Sergei Prokofiev Piano sonata n°8 op.84 I. Andante dolce 0:00 II. Andante sognando 15:56 III. Vivace 19:47 Sviatoslav Richter Live recording, London (08.VII.1961)
@@matthewzisi300 And I was a very fortunate child because my father took me to many later Richter recitals. All of them unforgettable and uniquely powerful experiences.
A petrifying work of art. To me, it describes a black hole of despair, the only escape from which is delusion and insanity. Richter's rendition here leaves me utterly speechless. His coloring is subtle beyond my sensitivity, to the extent that even the joyous moments of the third movement ring of someone who has forgotten how to feel joy. Perfection.
wtf? this is one of Prokofiev's most reflective and triumphant sonatas, written in one of the most contented periods of his life with his lover mira mendelsohn, who he dedicated this sonata to and wrote the main theme of the first movement for.
through hard times in my thirties, forties and fifties, and there were some, I always had the consolation op the DGG 33 rpm with Sviatoslav Richter and Prokoviev , to fall back on. I hardly knew , who ewither of them were. I just knew that I loved listening to it. Sometimes I think it save3d my life. But it certainly made it more bearable.
I love the music of Prokofiev, and all of Richter's performances of his piano works. This sonata encompasses everything; the mysterious, dreamy, sardonic, humorous, and energetic.
This is going to sound hyperbolic, but I honestly don't think anyone will ever play the piano better than Richter did. This is the towering heights of pianism!
Yes. Some pianists are better than Richter in in some things, such as Hamelin in pure technique (Hamelin has the greatest technique ever), and some like Lipatti can be more lyrical. but no other pianist is marries virtuosity and musicianship together as well as Richter, nor does any other pianist have as much gravitas and introspection such as Richter in the third movement of the Beethoven Hammerklavier or the second movement of the Schubert D960, nor does any pianist have the extraterrestrial quality of Richter’s Well Tempered Clavier.
@@leomiller2291 Well I have to disagree, in a certain respect it takes much more technique to play with the musical intensity that Richter does here and in so many of his live performances, than to rattle off Alkan or Godowsky-Chopin. I think Zoltan Kocsis said "There were awkward moments, but when Richter is at the full concentration.... I've never heard more demanding performances."
I love Richter's sober and unpretentious approach to this enigmatic music! And among Prokofiev's piano sonatas this one is my favourite, because it is so lyrical and doesn't feel obliged to "kill the piano" :-)
+Felix Buchmann Very true : sonatas #8 and #9 are less percussive than the other ones or than the studies. Richter's interpretation of #8 is mesmerising.... :o)
I just love how Richter presses the lower notes so softly in the pianissimo parts of first movement. I personally would be tempted to play it with more breadth, but he just convinced me not to do so. I can't play this piece anyway. There's something tragic with Prokofiev's Sonatas as a passionate musician : listening to Richter and Gilels make me want to play them, but I know I'm just not capable for this. There are a ton of technical difficulties to overcome in order to access to this music. For example I want to play the 4th Sonata, but then I think about the third movement and that makes it not a consideration anymore. We should respect the amount of work that these persons have made.
I really like this above any other recording I've heard of the Prokofiev 8th piano sonata. Richter's mastery of it is nonpariel; his interpretation is by turns bittersweet, lyrical, and deftly explores sonorities with adroit pedalling and phraseology, agogics, and sombre tonalities here; all in all, the apogee of pianistic art.
Durchsichtige live Interpretation dieser bezaubernden Klaviersonate im flüssigen Tempo mit klarem Anschlag und sorgfältig kontrollierter Dynamik. Bestimmt eine der zehn besten Aufführungen dieses Werks bis heute!
Se supone que deberían haber comentarios en Ruso, alemán, polaco, español... Increíblemente parece que los ingleses son mas cultos que las propias personas que viven en los países donde nacieron estos compositores.
Considera que cuando los rusos buscan videos para ver, los buscan en ruso, no en Inglés. Es obvio que más gente vea algo si lo distribuyes en su idioma. Probablemente un número de rusos ni siquiera sepan que Prokofiev se romaniza así. Si el título del video fueran en ruso, tu comentario tendría alguna clase de sentido. No lo está.
Richter and Prokofiev were great friends. I imagine Richter would have heard Prokofiev play this and no doubt would have gotten interpretive tips and suggestions from Prokofiev as well.
For some reason I had it in my mind that Richter didn't play this Sonata cause he thought Gilels had already said there's all to say with his performance... I must be thinking of another piece...any ideas???
I feel the same about this. Pianists of today could just save an effort for something else and if they really care about people hearing this sonata, just point to this recording. Make a listening group or something.
Perhaps that evening was rainy? The finale is audibly all wet. Had the ivories dried? How are we so certain it is the Soviet man of steel? This may be hoaxed off some has-been. I listen not knowing this is supposed to be Richter in his prime. We are not prepared for the 3rd movement. It's so 'real'... Mis-strikes and man-handling struggle for timing in nearly every fast phrase. Much less do we expect any sheer professional confidence to result in that hand-position sequelae of fumbling in the busy penultimate page. Initially I think: This is a middle-rank performer. I expect to hear some reasonable minor adjustment that allows us and the unknown he/she/them to ultimately settle in. It takes more than will to drill into our machine-gunners last killing lines. Taking a breath is how mere humans deal with that insidious adrenalin onstage. Instead where one expects rhythmic detail, there's haze. Hands tighten and shoulders barrel down- we're going in for a bully win. If it's Richter in England, then he must feel the audience is his, reeling in the rough and rowdy phrasing. But this is today.
There are times when the broader reading is desirable. I accept that this performance is musical. From what I read of others, it's effective, unpretentious and theatrical. I feel the thing. This music may be our favorite; but there's more here than meets the ear. For years Richter had youth and access to his inner savant. He learned to read music,with the bravura of Bach. pushing the keys according to time's stamp. So do we believe that any reliable technique was ever familiar under his hand? I admit I never met the man. He never bothered about practice. Did he ever discuss any interior creative process? A reference to level or structure? Apparently he never grasped why Sonata Number 8 was named for Gilels. Nor do I hear any Richter invention, as compared to many others, eg., William Kapell. As time passed Richter lost both testosterone and finger intuition. Here his English offering is touched with a monoxide travelling air of exhaustion. Here is the waste that finally overcame him, as he concludes his climax with an energetic but rubber-gloved fisting. Ultimately this reading offers poetic glimpses of the piece's slow, cosmic heights. But the poetry is soured in a late, student-club performance on a beer mixed-with-wine night.
