Sviatoslav Richter (1915-97), one of the greatest exponents of the famed Russian piano school, broke his life-long silence and allowed himself to be interviewed for this Fipa D'Or and Diapason D'or winning autobiographical film by French documentarian Bruno Monsaingeon. Told on an epic scale, Richter evokes his wild childhood, encounters with the musical worlds great names, his debuts and his activities as a concert artist in the Soviet Union. Previously unseen archive footage and a wealth of performance extracts complete this portrait of an artist who refused the pressures to conform.
