I'll be honest, as an untrained listener of Classical music, I am having a hard time appreciating Richter's version from the rest except for the Tempo. I think your explanation makes sense that slower tempo allows the user to understand the intricacies of the piece.

How would it sound if other artists also played at a slower tempo? Can they even play at a lower tempo or that's Richter's specialty? Are there any other aspects of Richter's version besides the tempo I should be observing? I am not trying to play a devil's advocate, I am extremely curious as why I can't appreciate it as much as others.

It's not just a matter of slow/fast, because when you pick a tempo, this allows adopting solutions that would be awkward at a different speed. (Using a programmer's analogy, picking a tempo is like entering different branches of a very deep tree).

To understand this, consider bars 185ff in the development section. Here, after a long passage where another theme dominated the scene, the main theme returns two times: first in d minor, then in B-flat major. How do the pianists play this passage?

- Kovacevich (https://youtu.be/MAZ8PA5_gVA?t=744) play the d-minor and the B-flat phrases quite in the same way.

- Brendel (https://youtu.be/TKy0Lyl4g-s?t=443) and Richter (https://youtu.be/ZbJtHzaFpBQ?t=983) play the second one much softer than the first, as if the B-flat phrase were a distant echo, or a timid answer, of the d-minor one.

- Uchida (https://youtu.be/l7cc2FD06FM?t=812) plays both occurrences very softly as if the composer wanted to remind the listener of the long-forgotten theme.

What I am trying to show here is that, apart from speed, there are many other subtle ways a pianist expresses what the composer meant. This kind of nuances can be very hard to spot, but adopting Richter's tempo makes easier to appreciate them.

I noticed that Richter also slows down the tempo very slightly when playing the B-flat phrase. Playing it much softer and slightly more slowly really accentuates the sense of nostalgia and longing I find in this movement.

I can't find the words to describe how that version made me feel. Like always on the edge of taking a breath? The tempo change is weirdly affecting. I certainly like it less, but it is very very clever.

Thank you for sharing :)

I couldn’t agree more. Closely listening to his performance while attempting to learn that piece myself was transformative. The depth of feeling and the goosebumps it leaves the listener with. Transcendent.

His Sofia recital is undisputedly the best Pictures recording among my classical cohort. Brendel receives no love whatsoever.