Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Back to the concert hall to hear Richard Goode in recital

It’s been 21 long months since I’ve attended a live concert. Sure, there have been virtual concerts on my computer screen during the pandemic, and there’s no shortage of YouTube performances and recordings if I want them. But for a complete musical and emotional experience, there’s nothing like a live concert.

For Richard Goode’s appearance Tuesday evening, November 2, under the sponsorship of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, there were certain concessions to the pandemic: Entrance to the concert was limited to those who are fully vaccinated, and proof of vaccination and ID were checked by security personnel before we even entered the Kimmel Center. Masks were required to be worn at all times. And there was no intermission; mingling and exchanging opinions during intermission is an enjoyable part of the concert experience, but it’s not ideal while the virus remains a threat.

Goode began his program with three of Franz Schubert’s Moments Musicaux, D. 780. These short pieces were meant for the amateur pianist, so they are not particularly challenging, but in the hands of a master like Goode, they are something more than pretty salon pieces. The third of these pieces, in F Minor, is the most familiar and suggests a dance.

Much of Schubert’s piano music is lyrical, reflecting the fact that this composer wrote hundreds of songs in his short life. However, the Sonata in A Minor, D. 845, does not fit this category. It’s remarkable for its structure and development, rather than its melodic content. In this sense, it is one of the most “Beethovenian” of his piano works. It was no surprise, then, that Goode, a renowned Beethoven specialist, delivered a thoughtful and compelling performance of this powerful work. Particularly memorable was the second movement, Andante poco mosso, a set of complex variations on a theme.

The program continued with Goode’s gorgeous performance of Robert Schumann’s Papillons (Butterflies), Op. 2. The title, which is Schumann’s own, is somewhat of a misnomer. Yes, some of the 12 pieces in this set are relatively light and airy, but it’s really a set of dance pieces. I can’t recall when I last heard this work in concert. Most pianists tend to perform Schumann’s later sets of character pieces, such as Carnaval or Kreisleriana, but I’m glad that Goode chose to include this work on the program. Despite its early Opus number, Papillons is a fully mature work and one of Schumann’s most satisfying.

Goode’s final selection was a work that was new to me: Bela Bartok’s 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs. These are piano arrangements of folk melodies that Bartok collected in his travels through the Hungarian countryside. Written during the period from 1914 to 1918, the settings are just starting to wander away from the traditional harmonies of the 19th Century. These pieces are not as immediately “catchy” as Bartok’s six Rumanian Folk Dances that are heard more frequently in recital, but they were a fascinating addition to the program, and I’d like to hear them again.

Richard Goode has presented a recital with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for nearly every one of its seasons. I’ve been to many of these recitals, going back 20 years. Now 78 years old, Goode remains an audience favorite; his recitals, including this one, are almost always sold out. His only concession to age is that he now plays all selections with the score in front of him. But in no sense have the years diminished his mastery of the piano literature. I’m looking forward to hearing him next season.

I'm curious - I thought Goode had been performing from the score for a long time, as I remember him in a Mozart concerto in the 2006 BBC Proms.

Here is the slow movement of K488:

Sorry, my wording may have been misleading. When I said he "now" plays from the score, I meant that he has been doing this for the past few years.

There's nothing like a live concert, indeed. The emotions, the feelings you experience while listening to your favorite artist, are everything. The pandemic took from me one of the biggest joys I had in life: going to live concerts. Not to mention the big music festivals where I felt the most alive. I tried replacing the feeling with online concert platforms, but it only made me miss more live concerts. Either way, I am grateful that more people are out there who share my pain. I feel like I was being robbed of something and can't do anything about it. Luckily, we're on our way back to our everyday lives. Hopefully, this will happen ASAP because I am so sick and tired of everything happening there…

I lost the last few concerts of Angela Hewitt’s Bach series at the 92nd St Y, after attending most of them. I see that they’re putting them on in March but I lost my city life of twenty years when we moved out so as to not have to try to work two full time jobs in a one bedroom apartment. So, I’ll never see those concerts and I’ll miss the rich musical life of the city and the small musical life with my classical guitar teachers and a little trio we had.

I also lost my piano teacher, a wonderful Russian lady who was most encouraging to adults, and someone I had hoped to study with for a long time.

Pittsburgh has a strong history with classical music so I can re-engage but it’s not New York. I did see Augustin Hadelich, the violinist, play a few months ago. His story is one of resilience and renewal.

I have another teacher, and we started in-person lessons with masks, but the latest variant seems to have blown that up for a bit. The few plays we had booked have been pushed off months and I have resisted booking any concerts.

We’ve thrown ourselves into gardening and hope there will be growth and healing in the spring. It’s all very tiresome and demoralizing.

I know my problems are small in comparison to those who have covid and are dying from it every day. I read that around 1800 people are dying from covid every day, just in the US.

As long as I survive, everything will be ok. As Mark Twain wrote so long again: “Circumstances do the planning for all of us.”