Richter is among the most compelling pianists ever. At his best, playing Schubert, Beethoven, Schumann, Scriabin and Debussy, he created worlds of sound so textured and rich that one never tires of revisiting them. At the same time, he was a complicated, self-absorbed individual whose talent was so great that he lived much of his life being indulged, and taken care of, by those around him. For example, he never learned to drive a car; he had drivers prepared to ferry him to Finland or Siberia at his whim. Rasmussen assembles the facts of Richter's long life, which are astonishing, given his 4000 concerts and acquaintance with the who's who of Russian and European musical culture. But his writing (translated from Danish) is wooden, and many of the best passages are quotations from his sources, from Gould to Dieskau. A composer should have shown more explanatory power in unriddling the elements of Richter's unique voice. A biographer should have provided more insight into the contradictions and angst that underlay his art. Worth reading, yet ultimately unsatisfying