Bach \u2013 <\/strong>Goldberg Variations<\/em>, BWV988 \u2013 Aria; Capriccio in B-flat main \u2018Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother\u2019, BWV992; A Musical Offering<\/em>, BWV1079 \u2013 Ricercar a 3<\/em>; Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue<\/em> in D minor, BWV903 It takes identical bravado maybe for a performer to not announce upfront what their programme might be. But then, there are few pianists on the worldwide circuit of the stature of Andr\u00e1s Schiff, whether or not based mostly in Britain or elsewhere, and fortuitously a near-capacity viewers at Oxford\u2019s Sheldonian Theatre was keen to pay its cash and take its probability.<\/p>\n In the occasion, the repertoire was completely attribute of this musician, clearly devised and delivered with cautious thought as to how the sequence of items would comply with each other, though the truth that the programme was solely introduced by Schiff instantly earlier than the efficiency of every merchandise, with some commentary, lent the recital an obvious air of spontaneity and drawing room intimacy, enhanced by his taking part in completely from reminiscence. He began with one in all his calling playing cards, the opening Aria from the Goldberg Variations<\/em>, in a efficiency of simple, contented facility.<\/p>\n He moved on to an early keyboard work by Bach, the Capriccio \u2018on the departure of a beloved brother\u2019 (c.1704) stated to have been composed when his brother left the household house to hitch the Swedish military. The broad, lyrical first part was enlivened by spirited remark of the French-style ornaments, earlier than the extra critical Passacaglia gave sonorous voice to the repeated theme within the bass, in alternation with the proper hand\u2019s sweeter counterpoint in variation which emerged like an operatic lament. A quick connecting passage \u2013 like a recitative \u2013 led to the \u2018Aria di postiglione\u2019, with the attribute postillion name elaborated with additional ornaments in its repeated sections, giving technique to a decided and emphatic method with the concluding fugue which additionally makes use of a particular submit horn determine as its topic.<\/p>\n There adopted the Piano Sonata No.17 by Mozart, whose Classicism appears a complete world away from Bach, particularly within the notably refined simplicity of the composer\u2019s \u2018late\u2019 interval as exemplified on this composition from 1789. But Schiff made the delicate connections clear in his taking part in, other than the truth that this Sonata shared the important thing of B-flat with Bach\u2019s Capriccio. Like the concluding sections of the latter, the primary two actions of the Sonata every mess around with a falling arpeggio determine that’s not in contrast to a fanfare: Schiff registered its fragmentary iterations within the first firmly and cautiously, just like the recurring appearances of a melodic topic in a fugue; while the harmonised melody of the second was performed solemnly. In each instances Schiff made the contrasting responses to these themes within the music pointedly insistent or invigorated, giving the work structural pressure and dynamism. The finale introduced well-judged aid in its pleasant and authentically Mozartian insouciance, contrasting with a mock seriousness within the intervening episodes.<\/p>\n Schiff then drew the connection between the 2 composers extra explicitly by juxtaposing the Ricercar a 3<\/em> from A Musical Offering<\/em> \u2013 in a finely managed account that was extra brazenly projected in the direction of the tip \u2013 with Mozart\u2019s Fantasia K475 in the identical key of C minor, mentioning the similarity between its opening theme and the \u2018Royal Theme\u2019 upon which the entire of A Musical Offering <\/em>is predicated. Like the Ricercar<\/em>, the Fantasia obtained a formidably built-in interpretation, regardless of Schiff\u2019s rightly mentioning its diverse operatic qualities as if a distillation of Don Giovanni<\/em> in seven minutes. Fantasy and mental contrapuntal rigour had been recapitulated on the finish of the live performance\u2019s first half in Bach\u2019s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue<\/em>, though the previous part was performed with relative restraint, and never as wildly as some interpretations. The fugue regularly unfurled, growing its personal indefatigable momentum and logic, with ever extra traction and dynamic projection, regardless of the tempo remaining regular, quite like the way through which Karl Richter structured his performances of Bach\u2019s comparable compositions for the organ.<\/p>\n The sombre character established by the latter items was carried over into the second half after the interval, within the two main works featured, each by Haydn. First was the Piano Sonata in C minor (1771) which Schiff cited as an vital milestone within the historical past of this style. Although Beethoven famously, and dyspeptically, said that he learnt nothing from his trainer, Haydn\u2019s output so typically gives a precedent for a lot of of his radical advances, and this Sonata absolutely served as some extent of inspiration for the \u2018Path\u00e9tique\u2019, practically 30 years later, and written in the identical key at that. There is a sure diploma of stress and agitation (the Sonata clearly influenced by the Sturm und Drang<\/em> motion) however Schiff stored that below management and prevented instilling an anachronistic, Beethovenian fury \u2013 the principal topic craving and melancholic, and permitting the extra pushed triplets subsequently to tackle their very own momentum. The gradual motion (within the gentle key of A-flat, just like the equal of the \u2018Path\u00e9tique\u2019) was pretty brisk and matter of reality, with its gently oscillating accompaniment and the lengthy sequences of syncopations (trying as far forward as Schumann maybe) producing drama from throughout the music, earlier than a equally terse finale.<\/p>\n Schiff gave a flowing account of the F minor Variations, with a palpable however light tread in its theme, and nearly a droll character within the alternating main key sections quite than drawing a stark distinction between the 2. Beethoven closed the recital with, paradoxically, maybe the least consequential work right here, the 6 Bagatelles Op.126. They had been no mere trifles in Schiff\u2019s fingers nonetheless, however stemmed from the identical internal, transcendental world because the composer\u2019s final three sonatas for piano, written not lengthy earlier than the Bagatelles. Where the primary was nearly weary regardless of its obvious cheerfulness, the humour within the others was noticed \u2013 though restrained and wry \u2013 and the livid vitality of the fourth was allowed to return over as skittishness quite than rage. At the centre was a nonetheless, hymn-like efficiency of the third, with a Schubertian songfulness rising within the melody over its chords. Like the recital general, Schiff\u2019s efficiency was persistently insightful and unflustered.<\/p>\n Curtis Rogers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n [ad_2]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [ad_1] United Kingdom Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven: Andr\u00e1s Schiff (piano). Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford 15.2.2023. (CR) Andr\u00e1s Schiff Bach \u2013 Goldberg Variations, BWV988 \u2013 Aria; Capriccio in B-flat main \u2018Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother\u2019, BWV992; A Musical Offering, BWV1079 \u2013 Ricercar a 3; Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV903Mozart \u2013 Piano […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-68049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-theatre"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"United](\"https:\/\/seenandheard-international.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/world-flags\/images\/flags\/24\/gb.png\" "\\"United")
United Kingdom<\/span><\/span><\/span> Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven: <\/span><\/strong>Andr\u00e1s Schiff (piano). Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford 15.2.2023. (CR)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/seenandheard-international.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Andras-Schiff-1200x848-1-e1676591492319-354x250.jpg\")
Mozart \u2013<\/strong> Piano Sonata in B-flat main, K570; Fantasia in C minor, K475
Haydn<\/strong> \u2013 Piano Sonata in C minor, Hob XVI:20; Variations in F minor, Hob XVII:6
Beethoven<\/strong> \u2013 6 Bagatelles, Op.126<\/p>\n