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Phone: 212-860-5541
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Price: $100.00 |
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MINT CONDITION |
SVIATOSLAV RICHTER - PIANIST |
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Original 9” x 11.5” semi-gloss, vintage photograph of the pianist, Anna Chekhova and his wife Nina Dorliak. The item was part of Dorliak’s personal archive. No photographer, nor year but due to the age spots on Richter’s forehead, the photograph is early 1990’s after they appeared. Richter (1915 - 1997) is shown backstage with Anna Chekohva (1924-1997) and his soprano wife Nina L’vovna Dorliak (1908-1998). We understand they are posed in the green room area of the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The early 1990’s were a difficult time health wise for Richter and he would perform spontaneously, announcing to classical music producers like Chekohva at the drop of the hat that he wanted to perform and they would agree upon dates. These recitals would sometimes be planned a week or two in advance. He was also known to cancel concerts at this point at the drop of a hat. Obviously based upon the flowers, he followed up on this recital. Anna Chekohva was a stalwart in the Moscow classical music scene. She was the most powerful concert producer from 1951 until her death. The major Soviet “party” composers of the period, Kabalevsky, Khatchaturian, Khrennikov, Shchedrin and others deferred to her when bringing out new music. She planned the concerts of the important Moscow based orchestras and also was the power behind the Tchaikovsky and Glinka Competition. She was also known for coming on-stage at the beginning of the concerts to announce the program. So when one listens to live Moscow concerts from the 1960’s through the 1980’s by and large, it is her voice you hear at the beginning of the recording. Nina Dorliak, the wife of the pianist is an interesting an important musical figure in her own right. She was a concert soprano well known for renditions of art songs and lieder and often with her husband at the keyboard from 1943 on. Prior to 1943, her mother’s power at the Moscow Conservatory as a vocal pedagogue led to famed figures there, like Maria Yudina, Maria Grinberg, Konstantin Imgunov and Heinrich Neuhaus accompanying her. She was known for singing Western European composers from the baroque to the contemporary including Scarlatti, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc were particular favorites. She also recorded Russian composers from Glinka through Shostakovich, including world premieres of songs by Prokofiev and Shostakovich. She also would sing Russian folks songs. She generally performed in the Russian language. Richter and Dorliak married in 1946, many believe for convenience purposes as both were thought to be gay. However, particularly in the 1980’s until Richter’s death, he was heavily reliant on her for her assistance. He passed away in August of 1997 and she in May of 1998. We purchased this photograph several years ago from a bookstore in Moscow which purchased a portion of her personal photography archive. An unusual photograph we could not locate elsewhere in books, nor the internet. We believe it is unpublished. |
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Harmonie Autographs and Music, Inc. New York, New York www.harmonieautographs.com |