Bruno Monsaingeon

The first half of the book, where Monsaingeon has taken hours and hours of interviews with Richter and rearranged them into a more-or-less chronological autobiography is absolutely compelling, though in retrospect it doesn't provide as much insight into his way of playing the piano as you would hope. Richter is his own worst critic and it is a breath of fresh air when he actually likes one of his live performances or recordings. The narrative does provide some details on his odd path to the Moscow Conservatory, where he was accepted despite having had only a few formal lessons from his father and a harpist! Richter says he never practiced scales, did exercises, or even studied Czerny. His only interest was to learn to sight read, which he did. He then devoured opera scores brought home by his father, playing through them solo on the piano. Richter traveled all over the Soviet Union playing, and after being allowed to travel internationally, he played many times in Europe and Japan, and a few times in America, which he detested (other than its cocktails).

The second half of the book is Richter's notes on various recordings and live performances he listened to or attended, including many of his own. Again, he is hyper-critical, and despite some wickedly funny digs at various performers (and even more so at those who stage operas), this part of the book gets a bit tiring. There are a few people who consistently receive high marks from Richter, including Christoph Eschenbach as both a performer and conductor, and many who do not. But he is not able in some cases to exactly explain what it is that is lacking in a performance. He strongly believes that the pianist should play the piece the way a composer wrote it--but he frequently criticizes pianists who are known for their note-perfect renditions. His remarks on composers, conductors, and individual pieces are sometimes a big more helpful. Reading this book will definitely make you start digging for old recordings that Richter recommends or for his own recordings. Luckily, if you subscribe to a music service like Zune, many (too many!) of these are available for a quick download.

In the end, I enjoyed this book and ploughed through it quickly, but it lacked the detail and lessons to apply of some other pianist's books that I have read.… (more)

Living a life that was completely immersed in his music, Sviatislov Richter truly was a "protean" artist. He was born on March 7, 1915 in the Ukrainian town of Zhitomir and a year later moved to Odessa with his family. Richter began his career rather late in life, beginning serious study at the Moscow Conservatory in the late thirties after an eclectic musical upbringing. He relates his personal story in the magnificent, Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations by Bruno Monsaingeon.

The personal voice of Richter conveyed in this amazing volume is as magnetic as his playing (I regret I only know his music through recordings). He was friends with Emil Gilels, Rostropovich and Prokofiev, and many other notable twentieth century artists. His nomadic existence mirrors the breadth of the music he surveyed and performed over his lifetime. In this book we find intimate and interesting portraits of composers and artists, friends of the man who shares the spirit of music. Inspirational on almost every page Richter's life, at least for this music-lover, comes alive with every detail. The book is divided into two sections: "Richter in his own words", and "Notebooks: On Music". I will keep them both near my music collection for future reference.… (more)