A straight reissue of a volume from Philips'
Richter Edition, this two-disc set will instantly appeal to any
Richter fan who missed it the first time around. With two magnificent Haydn sonatas and a fiery Weber sonata on the first disc coupled with four lesser known but no less wonderful Beethoven sonatas on the second disc, the selection is a typical
Richter mixture of the popular and the recherché. With the pianist's unique combination of nuanced touch, check out his shading in the central Adagio con molto espressione of Beethoven's B flat Sonata; for ingenious balances, check out his phrasing in the central Adagio of Haydn's E flat major Sonata; for supple tempos, check out his rubato in the opening "Mit Lebhaftigkeit" of Beethoven's E minor Sonata; for propulsive rhythms, check out his power in the closing Presto of Weber's D minor Sonata; for profound depths of emotion, check out either his pain in the "Marcia funebre" from Beethoven's A flat major Sonata or his joy in the closing "Nicht zu geschwind" from Beethoven's E minor Sonata, these performances are an ideal blend of everything that's great about the Russian pianist. Two of the performances come from relatively early in the pianist's career, Beethoven's E major Sonata and B flat major Sonata date from 1963, while the remainder come from fairly late in his life, the Haydn, Weber, and the rest of the Beethoven sonatas date from 1993, but every performance here is as good as it gets in the repertoire and deserves to be heard not just by
Richter's fans but by anyone who loves great piano playing.