Richter Rediscovered - Carnegie Hall Recital [Original recording remastered]

OK, we've had the minor stuff. On to the good performances! The Ravel, the last on the first disc, is splendid: Richter plays with the least probable ponderousness in Jeux-d'eau, going almost to a higher realm. The entire second disc is great. The Prokofiev is the real highlight of the set: Richter may have excelled in every kind of music, but in Prokofiev he was simply from another world. The Sonata no.6 is a definitive performance, and the final movement, where Richter plays with a stunning sense of rhythm and incredible virtuosity, is one of his finest moments. But he hasn't finished with Prokofiev yet: no less than 12 shorter pieces (visions fugitives and a gavotte) follow as encores, and most of the pieces contain the same kind of madness as the sonata's fourth movement. Richter runs through them as if he was made to play this music. Follow a fine Debussy piece, two incredibly speedy Chopin etudes and a light Mazurka, all played with much relaxation and authority. The Revolutionary Etude could have been fierier, but ok. No real complaints about the second disc, except the overload of applauses maybe.

Should you buy these discs? If you like great Prokofiev and Ravel, maybe. The nice packaging and the fine photos and essays in the booklet make this a real collector's item. But there are also less good performances on the discs, so ask whether you'd like to pay the full price for it. Sampling may be a good idea.

Still recommended.

Not surprisingly, the Russian music receives close to definitive treatment, with the Prokofiev Sixth Sonata breathtaking in capturing both the hard-edged virtuosity of the outer movements and decadent elegance of the Tempo di valzer lentissimo third movement. The Rachmaninov Preludes are a feast of warm tone and clear textures. The Prokofiev Visions Fugitives, performed as encores at both concerts, slip by like the quicksilver glimpses of fantasy they are.

The rest of the material is more controversial. The Haydn Sonata is notable for the incredible speed of its opening movement; the technique is dazzling but there is little else. The finale, oddly, proves to be on the sedate side. The Adagio, however, is beautifully shaped and balanced. The Chopin Scherzo and Third Ballade remind this listener of Horowitz, not in a good way: the music is driven too hard and loses poise, the end of the Ballade particularly difficult to endure in its overplayed clangor.

Nevertheless, as a whole, these performances are vivid and essential documents of one of the great pianistic personalities of the twentieth century. The sound is clear and perfectly acceptable, though there is little "live" ambience.