This bargain-priced two-CD set makes Richter"s performance of Haydn"s Sonata No. 37 in E Major available for the first time in the compact disc era. The pianist performed this work only in the 1967 season. And his remarkable interpretation--imaginative, rhythmically expressive, and always sensitive to the play of Haydn"s wit--has not been available since a Turnabout LP disappeared into vinyl oblivion about 20 years ago. The other repertory on these discs is available elsewhere, much of it (the Beethoven Sonata No. 11 and "Eroica" Variations, the 12 Rachmaninov Preludes, and Schumann"s Symphonic Études) in superb studio versions. These concert performances, recorded in England during the late 1960s, are nonetheless indispensable to anyone interested in Richter. The "Eroica" Variations, for example, have a Promethean quality and a manic energy that are missing in the studio versions. Richter"s Schumann was never less than inspired and never more so than on this occasion in Royal Festival Hall, London, in 1968, when he played the Symphonic Études. There is technical control, variety of nuance, and grasp of design. And there is Richter"s chord playing, which was one of the wonders of 20th century pianism. There are other great performances of this work, but none in which every chord in the insanely difficult finale rings out with such power, majesty, and clarity. It"s impossible to think of another pianist--not even the composer himself--who ever played Rachmaninov"s Preludes with such power and finesse. In the carillon display of the B-flat major Prelude, for example, Richter emphasizes the lower notes of chords in a manner that makes the bass sonorities all but seize the listener by the throat. Piano playing doesn"t get any better than this. --Stephen Wigler