Richter Svyatoslav Teofilovich - an outstanding pianist of the 20th century, a virtuoso. He had a huge repertoire. S. Richter founded a charity foundation. He also organized several music festivals.
Biography
Svyatoslav Richter, whose biography is presented in this article, was born in 1915 in Zhytomyr. His childhood and youth passed in Odessa. His first teacher was his father - a pianist and organist, who studied music in Vienna. At 19, S. Richter gave his first concert. At 22, he entered the Moscow Conservatory. In 1945, he became the winner of the All-Union Music Competition. For a long time, the authorities did not let Richter go on tour abroad. His first trip took place in 1960. Then he performed in the USA and Finland. In subsequent years, he gave concerts in France, Britain, Austria and Italy.
Svyatoslav Richter was the founder of several music festivals and a charitable foundation. During the war he lived in Moscow, and his parents were in occupation in Odessa. Soon, his father was arrested and shot. Mother left for Germany, and S. Richter believed that she died. He had not seen her for 20 years. The last years of his life the musician spent in Paris. Shortly before his death, he returned to Russia. The last concert of S. Richter took place on July 6, 1997. The pianist died on August 1, 1997. The cause of death is a heart attack. He was buried in Moscow, at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Creative way
Svyatoslav Richter in 1930 worked as a concertmaster in the House of a Sailor in Odessa. Then he went to the philharmonic. Since 1934 he served in the opera house. In 1937, Svyatoslav Richter entered the Moscow Conservatory. But soon the pianist was expelled. After some time, he continued his studies. He graduated from the conservatory S. Richter in 1947. The musician received fame in the postwar years. In 1952, Svyatoslav Teofilovich for the first and last time in his life went on stage as a conductor. In the 60s, the pianist first traveled abroad with concerts. Svyatoslav Richter was the first Soviet performer to receive a Grammy Award. He gave 70 concerts a year. At the end of his life, he was often sick, but continued to perform, although he often canceled concerts due to health reasons.
December Nights
December Nights Sviatoslav Richter is a music festival founded by the great pianist. It was first held in 1981. The festival is a series of concerts where music is played and paintings selected for it are shown. Thus, the close relationship with each other of various forms of art is shown. Over the years the festival has existed, about 500 concerts have been organized as part of its holding, in which outstanding musicians, poets, artists, actors, directors took part.
Repertoire
The works of various authors were performed at their concerts by Svyatoslav Richter. Music of various genres - from baroque to jazz - was part of the pianist's repertoire. Composers whose works he performed:
- I.S. Bach.
- J. Haydn.
- M. Ravel.
- F. Liszt.
- P.I. Tchaikovsky.
- M. Balakirev.
- L. Cherubini.
- M. Falla.
- B. Britten.
- F. Chopin.
- W-B. Wekerlen.
- J. Sibelius.
- P. Hindemith.
- A. Copland.
- A. Alyabyev.
- A. Berg.
- D. Gershwin.
- N. Metner.
- L. Delibes.
- G. Wolf.
- K. Shimanovsky.
- E. Shausson.
- S. Taneev.
- L. Janacek.
- F. Pulenk and others
Despite the fact that the repertoire was very wide and versatile, very little was recorded in the studio of Svyatoslav Richter. The pianist's albums are listed below:
- "Concert No. 1 in B Flat Minor" for piano and orchestra by P. I. Tchaikovsky. With the participation of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by G. Karajan (1981).
- "The Well-Tempered Clavier" by I. S. Bach - 1 part (1971).
- "The Well-Tempered Clavier" by I. S. Bach - 2 part (1973).
S. Richter Foundation
In the 90s of the 20th century, the Svyatoslav Richter Foundation was founded. His activities are aimed at conducting various cultural events in the province. First of all, these are festivals of classical music. It all started with the fact that S. Richter had the idea to create a school of creativity, where young artists and musicians could study, as well as relax. He wanted to open such an institution in the city of Tarusa, where his cottage was. To realize his dreams, money was needed. Then the idea came to Svyatoslav Teofilovich to hold annual festivals for artists and musicians, where he would participate, as well as his creative friends. The proceeds from such events were planned to be used to open the school. Friends and colleagues of the musician - Yuri Bashmet, Galina Pisarenko, Natalia Gutman, Elizaveta Leonskaya and many others - supported his idea. Thus, the S. Richter Foundation was founded. The pianist himself became its president. Svyatoslav Teofilovich transferred his cottage to the ownership of the foundation. The foundation began its activity with a concert by S. Richter. It took place on December 1, 1992.
Richter artist
Richter Svyatoslav Teofilovich was fond of not only music. He collected a collection of paintings, as well as drawings created by people who were close to him: K. Magalashvili, A. Troyanovskaya, V. Shukhaeva, D. Krasnopevtseva. Among foreign artists in his collection were paintings by P. Picasso (“The Dove” with a dedicatory inscription from the painter himself), H. Hartung, H. Miro and A. Calder. Anna Troyanovskaya was a great friend of the pianist, he learned from her to write in pastel. In her opinion, Svyatoslav Richter had a wonderful sense of color and tone, the concept of space, imagination and phenomenal memory.
The works of Svyatoslav Teofilovich, which are stored in the museum:
- "Moscow".
- "Nanny".
- "Moon. China".
- The Blue Danube.
- "The old cottage."
- "Nina with Mitka on Rzhevsky."
- "Night and Roofs."
- "In the south of Armenia."
- "At the church."
- Pavshino.
- "Twilight in Tablecloth."
- "Church in Pererva."
- "Winter storm".
- "Bear a balloon."
- "Yerevan".
- "Mourning".
- "Spring weather."
- "Street in Beijing."
Awards and titles
Svyatoslav Richter is a pianist who has rightfully been awarded a large number of awards and titles. He is an honorary citizen of Turus. He received the title of People's Artist of the USSR, and then the RSFSR. He was awarded the Lenin and Stalin Prizes. The pianist was an honorary doctor of the University of Strasbourg and Oxford. S. Richter was awarded the Order of the October Revolution, "For Merit to the Fatherland." The musician also received prizes: Leoni Sonning, named after M.I. Glinka, R. Schumann, F. Abbyati, Truimph and Grammy. Svyatoslav Teofilovich - holder of the Order of Arts and Literature (France), Hero of Socialist Labor and member of the Academy of Creativity in Moscow. And this is not a complete list of titles and awards.
Nina Dorliak
In 1943, he met his future wife Svyatoslav Richter. The personal life of the musician, despite the presence of a wife in her, was always surrounded by rumors of his homosexuality. Svyatoslav Teofilovich himself did not comment on gossip and preferred not to turn his personal life into the public domain. S. Richter’s wife was Nina Dorliak — an opera soprano, People's Artist of the USSR and the RSFSR. Nina Lvovna often performed in an ensemble with Svyatoslav Richter. Soon she became his wife. After leaving the scene, she began to teach. Since 1947, she was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Nina Lvovna died less than a year after her husband, Richter Svyatoslav, died. According to the musician, children, family, friends and all other joys of life were not for him, he believed that he should devote himself to art. Although his wife still appeared, and he lived with her for 50 years, but they did not have children. And their marriage was unusual. The couple called each other to you, and each had their own room. The apartment in which they lived, Nina Lvovna bequeathed to the Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin.
Museum apartment
In 1999, in Moscow, in the apartment on Bolshaya Bronnaya, where Svyatoslav Richter lived, a museum was opened. Here, furniture, personal belongings, sheet music, paintings - all that belonged to the great pianist. The apartment has no luxurious furnishings. The way of life and the nature of its owner are felt in everything. The large room, which the pianist himself called the "hall", was used for rehearsals. Here stands the musician's favorite piano. Now in this room are watching movies and listening to operas. In the office there are cabinets with notes, cassettes, concert costumes, records and gifts from friends and fans. The secretary keeps the manuscript of S. Prokofiev himself - this is the Ninth Sonata written by him, which is dedicated to the pianist. There are a large number of books in the office, especially Svyatoslav Richter liked to read the classics: A. Pushkin, T. Mann, A. Blok, A. Chekhov, M. Bulgakov, B. Pasternak, F. Dostoevsky, etc. The musician’s relaxation room, which he called “green,” turned into an artistic one in those days when S. Richter gave concerts. In addition to music, as we have already mentioned, the pianist was interested in painting. He was not only a connoisseur, but also an artist. In a small room - a real exhibition of paintings. Here are pastels of Svyatoslav Richter, as well as works by various painters. The pianist himself very often organized vernissages in his house. The museum-apartment offers guided tours that include listening to audio and watching videos. In addition, there are evenings of music.
Memory of the musician
In memory of the outstanding pianist in 2011, a memorial plaque was erected in the city of Zhitomir . His name is the international piano competition. In several cities, monuments to Richter S. T. were erected - in Yagotin (Ukraine) and in Bydgoszcz (Poland). In Moscow, the street is named after Svyatoslav Richter.