Richter plays Prokofiev Sonate No. 2: Part 2

[sessionmessiah]

wow... i don't even know who is more of a genius, Prokofiev ... or Richter... but it doesn' t even matter... two of the greatest musicians ( both composer / performer) happened to live at the same time... Prokofiev was not entirely aware of WHAT exactly he was playing with, when he was putting those notes on paper... Richter simply Plays them... and we get a glimpse of That Thing That Cannot be Expressed, like a step behind the Horizon...hah hah hah

[olosw]

If I hit a c# that hard I'd probably break a finger!

[ElSachinoo]

Love how he just gets up and walks off at the end... like a boss.

[benkissinger]

If it would bring us closer to what Prokofiev put inside the piano, maybe we should consider Soviet Communism

[scientistpatrick]

@benkissinger Do you actually think that communism, or any form of government for that matter, actually affects how a person plays music?

[benkissinger]

@scientistpatrick

'Sa joke, son - a funny

[hymnofashes]

@scientistpatrick If you want, as my Russian girlfriend puts it, a 'sarcastic attitude toward irony' then, I think yes.

[HDGamingReplays]

Hammering that C# hard from 6:57 to 7:36, before it finally resolves to the tonal... simple yet effective.

[jakiner]

All I can say is wow

[cafity]

The piano was crying at 8:50...

[gold7c]

great... oh, great!

[hovo160]

More than perfect !

[Flutist11]

He looks just a tiny bit knocked up after playing that whole thing, but no surprise, it's a tough work.

[fredericfranc]

For a man who had to look up his mother in Germany, after the war, and about his father it is even more complicated, maybe the slow movement had special meaning. His hands look like Prokofiev's, but he has a different sound.

[eeClaytonification]

oh, an evening in with Richter, and gould

what can I say

[Zebeldarebel]

Lol, he walks away with authority after playing that.

[meredith21846]

Richter captures perfectly the dark bleakness of this music.

[VaghoPianist]

@meredith21846 I agree with you.You mean the 3rd movement right? The 3rd movement Richter plays it so good,so emotionally,you can't find a better interpretation of this than Richter's...I don't like how Pletnev plays the 3rd movement of this sonata.

[alexggable]

Ya buscaste en amazon o la web? seguro lo podrás encontrar...

[MathijsGiltjes1993]

@jalleki12

Use google?

[AnnMarry19]

I need a notes to this piece, anybody help me?

[AnnMarry19]

WooOoow!! thanks!

[youvebeensmoked]

god.. the second movement is so crushing..

[mradipatti]

to vocalpianist

I saw R in Amsterdam in´85, on a hunch , Beethoven Sonata, he had carefully prepared himself as always , not a wrong note, however as a performance pretty forgettable. But naturally , I never regretted I went

Hey ! I ´m not on the Beethoven page here !

[soami2u]

Words fail me...I'll try just one: magnificent!!

[madman322]

hypnotizing

[atralfalgar]

So amazing !! 4:31 !!!!

[ArturoAlejandroS]

Thanks for send.Prokofiev sonatas are difficult and virtuosistic.

[OorvakanSar]

Yes, I think Prokofiev had real genius musical mind, but he has too many stupid unnecessary accents.

[OorvakanSar]

This would be reall good if he didn't press the notes so hard.

[suzettegm]

I wonder why this part is much less listened to ("watched") than the first part. Both equally great!

[vaseintibet]

@suzettegm because some people in the first part get bored :-D

[jazzguitar09]

@suzettegm ephemeral attention spans

[kspijker123]

@suzettegm For instance i watched the first 1 two times before watching the second :)

[vocalpianist]

he is so amazing! and so inspiring! his music is unique and insightful and I love it. If only I could have seen him perform :(

[ChrisWatch]

I got a video of him playing a I think waltz on my profile with audio.

[optimusito]

just perfect!

[classicalpiano92]

He starts the 4th movement with such a fast tempo. @_@

This is amazing. Thank you for posting this.

[FlorestanEusebius]

The last movement of this sonata is a bit similar to the last movement of the sixth sonata - in character, with a lot of humour, and at 6:00 you have the same dying out of the fast theme followed by a reminiscence of a lyrical theme from the first movement.

[lyhpcl]

Gilels WAS Neuhaus's student but he later denied the latter's mentorship in a fit of petulance when Neuhaus made some constructive criticisms in his classic book on pedagogy. Richter was pissed by this betrayal and limited his dealings with Gilels to the occasional polite greeting henceforth. In contrast, Richter had always acknowledged Neuhaus as his teacher though in truth Neuhaus had had precious little to impart to his genius protegé.

[punkpoetry]

That's one way of looking at it, and a rather biased one at that. Those familiar with the body of Neuhaus' piano criticism acknowledge that the great piano mentor allowed himself more than a few cavalier and patronizing remarks with regard to Gilels and his late teacher Bertha Reingbald. Neuhaus' preference for Richter, shared by many a piano connoisseur, is entirely his prerogative, yet some of the forms it has taken are less than defensible

[ibclappin]

the beginning part, which would tie to the end of Part 1, is absolutely phenomenal and defiant. it makes a movement through the history of music. it all by itself defines the ingenuity of Prokofiev.

[gavriel777]

Inimitable, untouched, irreplaceable.

[erpooh]

Fantastic performance, interesting to compare with Gilels.

[abushakra]

It is interesting...especially considering they studied with the same teacher!

[mltube]

Not really. Gilels did not consider Neuhaus to be his teacher, and Neuhaus did not think of Richter as his student.

[francorussie]

Absolutely right, but N. preferred R., while Gilels, a fine pianist, "got offended" and refused to consider N. as his teacher. Though N. WAS his teacher

[ji94552]

I prefer Richter, too. ;-)

[dyulyubitejika]

if you have a chance read a book by Bruno Monsagon, about Richter, there are all answers, Gilel's he said was jelaouse to everyone, and not easy personality. he couldn;t bear the success of the others, and criticism.

[harriter88]

Also love how Richter walks off the pulpet after his sermon-the gospel according to the young Prokofiev.

[harriter88]

During the Development-recap of the fourth Mvt-i love how Prkf keeps hitting(writing in) that insistent c#(leading tone)finally resolving(the decending double arpeggios)to the coda of the D minor theme.Brilliant-what a Composer-only 20-22 when he wrote this.

[charlescourt]

Yeah! Always obeying the innate rules of music whilst retaining his subversive mischievousness. Nice to hear someone who knows what they're talking about. Kudos. And amazing how Richter manages to make it sound like it's being played on a different piano, always with the same intensity so you can't miss it.

[sab3156]

Very poetic.

[pianofan86]

Definitly not my favorite version of this sonata, especially for the fourth movement. Almost no dynamics in the fourth movement!  Thanks for posting it though...

[fonix101]

I can't understand your point of view. The best things in Richters piano playing are his simplicity, punctuality and that he is never giving too much but enough. Not every piece of classical music is about ups and downs and insensate passion. Dynamics are perfect there.

[uhrkraft]

well said

[fonix101]

thank you. :)

[hr2]

I die over that finale! Prokofiev is a genius and Richter is a true virtuoso.