Richter: Mozart #20 / Prokofiev #5 - DG ("Red Stereo")

$

60

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This outstanding LP – in a “Red Stereo” jacket – from Deutsche Grammaphon (SLPM 138 075, German pressing, AH tulip label, stereo, original inner sleeve included) features Sviatoslav Richter in a pair of now legendary concerto performances, gramophone classics.

Here, Richter is heard in the following two recordings:

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K. 466*

> with conductor Stanislaw Wislocki, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

* Note: Richter plays Beethoven’s cadenzas in K. 466

(rec. at Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw on 24 April 1959)

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5 in G Major Op. 55

> with conductor Witold Rowicki and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

(rec. at Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw on 23 September 1958)

Wrote the critic J.N. in his review for the March 1960 issue of The Gramophone: “I half expected to find that Richter would take a romantic line with the Mozart, but not a bit of it. He is such a consummate technician that he can keep his dynamic level down to that of chamber-music throughout the concerto, without once sounding as if he were tempted to show what a modern grand piano can do. But of course this is more than a matter of mere technique.

“Everything about this performance is poised, restrained, classical. The tempi are moderate. If you compare the beginning of the whole concerto with either of the other versions reviewed this month you will hear at once what I mean: there is no attempt to emphasise the music's inherent drama, and as a result the strings' syncopated crotchets tell far more clearly. As a matter of fact I am inclined to think that the accompaniment in this recording is rather more distinguished than in the new Columbia issue. It is true that the Warsaw woodwind do not phrase with the same long-drawn suavity that we hear from the Philharmonia players, but Stanislav Wislocki gets less perfunctory phrasing from the strings.

“But of course it is the pianist's performance that most people will be interested in, and here I can only report that Richter's grows upon me with each hearing. It is less intense than Annie Fischer's, I think, and you might even find it dull at a first hearing. But listen to the subtlety of his rubato at the first entry in the opening movement; listen, too, to the perfectly judged staccato in bars 3 and 7 of the slow movement (which Fischer ignores); listen to the gradations of touch in that difficult middle section of the same movement, where for once he really lets us hear the woodwind. One could go on almost indefinitely, this performance is so full of rewarding details; but instead I shall confine myself to saying that this is one of the finest performances of a Mozart concerto that I have heard— subtle but strong, and steering a secure middle course between the aggressiveness of some virtuosi and the feminine prettiness that is too often allowed to pass for "Mozartian style".

“The Prokofiev concerto is one of the last works he wrote before his return to Soviet Russia; it was first performed with the composer as soloist in Berlin in 1932. I cannot say that I warm to it very much, even in such a superlative performance as this. It seems to me far drier and spikier than anything Stravinsky has ever written, and I find it rather ironic that this should be considered more acceptable in Russia today than such work as Stravinsky's Capriccio. However it is witty in a rather defiant way, very occasionally tender, and in this performance at least the dynamic momentum never flags for a moment. When I add that the only fault I can find with the recording is a slight weakness of bass in both stereo and mono versions, I think you will see why I urge any Mozart lover to overcome whatever distaste he may at first feel for the Prokofiev and at least listen to this record.”

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the glossy laminated jacket is near-MINT. There is a slight bit bumping at corners and and light discoloration to the rear panel, but that is all. There are no seamsplits, bends, or owners' markings, and the album remains solid, bright, glossy, and handsome in appearance – overall, an excellent collector's copy.

The condition of the LP itself is EXCELLENT++. Although the surfaces are not completely CD silent, really the playback is superb. Only those requiring an absolutely flawless copy need hesitate – overall, this rates as a very fine collector's copy.