Oae/Andras Schiff/Mozart concertos 9&24, Haydn symphony no.98/qeh 19:00 hrs 25/02/13

[jayne lee wilson]

Now THIS looks interesting...

Two of Mozart's most haunting concertos and a less frequently played Haydn Symphony, which like the Mozart items has an especially lovely slow movement.

Schiff is directing, and performing these works on fortepiano according to other listings but which instrument isn't clear. The OAE's sound is always compelling, and the smaller acoustic space of the QEH usually sounds well on web/broadcasts...

Note the early start!

[David-G]

I heard the same concert at the Anvil in Basingstoke last week. A truly wonderful concert. Schiff's direction and playing were intensely musical, and I found it very moving. Well worth listening to, or trying to find a ticket. I liked the way he would start an opening tutti directing as a conductor, and walk over to the piano in time for his entry. Listen out for the piano solo towards the end of the symphony, played by Haydn at the first performance.

The piano looked very much like the instrument played by Bezuidenhout at the Wigmore Hall just before Christmas, which was I believe a copy by Paul McNulty of a Walter instrument of about 1805. Although this slightly post-dated Mozart, we were told that this was in essence the type of instrument that would have been available to him, as "the Steinway D of its day". It was very interesting to observe how Mozart made use of the different timbres of the various registers.

Does anyone know whether Schiff has performed on a fortepiano before?

[Julien Sorel]

He recorded a Beethoven recital for Hungaroton on Beethoven's own Broadwood and several Mozart CDs on Mozart's Anton Walter (?) piano: a solo recital (Decca L'Oiseau Lyre); violin sonatas (with Yuuko Shiokawa - Decca) & trios (with Yuuko Shiokawa / Elmar Schmid / Erich Höbarth - Teldec Das Alte Werk).

There's a recording of the piano quartets (Decca), but I don't know it and don't know what instruments are played. [edit: that's a fortepiano and Mozart's own violin + Höbarth and Miklós Perényi. There are two second-hand copies at Amazon: there were three but I've just ordered one of them!]

[french frank]

Does anyone know whether Schiff has performed on a fortepiano before?

He has also recorded a selection of works by Mozart on the Mozart fortepiano now in the Geburtshaus. It's on a Oiseau-Lyre/Mozarteum disc. There's a full description of the instrument on the liner notes, but I'm not sure that it's the Walter, described here. I can't see offhand in the Schiff notes that it's described as a Walter. It says in the description that it's unsigned. Schiff recorded it 29/30 January, 1991.

Full details here. It doesn't seem to be generally available though it looks as if it can be borrowed from the Central Queensland University, Rockhampton Campus Library.

[aeolium]

trios (with Yuuko Shiokawa / Elmar Schmid / Erich Höbarth - Teldec Das Alte Werk).

I have a copy of the trios K502 and K542 with Schiff, Shiokawa and Perényi, plus the clarinet trio with Elmar Schmid. Not sure if this is the same one as the Teldec as mine is a downloaded copy. It's wonderful playing.

[verismissimo]

I caught this at the Sheldonian in Oxford on Friday and it was a revelation.

For one thing, the Sheldonian is exactly the right size (and shape) venue for this repertoire. Haydn himself directed his own "Oxford" symphony there when he was given his doctorate.

Although Schiff has quite frequently recorded solo piano music on "appropriate" instruments, as indicated in other posts, I think this was a first for him with an "authentic" orchestra. He can sometimes seem rather unrelievedly priestly, but this concert brought out many other sides to his musical personality. The orchestra clearly adored playing with him.

The fortepiano was a 5.5 octave copy of a Walter (c 1805) made by Paul McNulty of Prague, "with moderator, una-corda and sustaining knee levers, walnut case."

I understand Schiff has a clavichord at home that he plays every day.

[salymap]

Thanks for the reminder Jayne.

[Barbirollians]

His K271 on a modern piano with Vegh is one of the finest of all recordings of that work IMO . I look forward to this with interest .

[Lordgeous]

He has also recorded a selection of works by Mozart on the Mozart fortepiano now in the Geburtshaus. It's on a Oiseau-Lyre/Mozarteum disc. There's a full description of the instrument on the liner notes, but I'm not sure that it's the Walter, described here. I can't see offhand in the Schiff notes that it's described as a Walter. It says in the description that it's unsigned. Schiff recorded it 29/30 January, 1991.

Full details here. It doesn't seem to be generally available though it looks as if it can be borrowed from the Central Queensland University, Rockhampton Campus Library.

Dont know if this is the same instrument (called Mozart's Fortepiano on the sleeve) used for the piano duet works with George Malcolm:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-piano-music-for-four-hands-mw0001810928

[french frank]

Dont know if this is the same instrument (called Mozart's Fortepiano on the sleeve) used for the piano duet works with George Malcolm:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart...s-mw0001810928

I imagine so. It seems it was a Walter, c.1782 ,as this article indicates.

I missed the intro to PC No 9, this evening, so wonder whether any mention was made of the title which I'm afraid I still call the Jeunehomme, in spite of what appears to be a corrected version.

[Bryn]

I imagine so. It seems it was a Walter, c.1782 ,as this article indicates.

I missed the intro to PC No 9, this evening, so wonder whether any mention was made of the title which I'm afraid I still call the Jeunehomme, in spite of what appears to be a corrected version.

But every schoolboy knows that "Jeunehomme" was a corruption of "Jenamy", surely?

[french frank]

But every schoolboy knows that "Jeunehomme" was a corruption of "Jenamy", surely?

I knew it wasn't actually a Mlle Jeunehomme as once thought but didn't know the history of exactly who the young woman was. Or how they introduced it tonight. K 271, I assume

But I doubt very much whether 'every schoolboy knows it ...'

[Bryn]

I knew it wasn't actually a Mlle Jeunehomme as once thought but didn't know the history of exactly who the young woman was. Or how they introduced it tonight. K 271, I assume

But I doubt very much whether 'every schoolboy knows it ...'

http://www.oikos.org/m&nschoolboy.htm

GB is one of my heroes.

[Oops. Just noticed that the URL linked to does not directly cite the source, Gregory Bateson's Mind and Nature - A necessary unity.]

[Barbirollians]

I missed K491 but I enjoyed the rest of the concert a lot - a much less tinkly fortepiano than all too often is the case

[jayne lee wilson]

Mixed feelings here...

In k.271, Schiff didn't always sound completely relaxed with the instrument (a Paul McNulty copy of an 1802 Walter) and gave a slightly stiff, straightlaced reading of the solo part, only really coming to life where overt emphasis or heightened expression were called for. Things did go better in k.491, but I still felt uneasy at his tendency to overemphasise individual notes, phrasing again a little stiff - he could "speak" more clearly with the fortepiano but couldn't make it "sing" enough. Bezuidenhout and Brautigam have both used similar McNulty instruments on recent recordings and do bring them to life rather more.
The OAE made a pleasingly warm and textured sound, a generous presence in a deep soundstage, but they tended to follow Schiff's lead: enjoyable, yes, precise and direct without any mannered or exaggerated phrase or tempi, but just a little lacking in grip or drama.
(I liked the balance tonight, with the piano almost within the orchestra rather than obviously in front of it, making both spatial and musical sense).

So the contrast with the Haydn 98 was the more telling - as a pure conductor, Schiff got that much more out of orchestra and music - a lovely performance, lively dynamic and expressive. Finale brought of with apt wit and panache!

Schiff can often be rather a self-effacing artist anyway; and both Bezuidenhout with the Freiburg Baroque (recent HM disc of 17&22), and Brautigam with the Kolner Akademie show the merits of having a separate conductor to give a performance life and character.