Biography

Svyatoslav Richter, one of the greatest pianist of the 20th century who was largely self-taught, had survived traumatic events and restrictions on his concert tours during the Soviet era and was widely recognized as the leading pianist of his time.

He was born Svyatoslav Teofilovich Richter on March 20, 1915, in Zhitomir, Russian Empire (now Zhitomir, Ukraine). Young Richter grew up in Odessa, He took some music lessons from his organist father, but remained largely self-taught and practiced his piano rigorously. He was an excellent sight-reader, and was hired as accompanist at opera rehearsals at Odessa Conservatory and Odessa Opera House. At the age of 22 Richter was already an accomplished pianist; he was admitted to Moscow Conservatory without an entrance exams, because his talent was so obvious to Heinrich Neuhaus, the Chair of piano. While a student at the Moscow Conservatory Richter performed the 5th Piano Concerto by Sergei Prokofiev - to a sensational success. Richter was not informed by authorities, that at the same time his father was executed by firing squad in Odessa, upon the order of the Soviet authorities, in 1941.

After such a painful experience Richter became a very quiet man. He expressed himself by playing music. He never joined the communist party or any of its affiliations, and was known for skipping compulsory political lessons and being expelled from Moscow Conservatory twice. For political reasons Richter was restricted to concerts only within the Soviet Union until 1959, when the "Thaw" was initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. In 1960 Richter was invited by impresario Sol Hurok and made eight sensational concerts in Carnegie Hall. His following world-wide concert tours brought him international acclaim and unofficial status of the leading pianist. His regular stage partners were David Oistrakh, whom Richter knew from their childhood in Odessa, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Starting from 1946 Richter often performed with his wife, Nina Dorliak, a mezzo-soprano. Richter was especially partial to baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

Richter possessed a legendary ability of memorizing new musical material and playing it flawlessly. In one well-known episode Richter had only one night to memorize a difficult ninth piano sonata by Sergei Prokofiev, and he gave an acclaimed premiere performance of the sonata on the next day. Richter was also highly sought after as an ensemble player. His sight-reading of a new score was impeccable which also made him a highly demanded recording artist. He had a special talent for harmonizing the sound within ensembles he played with, due to his gift of listening, instant attunement, and complementing the performances of his fellow musicians.

Svyatoslav Richter was widely recognized as the leading classical pianist of the 20th century. His live concerts as well as his recordings belong among the highest achievements in the art of piano performance. Richter was widely admired for his ability to create magic with his piano playing and for his special presence on stage, as well, as for his wit and wisdom off stage. In his numerous concert performances he demonstrated a rare technical finesse, exquisite phrasing, and impressive tone control. He was very serious about the quality of his piano and was known for touring with his own piano which was maintained exclusively by his technician.

Svyatoslav Richter was the founder of several international music festivals, such as the famous December Nights Festival at the Pushkin Museum of Arts in Moscow. He launched the Music Festival in Touraine, France. In his later years Svyatoslav Richter moved from Russia to Europe. He died in France in 1997.