Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat, D960

So the CD finally arrived yesterday - a live recording of Sviatoslav Richter playing Schubert's last piano sonata in a parish church somewhere in England. You can hear the audience members coughing - some of them very badly, the poor things - and occasionally you can catch the sound of cars, and, according to the CD notes, even airplanes, in the background. But somehow, even though such disturbances normally annoy me, in this case, they just make the whole performance come alive in a way that would have not been possible if all the ambient noise had been edited out.

I love Richter's playing. I'm not sure if that's the consensus among the music people - certainly I've heard people say things like "He was quite eccentric", or, even worse, "He's very popular", (implying that he's not that good, really). I guess what I like about the way he makes music is, firstly, his technical prowess (every note so clearly articulated, even in glissando passages, believe it or not!), and secondly, the individuality of his musical vision, its sheer verve and confidence.

If only he'd made more recordings. But ah well. I'm just glad to have discovered him, even if I came a bit late to the party.

Ooh, and an interesting analysis (again, I can't vouch for its musical credentials, but I like the writing) of the Schubert sonata. I really should go find a few other recordings to listen to.


Edit: 28 July 08

The other thing I like so much about Richter's interpretation of this sonata is the way he's so comfortable with silence. This is related to the confidence and verve I mentioned earlier, I guess - he is utterly unafraid, whether of speed-demon running notes or huge handspan-expanding chords, or just silence.

Ok, I suppose it all boils down to the fearlessness. That's it, really. I mean, sure, most musicians are confident of their craft, but very few sound fearless the way Richter does.

Apparently, he's got another, better, recording of this sonata, made somewhere in the 1970s in Prague. I want to hear that one too, so that I'll have something to compare this recording with.
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