Touring and recording Sviatoslav Richter

richter in 1966.

in 1948, richter , dorliac gave recitals in bucharest, romania, in 1950 performed in prague , bratislava, czechoslovakia. in 1954, richter gave recitals in budapest, hungary. in 1956, again toured czechoslovakia, in 1957, toured china, again performed in prague, sofia, , warsaw. in 1958, richter recorded prokofiev s 5th piano concerto warsaw philharmonic orchestra under baton of witold rowicki - recording made richter known , desired in america. in 1959, richter made successful recording of rachmaninoff s 2nd piano concerto warsaw philharmonic on deutsche grammophon label. west first became aware of richter through recordings made in 1950s. 1 of richter s first advocates in west emil gilels, stated during first tour of united states critics (who giving gilels rave reviews) should wait until hear richter.

richter s first concerts in west took place in may 1960, when allowed play in finland, , on october 15, 1960, in chicago, played brahms s second piano concerto accompanied chicago symphony orchestra , erich leinsdorf, creating sensation. in review, noted chicago tribune music critic claudia cassidy, known unkind reviews of established artists, recalled richter first walking on stage hesitantly, looking vulnerable (as if devoured ), sitting @ piano , dispatching performance of lifetime . richter s 1960 tour of united states culminated in series of concerts @ carnegie hall.

richter disliked performing in united states. following 1970 incident @ carnegie hall in new york city, when richter s performance alongside david oistrakh disrupted anti-soviet protests, richter vowed never return. rumors of planned return carnegie hall surfaced in last years of richter s life, although not clear if there truth behind them.

in 1961, richter played first time in london. first recital, pairing works of haydn , prokofiev, received hostility british critics. notably, neville cardus concluded richter s playing provincial , , wondered why richter had been invited play in london, given london had plenty of second class pianists of own. following july 18, 1961, concert, richter performed both of liszt s piano concertos, critics reversed course.

in 1963, after searching in loire valley, france, venue suitable music festival, richter discovered la grange de meslay several kilometres north of tours. festival established richter , became annual event.

in 1970, richter visited japan first time, traveling across siberia railway , ship disliked flying. played beethoven, schumann, mussorgsky, prokofiev, bartók , rachmaninoff, works mozart , beethoven japanese orchestras. visited japan 8 times.