Who is Svyatoslav Richter. Pianist Svyatoslav Richter and opera diva Nina Dorliak: High love or a convenient screen? Music as a way to get to know each other

(March 7, old style) 1915 in Zhytomyr (Ukraine). His father Theophil Richter (1872-1941) was the son of a German colonist living in Russia. Mother, Anna Moskaleva (1892-1963), came from a Russian noble family.

Svyatoslav Richter spent his childhood and youth in Odessa, where he studied with his father, a pianist and organist educated in Vienna. In 1941, his father was repressed as a German spy, and his mother was forced to emigrate to Germany.

In 1932-1937, Svyatoslav Richter worked as an accompanist at the Odessa Philharmonic, since 1934 - at the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre.

In 1934 he gave his first concert.

In 1950 he made his first foreign tours to the countries of Eastern Europe, and in 1960 and 1961 - to the USA, Canada and the countries of Western Europe.

Richter's performance was distinguished by a deeply individual approach to the work, a sense of time and style.

The musician's personal collection included paintings and drawings by his friends and admirers, including Pablo Picasso, Oscar Kokoschka, Renato Guttuso, Vasily Shukhaev, Robert Falk, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, Anna Troyanovskaya and others.

Richter's last public concert took place in March 1995 in Germany.

Svyatoslav Richter - People's Artist of the USSR (1961). He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1975). Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1950), Lenin Prize (1961), State Prize of the Russian Federation for 1995. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin (1965, 1975, 1985), the Order of the October Revolution (1980), the Order of Merit for the Fatherland III degree, other orders and medals, including those of foreign states. Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (France, 1985).

Svyatoslav Richter was married to the singer (soprano) and professor at the Moscow Conservatory Nina Dorliak (1908-1998), daughter of the famous singer Xenia Dorliak.

Richter bequeathed most of his collection of paintings as a gift to the State Museum of Fine Arts (GMII) named after A.S. Pushkin. Currently, the paintings are in the Museum of Private Collections.

In 1999, on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street in Moscow, the S.T. Richter - branch of the Pushkin Museum.

In June 2013, a bronze bust of Svyatoslav Richter by sculptor Ernst Neizvestny was donated to the Moscow Conservatory.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

German by father, who endlessly loved Russia. A "homeless child" who has chosen the whole world as his home. An obstinate proud man who could not be broken by either war, or the threat of arrest, or the roar of enemy guns almost outside the windows of the concert hall.

Pianist Svyatoslav Richter became one of the most famous Russian musicians, having almost entirely lived with his country in the turbulent 20th century.

The son of a musician, composer of the Zhytomyr Conservatory, Svyatoslav was born in 1915. That same year, when Russia's victory in the First World War still seemed possible, the soldiers of the empire marched without fear to the German trenches with a bayonet, laying down under machine-gun fire, and on the horizon of the composer, the terrible events of the revolution collaborated.

The father of the future pianist was a talented musician of German origin, his mother was a Russian noblewoman. Not the best combination for a country in which, during the first three years of Svyatoslav's life, the Germans were first hated, and then the nobles began to be destroyed.

In the early years of his life, Richter was not favored with special attention: his parents had to work hard, and even find a way to survive the attacks of the agents of the young Soviet Cheka, who could not help but pay attention to the noblewoman and the German in the former stronghold of the counter-revolution - Odessa.

Miraculously or with great difficulty, the Richter family still managed to survive the revolution and the Civil War, to be able to survive when explosions rumbled around and the rifles of firing squads rattled around.

But little Svyatoslav, perhaps, managed to survive the terrible times quite easily: there was already music in his life then.

obstinate student

Speaking of Richter, many researchers claim that he was self-taught. Allegedly, the brilliant pianist Svyatoslav Richter did not learn anything, but comprehended the great secret of music at the snap of his fingers. This is not entirely true.

Svyatoslav's first teacher was his own mother, a talented student of Richter's father, who was a composer, pianist and also played the organ.

For a short time, even his father Theophilus tried to teach his child music. But they didn't get along. The student was caught obstinate: he completely refused to play scales, exercises, etudes.

The child declared that scales and exercises had nothing to do with music. For which he was repeatedly flogged by his beloved dad, who knew how to teach music only in this way, worked at the conservatory, where he had already learned more than one musician, and besides, he was distinguished by German formalism.

Misunderstood by his father, but encouraged by his mother, Svyatoslav spat on the scales and began to play everything that came across in the house. Any sheet of music left unattended became the fair prey of the young virtuoso.

Impressing his father and surprising his mother, the young Richter, who never received a full education, managed to become a fully capable accompanist in the Odessa House of Sailors by the age of fifteen, which is not difficult to expect from a child who managed to play Chopin's nocturne at the age of ten.

Again and again refuting his father's convictions, Richter becomes an assistant conductor, begins to give recitals, showing excellent pianist skills, is interested in theater and opera, and writes plays of his own composition.

In 1937 Richter entered the Moscow Conservatory. A brilliant and caustic teacher, also a German, by the name of Neuhaus, who was widely known in musical circles, taught at the conservatory. Thus began the true story of the pianist Svyatoslav Richter.

Here is what the teacher of a brilliant man himself said about this:

“And so he came. A tall, thin young man, fair-haired, blue-eyed, with a lively, surprisingly attractive face. He sat down at the piano, put his big, soft, nervous hands on the keys, and began to play. He played very reservedly, I would say, even emphatically simply and strictly. His performance immediately captured me with some amazing penetration into the music. I whispered to my student, "I think he's a brilliant musician."

And again, Richter showed himself to be an obstinate student, in 1937, in Moscow. Being descended from a German father and a noble mother, Svyatoslav refused to attend classes in political subjects that were mandatory for students of the conservatory.

The twenty-two-year-old student declared that they had nothing to do with music; moreover, he called Marx "some kind of utopian socialist."

But at the insistence of Neuhaus, who had been waiting for such a student all his life, Richter was reinstated at school. Svyatoslav Richter was not an oppositionist or a dissenter, he was simply never afraid of anything, did not allow anyone to dictate to him, and never did what he did not want to.

Richter and war

In war, there are things no less important than a grenade thrown under the belly of an enemy tank, or an accurate bayonet strike that allows the enemy to die for his homeland. There is such a thing - fighting spirit, a state without which a soldier will not be able to fight, let alone win.

Beginning in the winter of 1941, pianist Svyatoslav Richter began to travel around the USSR, engulfed in war. With propaganda teams, he travels to the front, with concerts he appears in cities destroyed by bombs.

Wherever people hear music born from the fingers of a man of genius, they again find the strength to take up arms and fight for their freedom.

In Moscow, Novgorod, Bryansk, Tula - everywhere, Richter's music helps tired fighters regain faith in victory. In 1944, Svyatoslav's music was heard in Leningrad, devastated by the blockade.

There, in the concert hall, the windows are broken, the walls are damaged from bomb explosions, it's cold, people are sitting in fur coats, and Richter is on stage only in a concert tailcoat, he is not cold: he plays music - great classics for himself and for these people who survived hell, smiles on their faces again. He first brought to Leningrad the works of the "disgraced" Prokofiev.

In the war, Richter also meets his love - the singer Nina Dorliak, a woman with whom he will never part and who will outlive him by one year.

Unbreakable Music

According to Neuhaus, there was nothing to teach Richter, it was only necessary to develop his talent, because Svyatoslav was always with the piano for you. Knowing how to choose the right music for every occasion, Richter had an amazing sense of time, a unique style.

He combined the strength, soul, emotions invested in his works with such a level of technical performance that was unattainable for any other musician. Svyatoslav knew how to play each work in such a way that it would be remembered, that it would sink into the soul, become for a person a bright moment of musical revelation.

Unlike the Canadian virtuoso pianist who considered going on stage a duel, a struggle between the will of the musician and the spectator, pianist and orchestra, Richter saw his flock in the public.

The brilliant pianist in his performance seemed to take the audience by the hand and lead along the waves of music to where its amazing sound is born. Not without reason, starting from the eighties, Richter ordered the hall to be plunged into complete darkness, leaving only the notes and the piano lit.

He believed that music should be seen and felt, and not looked at the pianist. Also, unlike Gould, Richter hated studio recordings.

Any of his concerts was unique: for each audience, whether it was a huge concert hall or a small “closet” of the stage in a rural club, he chose exactly the music and the performance that allowed him to touch the audience for a living, to feel the classics just for himself.

A Grammy winner, a pioneer of music festivals in France and Japan, a man who could play an out-of-tune old grand piano somewhere in a restaurant at the station, if only he had an appreciative listener, Richter hated one thing - to be idolized. He did not play for fame, not for money, he played music for people.

On March 20, 1915, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century was born in the city of Zhitomir (Russian Empire), whose virtuoso technique was combined with a huge repertoire and depth of interpretation. The name of this genius was Richter Svyatoslav Teofilovich.

Today we want to recall the main milestones of the creative and life paths of the great musician and display them in our classic photo selection.

Svyatoslav Richter was born into the family of pianist, organist and composer Theophil Danilovich Richter, a teacher at the Odessa Conservatory and organist of the city church; mother - Anna Pavlovna Moskaleva - from Russian nobles of German origin.

Svyatoslav Richter with his parents

In 1922 the family moved to Odessa, where Richter began to study piano and composition. Richter recalled that in childhood and in his youth, his father had a great influence on him, who was his first teacher and whose game the young Svyatoslav constantly listened to.

From 1930 to 1932, Richter worked as a pianist-accompanist at the Odessa Seaman's House, then at the Odessa Philharmonic. Richter's first recital, composed of Chopin's works, took place in 1934, and soon he got a job as an accompanist at the Odessa Opera House.

Svyatoslav Richter with his grandfather P.P. Moskalev

In 1937, Richter entered the Moscow Conservatory in the piano class of Heinrich Neuhaus, but was expelled from it in the fall ( after refusing to study general education subjects) and went back to Odessa. Soon, at the insistence of Neuhaus, Richter was reinstated at the conservatory, and received his diploma only in 1947. The pianist's Moscow debut took place on November 26, 1940, when he performed Sergei Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata in the Small Hall of the Conservatory for the first time since the author. A month later, Richter performed for the first time with an orchestra.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Richter remained in Moscow. His father was arrested by the Soviet authorities and soon shot, and his mother, after the liberation of Odessa from the fascist occupation, left the city along with the retreating troops and settled in Germany. Richter himself considered her dead for many years.

During the war, Richter was active in concert activity, performed in Moscow, toured other cities of the USSR, played in besieged Leningrad. The pianist performed for the first time a number of new compositions, including Sergei Prokofiev's Seventh Piano Sonata.

In 1943, Richter first met the singer Nina Dorliak, who later became his wife. Richter and Dorliac often performed together in concerts. Despite the marriage, rumors about Richter's homosexuality never subsided in certain circles of musicians. The musician himself preferred not to comment on his personal life.

After the war, Richter became widely known, having won the Third All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians, and became one of the leading Soviet pianists. Richter's concerts in the USSR and the countries of the Eastern Bloc were very popular, but he was not allowed to perform in the West for many years. This was due to the fact that Richter maintained friendly relations with Boris Pasternak, Sergei Prokofiev and other "disgraced" cultural figures.

Richter with his wifeNina Dorliak

Richter's concerts in New York and other American cities in 1960 became a real sensation, followed by numerous recordings, many of which are still considered standard. In the same year, the musician was awarded the Grammy Award ( he became the first Soviet performer to receive this award) for his performance of Brahms' Second Piano Concerto.

In 1960-1980, Richter continued his active concert activity, giving more than 70 concerts a year. He toured a lot in different countries, preferring to play in chamber spaces, rather than in large concert halls. In the studio, the pianist recorded relatively little, but a large number of "live" recordings from concerts have been preserved.

Richter's performance is distinguished by technical perfection, a deeply individual approach to the work, a sense of time and style. Considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.

Richter is the founder of a number of music festivals, including the annual summer festival Musical Festivities in Touraine (held since 1964 in the premises of a medieval barn in Mele near Tours, France), the famous "December Evenings" at the Pushkin Museum (since 1981), in within which he performed with leading musicians of our time. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Richter never taught.

At the end of his life, Richter often canceled concerts due to illness, but continued to perform. During the performance, at his request, the stage was completely dark, and only the notes standing on the piano stand were illuminated by a lamp. According to the pianist, this gave the audience the opportunity to concentrate on the music, without being distracted by secondary moments.

In recent years, he lived in Paris, and shortly before his death, on July 6, 1997, he returned to Russia. The pianist's last concert took place in 1995 in Lübeck.

Svyatoslav Richter died on August 1, 1997 in the Central Clinical Hospital from a heart attack, and the great Soviet musician was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Svyatoslav Richter, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, was born on March 20, 1915 in the city of Zhytomyr in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine).
His name is inscribed in the history of music as the name of a pianist who not only masterfully performed classical musical works, but also created their author's interpretations, which in turn became classics.

Svyatoslav Richter. short biography

1915 - was born in the family of a German pianist and composer, teacher of the Odessa Conservatory Theophil Richter and Russian noblewoman Anna Moskaleva.

1930-1932 - Svyatoslav Richter worked as a pianist-accompanist at the Odessa Seaman's House, and after that - at the Odessa Philharmonic.

1934 - first solo concert Richter, where the pianist performed the works of Chopin, after which he received a place as an accompanist at the Odessa Opera House.

1937-1947 - studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the piano class of Heinrich Neuhaus, was expelled after refusing to study general subjects, but subsequently recovered, received a diploma in 1947.

1940 - first performance Svyatoslav Richter in Moscow, in the Small Hall of the Conservatory - Richter played Sergei Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata, for the first time since Prokofiev himself.

1960 - tour in the USA, Grammy Award (the first Soviet pianist to be awarded a Grammy).

1960-1980 - numerous tours in different countries, more than 70 concerts a year.

1990s - lived in Paris.

1997 - passed away.

Svyatoslav Richter - virtuoso pianist and master of piano interpretation

Execution Svyatoslav Richter is distinguished by lightness and technical perfection, the author's approach to the work, and a subtle musical feeling.

Few studio recordings survive. Richter, however, there are many regular live recordings, including quite a few that can be heard and seen on Youtube. The recordings, at first glance, give the impression of being deeply amateurish and even of poor quality, and the reason for this is the darkness that was on the stage during the performances. Richter, when only the notes on the piano music stand were illuminated by the lamp. According to the pianist, this gave the audience the opportunity to concentrate on the music, without being distracted by secondary moments.

photo: portrait Svyatoslav Richter

Svyatoslav Richter Together with the legendary director of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, they came up with the December Evenings music festival, which has been held at the museum since 1981. A feature of the festival is the holding of concerts and art exhibitions united by one theme in the halls of the museum.

“He was very fond of cinema,” recalls Irina Antonova, president of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. - He knew cinema very well. I have a letter where he writes from Paris: "Something unusual happened this month. I saw 40 films." That is, there were days when he went to the cinema twice. He visited theaters a lot. He was always seen in theaters."

The piano once given Richter now stands in the Pushkin Museum. At one time, a heavy instrument did not pass through the doorway of the pianist's apartment. It was possible to use a crane, but in the end they made it easier - Richter donated it to the museum, because he still played there often.

Svyatoslav Richter was not only an outstanding pianist of the last century, but also a cultural figure, took an active part in public life, founded the December Evenings festival.

Great, brilliant, outstanding - this is how pianist Svyatoslav Richter is described by everyone who has ever heard his virtuoso performance of classical works. His repertoire includes works by Bach, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev, Haydn.

He had his own, individual approach to music, he felt the time and style, and the performance technique was brought to absolute perfection.

Childhood

Svyatoslav Richter was born in Zhytomyr in Ukraine, although at that time it was the Russian Empire, on March 20, 1915. The boy's father is a talented German pianist, organist, composer Theophil Danilovich Richter (1872-1941), taught music at the Odessa Conservatory and played the organ in the local church. Svyatoslav's mother's name was Anna Pavlovna Moskaleva (1892-1963), a hereditary Russian noblewoman, von Reinke's mother. Throughout the Civil War, little Svyatoslav lived with his aunt Tamara, from whom his nephew inherited a love of painting, which later became one of the serious hobbies after music.

In 1922, the boy and his family moved to Odessa, learning to play the piano. His father, a famous pianist, who received his musical education in Vienna, helps him at this time. Little Svyatoslav was very attracted to the opera house, he even begins to write theatrical plays and dreams of becoming a conductor. From 1930 to 1932, Svyatoslav gave two years to the Odessa Seaman's House, where he was accepted as a pianist-accompanist, after which he transferred to the local philharmonic society. In 1934, Richter gave his first recital, playing mainly Chopin's music. Soon after, he was accepted into the Odessa Opera House as an accompanist.

Conservatory

Richter's dream of conducting never came true. In 1937, the young man became a piano student at the Moscow Conservatory, having got to the famous Heinrich Neuhaus, but in the same autumn he was expelled. The reason - Svyatoslav flatly refused to engage in general education subjects.

The young man returns home - to Odessa. But Neuhaus managed to insist on his own and Richter agreed to return to Moscow, to the conservatory. The pianist's debut in Moscow was a performance in November 1940, held in the Small Hall of his native conservatory. The young pianist's repertoire included Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata, which had previously only been performed by its author. Just a month later, Svyatoslav gives his first concert accompanied by an orchestra. He graduated from the Richter Conservatory in 1947 with a gold medal.

War

During the war years, the pianist gave concerts not only in Moscow, but also in other cities of the Soviet Union. He also visited besieged Leningrad. He tried to please his compatriots, exhausted by the war, with beautiful music and perfect performance. In his repertoire, new compositions are increasingly heard, he indescribably played the Seventh Piano Sonata by S. Prokofiev.

Parents

In the biography of Svyatoslav Richter there was one tragedy that he carefully concealed from others - the betrayal of his own mother. Before the war, the family lived in Odessa, my father served in the opera theater, my mother was engaged in sewing. Just before the occupation of Odessa, their family was offered to evacuate, but the mother refused. The boy's father is arrested by the security officers, referring to the law of war, and shot, only because he was a German by nationality, which means a traitor waiting for the arrival of the Nazis. Mother at this time, unexpectedly for everyone, marries Sergei Kondratyev, a descendant of an official of Tsarist Russia, who fiercely hated the Soviet regime and even allows him to take the surname Richter.

Without waiting for Odessa to be occupied by Soviet troops, Anna and her newly-made husband flee abroad and settle in Germany. Svyatoslav at that time lives and studies in Moscow and knows nothing, all the war waiting for a meeting with his beloved mother, who was both an adviser and a friend for him. Upon learning of what had happened, the young man became isolated - it was a real disaster, the collapse of everything that used to be a shrine. He experienced this pain all his life, he even decided that he would never have a family - only creativity.

He had not seen his mother for twenty years. Their meeting took place when Furtseva and Orlova obtained permission for Svyatoslav to travel abroad. But alas, the closeness that was before, no longer happened. But nevertheless, when Richter found out about his mother's serious illness, he spent on her the entire fee that he earned on tour. Kondratiev informed Svyatoslav about her death just before the performance in Vienna - and the great pianist could not cope with the excitement and failed the concert. It was his only failure in his entire life.

Creation

Richter's name sounded after the war, the Third All-Union Competition brought him special fame, but in which he became the winner, sharing the first prize with V. Merzhanov. He was recognized as the best Soviet pianist. Then there were tours at home and in the socialist countries, but he was not released to the West. The reason for this was the pianist's friendship with those who fell into disgrace and Sergei Prokofiev. Prokofiev's music was tacitly banned, but this did not stop Richter from performing his works. In 1952, Richter's dream came true - he conducted for the first time at the premiere of the Symphony Orchestra. The solo part was played by M. Rostropovich. Prokofiev even dedicated his Ninth Sonata to Richter, and the pianist performed it brilliantly. Richter was the first performer in the Soviet Union to be awarded the prestigious Grammy Award. His concert life was very intense - up to 70 concerts a year.

The work of Svyatoslav Richter is kept by numerous recordings, both studio and concert, which were recorded in the period from 1946 to 1994.

Social activity

Svyatoslav Richter is the founder of the December Evenings, which were held at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. These were thematic festivals of music and painting, where popular classical music was played and a demonstration of paintings corresponding to the theme took place. These evenings brought together the best musicians, artists, directors and actors. The festival was first held in 1981.

Richter also took the initiative to organize the Musical Festivities festival in Touraine in 1964 and the Tarusa Music Festival in 1993.

In the early 90s, Richter was working on creating a school for young artists and musicians, where they could not only study, but also relax. The pianist considered the city of Tarusa, where his dacha was located, to be an ideal place for such a school. But in order to fulfill his dream, he needed money. Thus, the idea of ​​holding annual festivals, in which artists and musicians would participate, arose. To be able to hold them, the pianist organizes the Svyatoslav Richter Foundation, in which he becomes president. The pianist also donated his dacha to the foundation.

Painting

Another great love of Richter was painting. He had a whole collection of paintings and drawings that were presented to him by famous artists - K. Magalashvili, A. Troyanovskaya, V. Shukhaeva, D. Krasnopevtseva.

He even had a picture of the great Picasso - "Dove", on which the artist left a dedicatory inscription. Richter's mentor in the art of painting was A. Troyanovskaya, he took lessons from her. She believed that Richter had some special sense of light, he somehow perceives space in his own way, has a vivid imagination and a phenomenal memory.

Personal life

Svyatoslav met his future wife in 1943. There were a lot of rumors and gossip about the pianist's personal life, to the point that he was a homosexual, despite having a wife. The musician never told the details of family relationships - it was too personal. His wife's name was Nina Dorliak (1908-1998).

She was the daughter of the popular singer K Dorliak. During their acquaintance, Nina was a singer (soprano), and after that she became a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. Nina Lvovna outlived her husband by almost a year. They lived a long life - 50 years, but never gave birth to children. Richter believed that he did not need all these quiet family joys, he was happy only in art. They had a very unusual marriage - this is an appeal to you, living in different rooms ... According to the will of N. Dorliak, their apartment became the property of the Pushkin Museum.

Museum

Since 1999, the apartment, previously owned by Richter, has become a museum. Here everything remains as it was during the life of the great pianist. All things are in their places, the piano with notes is in the same room in which Svyatoslav Teofilovich rehearsed. Now this room is used for watching films and listening to classical music. The cabinets still contain notes, cassettes, records, which were given as a gift to the great maestro from friends and numerous admirers.

The original of Prokofiev's manuscript with the Ninth Sonata dedicated to Richter is also safely stored here. The musician's office amazes with an abundance of books; he was fond of Russian classics. Painting, another serious hobby of the pianist, occupies a separate place in the museum. Here are his handwritten works and paintings by his artist friends, eminent and not so famous. The museum is open to everyone who wants to listen to good music or take part in one of the musical evenings.

Recognition for the merits of the greatest of musicians

Creativity Richter was rewarded with numerous titles and awards. He is a People's Artist of the USSR and the RSFSR, received the Lenin and Stalin Prizes. He was awarded the title of honorary doctor at once by two universities - Strasbourg and Oxford.

He was awarded the orders of the "October Revolution" and "For Services to the Fatherland". He is a laureate of numerous domestic and foreign awards, is a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Literature received in France, a Hero of Socialist Labor and a member of the Moscow Academy of Creativity.

In memory of a pianist

In 2011, a memorial plaque was installed in Zhytomyr, the birthplace of the great musician. The name of Svyatoslav Richter was given to the International Piano Competition. In the city of Yagotin in Ukraine and in the city of Bydgoszcz in Poland there are monuments to the unsurpassed maestro. One of the streets of Moscow also bears the name of Svyatoslav Richter.

Richter last performed in public in Germany in 1995. The musician died in Moscow on August 1, 1997. Place of burial - Novodevichy cemetery.

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