Sviatoslav Richter plays Beethoven Sonata No. 17 (3/3)

[tahirthebad]

nuanced iterations was beethoven's thing. Its a part of his style, to burn the themes into the listener's mind by repeating the over and over again until they haunt you in the way they must have haunted him. the pinnacle is allegretto in the 7th symphony, a paragon of his style. if you want a feel for beethoven that symphony and this sonata are it.

[MozartK365]

sincere, elegant sadness...I guess at this point Beethoven finally gave up...

[bach5861]

one of the BEST music written EVER!!!

[ym42ym42]

This piece has some good ideas but to me it seems a bit formalistic, repetitive and somewhat shallow ( limited range of emotions that do not evolve/develop enough instead just repeating round and round... ). I guess Beethoven was on the brink of Romanticism held back by old traditions and forms...

[Sogoku8]

This one hear is the perfect rendition..that left hand with the theme..such gravity plus the auxiliary note on the right hand right after..Perfect..

[meredith21846]

For me Richter adopts an ideal tempo, often this mvt is rushed (Allegretto) by lesser pianists.

[billyguns2]

This is an absolutely flawless rendition of my favorite movement from a Beethoven Piano Sonata: perfect tempo, perfect touch, perfect movement, perfect dynamics. It is amazing to me how many pianists miss the mark with this movement, even some great ones! Another great performance is the first Wilhelm Backhaus mono version on Decca/London.

[BassicStorm]

i love this incredible movement! and Richter

[assumedanyone]

...this is a music written by a genious, not a human being...

[meesbroersen]

@assumedanyone what was it... a piano playing cat? beethoven was a human, and that's great! makes me proud to be human.

[iguarni]

bravooooo in Italian!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sim882]

Richter's Beethoven sonatas are always perfect.

[BassicStorm]

@Sim882 true

[gerryrains]

Once again the maestro separates himself from the field. Truly the Yepes of the piano. ;)

[Yuriy21]

Прекрасное исполнение: Рихтер всё время контролирует темп, не позволяя возобладать эмоциям, что неминуемо привело бы к ускорению. Но за этой сдержанностью чувствуется накал страстей.

[ejwoodward]

speak English, parle Francaise, sprecken Deutch

[truecrypt]

Some people prefer native language and I can understand the feeling... ;) Let me translate this comment for you:

"Wonderful performance: Richter is controlling tempo all the time, not allowing (raw) emotions to take over, which could lead to a rushing... but there is such a passion under this restraint. "

[Yuriy21]

Thank you, dear Truecrypt -fine translate ))

[Sim882]

who could argue with what you have said

[Shumeshi]

Wow, if you wanted to show off your aweome multilingualism you coulda at least check the spelling...

[depeyra]

Learn Russian

[SCHneiDen777]

ejwoodward: Actually, its sprecHen DeutSch, and to say I speak is "Ich spreche".

And in English, saying "speak this, speak that" could mean that people in general speak these languages. Well done. They do.

Anyway, the performance carries an intensity that is always appreciated. Good show.

[lesadolescent]

Kempff also has a good interpretation of this piece.

And Richter is wrong about one thing: God is not Sofronitsky, himself.

[wakingnow]

Thank you for posting this!

Vladimir Ashkenazy´s interpretation is also painfuly beautiful.

Much love.

[bulledesav0on]

So beautiful... Move in tears. Thanks!

[Neishapour]

This is the best interpretation of this music available. This performance has not been surpassed by any pianist that I know of and believe me that I have heard them all. Now we know why Arthur Rubinstein thought so very highly of Sviatoslav Richter. Now we know why Heinrich Neuhaus thought so highly of Sviatoslav Richter. Richter was an embodiment of human intellectual evolution and I consider myself lucky to have been born at the right time to hear him play. Thank U Beethoven, thank U Richter.

[GetMeThere1]

For me, musical expression at the piano just doesn't get any better than this...