Volume 8 in Doremi’s ongoing Sviatoslav Richter series unearths a previously unpublished recital taped on March 18, 1990 in Savona, Italy. Mozart’s B-flat major Sonata is new to Richter’s discography, although listeners familiar with his other Mozart sonata performances won’t be surprised by the pianist’s masterly spacing of notes and artifice-free phrasing. What’s more, Richter’s mesmerizing legato seems to make the melodies soar by themselves, bypassing the instrument and the instrumentalist. For all their clarity and concentration, Richter seems to broach the first four Debussy Etudes with caution, playing beautifully but carefully. The pianist hits his expressive stride (and Debussy’s too!) in “Pour les agréments” and “Pour les sonorités opposées”, which are rapt, poetic, and gorgeously shaded, and grasps the cruel leaps of “Pour les accords” with impressive verve and accuracy.
No substantial differences mark the Prokofiev Fourth Sonata from the 1989 recording included in the Philips Richter Edition, save for the present edition’s inferior sound. The source recording sounds as if it stems from a non-professional audience tape and contains a noticeable degree of wow and flutter. For this reason, I recommend this release primarily to seasoned Richter collectors.
