Of the great Schubert players of the twentieth century --
Schnabel,
Brendel,
Lupu,
Kovacevich, and
Richter --
Richter was arguably the greatest. Because while the rest each had their own individual merits,
Schnabel's spirit,
Lupu's poetry,
Brendel's brilliance, and
Kovacevich's soul,
Richter combined all of these and added aching lyricism, wild fantasy, sublime grace, and almost super-human power to create a heroic Schubert of visionary strength and genius. In these three sonatas, all of them among the lesser known of the Austrian composer's works, the Russian pianist finds more music, and better music, than any other pianist. His massive G major D. 894 recorded in London on March 20, 1989, finds heights, depths, and especially breadths in the opening Molto moderato e cantabile that none before him had suspected; his lighter B major D. 575 recorded in Florence on June 12, 1966, rides with irresistible joy through its racing closing Allegro giusto; his unfinished C major "Reliquie" D. 840 recorded in Salzburg on November 27, 1979, surpasses its uncompleted status to achieve a transcendent state of terror and bliss. Along with his elfin A major Sonata recorded in Paris in 1963 and his magisterial B flat major Sonata recorded in Aldeburgh in 1964, these three recordings belong on every shelf of Schubert's piano music. It should be noted that although the disc lists all three performances as having been recorded in 1979, the distinctly different sound of each argues against it, and a glance at
Richter's discography disproves it.