Sviatoslav Richter Archive

Pianist Sviatoslav Richter was born in Zhitomir, Russia but grew up in Odessa. Unusually, he was largely self-taught although his organist father provided him with a basic education in music. Even at an early age, …

During his lifetime of 57 years, Ludwig van Beethoven composed a total of 32 piano sonatas. It is quite a challenge to say which one I like best. Upon some thought, however, I choose Beethoven’s …

For sheer joy of musical collaboration, enjoy this fine video record from 18 March 1970, when two great Soviet artists, David Oistrakh (1908-1974) and Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), played Beethoven and Brahms at Alice Tully Hall …

Franz Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 13, D. 664 was originally thought to have been composed in 1825. However, recent scholarship suggests that the sonata was composed some years earlier during the summer of 1819, which …

Sviatoslav Richter was born in Zhitomir, Russia but grew up in Odessa. Unusually, he was largely self-taught although his organist father provided him with a basic education in music. Even at an early age, Richter …