Richter plays Shostakovich Prelude & Fugue 4, e-moll Op. 87

[Mandru9]

Fantstic. What ravissante interpretation. I just listened to Keith Jarret, who of course is brilliant techniquely spoken, but who does not nearly capture the sheer magic of these preludes and fugues. Not the least because he plays many of the preludes much too fast, which irritates me no end. So, here with Richter you hear the REAL MASTER, invincible as ever.

[musoderelict]

Know this sounds crass, but his picture looks a bit like Woody Allen ...

[curlysue27]

The only think I can say now that the piece is meant to display tension. Upon reflection Shostakovich's interpretation is now my favourite..!

[Maetel22]

every composer stood on the shoulders of the giants before him, and hoped to one day stand among them. Every great composer stood against the darkness around him and, instead of begging the mercy of the light above, found the power of the light within. Through this he discovered that the darkness he once thought surrounded him, in fact, did not exist at all. He tore through the mist of illusion, and found the great beyond, within his own mind. A thousand suns shone through him, and he never died

[claus93Sethsen]

@Maetel22 Well said sir

[slsherwoodwells]

"Richters' hands have the strange effect of making tears" ( I love this comm

ent by Ruimanuk-so much who Sviatislov Richter was and "is"-Thankyou Ruim.!!!) (This is the fugue)

[CrateofStolenDirt]

I can barely hear this.

[amadeus9man]

Why argue about interpretations? I don't see why Keith Jarrett and Richter can't both be appreciated. I heard the Jarrett version first, and I think it is great, but I can't claim to know his other discs. Still, both have their wonderful moments - and this video is an 8:07 stretch of sublimity.

[DJPsionix]

Keith Jarrett's interpretation of this piece is really, really dry. Interesting, maybe even valuable, but not really meaningful to me at all.

[newbliss29]

this is so beautiful in such a grimace way

[BrucknerMotet]

3:37 - Fugue begins here. (please "thumbs up" this comment so it will appear at the top and thus be a useful comment)

[JohnEBPiano]

What a great recording to introduce me to this prelude and fugue. Thank you, Truecrypt, for uploading all of these wonderful things.

Ricther is probably my favorite pianist. Some of his recordings can be misleading (Richter himself only liked a few of his own recordings) but in all of them is evident his incredibly strong personality. When a pianist plays the work true to the composers writing, his/her personality is revealed through the piece. What a personality there is in this recording

[Ruimanuk]

Richter's hands have the strange effect of making tears...

[CristiaanC]

I'm sorry but I'd shoot that guy coughing in the audience.

[DJPsionix]

I really dislike Richter's recordings of a lot of music.. but... this is phenomenal. The fugue might gets a little bashy and... Richter-like.. during the concluding bits of the fugue .. and a little messy, but nothing -too- extreme & the beginning of the fugue is really evocative. The prelude really is quite slow though, even slower than Shostakovich's version, & I've heard many people play it (distastefully IMO) much faster than DSCH.

[PrickStanda]

keith jarrett better than svyatoslav richter, then obviously richard clayderman way better than beethoven not to mention lady gaga who already ridiculed bach. anyone dares to say otherwise. creation is stupid and god hates us all, a prankster.

[kolibet]

this is beautiful - of course - no one can deny it - yet for me (who am not a musician, and mainly know these "preludes and fugues" as performed by keith jarrett), i have to say that there is something lacking - maybe the sound from 1956 is a bit dry, but it's not only that - in particular, the prelude is too slow (as i've been used to jarrett's more lively approach of it) - this is the testimony of a non-musician, and music-lover nontheless... hoping i'm not shocking anybody ! :-)

[CristiaanC]

@kolibet if Keith Jarret is better than Richter, then Lil wayne is AN ABSOLUTE GENIUS compared to mozart. I CERTAINLY hope I'm not shocking anyone by saying that........sigh

[kolibet]

@CristiaanC hello, i can see that i've been shocking some people out there - ok, maybe it WAS my secret hope, although i was mainly trying to make a comment of my own - concerning mozart, he's always been a bore to me (much as lil wayne, whom i didn't know - i had to check on youtube, and i'll soon forget about him) - i know mozart is a god for all musicians, but for me, frank zappa, david kerman and a thousand others are better ! sorry again... :-)

[ciliaspippi]

@kolibet

It is a good thing he isn't playing Mozart then. Phew! I thought for a second, you found this video boring

[roman1akid]

@CristiaanC Can't really compare Lil wayne to Keith Jarrett though. 

[TPhaoimnaes]

I hope I'm not sounding political. I am currently learning this song for my ARCT repertoire.

But in my opinion, especially after 5:45, I think of a snowy Russia...a man covered in a black coat and hat, surrounded by some force, by people or by ideas, that are trying to suppress and destroy him. But he as a man of will and character, and tries desperately to fight against it, but it is so frustrating and hopeless. There's no way out. At 7:38, he realizes to keep hope, and keep the struggle.

[Smaejdah]

Remove your comment please.

[bluesyboypete]

stop politicizing music, please!

[TPhaoimnaes]

Sorry, I was hoping it didn't sound political :(

Any references are purely coincidental...

It sincerely is what pops in my mind when I listen to it.

Its just my opinion, I hope you won't dislike me for stating it.

[bluesyboypete]

ok, no problem, friend. take it easy :)

[DJPsionix]

@TPhaoimnaes I always find this interesting.. I've never really used imagination with music, it's not a visual or imaginitive experience at all for me, music is always evocative of emotion rather than some correlating cognition. I suppose you're within the demographic of normal people though, since things like pastoral themes (Beethoven and Sibelius are awesome) & political themes (as with DSCH's 10th symphony) are common enough in compositions

[roethinger]

très très beau!!!

[ciliaspippi]

such beauty

[Dissentient]

Genius! Shostakovich is my favourite composer ever and Richter is my favourite pianist ever! So this combination is absolutely perfect! And this prelude is a masterpiece! Ahhhh! And stop politicizing Shostakovich's works! Firstly he was a composer, NOT a politician! And when I read your words about the politics of that time it seems so primitive, so superficial! You almost know nothing about this period in Russia. Things were much more complex!

[fjhernando]

I don't like the accelerando effect in the second part of the fugue.

[MrBombaywallah]

I agree. It's slightly overdone.

[kempff95]

just beautifull music.

the fugue is nso sad ,the fugue it is like a very sad story who happened to a very miserable man or women.......

richter plays ALL THE PRELUDES genius......

[193151838]

Sinfoniette is perfectly right, associating the prelude with a funeral (i.e. I do so,too)...This considered, I'd describe the part from ca. 2:20 on (where the harmonies turn to A flat) as "somewhat angelic".

[skryabyn]

somewhat?

[ewha1]

What a piece.

[andrewjsnider42]

What kind of piano is he playing this on?

[nedlert]

For all the comments about life under stalin. how about new music to express the intense sadness and hollow made by the much wider facism under the bush world where evil and theft of nature, right and soul have no borders

[andrewjsnider42]

Fascism.*

[andersmusician]

every single government in the world is fascist.

Just that some are more fascist, and others are subtle on that.

and in some, people exaggerate about it.

[theompizzle]

right and soul have no borders? theft of nature? speak sense young man...at least try to.

[nedlert]

The intense sadness and hollows made by the much wider Facism under the Bush world, where evil and theft of nature, rights and soul have no borders.

[theompizzle]

okay, copying what you already wrote in no way clarifies anything. what do you mean by theft of nature? rights and soul have no borders? please elaborate.

[curlysue27]

A masterful weaver of the musical story. He is beyond compare. His interpretation captivates you completely. It is the story itself that he tells as the end in itself. It's not about trying to put one's own stamp on such music but of revealing the soul of the music. This is why Richter is tops. A master story-teller.

[curlysue27]

How absolutely masterful in artistry.

[curlysue27]

Oh Richter. I love you.

[pjioayncoe]

When did Shostakovich write this Prelude and Fugue?

[truecrypt]

From Wikipedia:

"The complete work was written between 10 October 1950 and 25 February 1951. Once finished, Shostakovich dedicated the work to (Tatiana) Nikolayeva, who undertook the public premiere in Leningrad on 23 December 1952."

[pjioayncoe]

beginning-calm...in a strange way...scary.

[Sinfoniette]

Reminds me a terribly lot of Pavane. It evokes my child emotions, but somehow, in a funeral-y way. I don't know. Its just scary and foreboding in a way. *shudder*

[Varese52]

I think it important to remember that Richter is taking direction from the composer, i.e. Shostakovich, and that it is HIS sadness, his suffering under Stalinism that is the point. These pieces, almost more than any other he wrote, our about Shostakovich's mind set, the darkness he saw all around him, which he, somehow, managed to survive.

[truecrypt]

You shouldn't rush to judge (and insult) other people and their opinions. What do you know about Richter's "concerns"?

Please maintain a minimum level of politeness and respect...

[truecrypt]

Oh, really?

I think you are the one who should disappear from here.

[Sinfoniette]

You always have the ability to. *Clicks "Remove"*

[MarshalGZhukov]

Dude, if you're going to insult someone, you should at least learn to do it well... You know, effective curses and all that, not "idiotic no-gooder"...

[Sinfoniette]

Oh, really? Like your comment isn't silly, right? Because saying that Richter is great and Shostakovich is great is basically as foolish as saying that Hitler is great. Because that is extremely silly and this isn't completely pointless. Yes.

[20Regards]

Thank You for all You post of Richter...

This prelude is one of the great achievements of Shostakovich, directly recognisable for it's intense sadness... it's interpretation by Richter is also deeply revelatory of his artistic involvment and of how much suffering he expresses and must have endured(life under Stalin's regime left permanent marks to him ; his father was killed beccause of his german origins). This music resumes in my sense what life was under Stalin...