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Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter (Russian: Святослав Теофилович Рихтер, tr. Sviatosláv Teofílovich Ríkhter; March 20 [O.S. March 7] 1915 – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian pianist who is generally regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He is known for the “depth of his interpretations, his virtuoso technique, and his vast repertoire.”
On March 19, 1934, Richter gave his first recital, at the Engineers’ Club of Odessa; but he did not formally start studying piano until three years later, when he decided to seek out Heinrich Neuhaus, a famous pianist and piano teacher, at the Moscow Conservatory. During Richter’s audition for Neuhaus (at which he performed Chopin’s Ballade No. 4), Neuhaus apparently whispered to a fellow student, “This man’s a genius”. Although Neuhaus taught many great pianists, including Emil Gilels and Radu Lupu, it is said that he considered Richter to be “the genius pupil, for whom he had been waiting all his life,” while acknowledging that he taught Richter “almost nothing.”
Early in his career, Richter also tried his hand at composing, and it even appears that he played some of his compositions during his audition for Neuhaus. He gave up composition shortly after moving to Moscow. Years later, Richter explained this decision as follows: “Perhaps the best way I can put it is that I see no point in adding to all the bad music in the world”.
By the beginning of World War II, Richter’s parents’ marriage had failed and his mother had fallen in love with another man. Because Richter’s father was a German, he was under suspicion by the authorities and a plan was made for the family to flee the country. Due to her romantic involvement, his mother did not want to leave and so they remained in Odessa. In August 1941, his father was arrested and later found guilty of espionage, being sentenced to death on 6 October 1941. Richter didn’t speak to his mother again until shortly before her death nearly 20 years later in connection with his first US tour.
In 1943, Richter met Nina Dorliak (1908-1998), an operatic soprano. He noticed Dorliak during the memorial service for Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, caught up with her at the street and suggested to accompany her in recital. They were married in 1945 and remained companions until Richter’s death; they had no children. Dorliak accompanied Richter both in his complex private life and career. She supported him in his final illness, and died herself less than a year later, on May 17, 1998.
It was rumored that Richter was homosexual and that having a female companion provided a social front for his true sexual orientation, because homosexuality was widely taboo at that time and could result in legal repercussions. Richter was an intensely private person and was usually quiet and withdrawn, and refused to give interviews. He never publicly discussed his personal life until the last year of his life when filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon convinced him to be interviewed for a documentary.
Sviatoslav Richter | Chopin Etude Op 10-4
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