Richter continues
to pour in from all sides. To Regis we owe the reinstatement
of the studio recordings the pianist made for Ariola Eurodisc
around 1970. We have already had Bach, Chopin and Schumann
- all reviewed by me with the utmost enthusiasm - now
it is the turn of Beethoven. As on other occasions, they
have filled up the CD - the original LP was somewhat meagre
in timing even for those days - with some live performances
recorded in Japan, though in all truth even the Beethoven
variations alone would have been worth far more than the
asking price. Come to think of it, just the six minutes
of the D major variations on their own would have been
worth it. If I make a particular point of these it is
because this set, based on the famous “Ruins of Athens”
march, is usually dismissed as one of Beethoven’s pieces
of rubbish and is only played, dutifully, by pianists
who are booked to record all the variations and so can’t
get out of it. How typical of Richter to turn his attention
to something like this – and yet how maddening that we
are thus deprived of his interpretation of the far greater
C minor variations which most pianists choose to make
a triptych with opp. 34 and 35.
He doesn’t
try to turn the work into profound Beethoven, he just
pitches in with such a kick to his rhythm that you want
to get up and dance. We have to face the fact that, though
it might not have looked that way, somewhere inside himself
Richter had a great sense of humour and he realizes that
this music is real fun if you treat it as an uproarious
knees-up. His playing of the 6th variation,
where Beethoven forgets to keep to the shape of his original
theme and extends himself like a cat chasing its own tail,
is a miracle of no-holds-barred rising energy.
James Murray’s
notes tell us that these three sets of variations entered
Richter’s repertoire in 1949/50. Unfortunately, the only
alternative recordings listed in the Richter discography
are all live versions made in the run-up period to this
particular recording so, unless new material emerges,
we will not be able to compare the pianist’s interpretations
at other stages in his career. I am rapidly reaching the
conclusion, however, that Richter reached his absolute
zenith around the time of these Ariola Eurodisc recordings,
his early virtuoso flair undimmed yet combined with the
wisdom of full maturity, a wisdom which could later verge
on the didactic. The sheer fact that he had been playing
all three works for some twenty years gives him a considerable
edge over Schnabel’s pioneering recording of op.34, for
this work had not figured largely in Schnabel’s repertoire.
I felt that Schnabel was uncharacteristically slow and
cautious in, for example, the second variation, and here
is Richter proving the point with a touch of Schumannesque
whimsy. Richter in his turn may seem a little slow in
the 4th and 5th variations – marked
respectively “Tempo di Menuetto” and “Marcia – Allegretto”
– but the ongoing rhythm he transmits is remarkable and
I am reminded that he actually played for the ballet in
his very earliest days. He exudes a great sense of enjoyment
as he swings into the 6th (Allegretto) variation.
I must be a Beckmesser and point out that he halves the
tempo for the last four bars, but I can’t help wondering
whether Beethoven himself had not slipped up with his
notation. What Richter does certainly sounds logical and
convincing and this ending would sound rather odd if played
literally.
Schnabel is
in truly Promethean form in op.35, and yet it has to be
said that it does make a difference if the listener can
just sit back in the complete confidence that, no matter
what technical hurdles Beethoven will throw in the pianist’s
way, they will be conquered as if they didn’t exist. Again,
enjoyment is the key. Schnabel perhaps tries to relate
the work to the “Eroica” symphony finale based on the
same theme. Richter remembers that the “Eroica” symphony
did not yet exist. When the innocent little contredanse
theme arrives he gives it a delightful Austrian lilt at
a slower tempo than conductors usually choose for the
symphony, and then we’re off! This is Beethoven the young
firebrand rebel; variations 9 and 13 are outrageous pieces
of telling people where to go, and again I must emphasize
the humour. Hear how he makes the pause in variation 3
a little bit longer the second time round and then lets
fly; and listen to the last two notes of variation 7!
While in the last pages Schnabel almost convinces us that
this is the “Eroica” symphony, Richter makes no
attempt to inflate it, concluding jubilantly but without
heroics.
In the Schumann
we may marvel at the sheer clarity of Richter’s texture,
as well as his surging romanticism and, again, humour.
Rubinstein had a gentler way with no.2, but he, like Richter,
was choosy about the “Novelletten” he played, limiting
himself to the first two. Both prove that you can be romantic
without wallowing in a sea of pedal. The 8th
Novellette is like a cycle of pieces within the cycle
and here Richter is at his most masterly, charting unerringly
its quicksilver changes of mood. The recordings were not
quite state-of-the-art for their day – the Beethoven is
a bit shallow – but are no obstacle to enjoyment. The
Schumann recordings are obviously professional jobs, presumably
by a radio station. Enthusiastically recommended – and
a reminder that Regis also offer Richter recordings of
the Diabelli Variations and a trio of Sonatas. There is
a divergence of opinion within the accompanying material
as to whether “Novelletten” has one or two “L”s. The Henle
edition has two and, is it was printed in Germany, I presume
they know what they’re doing. The German language corrector
in Word 2003 gives it as an error either way!
Christopher
Howell
Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
