Sviatoslav Richter: The Complete Album Collection Rca & Columbia

Sony Classical celebrates the art of Sviatoslav Richter (1995-1997) - one of the 20th century's greatest pianists - with the first-ever release of his complete Columbia Masterworks and RCA Victor live and studio recordings in an 18 CD original jacket edition, underneath Richter's legendary five October 1960 Carnegie Hall recitals. Richter was already a legend in his native Soviet Union when he concertized in the West for the first time in 1960. Richter's American tour that year not only consolidated the pianist's international reputation, but also resulted the memorable recordings gathered together in this collection. Richter's five October 1960 Carnegie Hall recitals showcased the breadth of his repertoire from Haydn and Beethoven to Debussy and Rachmaninoff, with one program completely devoted to Prokofiev, a composer with whom Richter worked closely. Indeed, Richter's success inspired Arthur Rubinstein's ten-concert Carnegie Hall marathon the following season. The series yielded nine LPs, including two that only were released in Japan. Long treasured as rare collectors' items, they appear here for the first time on CD mastered from the original analogue tapes. Along with the December 26th Carnegie Hall recital brought out by RCA in 2001 as Richter reDiscovered, Richter's December 28th Newark Mosque Theater recital receives it's first integral release. The pianist's 1960 RCA studio solo and concerto sessions, too, are justly acclaimed, and feature highly distinctive accounts of Brahms's Second Concerto, Beethoven's First Concerto, and three Beethoven sonatas. Two RCA discs from 1988 concerts return to the catalog, revealing the veteran pianist's undiminished power and concentration in Brahms' early C major Piano Sonata, selections by Liszt, Etudes from Chopin's Op. 10, plus a new recording of the Beethoven First Concerto. As a bonus, three Schubert works released in a 1977 Aldeburgh Festival anthology make their CD debut.