Schumann Sym

First of all, the Brahms selections are among the finest in the entire Richter the Master series. As a glance at the online Richter discography discloses, the two sonata aren't the same readings as on a previous Decca release. Sonatas no. 1 and no. 2 are from the same recital in Tours, June 19, 1988, the year that the great man turned 73. The live recording is closely miked bu clear and full, and despite complaints about his hard touch, it's not anything beyond what we often hear from Richter; consult the more mercurial and restless Decca account for a fair comparison. In fact, it's short-sighted to fault any of Philips' recordings for sound quality given the often abysmal sonics on countless live concerts taped on the fly by amateurs, the Soviets, and various radio stations.

A comprehensive collection of recordings of the music of Johann Strauss, almost all of them come from a Japanese collector, Mayumi Cho, who began collecting all recordings of Johann Strauss' music just after the war. His collection exceeds 700 discs with no fewer than 100 versions of An der schönen blauen Donau.