Editing Sviatoslav Richter (section)

==Career==
In 1981, Richter initiated the international December Nights music festival, held at the [[Pushkin Museum]], which after his death in 1997 was renamed ''December Nights of Sviatoslav Richter''.

In 1986, Richter embarked on a six-month tour of Siberia with his beloved [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] piano, giving perhaps 150 recitals, at times performing in small towns that did not even have a concert hall. It is said that after one such concert, the members of the audience, who had never before heard classical music performed, gathered in the middle of the hall and started swaying from side to side to celebrate the performer.<ref>Transsiberian Express, ''[[Le Monde de la musique]]'', May 1989.</ref>

In his last years, Richter gave a few concerts for students that were free of charge (February 14, 1990: Teatro Romea, Murcia, Spain, also March 1, 1990: matinee concert in Teatre Municipal, Girona, Spain).<ref>Kevin Bazzana – Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997); Bruno Monsaingeon: ''Introduction'' to Sviatoslav Richter – Notebooks and Conversations p. XX.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://classical-pianists.net/generation-ix/sviatoslav-richter/performance-chronology-4/ | title=Sviatoslav Richter – Performance Chronology IV | date=April 11, 2022 }}</ref>

An anecdote illustrates Richter's approach to performance in the last decade of his life. After reading a biography of [[Charlemagne]] (he was an avid reader), Richter had his secretary send a telegram to the director of the [[Theater Aachen|theater in Aachen]], Charlemagne's favoured residence city and his burial place, stating "The Maestro has read a biography of Charlemagne and would like to play at Aquisgrana ([[Aachen]])". The performance took place shortly thereafter.<ref>Piero Rattalino, Sviatoslav Richter – Il Visionario.</ref>
[[File:Могила пианиста Святослава Рихтера.JPG|thumb|Richter's grave at [[Novodevichy cemetery]] in Moscow]]
As late as 1995, Richter continued to perform some of the most demanding pieces in the pianistic repertoire, including [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Miroirs]]'' cycle, [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]]'s [[Piano Sonata No. 2 (Prokofiev)|Second Sonata]] and [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]]'s [[Études (Chopin)|études]], [[Ballade No. 4 (Chopin)|Ballade No. 4]], and [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]]'s [[Toccata (Schumann)|Toccata]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Sviatoslav Richter Recital, Museo Del Prado, Madrid | url=http://www.trovar.com/str/dates/95Madrid.html | work=Sviatoslav Richter Chronology | publisher=trovar.com | date=February 16, 1995 | access-date=September 8, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Sviatoslav Richter Recital, Santuario de la Bien Aparecida, Santander, Spain | url=http://www.trovar.com/str/dates/95Santander2.html | work=Sviatoslav Richter Chronology | publisher=trovar.com | date=January 18, 1995 | access-date=September 8, 2007}}</ref>

Richter's last recorded orchestral performance was of three [[Mozart piano concertos|Mozart concerti]] in 1994 with the Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra conducted by his old friend [[Rudolf Barshai]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.trovar.com/str/dates/a1994.html |title=Sviatoslav Richter Chronology – 1994 |access-date=December 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109233105/http://www.trovar.com/str/dates/a1994.html |archive-date=November 9, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Richter's last recital was a private gathering in [[Lübeck]], Germany, on March 30, 1995. The program consisted of two [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] sonatas and [[Max Reger|Reger]]'s ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Beethoven'', a piece for two pianos, which Richter performed with pianist [[Andreas Lucewicz]].<ref>[http://www.trovar.com/str/dates/a1995.html] {{dead link|date=March 2025}}</ref>

At the time of his death, he was rehearsing [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]]'s ''[[Piano Sonata in E major, D 459 (Schubert)|Fünf Klavierstücke]]'', D. 459.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.richtercompetition.com/en_richter6.html|title=Richter International Piano Competition<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=Richtercompetition.com|access-date=March 20, 2025}}</ref>