Beethoven Sonata 32 Op 111 1st Mov Richter Haaser

If I were able to produce a CD entitled, The Other Great Pianist of the Twentieth Century, Hans Richter Haaser would be, along with Egon Petri, among the pianists that I would include. Richter-Haaser ( 1912-1980--Germany) studied piano at the Dresden Music School .By the age of 18, he was playing concerts all over Germany. WW 2 interrupted his career and he was assigned to an antiaircraft unit. Because of these circumstances, he did not touch a piano (other than playing in military hospitals) for seven years. He resumed his career in 1946, at 34, and discovered that even though his technique had become rusty, his musical perception was far sharper than it had been before. Richter-Haaser said, "Before, the piano was a sport. After the war, it was a medium to give something to people." One critic wrote of his US debut in 1959 that Richter-Haaser was the type of pianist who could pull the listener in by the hair, letting the notes fall where they may. The critic wrote, "Richer-Haasers postwar reputation spread rapidly; he has played with virtually every major European orchestra, been hailed as the successor to such great German pianists as Gieseking and Backhaus. Says Richter-Haaser ruefully: 'I do not go on stage to play wrong notes. But the important thing is the idea. The piano must not be like a machine.' "

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Beethoven
• Sonata
• 32
• Op
• 111
• Richter-Haaser

[Spudboy41]

S'appeler "Richter"-Haaser ne devait pas beaucoup aider pour se faire un nom en tant que pianiste...

[Beckmesser2]

@Spudboy41

Hans Richter-Haaser fait ses débuts en 1928 six ans avant que de Sviatoslav Richter en 1934.

[jackusful]

just to tell you that EMI has published recently a "Beethoven" box played by Richter-Hasser with 13 sonatas, ctos n°3,4,5, Diabelli variations and 2 rondos. I just found it on Amazon.

[Beckmesser2]

@jackusful Thank you !

[snaaptaker]

Wonderful! I have a 50-year-old LP of him playing the Brahms Concerto #2. It's marvelous.

Also, I heard him play it at Carnegie Hall in 1959, shortly after I heard his Town Hall debut recital, which included (among other things I can't remember) Petrushka. It was stunning!

It's a shame he's now mostly forgotten.

[Beckmesser2]

The program you heard in 1959, (this review gives the venue as Town Hall, Nov 9, 1959) was:

Beethovens Appassionata Sonata, Schumanns Fantasy in C Major, Stravinskys Sonata and Brahms Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel. You were fortunate to have been present at that recital. I heard him only once in the early 1960s performing an all Beethoven recital. .I was very impressed with his playing. He was one of the sanest pianists I have ever heard.

[Spudboy41]

@Beckmesser2

Merci pour cette précision.

[treg740]

Magnifique de musicalité. Finesse et légèreté alliés à une puissance phénoménale. Je recherche des enregistrements inédits de lui. Je l'ai beaucoup enregistré "live" dans les années 1970 à Paris. Plusieurs concertos de Beethoven. Me contacter .vincent.lespagnol@gmail.com

[stesimbrotus]

Unfortunately I have not had an opportunity to know him well however his interpretation of c-moll sonata 8 is the best (along with Maria Grienberg's one) so far.

[berlinzerberus]

hans richter-haaser,yes i completely forgot him.have heard him live in concert also with beethoven sonatas.for me he was never important,although,listen to this op.111 rendition, i should correct my opinion.

[RabidCh]

Schnabel is regarded as Beethoven's (almost) insuperable interpreter in Beethoven's slow movements*