LIVE IN EAST GERMANY VOL. I

1st Edition - Limited to 3,000 copies

68,00€

Delivered from 06/11/26

Record 1

Sergei Rachmaninov: 13 Preludes

Prelude in F-sharp minor No. 1, Op. 23

Prelude in A major No. 9, Op. 32

Prelude in B minor No. 10, Op. 32

Prelude in G-sharp minor No. 12, Op. 32

Prelude in A-flat major No. 8, Op. 23
Prelude in C major No. 1, Op. 32
Prelude in B-flat minor No. 2, Op. 32

Prelude in F minor No. 6, Op. 32

Prelude in F major No. 7, Op. 32

Prelude in B-flat major No. 2, Op. 23

Prelude in D major No. 4, Op. 23

Prelude in G minor No. 5, Op. 23

Prelude in C minor No. 7, Op. 23

Record 2*

Franz Schubert: 3 Klavierstücke, D946

No. 1 in E-Flat minor: Allegro assai

No. 2 in E-flat major: Allegretto

No. 3 in C major: Allegro

3,000 Copies

The Eagle

Sviatoslav Richter was always a man apart. At no point in his life did he follow in the footsteps of others, be they musicians, writers or political figures. Until the age of 15, he simply worked on his piano, alone in Odessa. Self-taught. He was more destined to become a painter, with little attention paid to him, tossed, in the midst of civil war, between parents with a rather dissolute life and his aunt Tamara. He developed a passion for opera and became an excellent accompanist for the Odessa Opera and several ballet companies. How did he end up, in 1937, at the age of 22, at the Moscow Conservatory in front of the immense professor Heinrich Neuhaus? No one knows. History only records that during Richter's performance, the master supposedly whispered to his neighbor: "In my opinion, he is a musical genius." This did not alter his character in any way. Until the end of his life, he remained a completely free, almost enigmatic figure: "Life unfolds for me like a theater presenting a series of somewhat unreal feelings; while the components of art appear to me as a reality and go straight to my heart." Truths and legends intertwine: twice expelled from the conservatory for refusing "political" obedience, "forgetting" to start a tour in the United States, thousands of kilometers by car on the roads of Europe, followed by his piano, verbal skirmishes with Karajan, entire weeks spent secluded in his dacha with his instrument as his only companion…
As Bruno Monsaingeon writes in the text accompanying his film Richter, The Enigma: "He fears nothing and offers no hold, that will be his great strength. Allergic to any planning, he plays where and when he pleases." Richter expects nothing and aspires to nothing more than to serve music. He is disciplined to the point of being obsessive, even counting his hours spent at the piano to make up for those he might have missed the next day. He would confess many times: "I am a mirror." For him, the interpreter is merely an executor, specifying: "He must not dominate the music but dissolve into it."

The Lost Recordings reveals for the first time exceptional recordings in more ways than one. We discovered, in the archives of East German radio, analog tapes of two hitherto unreleased concerts. In the mid-1960s, Sviatoslav Richter was fifty years old and had recently been performing on all the world's stages. His playing was probably at its peak, both in power and delicacy. With two composers who held a special place in the vastness of his repertoire: Sergei Rachmaninoff and Franz Schubert.

At the end of these two concerts, we recall the words of the one who had distinguished Richter above all others: his master, Heinrich Neuhaus. More aware than others of his student's prodigious talent, he wrote about him this illuminating sentence: "His singular ability to grasp the whole without losing any of the smallest details of a composition suggests a comparison with an eagle which, from its great height, can see as far as the horizon down to the smallest detail of the landscape."

Sviatoslav Richter, piano

Recorded on 16.XI.1967, Volksbühne, Berlin, East Germany
*15.VII.1964, Nationaltheater, Weimar, East Germany
STEREO ℗ 1967 DRA, *MONO ℗ 1964 DRA
Restored by © 2026 THE LOST RECORDINGS from the original analogue tapes

Ref.: TLR-2603070V
33rpm Lacquer-cuts: Marie Pieprzownik
Photos: © Ullstein Bild, © 1964 Jochen Blume, © 1966 Alexander Saakov
1st Edition, hand-numbered: 3000 copies
Tip-on Gatefold printed in Italy
180g Double-vinyl album
Phoenix Pressings™

*A 16-bit album download card is included with the vinyl.

AN UNEQUALLED KNOW-HOW

- Phoenix Mastering™ restoration from original analog tapes
- Lacquer-Cuts by Kevin Gray
- 180g test-pressings approving in our studios
- New Stampers every 500 copies
- Slow pressing cycle
- Unequalled quality control in Europe
- New Tip-on gatefold printed in Italy

DELIVERY & WARRANTY

We ship our products worldwide with the utmost care. In the event of any damage during transport, we undertake to replace, at our exclusive expense, any products.

Returns are accepted within 14 days of receipt of your order, however return costs are the responsibility of the customer.

DOUBLE LP

SVIATOSLAV RICHTER

LIVE IN EAST GERMANY VOL. I

The history of this discovery

"For decades, German radio stations would not play vinyl records directly on the air: they first made a tape copy, so as to avoid any risk during broadcast. Seventy years later, they find it difficult to tell the sometimes priceless recordings they made themselves from the vinyl copies intended for promotional airplay.

A doubt of another kind also lingered: the running times listed in their database seemed inconsistent. Were these merely excerpts, or complete works?

It was in January 2026 — thanks to the tenacity of Michel Navarra and Ulf Drechsel, and after more than two years of effort — that we finally listened to the first original tapes from the archives of the former East Germany, not far from Berlin. Our fears were laid to rest. Among the 80 tapes selected are the names of David Oistrakh, Evgeny Mravinsky, Leonid Kogan and Sviatoslav Richter. We are proud to present here the first volume of previously unreleased recordings devoted to a true legend of the piano, Sviatoslav Richter."

Frédéric D'ORIA-NICOLAS
Musical treasure seeker