Prom 73 - 7.09.17: Sir András Schiff performs Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier

[silvestrione]

I had Richter at the back of my mind while I listened last night. They sound quite similar to me - a full, rounded tone - but Richter adjusted the temperature rather more than Schiff, so that the peaks of Book 1 felt that bit more impressive.

Exactly. This is some of the most diverse music under one set of covers, but Schiff, though impressive and very enjoyable, was just a little too samey for me, I wanted more outbursts of energy, power and intensity.

[silvestrione]

Aside from the staggering technical command and consummate musicianship how does Andras Schiff remember all the notes ?

Somebody said he plays one or other of the books of WTC every morning. Can that be right? Certainly would help with the memorising!

[oddoneout]

So true. By the same token maybe you enjoy the occasional 5 minute fillers on BBC 4 TV of Freddy Kemp playing Chopin Etudes? WTC pieces would suit slots like that quite well, imho.

I saw several of those and thought they were beautifully done - the visual complemented the aural by its simplicity.

[ardcarp]

Certainly would help with the memorising!

At least it's not hard to remember which P&F comes next. Just budge up a semitone after every minor-key one......

[oddoneout]

Time was when I couldn't listen to Andras Schiff, especially not playing Bach as it just seemed too much like a demented sewing machine a lot of the time. Then I heard him as accompanist(forget who the singer was) and was surprised at how different his playing sounded. More recently I've heard performances of his that I've found much more to my liking than previously so was quite happy to give this broadcast a go. I would tend to agree somewhat with the 'samey' , but that seemed to suit the time of day and my mood very well, so not a negative for me in this instance.

[Zucchini]

Some time ago we saw him at the Sheldonian, Oxford on a warm summer evening. He came onto the platform, acknowledged applause and walked off.

Then the announcement: "Mr Schiff has asked if those in the upper gallery would kindly close all windows.". His playing was distinctive and very memorable

[gmw]

I very much enjoyed the 48 here – I have his recording on Decca among others.

Each pair has a tonality that is most remote from its predecessor; C,c,D,d etc.

I wondered what would be the effect to reprogramming them in a cycle of 5th’s with the relative minor pairs set with the corresponding major pairs, C,a,G,e etc with the tonality evolving gradually throughout the 48.

I suspect it would be a terrible idea but would be interested in the impressions of anyone who had tried it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I very much enjoyed the 48 here – I have his recording on Decca among others.

Each pair has a tonality that is most remote from its predecessor; C,c,D,d etc.

Interesting, though perhaps it confuses tonality with modality. I could be said that C,c share the same tonality, but with different modalities.

[vinteuil]

I very much enjoyed the 48 here – I have his recording on Decca among others.

Each pair has a tonality that is most remote from its predecessor; C,c,D,d etc.

I wondered what would be the effect to reprogramming them in a cycle of 5th’s with the relative minor pairs set with the corresponding major pairs, C,a,G,e etc with the tonality evolving gradually throughout the 48.

I suspect it would be a terrible idea but would be interested in the impressions of anyone who had tried it.

... I have not done what you suggest - but I do recall programming the Chopin Preludes (which are of course arranged in a cycle of fifths) to follow the Bach pattern of C c C# c# D d etc.

Sadly I cannot recall whether this experiment was in any way instructive. Well, it was thirty years ago...


.

[Nick Armstrong]

... I have not done what you suggest - but I do recall programming the Chopin Preludes (which are of course arranged in a cycle of fifths) to follow the Bach pattern of C c C# c# D d etc.

Sadly I cannot recall whether this experiment was in any way instructive. Well, it was thirty years ago...


.

The pianist Josep Colom featured on TTN the other night does something similar from 1'19" here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09491ht

... in addition, improvising links to join the pieces

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

These are interesting experiments - but did either Bach or Chopin expect/intend/want their respective collections to be performed "in one sitting"?

[kea]

If that is what you want. But it is Schiff's almost 'hands-off' approach which I just love. Second only to Ms Hewitt in my affections! No pulling around, just great articulation and the subtlest of phrasing. Also no attempt to dig into the power of the modern concert Steinway. As far as Heldenleben's point about memorising the dots, that's no great feat. One might also think that as the 48 are within the grasp of the average fumbling pianist, performing it in public (even very public) might not be such a big deal. BUT, there is no undergrowth to hide in among the relentless logic of Bach's lines. I suspect (but don't know) that a performer might feel less exposed in, say, Hammerklavier, Islamei or Gaspard.

The Hammerklavier is extremely exposed—I would call it the most difficult piano work in the repertoire, barring the likes of Finnissy or Sorabji but certainly more difficult than anything by Liszt or Rachmaninov (unless you play it very slowly, as most pianists do)—although easier to figure out how to play (typically there's only one way to perform any passage in a way that's comfortable for the hand..... the same is true of Bach preludes and fugues, but that one way isn't always immediately obvious until you've tried all the others, and the relative simplicity of the music can trick you into thinking you have room for alternatives). The other two are not so bad imo, despite having some very scary passages—a bit more freedom in terms of hand-shapes, not quite as much clarity required to bring out every contrapuntal line. Not so much about "hiding" imo, more about different parts of the hand having to maintain their own individual dynamics/articulations, or, something like that.

I'm not a performer though.....