Sviatoslav Richter’s traversal of keyboard music’s “Old Testament”, first released on LP during the 1970s, stands among his most towering achievements captured by the microphone.
“There are some remarkable moments on these discs …remarkable as piano playing … Usually his tone is exquisitely cultivated, and Preludes such as the F minor, G minor and B flat minor are beautifully phrased; excellent, too, are quick, lithe ones like like the D major and D minor or the B flat major. Richter’s virtuosity is impressive in other Preludes such as the C minor and A minor. Of course, some Bach is very romantic and the Preludes in C sharp and E flat minor are very fine … I admire, also, the limpid sound of the C major and B minor Preludes; first and last in the first book, and Richter quickly responds to genre pieces like the D major Fugue, which is an ouverture a la francaise.”
-Gramophone
