Where is the Richter memorial apartment located? Richter's house under Tarusa

Svyatoslav Richter and his wife Nina Dorliak moved into an apartment on Bolshaya Bronnaya in the early seventies. It is located in a typical sixteen-story building built in the 70s. He lived in the apartment for about thirty years, until his death; its walls witnessed the active creative life of a married couple. In the main room - the “hall”, as the room was called in the old fashioned way, there are two “Steinway a sons” pianos - the maestro played music on them; Here I communicated with colleagues and friends, listened to operas and watched my favorite films. Another grand piano is installed in Nina Dorliak’s room.

The owner called his office “the closet” - because of the abundance of cabinets there. They contained books, music cassettes, records, and sheet music with notes from Svyatoslav Teofilovich. In a prominent place is a carved wooden figure of the Infant John the Baptist. She reminded Richter of the Touraine musical festivals (France), which he organized. The walls are decorated with a profile of B. Pasternak - a plaster counter-relief from a tombstone (architect Sarah Lebedeva) in Peredelkino and a painting by Saryan - a gift from E.S. Bulgakova. Gifts from friends are kept on the desk - a handwritten version of the “Ninth Sonata” with a dedication to Richter, signed by S. Prokofiev; , “Little Girls” by Solzhenitsyn, a photograph by G. Neuhaus and a sketch by Picasso - the composer communicated with the best representatives of Russian culture.

In the famous “green room” (a room for relaxation, during concerts it became artistic) on the wall hangs a portrait of the musician’s father, Teofil Danilovich. The composer's family history is tragic. His father, a German by birth, who graduated from the Conservatory in Vienna, lived with the artist’s mother in Odessa, where the Great Patriotic War found them. During Hitler's attack on the city, he was arrested and shot as a “German spy.” After the war, Anna Pavlovna - Svyatoslav's mother - emigrated to Germany. The young man, who lived in Moscow at the time of her departure, was sure that she had died. The meeting of the closest people took place twenty years later.

A small room is reserved for an exhibition of Richter's pastels. As a child, he dreamed of being an artist and was well versed in painting. His paintings, according to Robert Falk, had “an amazing sense of light.” The former kitchen space has been converted into a photo gallery - its exhibits tell about the life of the composer.

The apartment houses a large music library, a unique collection of audio and video materials from Richter’s concerts. In its space, which is now part of the Department of Personal Collections of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin, musical evenings and concerts are held. The sound cabinet is designed for individual listening to music.

Advance registration is required to visit the museum.

In the early 1970s, Svyatoslav Richter and Nina Dorliak settled on the sixteenth floor of building 2/6 on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, not far from the Conservatory.

This house is a typical brick tower. But when you go upstairs and enter the apartment, you find yourself in a special world. No luxury, no fuss of things. The character and lifestyle of the owner, the special energy of a person whom Yuri Bashmet calls “a safe-conduct of truth in art” are felt in everything.

In a large room, called the “hall” in the old days, Richter practiced alone or rehearsed with other musicians. There are two Steinway & Sons pianos, two antique Italian floor lamps donated by the mayor of Florence, a tapestry, and paintings.
Auditions of operas or viewings of favorite films took place in the hall.

In the office, or, as Richter himself called this room, “the closet,” there are cabinets with books, records, and cassettes. The most valuable thing here is a cabinet with sheet music, on which the maestro’s notes have been preserved. There is also a wooden figurine of the Infant John the Baptist, this is a memory of the Musical Festivals organized by Richter in Touraine in France. On the wall there is a plaster counter-relief with the profile of Boris Pasternak from the monument in Peredelkino - like an imprint, a trace left by a person on the earth, an image wonderfully found by Sarah Lebedeva.

Nearby hangs a small landscape of Saryan, a gift from Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova.
The secretary contains the manuscript of Sergei Prokofiev's Ninth Sonata, dedicated to Richter, a photograph of Heinrich Neuhaus, a drawing by Picasso, and Solzhenitsyn's "Little Girls". Such was Richter's social circle.

The “Green Room” is a relaxation room; on concert days it turned into an artistic room. On the wall hangs a portrait of his father, Teofil Danilovich, an elegant, reserved man. He graduated from the Vienna Conservatory as a pianist and composer. Teofil Danilovich and Anna Pavlovna (Svyatoslav’s mother) were unable to leave Odessa in 1941, when Nazi troops were approaching the city. Teofil Danilovich was arrested and executed on the night of November 6–7 as a “German spy.” Anna Pavlovna went to Romania, and then to Germany, forever leaving Russia and her only son, who at that time was in Moscow and was also awaiting arrest. They met only 20 years later.
Svyatoslav Richter's artistic interests and passions were varied; he not only loved painting, but was also an artist himself. His pastels are displayed in a small room. In them, Robert Falk noted the “amazing sensation of light.” In Nina Lvovna’s former kitchen there are photographs telling about the musician’s life.

I spent August 1, 2014 in the Kaluga region in the city of Tarusa, which is closely connected with the history of Russian art and culture. The great Russian pianist Svyatoslav Richter was born on March 20, 1915 in Zhitomir (Russian Empire), and died on August 1, 1997 in Moscow, and since then in our country this day has been dedicated to his memory.

According to tradition, on this day the Richter Festival in Tarusa, which annually brings together many wonderful musicians and music lovers, ends with a clavira band. This year, on Richter’s memorial day, pianist Alexey Volodin played a solo concert at the Mir cinema and concert hall, paying tribute to Richter with a wonderful clavira band with a program of romantic works.
But I arrived in Tarusa long before the concert to immerse myself in the atmosphere of the city and suburbs, explore local attractions and, most importantly, visit Richter’s legendary dacha near Tarusa on the banks of the Oka River not far from the village of Alekino.

In Tarusa itself, Richter never had a mansion or apartment; he only came to his dacha.

By the way, traveling from Moscow to Tarusa turned out to be surprisingly convenient: by high-speed train to Serpukhov, and then by regular bus or by car to the center of Tarusa, when the whole journey, if you know the schedule, takes no more than two hours, and with a call for a car - an hour and a half . It is also very convenient to travel around the outskirts of Tarusa by car, which is what I did.

Nevertheless, I decided not to drive close to Richter’s dacha, because I felt that for me this would be something unnatural, too comfortable, and I left for myself the opportunity to make a modest pilgrimage and walk to Richter’s house on foot - among the fields and forests, looking at the Oka.

It is known that Svyatoslav Teofilovich was very fond of taking long walks in nature, in particular, memoirs were published about how he came barefoot along a dusty road to his own concerts in provincial Russian cities. And in memory of his passion for walking, I walked the last mile “on my own two feet,” although it was wildly hot - well over 30 degrees.

And this is the sight that greeted me when I approached the house of the great musician:

I was struck by the direction of the house somewhere high: as if it was not a dacha or a dwelling, but a watchtower from the times of ancient Rus'! There is something mesmerizing about this, I couldn’t take my eyes off this building. A similar feeling arises in anyone who glances at Moscow from the window of Richter’s apartment on Bolshaya Bronnaya, located on the top floor of a tower house - as if one were soaring above the terrain and soaring in the heights.

I was a little disappointed when I was told that Richter was limited by the area of his dacha plot allowed in the Soviet years, and that was the only reason he aimed his building into the sky, but who would believe it, looking at the house standing on a steep bank, at these log cabins, placed on top of each other, and from below - on a stone foundation?!

In the design of this house I see the greatness and originality of Richter’s thinking,

reflected even in the smallest details, and even though Richter was limited by the size of the site, he, like a true creator, whose imagination flares up the more the more restrictions he encounters, found an ingenious way out of the situation.

Taking advantage of this, or rather, hoping in advance that on August 1 the house would be prepared to receive guests - musicians and listeners of the concert that took place the next day in a clearing near the house, I went inside and examined in detail all the floors of the dacha: cold even in the extreme heat a basement in the depths of a stone foundation, a stone 1st floor, as well as wooden 2nd and 3rd floors - a total of 4 levels.

The entire basement is lined with stone, which outlines utility niches and containers:

The base of the stove is also installed there, penetrating the entire house through all floors from bottom to top:

Above the basement - stone 1st floor:

The 2nd floor is a log house standing on the walls of the 1st floor:

The 3rd floor is a log house standing on the log house of the 2nd floor, there is also a ladder to a small balcony:

From the balcony there is a wonderful view of the surrounding area and the Oka River:

The floors are connected by narrow and steep flights of stairs:

In the courtyard, the foundation of the bathhouse in which Richter lived before the house was built has been preserved. And nearby, as in a fairy tale, flows a very clean stream, cold even in this heat, from where Richter himself collected water for household needs. As I understood his plan, the presence of a wonderful stream was one of the important reasons for choosing this place to build a house. The stream is simply marvelous, I immediately dubbed it “Richter’s stream.” It is not decorated in any way and, probably, does not require any registration, only a large pipe has been laid with a road surface above it to provide access to the dacha. I went down to the stream and drank water straight from it by the handful, not being afraid of anything. The absence of any industry in the entire area, the transparency and taste of the ice water clearly indicated its highest quality. And nearby on the Oka there is a sandy beach:

The road to the beach passes 100 meters from Richter’s dacha, and this beach, as satellite images indicate, is artificial and of recent origin. In Richter’s time there was no beach, although today it can be considered a wonderful addition to Richter’s house and to the entire area - a very convenient place for swimming, which I did not fail to take advantage of.

The day was very hot, and the sand became so hot that it was impossible to walk on it for a long time without shoes, so sometimes I stepped into the cold Richter Creek, which flows right next to the Oka River, and my feet literally froze in the cold moisture - a fantastic feeling in such a heat.

Having explored Richter’s house, met its stream and swam in the river, I said goodbye to the house and went to Tarusa - to get acquainted with the city, museums, monuments, and also listen to A. Volodin’s concert.

In the early 1970s, Svyatoslav Richter and Nina Dorliak settled on the sixteenth floor of building 2/6 on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, not far from the Conservatory. This house is a typical brick tower. But when you go upstairs and enter the apartment, you find yourself in a special world. No luxury, no fuss of things. The character and lifestyle of the owner, the special energy of a person whom Yuri Bashmet calls “a safe-conduct of truth in art” are felt in everything.

In a large room, called the “hall” in the old days, Richter practiced alone or rehearsed with other musicians. There are two Steinway & Sons pianos, two antique Italian floor lamps donated by the mayor of Florence, a tapestry, and paintings. Auditions of operas or viewings of favorite films took place in the hall.

The secretary contains the manuscript of Sergei Prokofiev's Ninth Sonata, dedicated to Richter, a photograph of Heinrich Neuhaus, a drawing by Picasso, and Solzhenitsyn's "Little Girls". Such was Richter's social circle.

Svyatoslav Richter's artistic interests and passions were varied; he not only loved painting, but was also an artist himself. His pastels are displayed in a small room. In them, Robert Falk noted the “amazing sensation of light.” In Nina Lvovna’s former kitchen there are photographs telling about the musician’s life.

The museum tries to preserve the musical and family traditions established by the owners of this hospitable house.

Pre-registration is required before visiting by phone: (495) 695–83–46, (495) 697–47–05.

Operating mode:

Wednesday-Saturday - from 14:00 to 20:00;
Sunday - from 12:00 to 18:00;
Monday, Tuesday - closed.

Ticket prices:

entrance ticket - 200 rubles;
discount ticket - 100 rubles;
children under 16 years old are free.

The Richter Memorial Apartment is located on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, in a multi-storey building of standard construction. The pianist settled here with his wife, opera singer N. Dorliak, in 1971.

Richter’s apartment is not distinguished by luxury and an abundance of things; visitors, as soon as they cross the threshold, feel the special energy of the owner of this home: the pianist was very modest in his everyday life and completely immersed in art.

In the living room there are two Steinway grand pianos and a pair of antique floor lamps made in Italy (the mayor of Florence gave them to Richter). On the walls there is a large tapestry, numerous paintings and photographs. In this room, the great pianist played music, accompanied his wife, and here the family and guests watched their favorite movies using a film projector.

From the living room, guests of Richter’s memorial apartment move to the musician’s office, which he called at home the “closet” room. The office has several cabinets with books, vinyl and audio cassettes. There is a separate closet for sheet music. The music books contain Richter's notes, which are the subject of study by musicologists.

One of the most valuable exhibits in the cabinet is a carved figurine of the Infant John the Baptist. The French presented this statuette to Richter in gratitude for the music festival he organized. Boris Pasternak, Richter’s favorite poet, looks out at visitors from the wall. The plaster counter-relief of the poet was made by sculptor Sarra Lebedeva. Next to the counter-relief of Pasternak is a small painting by the Armenian artist Martiros Saryan. This landscape was given to Richter by E. S. Bulgakova, the widow of the great writer.

The guides show visitors Richter's treasures stored in the secretary - a handwritten music journal by S. Prokofiev, a photo of the great Soviet pianist G. Neuhaus, whom Svyatoslav Teofilovich considered his teacher, the manuscript of "Tiny" by A. Solzhenitsyn and an illustration by P. Picasso. Richter interacted with the intellectual elite of Russia and the world, and celebrities often gave him small gifts.

Richter’s apartment has a special room for relaxation; it was called “Green” in the pianist’s family. During home concerts, the room became a dressing room. The wall of the room is decorated with a portrait of T. D. Richter, the father of the great musician. Teofil Danilovich was shot in 1941 on charges of spying for the Germans.

Svyatoslav Richter was very interested in painting, and he himself was the author of a large number of paintings. The famous critic R. Falk highly appreciated the painter’s talent, noting the artist’s unique work with light. Richter's works are exhibited in a special room of the museum.