In 1999 at the Museum fine arts a new branch of the S.T. Richter Museum-Apartment was opened. Svyatoslav Richter played his first concert at the Pushkin Museum in 1949, he played two Beethoven sonatas. A close friendship developed between S. Richter and the director of the Pushkin Museum I. Antonova, which opened up new points of contact between music and fine arts.
Museum-apartment of S. Richter is located on B. Bronnaya street. From the 16th floor there is an excellent view of the old buildings in the center of Moscow. At the word museum, images of an old manor with columns arise. The Richter Museum-Apartment is located in a typical brick house, but when you enter it, you are immersed in a special atmosphere. Inside the apartment, everything is equipped for business - a piano for rehearsals, cabinets for music, a relaxation room. Next to the piano, on a stand, there was usually a reproduction that was associated with the play being rehearsed: Delacroix, when he played Chopin, Goya and Schille - Schumann, Brueghel - Brahms, Malevich - Scriabin.
Richter did not teach, but he rehearsed a lot with young artists, for many of them these rehearsals became "Universities".
Despite the fact that Richter was not a collector, his house is decorated with paintings. He was well versed in art, sometimes arranged exhibitions of young artists at his home.
In 1978, the Pushkin Museum hosted the exhibition "Musician and his meetings in art" where portraits of people whom Richter knew and loved were presented. The musician acted as the compiler of the catalog, here his literary talent was manifested. So he described Picasso "I will never forget this man with eyes as hot as coal; he was over eighty, and he was the youngest of all. He ran up the stairs like a boy, showing his rooms, in which divine disorder reigned, and admired the hay plants. From this visit I have left a portrait of Frederic Joliot-Curie, a drawing of a brilliantly accurate pen of an unwavering hand. "
S. Richter himself was fond of art. Friendship with the artist A. Troyanovskaya grew into Richter's passion for pastels. The master's collection contains works Russian artists- V. Shukhaev, P. Konchalovsky, N. Goncharova, A. Fonvizin, foreign - H. Hartung, A. Calder, H. Miro, P. Picasso. He bequeathed most of his collection to the Pushkin Museum, the paintings are now in the Museum of Private Collections, the exposition in the Richter memorial apartment is changing. In one of the rooms, his own pastels are on display. Falk noted in Richter's pastels "An amazing feeling of light." A. Troyanovskaya said that Richter worked only from impression and from memory. Here are the works "Street in Beijing", "Twilight in Skaterny Lane", "Yerevan", "Moscow".
The museum has a room for Nina Dorliak, the singer and musician's wife. In 1945, they first performed together at the author's evening of S. Prokofiev. At this time, the union of Dorliac and Richter began on stage and in life. Soon, Nina Lvovna devoted herself to her family and teaching at the Conservatory, but for Richter, his wife remained the most important friend and judge. Richter and music are inseparable, as it was when he was alive, music is now the main component of the museum. When you can come, ask the head of the museum. The most likely answer is, come when they rehearse the performance. Acquaintance with the museum to the sound of live music is a rarity for other museums, but for the Richter Museum it is rather the rule. The museum hosts concerts and musical evenings. The December Evenings festival is an authoritative phenomenon in both musical and cultural life countries (N.Tregub)
In the early 1970s, Svyatoslav Richter and Nina Dorliak settled on the sixteenth floor of 2/6 Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, not far from the Conservatory. This house is a typical brick tower. But going upstairs and entering the apartment, you find yourself in special world. No luxury, no fuss of things. In everything, one can feel the character and lifestyle of the owner, the special energy of a person whom Yuri Bashmet calls "a letter of protection of truth in art."
In a large room, called the old "hall", Richter studied by himself or rehearsed with other musicians. There are two pianos by Steinway & sons, two antique Italian floor lamps donated by the mayor of Florence, a tapestry, paintings. Listening to operas or watching favorite films took place in the hall.
In the office, or, as Richter himself called this room, the "wardrobe", there are cabinets with books, records, and cassettes. The most valuable thing here is a cabinet with sheet music, on which the maestro's notes have been preserved. There is also a wooden figurine of the Infant John the Baptist, this is a memory of the Musical Festivities organized by Richter in Touraine in France. On the wall is a plaster counter-relief with a profile of Boris Pasternak from the monument in Peredelkino - like an imprint, a trace left by a man on the ground, an image wonderfully found by Sarah Lebedeva. Nearby hangs a small landscape of Saryan, donated by Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova.
The secretary contains the manuscript of Sergei Prokofiev's Ninth Sonata, dedicated to Richter, a photograph by Heinrich Neuhaus, a drawing by Picasso, "Tiny" by Solzhenitsyn. Such was Richter's social circle.
The "Green Room" is a rest room, during the days of concerts it turned into an artistic one. On the wall hangs a portrait of his father, Teofil Danilovich, an elegant, reserved man. He graduated from the Vienna Conservatory as a pianist and composer. Teofil Danilovich and Anna Pavlovna (Svyatoslav's mother) failed to leave Odessa in 1941, when Nazi troops approached the city. Teofil Danilovich was arrested and shot on the night of November 6-7 as a "German spy". Anna Pavlovna went to Romania, and then to Germany, forever leaving Russia and her only son, who at that time was in Moscow and was also awaiting arrest. They met only after 20 years.
The artistic interests and passions of Svyatoslav Richter were varied, he not only loved painting, but was also an artist himself. His pastels are on display in a small room. In them, Robert Falk noted "an amazing feeling of light." In the former kitchen of Nina Lvovna, there are photographs telling about the life of a musician.
The museum tries to store musical and family tradition laid down by the owners of this hospitable house.
Pre-registration is required before visiting by phone: (495) 695-83-46, (495) 697-47-05.
Working mode:
- Wednesday-Saturday - from 14:00 to 20:00;
- Sunday - from 12:00 to 18:00;
- Monday, Tuesday - day off.
Ticket price:
- entrance ticket - 200 rubles;
- reduced ticket - 100 rubles;
- children under 16 years old - free of charge.
August 1, 2014 I spent in the Kaluga region in the city of Tarusa, which is closely connected with the history of Russian art and culture. The great Russian pianist Svyatoslav Richter was born on March 20, 1915 in Zhitomir ( Russian empire), and died on August 1, 1997 in Moscow, and since then in our country this day has been dedicated to his memory.
By tradition, on this day, the Richter Festival in Tarusa, which annually gathers many wonderful musicians and music lovers, ends with a clavier band. This year, on Richter's Memorial Day, pianist Alexei Volodin played a solo concert in the Mir Concert Hall, paying tribute to Richter with a wonderful clavier band with a program of romantic compositions.
But I arrived in Tarusa long before the concert to immerse myself in the atmosphere of the city and the suburbs, see the local sights and, most importantly, visit the legendary Richter's dacha near Tarusa on the banks of the Oka, not far from the village of Alekino.
In Tarusa itself, Richter never had a mansion or an apartment, he only came to his dacha.
By the way, it turned out to be surprisingly convenient to travel from Moscow to Tarusa: high-speed train to Serpukhov, and then by bus or by car to the center of Tarusa, when the whole journey, knowing the schedule, takes no more than two hours, and with a car call - an hour and a half. It is also very convenient to travel around Tarusa by passenger car, which I did.
Nevertheless, I decided not to drive close to Richter's dacha, because I felt that for me it would be something unnatural, too comfortable, and I left for myself the opportunity to make a modest pilgrimage and walk to Richter's house on foot - among the fields and forests, looking at the Oka.
It is known that Svyatoslav Teofilovich was very fond of taking long walks in nature, in particular, memoirs were published about how he was barefoot on dusty road came to his own concerts in provincial Russian cities. And in memory of his passion for walking, I walked the last mile “on my own two feet”, although there was a wild heat - well over 30 degrees.
And this is the sight that opened up to me when I approached the house of the great musician:
I was struck by the aspiration of the house somewhere in the sky: as if it were not a summer house or a dwelling, but a watchtower of the times ancient Russia! There is something fascinating in this, I could not take my eyes off this structure. A similar feeling arises in anyone who casts a glance at Moscow from the window of Richter's apartment on Bolshaya Bronnaya, located on the top floor of the tower house - as if taking off above the area and soaring in the heights.
I was a bit disappointed when I was told that Richter was limited in what he was allowed to do. Soviet years the area of the summer cottage, and only for this reason he directed his building to the sky, but who would believe it, looking at the house standing on a steep bank, at these log cabins, placed on top of each other, and from below - on a stone foundation ?!
In the construction of this house, I see the greatness and originality of Richter's thinking,
reflected even in small things, and even if Richter was limited by the size of the plot, he, as a true creator, whose imagination flares up the more the more restrictions are encountered, found a brilliant way out.
Taking advantage of the fact, or rather, ahead of time, counting on the fact that on August 1 the house would be prepared to receive guests - musicians and listeners of the concert that took place the next day in a clearing near the house, I went inside and inspected all the floors of the cottage in detail: it was cold even in extreme heat basement in the bowels of the stone foundation, the stone 1st floor, as well as the wooden 2nd and 3rd - only 4 levels.
The whole basement is lined with stone, which outlines the economic niches and containers:
The base of the stove was also installed there, penetrating the whole house through all the floors from top to bottom:
Above the basement - stone 1st floor:
The 2nd floor is a log house standing on the walls of the 1st floor:
The 3rd floor is a log house, standing on a log house of the 2nd floor, here is a ladder to a small balcony:
The balcony offers a wonderful view of the surroundings and the Oka: 
The floors are interconnected by narrow and steep flights of stairs:
In the yard, the foundation of the bathhouse, in which Richter lived, while the house was not yet built, has been preserved. And nearby, as in a fairy tale, a cold and very clean stream flows, even in such a heat, from where Richter himself drew water for household needs. As I understood his idea, the presence of a wonderful stream was one of the important reasons for choosing this place for building a house. The stream is simply marvelous, I immediately dubbed it "Richter's stream." It is not formalized in any way and, probably, does not require any formalization, only a large pipe with a road surface has been laid over it to provide access to the dacha. I went down to the stream and drank handfuls of water directly from it, fearing nothing. The absence of any industry in the entire district, transparency and taste ice water unambiguously testified to her the highest quality. And next to the Oka is a bulk sandy beach:
The road to the beach runs 100 meters from Richter's dacha, and this beach, as evidenced by satellite images, is artificial and of recent origin. There was no beach in Richter's time, although today it may be considered a wonderful addition to Richter's house and to the whole area - a very convenient place for swimming, which I did not fail to take advantage of.
The day was very hot, and the sand became so hot that it was impossible to walk on it for a long time without shoes, so I sometimes stepped into the cold Richter stream, which flows right next to the Oka, and my legs literally stiffened in the cold moisture - a fantastic feeling in such heat. 
Having studied Richter's house, meeting his stream and swimming in the river, I said goodbye to the house and went to Tarusa - to get acquainted with the city, museums, monuments, and also listen to A. Volodin's concert.
Concert by Ruvim Ostrovsky on the birthday of S. Richter
memorial apartment- one of the special places in Moscow, which you want and want to talk about.
Last year on the portal, today we are talking with Yulia Isaakovna De-Klerk, Head of the Department musical culture The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts - about the events that take place in last years in this extremely hospitable, warm and LIVING house. I omit my questions, the story is on behalf of Yulia Isaakovna.
I joined the work of the Svyatoslav Teofilovich Richter Memorial Apartment in March 2015. The season in our museum differs from the generally accepted concert season: we live in calendar years from January to December. And in 2015, when the centenary of the great pianist was celebrated, we held concerts, the program of which included works exclusively from the maestro's repertoire. Elizaveta Leonskaya specially came to us, graduate students also played within these walls: and Alexei Kudryashov (Alexey is permanent member our programs).
In addition to wonderful concerts, this year was remembered for three large exhibitions:
– a widely publicized exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the maestro “Svyatoslav Richter. From the first person”, which was held in the Department of Private Collections of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition featured more than sixty works of painting and graphics, rare photos, notes, posters, never before published archival documents. This exhibition first of all introduced the public to the artistic interests of Svyatoslav Richter, which, like his talents, were extremely diverse. As the pianist himself said: “Music is the main thing in my life, but it is still not my whole life; I am an omnivore… and not because I scatter, I just love a lot.”
– Exhibition “Svyatoslav Richter. Ars Ludus”, dedicated to the XV Tchaikovsky Competition, was opened at the Moscow Conservatory, where it aroused great interest.
– The year 2015 ended with the exhibition “Portraits in the Interior”, which took place within the walls of the Memorial Apartment. There was an excellent chamber exposition, which featured portraits of Richter created by his contemporaries - artists of different generations: Robert Falk, Anna Troyanovskaya, Vasily Shukhaev, Jan Levinstein, Alexander Labas, Artem Tambiev, Vladimir Ilyushchenko and many others.
2016 was, of course, dedicated to the anniversaries of two great composers - and whose names are inextricably linked with creative biography Svyatoslav Richter. Our concert programs included not only the brightest and most significant works by Prokofiev and Shostakovich, but a wide range of stylistic and genre parallels from early music to the works of our contemporaries. The audience was presented with the music of their teachers and students, Russian and foreign authors - almost all the most important composers of the 20th century.
We are rightly proud of the absolutely amazing exhibition dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of D. D. Shostakovich “Dmitry Shostakovich - Svyatoslav Richter. Variations on the Theme of the Epoch”, which completed last year. The composer repeatedly visited the apartment of Svyatoslav Teofilovich and Nina Lvovna, which made it possible to single out several thematic sections in the exposition, storylines. The exhibits were attracted from various museums - including Irina Antonovna Shostakovich, breaking all her taboos, provided the rarest materials for the exhibition: manuscripts, photographs, a book of Jewish poetry with D. Shostakovich's notes.
Opening of the exhibition “Dmitry Shostakovich – Svyatoslav Richter. Variations on the theme of the era”
Both exhibitions and concerts arouse an ever-growing interest on the part of the audience in the events of the Memorial Apartment. There was a real explosion of spectator activity in our museum. Previously, 4-5 concerts a year were held within these walls. In 2015, the number of our visitors was 1,500, in 2016 - 3,500, and in the first quarter of 2017 alone, the figure has already approached a small record: 1,700-1,800 people.
It is important to say that almost all concert programs 2016 consisted largely of works by composers of the 20th century. At the same time, the maestro himself did not always play the works of composers of his generation, but he knew EVERYTHING. Svyatoslav Teofilovich's interest in the work of his contemporaries was extremely high: he listened a lot, collected records. We have signal copies with dedicatory inscriptions.
And yet we took a great deal of risk. When music is announced or, it is not difficult to gather 50 people (namely, as many spectators our hall can accommodate). But if you offer essays, or A. Lokshin, this is a completely different question. We wrote a lot of press releases, gave announcements on various Internet portals, carried out numerous mailings, and now we can safely say that the public has fully appreciated this project. A lot of young people come, we have regular viewers. Spectators appreciate that here you can hear non-trivial programs in a very interesting performance, which is extremely valuable.
And you know, the ice has broken not only in terms of the activity of the audience. If earlier we invited new performers and did not always receive positive responses, now very interesting musicians call the museum and ask them to consider the possibility of their participation in our projects. I can simply name a star cast: Elizaveta Leonskaya, Reuben Ostrovsky, Yana Ivanilova, Pyotr Laul, Sergey Kuznetsov, Lyudmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ansel, and Alexei Kudryashov, Sergey Poltavsky and Evgeny Rumyantsev, Mikhail Dubov and Mona Khaba, Anastasia Petrunina - these performers are no longer once they gave wonderful concerts in the Richter Memorial Apartment. Our frequent guests are the soloists of the Studio new music"and the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music" (MASM), "Rusquartet", singers Svetlana Sumacheva, Ekaterina Kichigina, Olga Grechko, Maria Makeeva, as well as other musicians who have won international recognition, laureates of prestigious competitions and festivals.
Anastasia Petrunina, Evgeny Rumyantsev and Nikita Mndoyants
Personally, together with the musicians, I pay great attention to the selection of the repertoire and the preparation of programs. It is curious that many pianists prefer ensemble performances to solo programs, but Svyatoslav Teofilovich himself devoted a lot of time to chamber performance.
It is these circumstances that inspire us to create truly non-standard programs. Yes, one of our recent concerts, June 7, was dedicated to the music of the French composers of the famous "Six" and was simply brilliant, with a full house! I would like to say a huge thank you to all the musicians who approach the projects in the Memorial Apartment of S. Richter with such dedication and responsibility, teach specially new compositions, and rehearse for a long time. I take off my hat and bow low to them.
We combined all the concerts of 2017-2018 under the general title "Years of Wanderings" and dedicated Svyatoslav Teofilovich's travels around the world. At the same time, it must be said that we are attracted not just by geographical points where the maestro gave concerts, but by Richter's metaphysical wanderings. From every part of the world, he sent postcards to close friends in which he shared his enthusiastic impressions. Richter was interested in literally everything: architecture, plastic and fine arts. He made a special trip to Avignon for the Pablo Picasso exhibition, and was later invited to the artist's 80th birthday in Nice. It is not for nothing that we have in our apartment two works by Pablo Picasso, presented by him to S.T. Richter: “The Dove” and “The Rider and the Bull”.
2017 is entirely devoted to France and Italy - countries that Richter especially loved, calling them his "spiritual homeland". The next year, 2018, will introduce us to Richter's travels in England and America, and, of course, Benjamin Britten, with whom Richter had very warm, friendly relations, will become the central figure of this cycle. 2019 will most likely be dedicated to Austria and Germany. I do not want to talk about the planned programs in advance, I hope we will carry out our plans with dignity.
Another generous gift that Svyatoslav Teofilovich made to all of us is the presence of music in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Most museums have musical accompaniment, but with us music is part of a single concept, an equal component of the entire life of the museum. I'm not just talking about the world-famous December Evenings, which have been held within the walls of the museum since 1981 and have long become one of its symbols. Since March last year, the Musical Exhibitions project has been resumed in the Italian Courtyard - a series of concert-lectures timed to coincide with the season's iconic opening days. The main objective of this project is to maximize the cultural and historical context of the exhibitions, accompanying them with a series of musical journeys. Laureates take part in the concerts international competitions, leading soloists opera houses, famous musical groups and conductors. During this time, we managed to prepare concert-lectures for wonderful exhibitions: “Caravaggio and followers”, “The Cranach family. From Renaissance to Mannerism”, “The Crazy Years of Montparnasse”, “Caprichos. Goya and Dali", "Giorgio Morandi. 1890-1964”, “Venice of the Renaissance. Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese. From the collection of Italy and Russia”, etc.
And in the fall of 2017, we will have two more interesting concerts: October 19 - concert-lecture "Left March" within the framework of the exhibition "Cai Guoqiang. October", dedicated to the 100th anniversary October revolution. Its program will include works by I. Schillinger, S. Prokofiev, A. Lurie, A. Davidenko. Including the premiere of the opera "Aelita, or Revolution on Mars" by contemporary composer Iraida Yusupova. The performers are the soloists of the MASM ensemble, the Eidos choir, Lydia Kavina (theremin) and many others. And on November 23, the concert "Musical Expressionism: pro mundo - pro domo" will take place as part of the exhibition "Drawings by Klimt and Schiele from the collection of the Albertina Museum, Vienna." The performers are the Questa Musica ensemble. Artistic director and conductor - Philip Chizhevsky.
In the Memorial Apartment, we will open the season after the summer holidays on September 14 with another meeting with a wonderful musician, pianist, professor at the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, Candidate of Art History Ruvim Ostrovsky. In 2017, the “tower” on Bolshaya Bronnaya began new project– a series of lectures “Legends performing arts”, which is led by Reuben Ostrovsky. The third meeting, September 14 (Thursday), will be dedicated to Sergei Rachmaninoff. And we invite all those who are in love with piano music, as well as those who are interested in the great pianists of the past and the present - their destinies, rare concert recordings, paradoxical judgments about music and musicians. At each meeting, Reuben Ostrovsky not only introduces the audience to the secrets of the craft, but also introduces musical recordings from the personal collection of S.T. Richter.
On October 8, the premiere of a musical performance specially created for the Memorial Apartment will take place: “Three Ages of Casanova” based on the plays by Marina Tsvetaeva (performers: actors of the Moscow Theater-Studio “Snuffbox”, Elena Tarasova (piano) and an ensemble of soloists, director - Alexander Limin, composer - Alexey Kurbatov). And on November 1, we open the exhibition "Years of wanderings of Svyatoslav Richter: France-Italy", where visitors can see the works of P. Picasso, R. Guttuso, F. Leger, A. Calder, as well as letters, photographs, notes and records from the archive Svyatoslav Richter.
You won’t tell about all the events in detail, but I promise - there will be a lot of interesting things! Follow the schedule - since recently, the museum's website has an online sale of tickets for our concerts. As you can see, the S.T. Richter Memorial Apartment lives full life. The professionals working here are enthusiastic, active, perfectly understanding what a significant and rich heritage they have inherited, and we all do our best to increase interest in the work of a wonderful musician.
All rights reserved. Copying prohibited
August 1… All lovers of classical piano music know this date as the day of death famous pianist Svyatoslav Teofilovich Richter. Time erases many names, but the name of this brilliant performer continues to shine on musical Olympus under the name "His Majesty the Piano" and, no doubt, will still shine long years. Probably, it would even be appropriate here to recall the word ALWAYS - music world Will ALWAYS honor Svyatoslav Teofilovich, love and admire his work.
There are not only many memoirs and publications about Svyatoslav Teofilovich, records of his performances. The houses in which he lived remained - their walls still keep the warmth and spirit of their inhabitants.
In Moscow, the apartment where Richter spent the last almost thirty years of his life is located at number 2/6 on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street. Museum-apartment of Svyatoslav Teofilovich is part of State Museum Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin, very attentive employees maintain excellent order in it and anxiously take care of the condition of all the exhibits. I sometimes visit these walls: the most interesting concerts are held in the largest room of the museum, at which wonderful musicians perform, and not only from our country. Later we will talk about the program prepared by the staff of the Richter Museum for the new season, and now I ask you to enter the door of apartment No. 58-59 with me and plunge into the atmosphere that surrounded the great pianist. Museum researcher Nadya Ignatieva will give us an interesting tour. I will try to briefly convey her story.
Svyatoslav Teofilovich Richter was offered to move to Bolshaya Bronnaya in 1969. An ordinary typical building, you will say, but you will be wrong: in that distant year, when Moscow was not full of tall 16-story buildings, such a structure was the peak of architectural fashion! But, naturally, this was not what seduced Svyatoslav Teofilovich. By the end of the 60s, the wonderful pianist was at the height of his fame and could choose any apartment in the most prestigious mansion, but the view of Moscow from the window of the apartment on Bronnaya delighted him so much that the decision was made quite definitely: yes, to live only in this house . But the move took place after a long time: it was necessary to resolve the issue of additional soundproofing of the premises. Richter's former apartment in the professor's house in Bryusov Lane had a colossal acoustic load, so the problem of soundproofing housing was very acute. The builders did their best: they combined two apartments into one, significantly strengthened the floor, made high ceilings in the largest rooms, left the rest of the apartment with low ceilings - the necessary sound absorption effect was achieved.
All the years of the life of S. T. Richter, the entrance to this apartment was from half of Nina Lvovna Dorliak. It is no secret that Svyatoslav Teofilovich at times did not want to be distracted by communication with people - the creative process was ongoing, hence the periods of necessary seclusion. All the most routine and everyday issues were solved by Nina Lvovna, in some cases she could even send her closest friends home if she knew that Richter was not in the mood for conversations.
But to Nina Lvovna herself, who was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, students constantly went. In the office, which served as a rehearsal class, there is still a Bechstein piano, on the wall there is a mirror from the floor in full height. On the table is a small mirror with a long handle - this is not a whim or coquetry, but a necessary attribute of the work of professional vocalists. Richter told Nina Lvovna that by her studies with students, to some extent, she reconciled him with scales and arpeggios hated since childhood. This room of the half of Nina Lvovna has undergone the least changes: we see an old furniture set, inherited by Dorliak from her mother Xenia Nikolaevna, the former maid of honor of the last Russian Empress; on the piano there is a cast of the hand of Richter's friend, pianist Stanislav Neuhaus, on the wall is a portrait of Nina Lvovna herself. No pretentiousness, falseness - this is the difference between the furnishings of the apartment of Richter and Dorliak. Next to the rehearsal room, there used to be Nina Lvovna's bedroom, now the room has been completely redone: on the walls there are only photographs of the great pianist. Photo exposure right side dedicated to the already traditional festival"December Evenings" in the Pushkin Museum, on the left side of the room - photographs of Richter's performances in different years of his life.
In front of Svyatoslav Teofilovich's half is a room in which the portrait of the young Richter immediately attracts attention: this is how he came from Odessa to Moscow at the age of twenty-two to enter the conservatory in the class of Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus. The young man had nowhere to live, so he slept at the Neuhaus under the piano, but he came to study with Anna Ivanovna Troyanovskaya. In the old days, she had a large apartment on the first floor of a house in Skatertny Lane near Nikitsky Gates, and after compaction, only one room remained in a communal apartment. And there was a piano in it, donated by Nikolai Medtner before leaving for emigration. It was to this piano that young Richter resorted at any time convenient to him, and in order not to disturb numerous neighbors, he knocked on Anna Lvovna's window symbol: these were the first bars of Schubert's "Wanderer".
Troyanovskaya drew beautifully, and it was she who conveyed the appearance of the young musician. There are many paintings on the walls of the apartment: works by Robert Falk (who studied with the pianist and noted in Richter's landscapes "an amazing feeling of light"), paintings by his favorite artists - Dmitry Krasnopevtsev and Vasily Shukhaev. Alfred Schnittke wrote about Richter: “He is a performer, he is an organizer of festivals, he is the first to notice and support talented young musicians and artists, he is a connoisseur of literature, theater and cinema, he is a collector and visitor to vernissages, he is an artist himself, he is a director. His temperament sweeps away all obstacles when he is obsessed with some idea ... ".
The main room of the apartment now serves concert hall. Here are the pianos of the musician - Steinway of the 38th and 62nd years, two old Italian floor lamps donated by the mayor of Florence, a green couch on which Richter often slept; there are a lot of paintings on the walls, a tapestry... Now everything is static, but during the life of Svyatoslav Teofilovich there were endless rearrangements. The pianos often changed their place - it was in this room that Richter studied himself and rehearsed with other musicians, here he arranged listening to numerous records that he brought from tours, held his favorite “masherades”. “I am a cinematographer, but I make movies with my fingers” - this is how the brilliant musician used to say about himself.
Photo by Elena Bilibina
In front of the office and the bedroom there is a passage room in which two dolls by Rezo Gabriadze hang. These are caricatures of Svyatoslav Teofilovich and Irina Alexandrovna Antonova, which the artist prepared for the skit taking place in the Pushkin Museum. Richter and Antonova were great friends, and it is on the initiative of Irina Alexandrovna that we have the good fortune to come to concerts " December evenings". She found out that Richter was organizing music festivals in France, called the Musical Festivities at Granges de Meles near Tours (in Touraine), and suggested creating a similar event in Moscow. To the question “Where can we spend it?” Antonova replied: "In our museum." Since 1981, in December, wonderful musicians from all over the world have come to Moscow to participate in this celebration of art.
One of the rooms of half of Svyatoslav Teofilovich is dedicated to his parents. Father, Teofil Danilovich, was a wonderful organist, a graduate of the Vienna Conservatory. He taught his only son musical literacy when he was five years old. Then constant classes with his mother, Anna Pavlovna, learning simple pieces for four hands and mini-concerts with his family - this is how life began for little Svetik. But the boy's plans were not related to music: young Richter wanted to be a playwright, then a decorator or director. Music was as necessary to life as breathing, notes were swallowed with amazing speed - it seemed natural.
For the first time the idea of a concert career came during the arrival of David Oistrakh. “His accompanist Vsevolod Topilin,” Richter recalled, “performed in the first part of the concert - and brilliantly performed - the Fourth Ballad. Since Topilin succeeded, I thought, why shouldn't I try it too? The final desire to play was formed thanks to Neuhaus. Richter later admitted: "I have already heard Heinrich Gustavich Neuhaus during one of his visits to Odessa, and I just fell in love with his playing style." So, the Teacher was found. It was to him that in 1937 Richter, at the age of twenty-two, left for Moscow to enter the conservatory. Neuhaus was surprised by the appearance of a tall young man in his class, but with his usual delicacy, he asked to perform something. Richter played everything he had in his hands, and ten minutes later Heinrich Gustavovich said: "In my opinion, he is a genius." This is how the Great Teacher and the Great Student met.
The photograph of Heinrich Gustavovich is in the secretary of Richter's office, the most valuable exhibits of the museum are also stored there: a lot of books (although about most of the collection moved to the archives Pushkin Museum), notes, letters from friends, gifts from admirers of the talent of a musician from different countries peace. There is one exhibit made by the hands of Svyatoslav Teofilovich himself: this is the game "The Way of the Pianist", which Richter painted twice. A typical idea - dice are thrown and the participants of the game go from 1 to 75 - turned out to be very original, made in an interpretation possible only for a pianist. Svyatoslav Teofilovich sometimes took out the playing field and "traveled" on it with his friends. The best representatives of the Russian cultural elite gathered in this apartment, and an unusual atmosphere reigns within the walls to this day.
The atmosphere of the apartment strikes with modesty and rationality. But if we remember Richter's house in Tarusa, we will understand that the brilliant pianist was deprived of a penchant for pretentious interiors, he was constantly possessed only by creativity. “For me, for example, it is suspicious if garages, castles and a lot of mahogany remain ...” - these are the words of Svyatoslav Richter.
The creative process continues within the walls of Svyatoslav Teofilovich's apartment to this day.
This is where our tour ended. Many thanks to all the staff of the museum-apartment for serving the Great musician.
Photos taken from the site
Memorial apartment of Svyatoslav Richter