SHOSTAKOVICH D. 24 PRELUDES AND FUGUES, CHOPIN F. ETUDES / S.Richter piano (1956)

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) - 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 (1950-51) selection 32:54

1 No. 3 in G major; Moderato non troppo - Allegro molto 3:42

2 No. 6 in B minor; Allegretto - Moderato 8:20

3 No. 7 in A major; Allegro poco moderato - Allegretto 3:02

4 No. 2 in A minor; Allegro - Allegretto 2:15

5 No. 18 in F minor; Moderato - Moderato con moto 7:30

6 No. 4 in E minor; Andante - Adagio 8:01

FRYDERYK CHOPIN (1810-1849) - Etudes, Op. 10 (1829-32) selection 14:59

7 No. 1 in C major; Allegro 1:56

8 No. 2 in A minor; Allegro 1:21

9 No. 3 in E major; Lento, ma non troppo 3:58

10 No. 4 in C sharp minor; Presto 1:48

11 No. 10 in A flat major; Assai vivace 1:56

12 No. 11 in E flat major; Allegretto 1:34

13 No. 12 in C minor; Allegro con fuoco 2:22

Etudes, Op. 25 (1832-36) selection 17:36

14 No. 5 in E minor; Vivace 3:08

15 No. 6 in G sharp minor; Allegro 1:51

16 No. 7 in C sharp minor; Lento 5:24

17 No. 8 in D flat major; Vivace 1:16

18 No. 11 in A minor; Lento - Allegro con brio 3:29

19 No. 12 in C minor; Molto allegro con fuoco 2:25

20 Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, Op. 61 (1846) 11:55

Sviatoslav Richter piano

Recorded in the Rudolfinum, Prague, February 21, 1960 (7-20, live), November 30, 1956 (6), and at the Domovina Studio, Prague, December 3-4, 1956 (1-5).

The second CD of Richter's Prague recordings also contains hitherto unreleased recordings, a selection from two series of Chopin' s Etudes (Op. 10 and Op. 25), together with Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61. It is a live recording from a concert at Prague's Rudolfinum in February 1960. In his Etudes, Chopin combines the highest and most diverse technical requirements with a weighty musical content. Richter is among those paramount interpreters whose bravado technical performance of a work is crowned with ingenious musicality. Shostakovich completed the cycle 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, intended as a modern-day counterpart to Bach' s The Well Tempered Piano, in 1951. The Preludes and Fugues are the composer's - and in this recording also the interpreter's - creative celebration of the inexhaustible source of primary invention. We should point out that the presented recording of a selection from the cycle originated only five years after Shostakovich had finished the work.

(Supraphon 2008)