this youthful Mozart.

[uptilthesky]

I agree. Richter was enigma, a lot pianists' interpretations are essentially very similar. With Richter, you never know, he often surprises you with a brilliant interpretation of a piece you least expect him to excel.

[chopinandliszt]

Richter is a strange pianist, sometimes, he's an exceptional genius, other times, he's a dancing showman. People say he butchered the Liszt Sonata, (look at the practice video of the Sonata), but this time, his interpretation of K333 is so wonderful that I'm simply lost for words...

[BeneBon]

I think that he has the best Liszt Sonata

[dlwangxiaohu]

a good one, but could not surpass my favorite horowitz' version and gulda's verson.

[superbemaison]

I think this comes from the Barbican recital held on the 29/03/89.

[frntulj]

touching...just mozart in fingers of richter...

[pianofolle]

Thank you truecrypt, u already made me listen to wonderful richter performances on youtube. I guess u r a big fan of him -and with good reasons

[pianofolle]

really enjoyable. my favourite over gould's and maybe also horowitz' version.