RICHTER, SVIATOSLAV. (1915-1997). Soviet musician considered one of the greatest pianists of his time. LS. (“Sviatoslav Richter”). ½p. Oblong 12mo. (France, 1979). To KYRIENA (SILOTI, 1895-1989. Piano teacher and daughter of pianist and conductor Alexander Siloti.). An illustrated French Christmas card, inside which is a letter in Russian written and signed by Richter’s musical collaborator and wife, soprano NINA DORLIAK (1908-1998; “Nina Dorliak”) and signed by Richter.

“Dear Kyriena, We are sending you our heartful holiday greetings…”

After his father, a pianist, was murdered in a Stalinist purge, Richter taught himself to play before approaching Moscow Conservatory piano teacher Heinrich Neuhaus. “Neuhaus reluctantly agreed to hear him, though the young man had no formal training and at 22 a career as a pianist seemed out of the question. Nevertheless, what Neuhaus heard astonished him, and he took Richter on as a pupil at the Moscow Conservatory. Richter ‘treated each composition like a vast landscape,’ Neuhaus recalled, ‘which he surveyed from great height with the vision of an eagle, taking in the whole and all the details at the same time. He played like no one I had ever heard, and there was nothing I could teach him,’” (“Sviatoslav Richter: The Pianist Who Made The Earth Move,” NPR Music, Wigler, www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2015/03/19/393778706/sviatoslav-richter-the-pianist-who-made-the-earth-move).

Because of his family’s background and his friendship with people like Boris Pasternak, Richter was prohibited from traveling outside the Soviet Union until 1960. His recordings earned him a well-deserved reputation in the West and when he finally appeared at Carnegie Hall, he created a sensation, performing seldom-played Beethoven sonatas. “Richter possessed a technique that conquered almost every obstacle, a sound that commanded the colors of the rainbow and an intellect and imagination that permitted an authoritative grasp of possibly the largest repertory in pianistic history,” (ibid.). His magnificent interpretations helped secure a place in the standard repertoire for Russian composers like Modest Mussorgsky, Sergei Prokofiev and Alexander Scriabin.

In 1943, Richter met Soprano Nina Dorliak, whose career had begun in 1935 and included recitals of art songs, German lieder, Russian folk music and French and Russian composers. After her 1946 marriage to Richter, the pair performed together for nearly 50 years and made several notable recordings together.

Our Christmas message is written inside an illustrated card with a color depiction of the nativity on the front and a printed Christmas message in French. Written inn pencil at the top of the page, likely in Kyriena Siloti’s hand) are these words in Russian “From France no address 1979.” With normal wear and in very good condition. Uncommon.