Death of pianist Svyatoslav Richter

Moscow - The Russian pianist Svyatoslav Richter, one of the greatest musicians of the age, died of a heart attack in a Moscow hospital yesterday. He was 82. Richter, born of ethnic German stock in Zhitomir near Kiev in 1915, had lived in Paris and Germany in recent years. He had been in poor health since a heart bypass operation 2 1/2 years ago and had not performed in public for some years.He returned to Moscow with his wife, Nina Dorliak, about a month ago. Itar-Tass news agency said he had continued playing for several hours a day but was rushed into the elite Central Clinical Hospital on Thursday. - (Reuter)