Sviatoslav Richter

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter absorbed the essentials of music from his father yet developed his piano technique through independent study, appearing in public recitals well before enrolling at the Moscow Conservatory in 1937. Still a student, he captured first prize at the All-Union Contest of Performers of 1945. By graduation in 1947 his performances had attracted a devoted following, and in 1949 he received the Stalin Prize.

In 1942 he introduced Sergey Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 6, the composer’s first sonata in years and the first he did not premiere himself. The event brought immediate acclaim to both pianist and composer. Richter subsequently became a leading advocate for Prokofiev’s works, also giving the premieres of the Seventh and Ninth Sonatas, the latter dedicated to him.

Although reports of his artistry, together with some uneven recordings, had reached listeners outside Russia, Soviet authorities confined his foreign engagements to Eastern Bloc countries and, on one occasion, China. His 1958 account of Prokofiev’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra during its Leningrad visit generated such enthusiasm that he was at last allowed to tour the United States, solidifying his international standing. Engagements throughout the world’s principal music centers soon followed.

Richter was admired for an exceptional ability to illuminate stylistic distinctions. Although his deepest commitment remained to Beethoven and Prokofiev, he was equally esteemed for Schubert, Schumann, Bach, Debussy, and Ravel; in the early 1960s he recorded Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto with the composer conducting.

Preferring live performance to the studio, Richter left a discography drawn chiefly from concerts. Many of these documents, particularly those made in the Soviet Union, suffer from limited sound quality and audience noise, yet the charged character of his playing consistently rose above such shortcomings.

He earned a reputation for unpredictability and reserve, frequently canceling recitals without notice or arriving late without apology. Those who attended, however, were rarely disappointed. Drawn to smaller halls, he returned often to the Aldeburgh and Spoleto Festivals and served as the central figure of the Fêtes Musicales, presented each year from 1964 onward at Grange de Meslay near Tours.

Among his most distinguished recordings are the Schubert sonatas, the Rachmaninov and Prokofiev concertos, the Liszt concertos—favored by superior engineering—and his Schumann interpretations. He also worked extensively as a chamber musician and accompanist, performing piano duets with Britten and supporting Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.