Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations [Paperback]

This is a fascinating glimpse of the musical world through the eyes of one of its major practitioners. -- "Library Journal

Richter himself spends 200 of these pages putting us straight as regards his recordings . . . The table of his repetoire in these Notebooks and Conversations shows he was always a subtle, inquisitive artist, who played for his own developing pleasure, not to feed the public with exactly what it gaped for . . . -- Eric Griffiths, The Evening Standard

This is as close, in a human and enlightening way, as the likes of thee and me are likely to get to truly towering creative (and interpretive) genius. -- Michael Wolff, New York Observer

In allowing Richter's own words to take precedence over anecdotes or analysis, a clear view of Richter's musical life emerges . . . Richter develops from a mischievous-looking young man to the chiseled, inscrutable icon of his later years. -- "The Economist

Music lovers should be grateful, for along with [Richter's] comments on music and musicians, it displays the foibles, opinions, skills, joys, and sorrows of the publicly reticent keyboard titan. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, it should enlighten and delight lovers of the piano and the pianist. -- "Booklist

This book is almost impossible to put down . . . Its target is anyone who wishes to sit at the foot of the Richter legend. . . . -- Andrew Clark, Financial Times

Here is one of the great pianists of the 20th century, who was justly welcomed with adulation any time he appeared, who never once, in dozens of recordings, seemed to doubt what he was doing or what the music was saying. -- Edward Rothstein, New York Times Book Review

Few in the 20th century loomed so tall artistically but lived more eccentrically than the late Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter. . . . Was there ever a more singular musician?. . . In what initially appears to be a mere appendix of the book, there is the most insightful, engaging part of all: excerpts from Richter's personal notebooks. . . . This is the heart of music-making and an artistic life. To understand [Richter] is to better understand all of those individualists of the keyboard. -- David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer

[In this well-made book] . . . Richter appears part monk, part showman, part unworldly, part shrewd. . . . Richter's notebooks, reproduced in the second half of the book, slag off, with gusto, other musicians, recordings, conductors, and, to be fair, himself. -- Richard Coles, Times Literary Supplement

Enlivened throughout by Richter's intelligence and his eccentric humor, particularly in the last section, a diary where he has made notes on the music he is listening to. . . . Characteristically, his sternest criticisms are reserved for his own recordings. -- "The New Yorker

Quintessential Richter . . . highly cultivated, perceptive but caustic, particularly about what he perceived as superficiality and egotism. . . . Determination, sincerity, strength in abundance. Everything about Richter seemed outsized. -- Michael Kimmelman, The New York Review of Books

This book is almost impossible to put down. . . . The strength of Richter's personality, his obstinacy, and his candour, leap from every page. -- Andrew Clark, Financial Times

The book will . . . be of interest to anyone interested in Richter's ideas and personality. -- Paul Orgel, Notes

The reader is presented with an intimate portrait. . . . Monsaingeon has put together a volume that gives the reader a close-up look at an internationally known musician recognized as one of the most important pianists in the last half of the 20th century. -- "Choice

"'This book is almost impossible to put down.' Financial Times; 'For anybody interested in 20th-century musical life [the Notebooks and Conversations] make fascinating reading, because Richter met everybody from Britten to Karajan, and had an opinion (usually scathing) about them all. But you don't have to be an aficionado to enjoy this rant: a genius on the rampage is always great entertainment.' Richard Morrison, The Times; 'Though most of the [notebook] entries are brief, they are vivid in their immediacy, and Richter's remarks about opera productions, conductors (he despised von Karajan and thought that Carlos Kleiber was the greatest) and individual works are constantly engaging.' Economist" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.