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Sviatoslav Richter
Life Time
20 March 1915 - 1 August 1997
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The great pianist Svyatoslav Richter was born in the city of Zhytomyr on March 20, 1915. Childhood and youthful years of musical genius were held in Odessa, where the famous Odessa Opera House became a second home for Richter. The boy's father worked as a concertmaster in this theater. He was educated in Vienna and tried to teach his son everything he knew. Richter gave his first independent concert at the age of 19. Having no special musical education, at the age of 22 Svyatoslav successfully passed
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The great pianist Svyatoslav Richter was born in the city of Zhytomyr on March 20, 1915. Childhood and youthful years of musical genius were held in Odessa, where the famous Odessa Opera House became a second home for Richter. The boy's father worked as a concertmaster in this theater. He was educated in Vienna and tried to teach his son everything he knew. Richter gave his first independent concert at the age of 19. Having no special musical education, at the age of 22 Svyatoslav successfully passed exams and entered the Moscow Conservatory for a course by Heinrich Neuhaus.
In 1940, the first public performance of the pianist took place in Moscow. He virtuoso sang Prokofiev’s 6th Sonata and was the first to play Prokofiev’s 7th and 9th Sonatas.
The virtuoso pianist was not released outside the USSR for a long time, and only during the Khrushchev thaw he was able to conquer the world with his skill. In 1960, Richter heard Finland, after which the triumphal procession continued in the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Austria.
Richter was the initiator of music festivals in Tureni, Tarus, and in recent years he performed mainly in small provincial theaters. The last concert of the musician took place in Lübeck. In the repertoire were works of a variety of composers - Bach, Handel, Stravinsky, Gershwin, Webern, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Shostakovich, Ravel and many others. In addition, the music performed by Richter sounded in many Soviet films.
Picture "Composer Glinka" The pianist played the role of Franz Liszt.
He accompanied famous world singers and collaborated with musicians of the younger generation - Elizabeth Leonskaya, Yuri Bashmet, Vasily Lobanov, Zoltan Kochish.
Svyatoslav Richter died on August 1, 1997, he was buried in the Moscow Novodevichy cemetery.