SVIATOSLAV RICHTER'S PIANISTIC LEGACY – AN EXAMPLE FOR YOUNG PIANISTS

Abstract

Sviatoslav Richter's style of performing musical works goes beyond technique – it influences worldview and the perception of music as a form of service. Richter's legacy consists not only of recordings, but also of the artist's ethical code. Sviatoslav Teofilovich's performing skills are an integration of intellectual depth, emotional restraint and technical perfection. He did not seek to be spectacular, but instead sought truth in sound. That is why his work remains relevant today. The systematisation of Sviatoslav Richter's biographical data, concert recordings and creative work has made it possible to summarise the key aspects of his mastery: pedalling, phrasing, stylistic authenticity and acoustic transparency. The concept of ‘objective transcription’ integrates Richter's philosophical and aesthetic position, viewing his performance as an architecturally oriented reconstruction of the author's intention, as opposed to traditional egocentric virtuosity. For Richter, performance is a creative process, clearly subordinated to the musical structure of the inner logic of the work, resulting in a conscious shift of emphasis from personal emotionality to structural and timbral clarity, which gives the interpretations a monumental, architecturally perfect sound (especially noticeable in the polyphony of J. S. Bach and the late sonatas of L. van Beethoven and F. Schubert). ‘String-bow touch’ describes the uniqueness of Richter's piano technique, allowing him to realise his sound ideal, shaped by the influence of organ and orchestral music. The sound is achieved through specific micro-control of touch, functionally analogous to the types of strokes used on string instruments, with the priority being subtle, dynamic control of the fall and rebound of the finger on the key while minimising the inertia of the forearm, which provides a double spectrum of sound: ironically sharp, ‘prickly’ (the aesthetics of the grotesque and modernist irony that exposes the structure) and profound, organ-like monumentality (in the romantic and classical repertoire – Beethoven, Schubert). The repertoire explication of Sviatoslav Richter's method of universalism is a consequence of his objective method. The application of this method led to a conscious rejection of external sentimentality in favour of emphasising philosophical depth, temporal and structural scale.