Biography Sviatoslav Richter

1 biography

1.1 childhood
1.2 career
1.3 rise fame
1.4 touring , recording
1.5 later years

biography
childhood

richter born near zhytomyr, in russian empire (present-day ukraine). father, teofil danilovich richter (1872–1941), german expatriate pianist, organist, , composer had studied in vienna. mother, anna pavlovna (née moskaleva; 1893–1963), landowning family, , @ 1 point had been pupil of future husband. in 1918, when richter s parents in odessa, civil war separated them son, , richter moved in aunt tamara. lived 1918 1921, , interest in art first manifested itself: first became interested in painting, aunt taught him.

in 1921 family reunited, , richters moved odessa, teofil taught @ odessa conservatory and, briefly, worked organist of lutheran church. in 1920s richter became interested in music (as other art forms such cinema, literature, , theatre) , started studying piano. unusually, largely self-taught. father gave him basic education in music, , did 1 of father s pupils, czech harpist.

even @ age, richter excellent sight-reader , regularly practised local opera , ballet companies. developed lifelong passion opera, vocal , chamber music found full expression in festivals established in la grange de meslay, france, , in moscow, @ pushkin museum. @ age 15, started work @ odessa opera, accompanied rehearsals.

early career

on march 19, 1934, richter gave first recital, @ engineers club of odessa; did not formally start studying piano until 3 years later, when decided seek out heinrich neuhaus, famous pianist , piano teacher, @ moscow conservatory. during richter s audition neuhaus (at performed chopin s ballade no. 4), neuhaus apparently whispered fellow student, man s genius . although neuhaus taught many great pianists, including emil gilels , radu lupu, said considered richter genius pupil, whom had been waiting life, while acknowledging taught richter nothing.

early in career, richter tried hand @ composing, , appears played of compositions during audition neuhaus. gave composition shortly after moving moscow. years later, richter explained decision follows: perhaps best way can put see no point in adding bad music in world .

by beginning of world war ii, richter s parents marriage had failed , mother had fallen in love man. because richter s father german, under suspicion authorities , plan made family flee country. due romantic involvement, mother did not want leave , remained in odessa. in august 1941 father arrested , later found guilty of espionage, being sentenced death on 6 october 1941. richter didn t speak mother again until shortly before death 20 years later in connection first tour.

in 1945, richter met , accompanied in recital soprano nina dorliak. richter , dorliak thereafter remained companions until death, although never married. accompanied richter both in complex life , career. supported him in last sickness, , died herself few months later, on may 17, 1998.

it rumored richter homosexual , having female companion provided social front sexual orientation, because homosexuality still seen taboo , result in legal repercussions. richter had tendency private , withdrawn , not open interviews. never publicly discussed personal life until, in last year of life, filmmaker bruno monsaingeon convinced him interviewed documentary.

rise fame

in 1949 richter won stalin prize, led extensive concert tours in russia, eastern europe , china. gave first concerts outside soviet union in czechoslovakia in 1950. in 1952, richter invited play franz liszt in film based on life of mikhail glinka, called composer glinka (remake of 1946 film glinka). title role played boris smirnov.

on february 18, 1952, richter made debut conductor (a role never again assumed) when led world premiere of prokofiev s symphony-concerto cello , orchestra in e minor, mstislav rostropovich soloist.

in 1960, though had reputation being indifferent politics, richter defied authorities when performed @ boris pasternak s funeral.

having received stalin , lenin prizes , become people s artist of rsfsr, gave first tour concerts in usa in 1960, , in england , france in 1961.

touring , recording

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.

later years

while enjoyed performing audience, richter hated planning concerts years in advance, , in later life took playing @ short notice in small, darkened halls, small lamp lighting score. richter said setting helped audience focus on music being performed, rather on extraneous , irrelevant matters such performer s grimaces , gestures.