Richter plays Mendelssohn Songs Without Words Op.19 (Szeged, 1972)

[@PetervonBelvedere]

Richter's performance of Mendelssohn Songs Without Words leaves me speechless, that is Without Words. Richter's playing is just so monumental.

[@yuming8380]

I always love Richter's tempo. A bit slower than others. But it works.

[@Bernarchitecte]

Merci youtube pour tous ces enregistrements variété d'interprètes et d'auteurs je suis heureux d'être de ce siècle et des techniques qui permettent ce plaisir

[@beppiblabla5837]

To me to this day one of the finest interpreters of German Romantik

[@willistara]

This is magic - each note like pure light...

[@annabel44love]

Kinda a musty song 🎵

[@kirstybrodrick]

oh my word! What an interpretation; love it

[@ylee3255]

Such a beautiful pieces...

[@Pierinopasquotti]

Richter veramente grande. Mi fa sognare. Salviamo, diffondiamo questo magico interprete russo.

[@ОльгаАбросимова-з3у]

С первых звуков завораживает, чистота ангелов с белоснежными крыльями.

[@gerardbedecarter]

Beautiful playing.

[@harveyshen]

Wonderful made me cry :)

[@evahalaszova4323]

Me the same

[@tracydjp]

WOO! AMAZING PLAYING, RITCHER!

[@jasnajovanovic5940]

Uvek zanos pred lepotom Mendelsonove muzike~predivna izvedba

[@meroukou7119]

Ces notes sonnent comme de merveilleuses gouttes de rosée irisées. Quel plaisir de les entendre, romantisme, émotion, bonheur, voilà. Merci pour ces belles romances!

[@binhminh417]

Amazing Richter! That shows you if you have it, you can bring out beautiful music from any poor quality piano. Thanks for posting.

[@SimonDanellPiano]

It's really amazing how Richter always managed full musical satisfaction through far from perfect audio quality.

[@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797]

That's poor recording not piano

[@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797]

A professional like him would be using a prepped steinway model d

[@SimonDanellPiano]

@@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797 far from! Gilels maybe, as he was sort of the poster boy from Soviet greatness, but I've heard stories where Richter was sent to very distant places with very low quality instruments.

[@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797]

@@SimonDanellPiano he doesn't need to own it. A top pianist would be invited to places like Carnegie hall to play the best steinways and bechsteins

[@MoeAshraf-hx2pr]

The fact that richter used to sleep underneath the piano in ww2 .. hard times truly bring the best in us

[@yassinet.benchekroun5087]

Am I the only one who likes how the piano sounds?

[@ralphberney7768]

no, that's Richter for you, he gets the impossible best out of the ordinary, and makes something special of the instrument, just as he does from any score -almost always - though that said I really do like this piano but it maybe only because of him

[@MegaPianogenius]

yes sounds like a pleyel or one with badly worn hammers lol

[@bernardwastiaux1920]

I do like it as well!

[@vuvietdung1996]

I like it from the first note

[@CarmenReyes-em9np]

Me gustan mucho ,desde que las estudie gracias.

[@niamhhodson8547]

Andante sostenuto - slower than walking pace (no. 6) - played to perfection. Barenboim's gondola had an outboard motor - he plays it way too fast.

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

I respect your opinion, although my preferred tempo is much closer to Barenboim's than Richter's.

[@vuvietdung1996]

Haha

[@ChoBee333]

😂 true

[@martinaanna4537]

😂outboard motor....but you are right. I agree. Greetings fron Germany.

[@saidamatyukov6511]

Much easier to play faster , isn't it? As Artur Schnabel once said..

[@jean-mariedethier5495]

Richter est toujours in-comparable parce que toujours en accord avec l'âme de tous les êtres humains. Richter "le juste" !

[@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797]

Oui!

[@Marinavalerevna]

Если бы это было так! Не все души откликаются на классическую музыку.

[@yusukeundisolde]

thank you for this music !

[@박성희-r1p]

🌈🌬 💓 Thank You !!!!! 감사합니다. 🦋 🧡💛💚💙💜

[@christophschade7414]

Schönes Lied.

[@eingooglenutzer1474]

...ganz ohne Worte

[@jdrnk1]

After finishing this, I said to myself, "This is magic." and then I scrolled down and saw your comment! :D :D :D

[@vuvietdung1996]

Without Words :)

[@HilaryLuo-v7q]

The greatest

[@adrianterang]

Большое спасибо, мастер Рихтер.

[@meredith218461]

Yet later in his career he chose to play a Yamaha for what he perceived as its purity of tone.

[@willistara]

Thanks...

[@wangannie3883]

OH! He play it slow and beautiful ahah

[@silviocorrea5271]

The last fantastic!

[@javiermontero4999]

Una obra maravillosa y el pianista igualmente muy buena ejecución .

[@meredith218461]

Indeed, Richters greatness shines through, however just imagine the magic had he been playing a fine Steinway or Yamaha.

[@helenavondrakenstein4969]

Bosendorfer the best...listen to Rena Kyriakou

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

And, **believe it or not!** RK out-plays Slava! Listen to it NOW, right here on KZbin!!

[@BurningR]

You said it!

[@barrtok]

thanks!

[@janosmacsai6662]

The picture was taken not in Szeged. This is the Zeneakadémia (Conservatory) Budapest in 1976. I was there.

[@willistara]

Well, it happens.... happens for something like, Magic :)

[@mansourahmednegadi6884]

5:19 Sounds just like Bach

[@albertweedsteinthethuggeni7797]

Haha!

[@wideawake3080]

I played the last one before, but obviously he plays it better

[@Kinstonjin]

好听

[@auraruaalbergaria5572]

Unique!

[@wielandhartwich3184]

Just listen to Alfred Cortot playing this piece (Chopin liked it very much) and you will hear the difference .

[@ApsisApocynthion]

Why do the whole book and skip out on playing the 4th song? Especially since it's the shortest and easiest. Really annoying. Anyone who knows these songs will hear the 4th song in their head and anticipate it after the 3rd only to be disappointed. Ugh. Anyway, these are really good interpretations nonetheless. #3 and #6 maybe most of all.

[@jakesmith3724]

Because it wasn’t played at the concert or recorded (says in the description).

[@yusukeundisolde]

Richter liked Bösendorfer's sound .

[@BurningR]

Nice comeback. Like, a very, very, expensive private school classroom.

[@노형식-b2j]

8:11

[@jdrnk1]

What's wonderful though is how amazing Richter can make such a terrible instrument sound!!!

[@Kalen1457]

Terrible???

[@zinam5795]

А. С.Т.Р. было все равно- всегда-на каком рояле играть! Он "от себя требовал,а не от рояля"!'- ремарка гения. А что, это 70-е ,Польша, м.б."Besendorfer"какой-нибудь под руками хорошими с теми же ушами и звучит неплохо.

[@bach5861]

Ну, во-первых, не думаю, что ему было всё равно, на чём играть, а во-вторых, зря вы обижаете "Бёзендорфер". Это вполне приличный инструмент. На нём, в частности, Рихтер записал ХТК.

[@Tata-Sibiryatschka]

Чувствуется профессионал. А профи, как правило, не любители музыки не в своем исполнении. Вот и рояль не тот...

[@SuperMelvyn]

Nearly everything I have heard from Richter has made a powerful positive impact, so I was puzzled by this rather lumpy account of a comparatively easy little miniature (no. 1). The recorded piano tone does not help, but I find Richter's strong insistence on the melody at the expense of the accompanying semiquavers is reductive, especially as his melody proclaims rather than sings. BUT I shall listen again to see if I can find where he was coming from.

[@gwedielwch]

The pieces are so very beautiful that there is little risk of losing the Song. The risk historically has been the reverse - over-sentimental interpretations, which contributed to the general devaluation of Mendelssohn's reputation as a composer. Richter's approach here shows the great strength of Mendelssohn's composition = the intellectual and musical rigour that underlies the beautiful melodic effects. It reminds me of the effect of his playing of the great Schubert sonatas.

[@SuperMelvyn]

NOW you're talking - Richter's Schubert is one of the miracles of my lfie, though there is now a young pianist doing something rather miraculous - Herbert Schuch. You can findf some of his performances on KZbin. But I feel a degree of sentimentality is part of Mendelssohn's musical personality and by excising it Richter actually loses something. But I think your arguments are sound and convincing. Thanks.

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

I generally agree with gwedi elwich. To my ear, the Songs are clearly written as songs: a melody over an accompaniment, which is implicit in the way the left hand is written, viz. broken chords and other recurring figures. Accordingly, (gentle) liberties taken to give the melody a cantabile quality, the way a singer would, are fine--the music would be too dry otherwise--but this should not carry over into the accompaniment! To the contrary, the accompaniment must be steady so that the melody can play off it. Kyriakou (and many others) simply speed up and slow down in both hands, destroying any pulse that the accompaniment should have. I find it self-indulgent and the result is far too frustrating for me to listen to. I much prefer Barenboim's recording of the cycle, even if others may find it too dry, too fast, etc. I recognize that this is all a matter of taste!

[@meredith218461]

Nice playing but the instrument sounds like a piano one might find in a school classroom.

[@helenavondrakenstein4969]

Try listening to Rena Kyriakou for a big surprise

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

Isn't she wonderful? The BEST rendition possible!

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

To my ear, the Songs are clearly written as songs: a melody over an accompaniment, which is implicit in the way the left hand is written, viz. broken chords and other recurring figures. Accordingly, (gentle) liberties taken to give the melody a cantabile quality, the way a singer would, are fine--the music would be too dry otherwise--but this should not carry over into the accompaniment! To the contrary, the accompaniment must be steady so that the melody can play off it. Kyriakou (and many others) simply speed up and slow down in both hands, destroying any pulse that the accompaniment should have. I find it self-indulgent and the result is far too frustrating for me to listen to. I much prefer Barenboim's recording of the cycle, even if others may find it too dry, too fast, etc. I recognize that this is all a matter of taste!

[@matteopagliari]

But he played on Yamaha all his life... strange thing, no?

[@wolfgangklofat594]

No, Yamaha only from the middle of the seventeenth on...

[@easyas314e]

This recording has been compressed to death, sucking all the dynamics out it. Even so, I prefer Perahia’s interpretation. kzbin.info/www/bejne/inirp3Zuf7qBic0

[@marichristian1072]

Flawless technique but perhaps a little more emotion is necessary for these precious "Songs Without Words".

[@rome8180]

+Mari Christian Crazy. I consider Richter to be the emotional pianist to ever live.

[@최순-c6k]

Mari Christian blunt russian style i think. anyway i like it very much.

[@ianfraser4243]

Hm whose idea was it to have him playing on Hitler's old piano?

[@wcsxwcsx]

Ian Fraser It would be a delightful irony if it were.

[@raymondgood2359]

richter so often recorded on terrible pianos- a shame!

[@remww6151]

It's painful to listen the whole piece.

[@levolvik5231]

i play several numbers of those and i completely dislike his interpretations

[@monfisama8618]

It'd be interesting to hear HIS opinion about Your interpretations...

[@levolvik5231]

;DD he would probably laugh at me but i miss the pedal an the beauty in this piece

[@sorim1967]

+LeVolVik YOu think there is no pedal in this? Its clearly a poor recording from the pre-digital age but nothing wrong with the pedal. In fact of all people eon the planet the one who is known or being 100% faithful to pedal requirements is Richter so your comment could not have been more out of place.

[@jean-mariedethier5495]

Affreux instrument !!!

[@ralphberney7768]

Yes, the piano does Mendelsshon and Richter no favours, nor does Richters harsh and souless approach- it's horrible and unworthy of him: why does he play Schubert so well...

[@AVIDEOGAL]

YA THE PIANO DOES SOUND LIKE CRAP - HAS TO BE ONE OF THOSE "VINTAGE" PIANOS FROM THE 1800's THAT THE SOME ARTISTS LIKE TO RECORD ON, BUT I WISH THEY WOULDN'T - WHO CARES IF IT IS "TOUCHED" BY SOME GREAT COMPOSER, IF IT SOUNDS LIKE CRUD TODAY - LIKE THIS ONE DOES. WISH I COULD HEAR THIS CALIBER OF A PLAYER PLAY THIS ON A MODERN DAY PIANO, NOW THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING !

[@46streicher]

I don't think Richter ever played vintage pianos. This is more likely a modern piano, either poorly recorded in the first place, or else sounding tinny because the file has been compressed to fit on KZbin. I agree, "artists" who can't play the modern piano worth a darn shouldn't try to make a name for themselves playing badly on a vintage piano - as often as not, a poorly maintained one, or else one that some modern technician has tried to "modernize" by putting in the wrong hammers, strings, etc., that sound nasty. A properly-restored vintage piano is a joy to listen to! I'll bet you've never heard one.

[@AVIDEOGAL]

46streicher DOESN'T MATTER, WE HAVE TOO MANY GREAT NEW PIANOS TO MESS WITH THE OLD STUFF - IT IS, AFTER ALL, JUST A BOX OF WOOD AND STEEL, I FIND IT HARD TO GET SENTIMENTAL OVER OLD WOOD AND STEEL, NO MATTER WHO HAS "TOUCHED" IT - GIVE ME A GREAT PLAYER TO LISTEN TO, AND I WOULD PUT HIM OR HER ON A NEWER STEINWAY OR YAMAHA EVERYTIME - OR EVEN AN AVERAGE PLAYER, LIKE MYSELF, I WOULD ALWAYS CHOOSE THE NEWER MACHINE - WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO YOUR EXPERTISE, SINCE YOU ARE RIGHT IN THAT I'VE NEVER HEARD AN OLD 1800's ERA PIANO THAT WAS WORTH A SHIT - SO IF I EVER DO, I WILL REMEMBER YOU WITH RESPECT....SINCE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE A PIANO TECH, AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT......

[@46streicher]

***** With all due respect for your preference for new pianos, unless you have some experience with the best (properly restored!) European pianos of the 19th century, you can't totally understand why the classical composers wrote the way they did. There are matters of treble-bass balance, tempo markings, and clarity that no modern piano can replicate. The octave glissandi in Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata were very easy and comfortable to play on pianos of his time, and the thick textures in Brahms make total sense on a Viennese piano like his. Saint-Saens' "insane" tempo markings work on French pianos of his time. Do you really think Chopin would have devoted his career to writing for the piano if he didn't feel satisfied with the pianos of his time? I run a concert series with all 19th-century grand pianos, now starting its 30th year. World-class virtuoso pianists are delighted by what they learn from playing here, and our audience has grown in number. But you obviously know better.

[@AVIDEOGAL]

46streicher SO IF I EVER DO, I WILL REMEMBER YOU WITH RESPECT....SINCE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE A PIANO TECH, AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT...... I GAVE YOU RESPECT IN ADVANCE, BECAUSE OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE, NO NEED TO GET COMPETITIVE AND SOUR WITH ME...

[@AVIDEOGAL]

46streicher SO LETS HEAR ONE THEN, TO PROVE WHAT YOU SAY - POST SOMETHING FROM THE CONCERT SERIES, OR GIVE A LINK TO A VIDEO ALREADY POSTED.....

[@morganhalle9905]

Unfortunately a very disappointing performance, especially for the titanic Richter. No. 1 is remarkably unsteady and top-heavy, and the exclusion of No. 4 damages the balance of the whole set. The mistakes in No. 5 would be okay if Richter provided half of the nervous energy required--slowing the tempo in the retransition is unforgivable. No. 3 is quite good and so is 6, but this is not enough to save an overall sloppy presentation.

[@philipstevenson5166]

Richter is OK but I don't see much reason to drool over him. Pianists are just assistants to composers. All credit to them, but AI can already do it better.

[@Miloslator]

It takes a lot of practice to be a Pianist. Why should you not drool about someone who had the Discipline and soul like richter? He is in my opinion the best Pianist who has ever lived.

[@Marinavalerevna]

Пускаете слюни на ИИ? Если это касается искусства, то Вы уникальны.

[@philipstevenson5166]

@@Miloslatorfine, subjective opinion is what it is. i have sympathy with richter (based on the bruno monsaigneon documentary). but i subjectively (as a biologist first and pianist second) don't find it especially special.

[@philipstevenson5166]

unique is flattery. biology has little interest in straight repetition.

[@Marinavalerevna]

​@@philipstevenson5166 Ваш холодный ум действительно хорошо сочетается с искусственным интеллектом.