Posted at 9:29
Several musicians were in the room to hear the 68-year-old musician, known for his legendary engravings of Bach, Mozart and Schubert. His last performance in the metropolis — two concertos conducted from the keyboard with the OSM — dated back three years ago.
This time there was plenty to eat and drink. In addition to Goldberg Variations initially announced, the pianist played, in the first part, the italian concerto and theOverture in B minor by the same composer. Two hours of music then (in addition to the intermission).
Too ? Not with Schiff. Because there are few who are able to captivate us for so long with 88 keys, in this case those of a Bösendorfer, instrument maker of which the pianist is an ambassador.
First there is the sound. Those familiar with his recordings know this sound as warm as it is brilliant, magnified by the precise use of the pedal.
But that remains incidental next to the expression. To listen to András Schiff is to have the impression of seeing a small theater come to life in front of you, with a small group of characters throwing lines in turn.
Bach’s music is in itself fascinating for its unique density, giving us the impression of inhaling concentrated Beauty with each measure. But with the guest of the Bach Festival, everything takes on such a definite relief that one constantly wants to stop time to capture all the subtleties of his playing: bass lines cut with a scalpel, very distinct inner voices, variations of infinitesimal nuances in the soprano right hand…
And Schiff didn’t decide to do all the covers of Goldberg Variations random — each piece is AABB in shape. He does not repeat for the sake of repeating. Each repeat is the subject of a different lighting, sometimes by slight, but subtle differences in the ornamentation, sometimes by the management of the time (such a note slightly lengthened or played with a menu delay).
In the magnificent variation XV, an andante in G minor, the reprise is marked by an increased heaviness of the notes linked by two descenders — the famous Seufzermotiv (“motif of sighs”), so frequent in Bach.
And there are nuances. Because the cantor of Leipzig hardly ever inscribes nuances in his works. But the Hungarian pianist invents dream pianissimos for us in certain variations (particularly variations XXII and XVI), sorts of oases in the heart of the storm.
The pianist ends the cycle with a decanted aria, stripped of its ornaments in the repeats. The last climax was followed by a long and poignant silence, before the cheers of the public.
We may well find certain pieces a little too fast: the first movement of the italian concerto, where we do not feel the 2/4 requested by Bach, or the following andante, and the aria and variations II, VII and XXX of the Goldbergs. Does Schiff know how to savor slowness?
Everything remains nevertheless extremely well done in the chosen tempos.
On the other hand, some may have noticed a certain caution in the two-manual variations (on the harpsichord), which remain, it is true, extremely difficult on the piano because of the inevitable crossovers on a single keyboard.
The only “real” annoyance came from the public, who regained their pre-COVID cough. We counted just ten of them in the initial aria of the Goldberg Variations. One thing we never missed…