Sviatoslav Richter was a dazzling performer but an intensely private man.
He is the author of Mademoiselle , a book of Conversations with Nadia Boulanger..
His film on Richter was released, to high acclaim, in both France and the United States.
About the Author: Bruno Monsaingeon , a writer and filmmaker living in Paris, has made documentary films about Glenn Gould, Yehudi Menuhin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, David Oistrakh, and Viktoria Postnikova.
Sviatoslav Richter belongs on the shelves of everyone with a classical music collection and will also appeal to lovers of autobiography and admirers of Russian musical culture.
This alone makes the book worth reading.
Unlike many other star performers, Richter was also an intellectual who had interesting things to say, particularly about the musician\'s proper role as interpreter of the composer\'s art.
This volume offers readers the sizable pleasure of lingering in the thoughts and words of one of the most important pianists of the twentieth century.
Candid sections from his personal journals offer his sober and unguarded impressions of dozens of performances and recordings--both his own and those of other musicians.
He describes his encounters with other great Russian performers and composers, including Prokoviev, Shostakovich, Oistrakh, and Gilels.
Most important for music lovers, Richter discusses his influences and views on musical interpretation.
His laconic recounting of playing in the orchestra at Stalin\'s surreal, interminable state funeral is riveting.
Unsentimentally and with his characteristic dry humor and intelligence, the musician describes his poignant childhood and spectacular career, including his tumultuous early days at the Moscow Conservatory and his triumphant 1960 tour of the United States.
Richter reveals himself as a man and an artist.
This book is the product of that friendship.
Richter eventually yielded, granting Monsaingeon hours of taped conversation, unlimited access to his diaries and notebooks, and, ultimately, his friendship.
Fascinated, author and filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon tried vainly for years to interview the enigmatic pianist.
Though world famous and revered by classical music lovers everywhere, he guarded himself and his thoughts as carefully as his talent.
Sviatoslav Richter was a dazzling performer but an intensely private man
