Piano Works

Sviatoslav Richter was the first pianist of international repute to create in his repertoire a reasonable balance between Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, the quadrumvirate of the Wiener klassik. No other concert pianist has ever included in his repertoire such a conspicuous number of Viennese compositions, nor gone back so far (the early Haydn sonatas are from the 1760s) in his research info the Wiener klassik. Richter is far more interested in the pre-Beethoven aspects of Haydn than in the pre- Schubert ones. The use of the terms "pre-Beethoven" and "pre-Schubert" does not signify that such aspects are exclusive to these composers, merely that we are used to identifying them thus, despite the fact that they are the foundations of the Viennese classical period. Richter has rarely performed Schubert since 1986 - although his interpretation of the Sonata in G major astounds and stupefies those who hear it - and equally rarely performs Mozart; only the Fantasia K475, the Sonata K457 and the Sonata K 533/494. His interpretation of the drama of the Fantasia and the Sonata K457 draws parallels with the darkest moments in Don Giovanni.