Richter's FAMOUS Schubert all WRONG?? 

Who is this guy judging great richter? Awfull

Wagner made a great comment about how a conductor can always choose the 'right' speed: All you need to do is sing a few bars of the music - even if you aren't a trained singer, if you are serious about it, you will hit the speed that is right FOR YOU. Richter wasn't Horovitz, and Horovitz wasn't Richter, but their musical character is what made the interpretations of both men so compelling. Apart from that, there is no such thing as 'too fast' or 'too slow'. It either works, or it doesn't. With Richter, it works.

I wonder why you are talking about "the last Sonata by Schubert". The last one is, as far as I can see, D 960, isn't it? By the way: thank you for your work which Ithink is really important!

I don’t think the Sonata in G , D894 was Schubert’s last sonata; the tryptic in A, C minor and in B Flat Major were the last sonatas.

this experience occurs so often for the musician who will play his entire program in his life at all speeds, then he will make a choice for the concert. His choice, his freedom, his integrity.

Before I discovered Richter’s performances of Schubert I never appreciated his works for solo piano. Now they are among my favorites. Richter was possibly the greatest pianist of all times, perhaps equalled by some (Horowitz, Rubinstein, Michelangeli, among any number of others, including younger contemporaries), but certainly never surpassed. At least with respect to his renditions of some composers. Most certainly to include Schubert. It's fortunate that RU-vid's "cogwheel" allows one to double the playback speed to 2x so one can get through rather uninformative clips like this one quickly. Fazit: Thumbs down, and I’m not coming back to this channel... because there’s nothing to find here but Euro-English babble. Example? The name of the Canadian pianist in this clip is "Gould'', not "Gold".

Richter most certainly played the D960 (B flat) and Gould was right. The concert was recorded by the radio and has been issued on CD multiple times.

It's worth noticing that the sonata Gould mentioned and the one you discuss here are two different ones!!

Oh wow... Richter was playing a prayer there, very impressive.

2:12 NOT Schubert's last sonata...not even one of the last three!

It's a very good move to bring this ex. by Richter and Glenn Guld's words - no one can deny their technical abilities of rushing things up, however - the young generation (as you can see from some of the comments here below) are used to move fast, but they should understand that Schubert was living in another era and so was its music. They should understand that the main issue is not their own patience (or impatience) for listening to long, almost meditative music, but the inner meaning and ideas of the music the composer intended to transfer to its audience. Thanks Wim for another fine upload.

But why are you just talking about tempo here. Its not just about the tempo. I really doubt thats what hes thinking about with this interpretation its such an uninspiring way of thinking about it. Its not enough just to play slow

Fast and great technique are NOTHING if the music message does not arrive, Art does not work like that…

I don't believe his excessively slow tempos in the G major and B flat sonatas are anything like what Schubert intended. Of course Richter was a genius, there are countless other great performances of these pieces at tempos the composer would've expected, so no harm and some benefit to performances that force us to listen to them in a different way, especially when done as well as Richter does it. But let's not pretend it's what the composer intended, or that it doesn't run the serious risk of distorting the piece's meaning and overall structure of the entire sonatas.

I don’t get it. You and later on Glenn Gould are talking about Schubert‘s LAST Sonata. And he (the speaker) said B-Major ( what is right) and the text is correcting him, that he said G-Major??? G-Major Sonata, subject of this vid, is not his last one. It was followed by c-minor, A- major and finally B-Major. As far as I know. Please correct me, if i am wrong.

Hello, I started listening to the music being played, and although not being highly trained, (only an amateur🎼💕), I was afraid I was being presumptuous, by thinking virtually the same as the text shown around 10 min's. If the composer gave the tempo, then certainly most would respect that. But Richter seemed to be " saying ", "Just listen to it THIS way , let's see what else we can find here..." I don't know this piece ( only very slightly..🤔), but it was interesting to hear : a feeling of " savouring " each note, revealing a different emotional response, perhaps...🎼😊. Will listen further.🎼🎹 Thank you.🎼💕🇬🇧. 🇬🇧💕🎼😊🥀🦉🎼 🎼💕🎹🦉💕🎼🇬🇧

That voice actor came impressively close to replicating Gould's voice when recreating the audio for that interview.

When I met with Lorenz last summer, he also showed me this interpretation by Richter. Great Video, Wim!

The interesting thing is, you can arrive at the right tempo, at least close to it, 90% of the tempo, by simply playing a little bit.

I remember reading one of J. S. Bach's students describing his playing as having the ability to turn hours into minutes. So there's a coincidence.

I really would love to see something from Maestro Celibidache on your Channel. He was also well known for "slow" Tempi. Interesting fact, for him didn't exist a to slow or to fast tempo.

Во-первых, ТАКОЕ исполнение было рассчитано именно на ЯПОНСКУЮ публику. По замыслу Рихтера, соната Шуберта изображала неспешное и самопогружённое любование цветущей сакурой. Во-вторых, Рихтер известен своим экспериментаторством. После него осталось много вариантов одного и того же произведения в разных темпах. Поразительно, что мы готовы принять их все, хотя это как будто противоречит логике! В-третьих, сравнивать надо исполнения в разных темпах ОДНОГО И ТОГО ЖЕ пианиста, а не разных! Тогда вы ответите на вопрос "почему?"

Musicians should play in the manner that moves them.

Gould said B-flat Major and meant B-flat Major which is the last sonata (No. 21). The G Major is No. 18

My girlfriend will never understand why I'm way into this channel.

Richter has such a sound that he can make long lines and that's the tempi he wants .....

I tried contacting you on your website to ask you a question, Wim, but it appears as though it did not send. I would appreciate if you answer. My question is this: are you vegan? If not, why? If you need clarification on what I mean by anything, let me know.

My boyfriend cannot comprehend why I find this fascinating 😂 Great video once again. Thank you 😊

Do not expect most people understand that, they cannot, only a minority of people can understand that.

Yakov Milshtein was SR piano duo partner told that his Schubert sonata played too slow. S.Richter answer than he played even slower. SR was was hurt by this comment. "Than I'll play even slowly" He had a grudge on Yakov M. When SR learn that YM died walking on Moskow snow covered street he express exciting feel of revenge: "Just face down into snow". From Andrei Gavrilov memoires.

Yet more amazing is Richter's tempo in "Relique" sonate (D840)

Big mistake by confusing D.894 et D.960 in your wrong Gould comments......

Richter and Rachmaninoff were, without doubt, the two greatest pianists ever on record. We are not "old fans"... we have ears. Sviatoslav Richter is just out of any competition... and that is. To compare Richter and Gould? No sense at all. Gould plays his vision of the composer. Richter play what is written by the composer. But because Gould is not a skillful composer, he often ridiculed himself. Gould is a wonderful pianist, influential, but he does not possess nor the Richter's vision, nor the Richter virtuosity, nor the Richter's vast repertoire. If you are not able to follow the Richter's logic? Do not speak nonsenses at all. "Specialist" you are... Schiff and Richter? OMG... Richter has a vision, a form. The rest of your show? Just play "notes". And are unable to understand the whole piece.

The Richter performances of the same music in different ages has different tempos, first 15 seconds of each performance there is almost 3 seconds difference in tempo and performance time and also different temperament, can not tell he is sticking to some pre defined tempo in sort of couple of bars of performance, who knows if different mental and emotional condition if himself Schubert was, how would he notate the tempo, I can say it is not that important for the creator of the music specially this one how the creator of the music would perform in exactly same tempo as indicated by the creator of the music, he would end up different tempo himself, the indication is just an expression not bit per second. this is todays western mentality of how 300 years before they understood of music, that is why now they listeners are way far from their own culture of that past, know some history and live in the past to understand and do not rush in making videos so fast. tempo is temperament, the creator of the music was not that serious as the presenter of this youtube, take it easy, those times were different than now, one second now was different than one second in 17th century not because of the second , just because of the mind set of romantic and human beings that lived on those days with their vision on one second of life. do not think your one second of feeling is the one second of feeling of Chopin or Schumann sop to speak. just saying, I am always open to discussion.

Richter and Schubert help me in my life. Thank you, great video M.Winters.

Leave Richter alone -genius cannot be commented nor crticized.What is this guy talking about?What the composer had in mind is something he and only he knows.

Lovely podcast Wim. Really enjoyed it.

Richter is extreemly slow in two movements in different Schubert sonatas. Is that a problem? Clearly it is going to be for many people. I have so many recordings of those two sonatas by many great artists I can turn to those if I want it played at a more regular tempo. Here's the thing. Why do I have so many recordings of Schubert's piano sonatas? It's because I enjoy listening to different artists, with different styles and interpretations. I don't play Richter's recordings of D894 very often but there are times when I really want to connect with his style and intelligence. This is a great artist and there is a reason why he likes to perform in that way. Heaven forbid that all artists perform in an identical style. Richter himself made it clear that if a piece of music didn't interest him he felt no desire to bother with it. Artists are not robots: It's up to them how they wish to translate music to the listening audience.

Richter gives me chills. Unreal. The Schubert B flat is such a beauty....can you imagine hearing that in person?

Are there metronome settings in Schubert, as there are with Beethoven? Beethoven is usually played way too slowly.

If dreams really could come true, I dream about hearing Schubert's sonata D960 in B flat and Mozart's sonata K. 570 in B flat in the right tempo. Pretty please with 8th notes for cherrys on top? Thanks for the Beethoven complte sonatas. Beethoven is my most favorite, I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't hear him being played as he was meant to be...a thank you by every classical compositions there are ever written! Good day.❤

very interesting remark you made about "skipping the brain." gives me much to think about

Friedrich Wuhrer at least for myself is the benchmark for all other interpreters of Schubert's piano music.

I love Richter's Schubert although I might be a bit biased because his recordings were the ones I first got to know and love the great Schubert sonatas with. But I was also pleasantly surprised when later hearing Maria Joao Pires' recordings. Obviously much faster but also lighter. Suddenly, the first movement of D960 for instance didn't sound so depressing anymore but much more lighthearted or at least emotionally ambiguous, a bit like Mozart does. Was also a great experience. But I guess with a composer like Schubert, different approaches work. (Unlike with Mozart, where I often feel that his music simply sounds "right" or "wrong.")

Thank you very much! ❤ Here I understand Bach!🤔

李赫特的演奏肯定不是古典风格的舒伯特原作，但是他确实诠释了一个很不一样的舒伯特，反正我特别喜欢慢速的舒伯特，很有深度

Shubert is often "accused" of being repetitive and Richter of being too fast. I was shocked when I first heard this recording, years ago. It just didn't feel like any of these things. I got lost in the sound. (I swear, I wrote this comment before listening to Gould.. 😁)

Playing music is not an athletic pursuit.

Why, when creating the metronome, was the number of "clicks" prioritized over the pendular movement when setting the numerical value we see on metronomes, considering that time was also measured taking into account the complete pendular movement? This choice would have avoided confusion and would have been more coherent with measuring time according to the pendular movement. Thank you very much. Sincerely,

There are those who rate Richter's playing of the first movement of the G major sonata the best, apparently equating slowness with profundity. But it clearly goes against Schubert's tempo indication, especially since it is followed not by a scherzo but by the real slow movement.

The problem is that when you are used to a fast interpretation, a slower tempo seems unusually slow. It is just how our brains are. Can you imagine listening to beatles songs at double tempo! Seems absurd but we do this with classical music all the time.

The foundation of any music genre, past or present, has to be tempo. There's a joke in Punk culture that if you play it twice as fast you end up with Polka. Rock ballads have a feel that falls appart when the Tempo is wrong, same with Reggae, etc, etc. It's possible that affect and time signature combinations also had an expectation about how they felt, which had to be founded in Tempo aswell. This is just how I think about this, and anyone eager to prove me wrong should just leave me alone, I'm not asking for debates here, just sharing my thoughts to the channel owner.

I love the real tempos so much more. I wish I could hear Mozart and schubert and Beethoven's symphony orchestras preformed the right way... any Chace though, of seeing my favorite Schubert sonata D960 in B flat major performed??❤

The first edition 1826, the circa 1850 edition of J. Boehme, the F W Markull, and the 1888 Julius Epstein edition do not have MM indications. The Franz Liszt edition published by Theodore Presser no date, I can find the founding of Etude, and the Presser Publication lists 1893, death is 1886 not withstanding has dotted quarter = 63. This would be between 31 and 32 single beats per minute. Liszt has an ossia in small score for his editorial articulation or notes held which Presser may have put these with the original below as best as I can determine.

Could you tell me when is your book coming out?

Dear Mr. Winters, I am still waiting for a response concerning a document the Allgemeine muzikalische Zeitung n 8 September 1821 in which Mälzel himself explains the single beat, specifically. My comments seems to dissapear about it... "zeigt die Gradation vom langsamsten bis zum geschwindesten Tempo steigende Bewegung . Diese zerfällt in drey Hauptheile . 1 ) Langsam ( Adagio ) . 2 ) Mässig ( Andante ) . 3 ) Geschwind ( Allegro ) . Diese Bewegungen theile ich jede wieder in drey Theile ein als : - langsam 1º . Sehr langsam 20. Sehr mässig mässig 30. Mässig geschwind - - nicht zu langsam . etwas geschwind . geschwind sehr schnell . - - ich nehme die Zahl 80 als Mittelpunkkt an , weil in dieser Zahl sich die drey Grundbewegungen vereinigen , je nachdem man entweder eine 8tel Note , eine 4tel oder halbe Note mit derselben bezeichnen will . Achtzig Achtelnoten in einer Minute ist langsam , Achtzig Viertelnoten mässig , und Achtzig halbe Noten geschwind . Achtzig halbe Noten nenne ich geschwind , weil im 4/4tel Tackte 40 Takte auf eine Minute fielen . 120 halbe Noten nenne ich sehr geschwind , weil 60 Takte im Lauf von einer Minute sich beym ganzen Takte bilden . 60 halbe Noten in einer Minute , gränzt an das , was ich mässig oder Andante nenne , an . 80 Viertelnoten ist mässig , 60 Viertel gränzt an Adagio an , in welchem 80 Achtelnoten langsam ist , weil 10 Takte auf ein Minute fallen , und sehr langsam sich bilden muss , wenn man z . B. das Gegengewicht des Balanciers auf 56 stellte , wo nur 7 Takte in 4 Takte in einer Minute ausgeführt werden . Diese Darstellung beweist , dass man auf der Zahl des Metronoms deutlicher die Bewegung eines Tonstückes bemerken kann als durch vorgeschriebene Worte . Der Bequemlichkeit halber habe ich die erste Tabelle in Decimalzahlen eingetheilt ..." He clearly states the single beat here...

This channel changed my perception of tempi so much I now find myself having to slow down the playback speed here on RU-vid most instrumental music written up to late 19th century.

You can not call Richter russian pianist because he was not russian at all.

I love the way you play sir

Why you don´t post videos so often as before??