Sviatoslav Richter plays Medtner - Sonata Reminiscenza, Op. 38, No. 1 (1/2)

[klausknulp]

last week i have met juri smirnov. he was remembering that we have heard richters last recital in vienna. richter visited vienna very often. it was his favourite town. good taste, as always! he had been a wonderful artist. one of the most important one of the last century.

[kimesiebert]

Good for Richter not to memorize! I think it's outrageous to expect us pianists to memorize every solo piece we perform.

Great performance! Richter really knows how to make the music come alive.

[helgeevju]

The 2 big, ascending arpeggi at the end of this video feel to me like waking up from a dream that has gone bad for a moment. Richter observes the composer's marking "allargando" on the second one, not many others do. Failing memory in performance is extremely scary, and I fully sympathise with him for playing from the score! Medtner is very hard for the memory anyway...

[gzaenker]

@helgeevju He was a very good pianist. His father was a German (killed by the Russians). His heritage goes way back. It iwas all stored in his powerful brain. And he had a wonderfully soft heart.

[helgeevju]

Beautiful, so inward, really magical, this sonata grows on you with repeated hearings. The older Richter also looks a lot like the the older Medtner...

[geertdehoux]

Does anyone know if this performance exists on CD ?

[clara344]

Divine! Merci André.

[truecrypt]

@GuestAtSea

Exactly! Used to... ;)

[berlinzerberus]

..because his memory had alraeady failed him on the occasion of the performance of Bach 'Well Tempered Piano' in Switzerland.

[MyOvercoat]

Excellent performance. This is one of Medtners most immediately rewarding pieces. Thank you Truecrypt for posting this.

[daniel15671]

Richter plays this piece as though breathing it, his musical feeling is so natural and pure in this work.

[konstantinoupianist]

thank you so much..wonderful

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

Thank godness this "forgotten melody" was found! :D

[punkpoetry]

@HMRoth thanks for the detailed info, tres nice of you!

[nycanonymous]

This is, hands down, the most expressive performance of this sonata I've ever heard. I don't like comparing performances, but Richter really outdoes the competition -- has this music ever sounded this moving and nostalgic?

[NOSEhow2LIV]

Fantastic! I always thunk Richter rather disdained Medtner,(altho he accompanied some of his songs for his wife).This is a real find,an interpretation somewhere between Gilels' lofty steadiness & meditation,and Svetlanov's intensely burning memories. Medtner would have strongly disapproved of score-reading in performance,but Richter,as so often,penetrates deeply and makes me wish he'd played/recorded more Medtner. Thank you so much for this gem.

[punkpoetry]

truecrypt, do you happen to know who's la tourneuse de pages? I think I remember her from the video of the Haydn concerto shown in The Enigma, she's very pretty in a very "русская барышня" kind of way (doubly appropriate here!)...

[truecrypt]

@punkpoetry

Nope! I left the country long before... ;)

[michelecor]

@truecrypt I think it's Ludmila Berlinskaya, she herself pianist, now living in Paris.

[truecrypt]

@michelecor

Yes, somebody has already mentioned that... Thank you!

[belshep]

pianist Luidmila Berlinskaya, Valentin Berlinsky's daughter.

[MozartK365]

@punkpoetry I know what it means, I can simply use google translate...

[morinoroba]

I love this mysterious and nostalgic theme. Reminiscence is always attractive theme for music or poetry or paintings or many other art.

[kulsho]

Thank you a lot for this treasure! I knew this sonata only in gilels interpretation (that is marvellous indeed) but now i must add a new star for thi gorgeous sonata...

[weikko79]

Thank you! I'm surprised that Medtner evoked such positive feelings in Richter. I was under the impression that he generally disliked his music.

[CeaserXIX]

Maybe Medtner is not a genius, but sometimes he certainly is. Thank you truecrypt.

[pianopera]

Thanks a lot, Andre!

Could you try to (roughly) translate his words into English?

[truecrypt]

Just added my "translation" to the description...

[pianopera]

Thank you!

[nikolaimedtner]

Thank you for this treasure!

[skryabyn]

I cannot believe this: Fate is SPEAKING! I just fell in love with this peice and decided to play it, so i printed it out today. Then i thought, wouldnt it be nice if richter performed it? and what do you iknow--- here it is. Again, truecrypt, your is the greatest channel

[hansmeyer111]

Dear Truecrypt.

I wish, i could know how to express my gratitude to you.

Your work in you tube -I ´m only aware of this "work" of yours- is for me something like a philosophy you are spreading out... A philosophy you believe on, and spend the time and the energy for it. Thank you from my heart