Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8 & 23 / 8 Bagatelles / Choral Fantasy, Op.80 (Richter Edition, Vol. 2)
This liveAppassionata, from a Moscow recital of 1960, is one of the most thrilling piano performances ever recorded. Sviatoslav Richter fills every moment of the first movement with intense drama, creates the illusion of total repose in the central variations, and then takes off in the finale with an exhibition of musical virtuosity and ever-increasing tension that becomes almost unbearably intense (and unbelievably fast and accurate). The studioPathétiqueis quite fine, and the Fantasy (sung in Russian!) well performed by all but still rather quaint in its effect. But don't miss thatAppassionata!--Leslie Gerber