(This HMV Review is for new items and is only for reference. Novelty will NOT be available for used items despite mentioned bellow.)
Dvorak's Piano Concerto has never enjoyed the popularity of its composer's other major works or of the piano concertos of his contemporaries such as Tchaikovsky and Brahms--not virtuosic enough or well-suited to the piano, many critics have said, including some who have rewritten and revised parts of it. Sviatoslav Richter, however, was one of the concerto's most persuasive champions during his career, and this 1976 recording of the work--using the composer's original version--makes a strong case for it as more than just a way-station on Dvorak's path to greater achievements. Under Carlos Kleiber's equally sympathetic direction, the concerto spans a broad range of emotional states from pathos to rollicking good spirits with a touch of folk music sprinkled here and there.
But this is a disc where the "filler"--Schubert's 'Wanderer' Fantasy--is more substantial than the main course. This is Schubert's most difficult piano work, and gives Richter more opportunity than the Dvorak to display both his technical skill and his interpretive introspection. The pianist's dazzling 1963 performance, equally at home in the aggressive outer sections and the ravishing Adagio, deserves the top billing on this release, with the Dvorak as a worthy bonus.
