Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Andras Schiff at Carnegie - November 5

Did anyone else hear Schiff tonight in the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall? It was quite a unique concert. He played the Bach Goldbergs in the first half, and the Beethoven Diabellis in the second half, and then the entire second movement of the Beethoven Opus 111 for an encore. I never imagined I'd hear anyone play that for an encore. The whole thing lasted over three hours.

He was here in Toronto on Sunday and it was a great concert. Very long but enjoyable. I am not entirely in love with his interpretation of the Goldberg variations. I preferred his Beethoven.

Someone was coughing quite a bit and he told them to be quiet mid-playing...which I also read happened in Boston a few days earlier lol.

I wish he had done that in this concert. It was a coughing concert with background piano music.

I agree that his Beethoven is better. His interpretation of the Bach bored me a little.

He was here in Seattle @ Benaroya in October, and he played Beethoven Op. 109 as an encore. So, I guess he sees no problem with that!
It was a great concert; he played just the Goldberg Variations, and then the Beethoven as an encore.
No Diabelli, though.

He played the exact same programme in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago. It was truly a marathon for both performer and audience. His Goldbergs were spectacular. The Beethoven, too, was excellent, but I, personally, think it a bit too much on the other side of the Bach for most audiences (but then, Hill audiences aren't most audiences).

Yes, I was there, it was quite an amazing concert. I also agree that the Goldbergs were not as compelling. But the Diabellis were incredible, and when he sat down after the ovation and I heard the first chords of the Arietta, I couldn't believe my ears! What a night!

BTW, last week he did another marathon, playing all six Bach partitas. It was quite an amazing performance! (also about 3 hours, but he "only" did the two-part invention in C as an encore)

I wanted to go to that one too, but couldn't make it. How was it?

He did all the repeats in both pieces? Ouch.

Yes. I hate to say this, but I wish he hadn't. Maybe with a better pianist.
Especially in the Bach. Some of it was agony.

I don't like Schiff.

Ugh. Unless you're doing some serious improv/ornamentation/revoicing on the repeats, that's the most tedious program imaginable.

I love Schiff and would have loved to have seen that concert!! That's quite a concert, though...

One of my friends recently saw him perform that program somewhere else, and they had nothing but great things to say.

I grew up with Schiff's recording of the Goldberg Variations. With all the repeats. I remember occasional differences in the repeats: an extra turn in the repeats of the first variation; an octave higher in the repeats of another variation; an octave lower in the repeats of another.

Listening to variation 25, at glacial pace with all its repeats, was an astonishing experience for 16-year-old me. Agonizing, in the good sense of the word. I wish I'd been at the concert.


-Jason

It was really great I thought. A lot of color and variations in the ornamentation and just really nice flow. Quite an achievement for such a long program.

I didn't feel the same yesterday with the Goldbergs.... I also did not appreciate his fast tempo in 2 of the minor key variations, I tend to prefer a slower pace there to better sense the tension. However, to compensate for this I would have avoided at least a fair number of repeats of course (I'm sure he has his reasons though). Oh well, but you cannot help but greatly admire someone who can pull that kind of a performance, it was kind of epic!

Back in the mid 1970's Lenny Bernstein gave and interview wherein he said recital performance, in regards general audiences, was dead. What he didn't say was why.

This concert by Schiff is the reason why. There is no way in Hades that a general audience is going to be able to relate to a program like this.

You darn sure didn't see Horowitz or even Earl Wild do anything like this, and both of these gentleman had at least 8 hours of stuff ready at one time. And, so did de Larrocha.

Myra Hess is the one who started this garbage when she went on tour and played all three of the late Beethoven Sonatas. One of my coaches attended one of these performances, and she and her doctor took her an hour during intermission to get her in shape to come back out and finish the program.

I went to an Arrau recital in Austin in 1974, where he played the Op. 111 the first half, and the Schumann Symphonic Etudes in the second. After he finished, everyone just politely got up and walked out.

A former classmate of mine, who got his DMA at Juilliard, gave a recital in Dallas where he played all of the Transcendental Etudes in the first half, and then the Gaspar in the second. When he finished, all of the little old ladies just sat there and stared at each other.

So, when the music conservatories quit dictating this super human standard of performance, which an average audience cannot relate to, then maybe classical piano performance will arise from its now death bed.

The contents of current concert/recital programs is not a closely guarded secret; everyone going to a concert these days knows what the contents will be. If a "general audience" doesn't like this program, then the audience won't be made of up "generals!"

Secondly, Mr. Podesta seems to suggest that in order to attract an audience, the program has to be "dumbed down" to such a degree that it will please everyone, even those who know nothing about music.

Every where you look, not just in the arts, "dumbing down" is the order of the day; no wonder so many (young) people can't think for themselves, write a coherent paragraph or enjoy reading literature.

Where will it end?

Regards,

My guess is that the Schiff recital was extremely well attended. In fact, if this wasn't the case, Schiff's managers would probably strongly object to the program that was probably played at many venues. If every pianist gave a program as serious(lacking shorter Romantic works or composed only of long pieces) as the one by Schiff that might be problem, but this does not occur. I've heard plenty of recitals at Carnegie that were well attended, even sold out, that were very serious in terms of programming.

But then you don't really have a clue.

A better pianist? Are you on drugs? You will find very few pianists who play Bach as well. If you're going to play the Goldbergs, you play the repeats. If you play the Beethoven, you play the repeats. If not, don't bother. Perhaps, you should have stayed home.