Sviatoslav Richter plays Beethoven - Sonata no.32 in C minor, op.111 (1/3)

Part 1
Beethoven - Sonata no.32 in C minor, op.111
1. Maestoso: Allegro con brio ed appassionato
Live recording, Moscow, 1975

Category:

Music

Tags:

• sviatoslav
• richter
• beethoven
• sonata
• piano
• op.111
• classical

[PianoForteAndrew]

this from the man who claimed to never practice scales or arpeggios. how? i ask.

[truecrypt]

Richter himself was a self-learner. He didn't have any formal music education whatsoever. Even later, in the Moscow Conservatory, the only subject he studied was "piano performance class" with Neuhaus. He failed all other courses miserably - simply didn't care...

Back to your question - Richter has never played scales and exercises, but he played *a lot* of music. F.e. he could play (by memory) about 100 operas. So, understanding of music and technical skills came to him naturally...

[ArodenPianoWushu93]

all the greatest players have playeed in this arena... richter, rusbinstain,... who knows the name of this arena? why is so famous? thanks ;-)

[truecrypt]

This is a Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory... the legendary stage...

[ciliaspippi]

Do you mean the "Большой Зал?"

[truecrypt]

Yes, this is Большой Зал Московской Косерватории, i.e. Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

[francescaemc2]

wish Beethoven could have heard this.Wish he could have heard anything, actually.

[Sim882]

sound errors impair this performance but it's still the best Richter i've heard on this

[Gioachino82]

N O N P L U S U L T R A !!!!!!

[4785689]

i love watching his leg on the pedal

[loboris1995]

LoL,there's a problemme of sound

[flippert0]

Exceptional!

But I also want to point to Grigory Sokolov's rendition, currently my favorite of that piece.

[dalecampbl7]

thanks richter for giving us so many live recordings, that's why you are my no.1 pianist

[123mortimer456]

simsimoleole - Heinrich Neuhaus, Richter's teacher, confirms your assessment. Apparently lessons consisted of Richter playing an entire piece, followed by a discussion of some general musical aspects. Neuhaus felt that work on technical or musical details was completely unnecessary. Once Richter played an extremely difficult passage from Prokofjev sonata. Neuhaus asked him how he had learned it so quickly and so well. Richter responded he had studied the passage for 4 hours one afternoon.

[francescaemc2]

My mother went to that museum. She studied violin in the Vienna Conservatory. My father piano in the Milano Conservatory.

Never saw a Beethoven movie... my late mama was a Beethoven expert and told me that.

My father was an amateur. She became a concert violinist and played his Concerto in Dm. Wishing you a great weekend.

francesca

[chopin7tristesse]

the extreme speed depends on the nerve action? so genetics? we know no human can move fingers as fast as a humming bird moves its wings (200/sec).

[chopin7tristesse]

the Beethoven house museum in Bonn, germany is supposed to have a large collection of hearing aids of his. I didn't see them yet. I don't know if they turned him around for applause (as in a movie?) but I read somewhere that his conducting was a bit off in timing. I presume he couldn't use the horn while conducting.