Richter At His Best
mark livshits | Philadelphia | 07/21/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sviatoslav Richter has always been one of the world's greatest pianists. He started as an accompianist for the opera in russia. No wonder he was one of the best chamber musicians of all time. Here on this cd are 3 works for Viola and Piano each by a composer that Sviatoslav Richter was very close to. Two of the works were written for the Violist on this CD: Yury Bashmet. On this cd both Richter and Bashmet are at their best. They play with great ease and they bring a certain element of knowledge to each work so that the result is music that is out of this world! The Hindemith is not typical Hindemith. It sounds something like a romantic Richard Strauss. The Britten is less romantic but also very well performed and the Shostakovich is Brilliant. This cd is worth anyone's serious consideration!"