Tchaikovsky: Grand Sonata Opus 37 / Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Richter Edition, Vol. 9
In my opinion, Sviatoslav Richter played these two Russian monuments better than anyone else on record. However, he played them even better in concert than he did in these excellent studio recordings. The ultimate RichterPictures(the 1958 Sofia version on Philips) keeps bouncing in and out of print, but it's currently available and it's the greatPicturesperformance of all time. However you hear Richter play these two pieces, though, do hear him. He will probably convince you, at least while you're listening, that the Tchaikovsky is a much better piece than most musicologists seem to believe.--Leslie Gerber