Sviatoslav Richter is acclaimed as one of the greatest pianists in history, and his recordings of music by his friend and colleague Sergei Prokofiev are considered by many to be the definitive interpretations of the composer’s piano music, particularly those works from the tumultuous years of the “Great Patriotic War”. For the first time, Richter’s recordings of the three great “War Sonatas” – including a rare recording of the Sixth – are released together in one program.
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“Prokofiev’s three so-called ‘War’ piano sonatas (Nos 6-8) – the Second World War in this case – are closely associated with Sviatoslav Richter, who gave the public premieres of the first two, while it fell to Emil Gilels to premiere No 8. Richter’s mastery, whether in the unabashed savagery of Nos 6 and 7 (the finale of the latter especially) or the introspection of much of the Eighth has a near equal nowadays in the playing of Steven Osborne (Hyperion, 2/20), but I’d imagine that even he experienced Richter as a strong presence along his interpretative learning curve. Also included are winsome accounts of a group of Visions fugitives and a transcribed Gavotte from the Cinderella ballet. These Melodiya and DG recordings have been skilfully remastered by Paul Arden-Taylor.”
-Rob Cowan, Gramophone, November 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “If it’s authenticity you’re after, ‘Sviatoslav Richter plays Prokofiev’ is right up there. From his many recordings of the three so-called ‘Wartime’ sonatas, here are versions from 1956-61. No. 6 comes from a public concert, with a few splashy moments before things settle, but the contrast between the strident, the wryly humorous and the sentimental is vividly painted. Richter gave the premiere of No. 7 and he absolutely owns the piece, from the anxietv of the first movement, through the glowing andante to the precipitous finale The recording leaps into warmer stereo for No.8, allowing the detail of Richter’s amazing pianism to emerge even more strongly.”
-Martin Cotton, BBC Music
“[Sviatoslav] Richter’s friendship with [Sergei Prokofiev] dated back to these student years, and Prokofiev entrusted him with the premieres of the Sixth and Seventh Sonatas and wrote the Ninth Sonata for him.” … ‘[Piano Sonata No. 7 is] a superb achievement… a big wartime work… that can easily sound sentimental if played with less elegance than this, and a brilliant final toccata in 7/8 rhythm.”
–Gramophone
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Top rating) “[Richter’s] Prokofiev 8th Sonata… encompasses breadth and depth in a way none can match.”
–Penguin Guide
