Sviatoslav Richter has been the most widely recorded pianist in history and the vast majority of these recordings are of his live recitals and concerts. The recital on this CD is very special as it was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth and is in the order it was played. Regarding Sonata No.2, the composer has reportedly said that it would be a comparable challenge to pianists as Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata or Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes and it seems like no one else played it for a long time except Richter and Artur Rubenstein.