A Matter of Listening

Sviatoslav Richter does not play the piano; he assaults it. When his fingers strike the keyboard, it is not a transference of musical impulse; it is the Kronstadt sailors marching on the Winter Palace. Among those listeners who want more bang for their buck, the effect is electric. The impact of so much released energy is visceral. But when the last note has ceased to vibrate and calm is restored, the questions remain unanswered: Is this music or muscle? Is it interpretation or kinematics? They are asked after every new Soviet musician breaks out of prison for a Western concert tour.

Whatever differences there may be among them, they all share this characteristic of the Soviet musical style. Perhaps it is the reflection of a muzhik culture which, by its systematic liquidation of the aristocratic strain, has brought a physical, emotional, and psychological coarsening. Certainly, it is true that exposure to Western performance and association with Western artists bring about a very perceptible refinement in approach and attack—the conditioning of a subtler musical tradition.

Sviatoslav Richter does not play the piano; he assaults it. When his fingers strike the keyboard, it is not a transference of musical impulse; it is the Kronstadt sailors marching on the Winter Palace. Among those listeners who want more bang for their buck, the effect is electric. The impact of so much released energy is visceral. But when the last note has ceased to vibrate and calm is restored, the questions remain unanswered: Is this music or muscle? Is it interpretation or kinematics? They are asked after every new Soviet musician breaks out of prison for a Western concert tour.

Whatever differences there may be among them, they all share this characteristic of the Soviet musical style. Perhaps it is the reflection of a muzhik culture which, by its systematic liquidation of the aristocratic strain, has brought a physical, emotional, and psychological coarsening. Certainly, it is true that exposure to Western performance and association with Western artists bring about a very perceptible refinement in approach and attack—the conditioning of a subtler musical tradition.