[At Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive]
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27

Richter, the Enigma 7:30
Bruno Monsaingeon (France, 1998)
Director in Person.

To say that Sviatoslav Richter was a great pianist is to damn with
faint praise.  The Ukrainian-born musician spent his early years as an
accompanist for amateur opera, beginning his formal education in 1937 with
Heinrich Neuhaus at the Moscow Conservatory.  Early on he conquered the
itudes of Chopin, then befriended Prokofiev for whom he premiered several
sonatas.  As Richter's stature grew, so too did his repertoire.  Limited
in his travels by the Soviets, Richter displayed his exceptional technical
capacity and indefatigable musical curiosity throughout Eastern Europe,
coming to the United States only once for six legendary evenings at
Carnegie Hall in 1961.  Richter, the Enigma tells in lush detail, as
related by the pianist himself, of his tempestuous career, sharing
anecdotes about great composers and musicians such as Shostakovitch and
Van Cliburn.  Dozens of fiery performances are scattered throughout this
portrait, illustrating Arthur Rubenstein's observation, "Richter is a
gigantic musician."

Director Bruno Monsaingeon has been rendering panoramic portraits of
classical musicians and composers for the past twenty-five years.  Among
his reknowned films are works about Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, and
Glenn Gould, about whom he has also written extensively.  Monsaingeon is
currently completing a profile of Julia Varady.

* Photographed by Raphael O'Bryne.  (154 mins, In Russian with English
subtitles, Color/B&W, Betacam from Ideale Audience) Special thanks to
Chantal Latour of Ideale Audience.

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