Franz Schubert: Fantasy for Piano in f minor, Four Hands D. 940 (Op. 103) Allegro molto moderato Largo Allegro vivace Tempo primo Sviatoslav Richter (primo), Benjamin Britten (secondo) Live Aldeburgh, Jubilee Hall, 22-06-1965
Britten's playing of the secondo part is extraordinary. Brimful of subtle ideas for Richter to play off. Btw, there is no "right" tempo for this piece. The question is: "does it work"? For me what they tap into is the restless energy, of which there is plenty along with mercurial changes of mood. There are other ways of playing it and on another day, who knows what they would have done. Great musicians caught on the wing. We can only be grateful that the technology exists to make this material available.
Wonderful........ and I remember playing the secondo part with a brilliant friend now gone playing the primo. A little bit like playing the back end of the stage horse when both are on the same piano..... as is Britten with Richter.... All sorts of wonderful memories. RIP Barbara-Gaye Munro. d.1975
You know I was absolutely mindblown when I first listened to this recording. My expectation was that Richter would obviously outperform and outshadow whoever was playing alongside him. But boy was I wrong, what absolute pianism, mastery and musicality do we get from Britten here. Britten has a “matter of factly” way of playing i.e communicating the music as it is with extreme convinction, much akin to what we hear in the recordings of Scriabin or Rachmaninoff at the piano. How deeply unfortunate it is that he did not make many recordings of masterpieces by other composers. If anyone has any information on where to find other recordings of Britten at the piano please do share.
Britten has a recording of Schubert’s Arpeggione with Rostropovich. I was flabbergasted when I heard the first note and it still remains my favourite recording of Arpeggione.
Britten was an outstanding pianist, a fact not readily recognised by the public. He was completely up to the daunting task of dueting with Richter. I love the sweep and structural unity they bring to this great work.
This is a wonderful performance by these two very different musical giants, and I didn't even know it existed. The immaculate pianism always serves the music itself and gets to the heart of the piece. I do much prefer this tempo for the main theme, rather than the "holy writ" kind of tempo where everyone purrs about the "heavenly length". Thank you for putting this recording out there for music lovers to enjoy and appreciate.
Bellissima interpretazione. Richter è un interprete magnifico di Schubert. Un autore cinese di nome Cheng definì questo pezzo " la musica dell'anima che sta per lasciare il corpo" : stessa urgenza, stessa gioia, stessa drammaticità. Questa interpretazione musicale è quella che meglio esprime il pensiero di Cheng.
Wow! What a marvellous collaboration of two giants of Classical Music of the twentieth century, both are great pianists, both are Gods among many. Richter trained as a pianist, playing all my favourite piano compositions; Britten a great composer and conductor. If I was born a few hours earlier than 21st March, I could have shared my birthday with Sviatoslav Richter on the 20th March. I couldn't be happier to share my birthday with J S Bach, 21st March 1685, a prolific compose of the Baroque periodr and a Super-Giant in Classical Music. Thank you Margit Nagy for uploading this great piece by Schubert, Fantasy in F Minor, D 940. This fantasy always brings tears to my eyes. I've always wanted to get hold of this score so that I could attempt at playing it, but my tears are going to get in the way. Margit Nagy, any more collaborations?! Perry, London.
From Wikipedia "Unusually, he was largely self-taught. His father gave him only a basic education in music, as did one of his father's pupils, a Czech harpist... On March 19, 1934, Richter gave his first recital, at the Engineers' Club of Odessa; but he did not formally start studying piano until three years later, when he decided to seek out Heinrich Neuhaus, a pianist and piano teacher, at the Moscow Conservatory. During Richter's audition for Neuhaus (at which he performed Chopin's Ballade No. 4), Neuhaus apparently whispered to a fellow student, "This man's a genius." Although Neuhaus taught many pianists, including Emil Gilels and Radu Lupu, it is said that he considered Richter to be "the genius pupil, for whom he had been waiting all his life", while acknowledging that he taught Richter "almost nothing".
Il mondo interiore di Schubert è veramente complesso. Luci e ombre si alternano come in questa sonata. Anche nei tratti più sereni c'è un'inquietudine, come qualcosa che urge x uscire. Mai lineare, mai banale.
I really like this, Richter and Britten project very convincingly the structure of this large scale piece with its diversity of thematic material. This great work can sound rather sprawling if there's not the necessary continuity of thinking from the performers.
@@narimanz if you take y time, listen to the Jussen brothers: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UyjzqPPXDcw.html There y have new an much better phono technicques, brilliant take, and much better performed, for my point of few better tempi and much more Schubert
@@erhardgeiger6199 Your remark deserves no answer. There are better readings, like that by Emil and Elena Giles, but this by Richter and Britten is something unique.
ES OTRA DE LAS FANTASIAS QUE NO ES UNA SONATA PERO QUE ES BONITA ADEMAS LA INTERPRETACION ES DE ENORMES GENIOS DE LA MUSICA, EL PORTENTOSO BRITTEN Y RICHTER OTRO GRAN GENIO,,la identidad sexual de Britten es muy conocida.saludos.fue un compositor tremendo con su requiem de guerra.
Ok, the best performance, great pacing, but forget the capitals and sexuality reference. (Today my wife asked about Schubert's ; I replied I've never thought about it.) Anyway, perhaps the greatest art comes from inner conflict and turmoil.
I have a question, why they choose this tempo, which compare with other Schubert works played by Richter is unusual, interesting thing is Giles choose a relatively slow tempo I supposed Richter's will.
Poco que decir frente a esta joya musical interpretada por dos musicos excepcionales,sin embargo considero el tempo muy acelerado por momentos que en mi opinion le resta cierta solemnidad a esta composicion.De Richter no me sorprende,he escuchado otras interpretaciones de otras piezas musicales de otros compositores en las cuales deliberadamente acelera el tempo.Ha de ser su pasion eslava que lo sobrepasa...seguramente.
Richter suele tocar las obras de Schubert mucho más lento que sus colegas, por ej La sonata D 664 y la D960 que cautivó a Gould por su extrema lentitud. Probablemente Richter se adaptó a Britten. También agrego para comparar la D 894. Saludos desde Argentina!
I’m glad some people are enjoying this interpretation, I really am. Personally this feels like a mockery, a joke between two friends not meant for others to hear. Britten makes mistakes on most every line of the second and third movements. Richter making multiple mistakes in the third movement? Clearly an indicator this was not meant as a recording.
Оба-Музыканты Гигантские,с уникальным чувством ритма и музык. формы !!! Между ними 2 года разницы....остальное - в музыке на одном дыхании!Кажется,на всех этих(англ.) записях никогда не пересаживались : аккомпаниатор Б.Б. "подталкивал" к верхнему регистру "солиста "С.Р.
Even though I am a great fan of Richter, highly respecting his Schubert sonatas, for me in this performance of D.940 Richter and Britten are not on par with the performance of that great piano duo, Vronsky and Babin. Right from the first note Vronsky and Babin's intensity are on a different level- their performance is magic from start to end.
@@lsbrother Pergolesi, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Bizet, Gershwin, Lili Boulanger. In this list only Schumann passed age 40 (barely).
They are simply over-dotting the dotted rhythms, one possible interpretation of that kind of rhythm (the next section Schubert himself writes in the double-dots). I'd say that their rationale is that this work is Schubert's response to a Baroque form, where that kind of sharpening of the rhythm was standard in performance, whether written down by the composer or not. Not sure if I like the effect in this work (they do it again in the final fugue, based on the same figuration). It makes the rhythm more dramatic - haven't heard anyone else interpret it this way. I understand why they do it. Music can work in different ways..
Well, I listened to this recording of Arthur & Lucas Jussen... It is probably more pleasing to the modern ears, due to the wide use of the pedal, which has become the norm for pretty much all pianists this day. Everything is clean and controlled... but where is the interpretation? Do they feel the drama and contrasts of this music ? Do they bring the singing line to life? This performance Richter/Britten shows IMO so much more subtlety, it really brings the music to life, and the musical texture is fascinating ! It'd be a perfect recording... if the tempo was a tad slower in the first movement...
You know you're comparing the greatest English composer since Purcell and arguably one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century with " teenage twin blondie duo", marketed by Deutsche Gramophon for absolute lamers, who are just fascinated by their looks and youth... Musicality and score understanding of Britten/Richter is on a different level IMHO....
If you'd like to hear this great and tragic work done with love, listen to Lucas and Author Jussen's performance of this work. Obviously... the word "love" should or will eventually come to mind. This is not a work that even the greatest of techniciousans can pound into place. Listen for yourself and tell me what you think. Sincerely, CVD
