András Schiff Plays Bach as you've never heard him before
Photo: MusicalCriticism.com
By Melinda Bargreen
They were written as musical studies, and Bach’s 24 Preludes and Fugues comprising Book II of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” have been the fodder and the frustration of countless keyboard students. It’s safe to say, however, that these pieces have never sounded the way Andras Schiff played them recently at Benaroya Hall.
The “WTC” as written as a set of two books – separated by about two decades – each consisting of both a Prelude and a Fugue in each major and minor key, starting with C major and concluding with B minor. Book II poses formidable challenges of almost every kind, including sheer keyboard dexterity, interpretive wisdom, and concentration. Schiff’s program lasted nearly three hours (including intermission), about an hour longer than the standard piano recital. Astonishingly, he played the entire convoluted, complicated program from memory in a performance that was so error-free that it could have been issued as a recording.
In fact, the playing actually was better than on Schiff’s brand-new recording: freer, more lyrical, more chance-taking, while liberated from the tyranny of the recording-studio microphones. This was a program that sounded like a labor of love, and you could frequently see an amused smile on Schiff’s face as he turned out a particularly nice passage.
The playing was spectacularly even and clean, with tremendous tonal variety – from the most velvety, silky sonorities to glittering, assertive passagework. Each piece had its own personality: witty, declarative, beseeching. There was high drama in some of the declarative statements, particularly among the fugues, and passages when the right hand (carrying the melody) created intriguing tensions by “pulling” against the steady beat of the left hand.
The evening was a revelation: Bach as you’ve never quite heard it before. The Seattle recital was part of Schiff’s “Bach Project,” a series of Bach recitals, plus an orchestral week of Bach, Schumann and Mendelssohn that finds Schiff on the podium as well as at the piano. (The Seattle performance was one of nine individual recitals in venues extending from coast to coast.) Rumor has it that Schiff may return to Seattle next season for more Bach; if so, don’t miss any opportunity to hear this master.
Photo: MusicalCriticism.com
By Melinda Bargreen
They were written as musical studies, and Bach’s 24 Preludes and Fugues comprising Book II of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” have been the fodder and the frustration of countless keyboard students. It’s safe to say, however, that these pieces have never sounded the way Andras Schiff played them recently at Benaroya Hall.
The “WTC” as written as a set of two books – separated by about two decades – each consisting of both a Prelude and a Fugue in each major and minor key, starting with C major and concluding with B minor. Book II poses formidable challenges of almost every kind, including sheer keyboard dexterity, interpretive wisdom, and concentration. Schiff’s program lasted nearly three hours (including intermission), about an hour longer than the standard piano recital. Astonishingly, he played the entire convoluted, complicated program from memory in a performance that was so error-free that it could have been issued as a recording.
In fact, the playing actually was better than on Schiff’s brand-new recording: freer, more lyrical, more chance-taking, while liberated from the tyranny of the recording-studio microphones. This was a program that sounded like a labor of love, and you could frequently see an amused smile on Schiff’s face as he turned out a particularly nice passage.
The playing was spectacularly even and clean, with tremendous tonal variety – from the most velvety, silky sonorities to glittering, assertive passagework. Each piece had its own personality: witty, declarative, beseeching. There was high drama in some of the declarative statements, particularly among the fugues, and passages when the right hand (carrying the melody) created intriguing tensions by “pulling” against the steady beat of the left hand.
The evening was a revelation: Bach as you’ve never quite heard it before. The Seattle recital was part of Schiff’s “Bach Project,” a series of Bach recitals, plus an orchestral week of Bach, Schumann and Mendelssohn that finds Schiff on the podium as well as at the piano. (The Seattle performance was one of nine individual recitals in venues extending from coast to coast.) Rumor has it that Schiff may return to Seattle next season for more Bach; if so, don’t miss any opportunity to hear this master.
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