He worked from 1969 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he conducted world premieres of operas such as Wilhelm Dieter Siebert's Untergang der Titanic and Toshiro Mayuzumi's Kinkakuji.

He sang in the Knabenkantorei (boys' chorale), focused on Bach's works, and learned to play piano and organ.

[2] Richter served as assistant to Karl Böhm, Eugen Jochum, Herbert von Karajan, Bruno Maderna, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Michael Gielen, and learned to be responsive to singers and give clear impulses to the orchestra players.

[3] He conducted Boris Blacher's Preußisches Märchen,[2] world premieres such as Karl Heinz Wahren [de]'s Fettklößchen, Wilhelm Dieter Siebert's Untergang der Titanic.

[5] Richter followed Maazel to the Vienna State Opera in 1982,[4] where he conducted a few operas, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Alban Berg's Wozzeck,[6] and many ballets including Prokofiev's Romeo und Julia and Josephs Legende by Richard Strauss[1] in 1982, in 1983 Baier's Die Puppenfee, Tchaikovsky's Dornröschen and Schwanensee, in 1984 Der Nussknacker, and in 1987 De Falla's Der Dreispitz.

[8] He also conducted the orchestra for the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's Tulifant [de] at the Ronacher in 1990, and took Elisabeth on a tour to Japan.

[5] by composers such as Antonio Bibalo, Boris Blacher, Luigi Dallapiccola, Hans Werner Henze and Aribert Reimann.