Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat, D960 [46:51]
Impromptu D899 No. 4 [7:26]
Piano Sonata No. 13 in A, D664 [24:47]
Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
rec. live 10 June 1956 (unknown tracks), 10-11 June 1962 (unknown tracks), 24 September 1972 (D899, D960), unknown locations
PRAGA DIGITALS SACD PRD/DSD 350 063 [79:04]
One knows what to expect from Richter playing Schubert: great poetry, a tone
which glows with melancholy beauty and slow speeds. That’s exactly what
one gets here, with a very affecting and very long (47 minutes) sonata in
B flat D960 and a similar but more youthful and thus more innocent sonata
in A, D664. It’s Praga’s presentation that gives me cause for
concern.
First, at least once in D960 there is an unpleasant effect where, for very
brief flashes - less than a second - the piano seems to “ricochet”
across the concert hall. Digital noise reduction has been used to dampen both
the audiences’ coughing and Richter’s playing. Thus there is almost
no tape hiss, which makes the piano’s faded sound feel anachronistic.
The documentation lists no recording locations and specifies a date for only
the B flat sonata, giving two other dates but not saying what they’re
for. Richter’s online
discography says the Impromptu was recorded on the same day, which is
confusing, because if true this means Praga lists two dates six years apart
for the sonata in A. Most distressingly, every time I attempted to load the
CD in my computer, the computer froze. There was no problem with playback
on other machines.
If you want to hear Richter playing Schubert live, there are better places
to start.
Brian Reinhart
If you want to hear Richter playing Schubert live, there are better places
to start.
Masterwork Index: Schubert sonata 13 ~~ Sonata 21
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