A couple of Tuesdays ago (Nov 16, 2004), we had the ‘pleasure’ of listening to the enigmatic and much celebrated British-Hungarian pianist, Andras Schiff. The event was a bit crazy because we originally had tickets to go see Mozart’s Requiem at the same time, and at the last second we decided it would be better to see Schiff, seeing as I had heard rave reviews of his playing from my piano teacher and also from Wolfgang. So we chose to see him.
After giving away our Requiem tickets, we got to the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, only to find out the show is sold out. But we stuck it out until 3 minutes before showtime, and got a couple of tickets for 5 bucks.
As we were awaiting the maestro’s arrival on stage, a lady came out to the microphone, and started to tell us a story:
“So i’d like to welcome you all here. It is such a fantastic honour to be hosting Mr. Schiff here tonite. But i should tell you. Maestro Schiff arrived here yesterday and practice on the piano and then at the end of the day came to me and said (WITH THICK ACCENT) ‘Jeneefer, dees piano vont doo’. I was shocked. ‘It is too heavy for Chopin, it vont doo’. So finally we were able to, at the last minute, thanks to Mr. Michael Remenyi, get this at the last minute, so if you ever decide to rent a piano from them, get the Steinway number 442. you can say you played on the same piano as Maestro Schiff. Enjoy the show”.
And then Maestro Schiff walks onto the stage. I have to be perfectly honest, he looks a bit silly. But as soon as he sat down and started to play the Janacek, you knew this guy is the real deal.
Now, there is one thing to be said about going to the shows at St. Lawrence Centre. The tickets normally are over $40. But you can student tickets for 5 bucks. so the crowd is on average, over 60. Now this being the transition season between fall and winter you can expect lots of coughing. And (un)fortunately the hall is rather small and cozy, so the accoustics are great.
So Schiff finishes off the Janacek quite nicely and gets the due applause. The next piece is the Chopin Sonata No.3. For those who don’t know, the piece is quite difficult and truly beautiful, as is Chopin’s wont.
Now, the best version i’ve heard, to date, of the sonata is by the incomparable Marta Argerich, which i think would be hard to ever equal or better.
He started with the first movement. It was very different from what i’d heard or expected, much more controlled and slow, but it was good enough that it meritted thought and respect. As he played, a poor fellow in the second row, started to have a coughing fit. A cough every couple of seconds. He was trying to muffle it but not very successfully.
Suddenly about two-thirds of the way through the first movement, Schiff stops playing, spins around on his chair to face the crowd, shaking his head, gets up and while mutter something like “even chopin didn’t cough this much” walks off stage!
The poor guy, still coughing, quickly gets up and starts to shuffle out of the concert hall. Then Schiff comes back with water bottle in his hands, and asking for the guy. The poor fellow didn’t even turn back to look. Schiff stands there for a few seconds, looking surprised as to why the guy would want to leave, and then makes his way back to the piano, and sits down, and says to the crowd. “Let’s try to start again”.
The effect of the little cough exursion was that from that point on, as soon as some unfortunate soul would cough, the entire crowd would suddenly tense and hold its breath, wondering what the Maestro was going to do now.
From that point on, the event was rather more banal : he didn’t stop playing or attack any of the patrons or anythign like that, simply great piano playing.
The Music
So let me say this about the Music. There is no doubt about his ability and his approach to the music. IT is superb. One might not agree with interpretation, but it’s good enough and it is interesting enough that you have to at least pay attention to it, and give it thought and merit.
I can sum up his style of playing in one word (or rather two words): Control Freak. Well, maybe, freak is too strong a word; but control is certainly the way you characterise it.
The Chopin sonata was good, but i didn’t like it. It was too controlled. Chopin has to be free and flying and on fire, especially the third sonata. At least that’s how i feel. The problem was that he was a bit too perfect with it. The third movement that he played was different from all others i’ve heard. In fact although i disliked it at first, i did in the end like what he did with the whole movement. He started the firey third movement very slowly and with a feel of a slow rumble, and as the movement built it up, so did he tension and the rumble, and by the end he almost neared that break-free explosion of emotion. But in the end he fell a bit short. He just missed it. But kudos none-the-less, it was one of the more interesting interpretations of the sonata.
On the other hand, his mozart (the entire second half of the show), was absolutely exquisite. He played mozart, the way it should be. It was so precise, so exact, so full of tonality and touch. I loved it.
His controlling character even showed itself in the encores. Usually pianists, use the encores to sort of do a bit of showmanship, and to sort of have fun. But schiff instead chose to play a polka by Smetena, which was nice, and for the second encore he played a wonderful Chopin Nocturne. Once again, it was played beautifully.
All in all, it was quite the … educative … experience, from the Commander-in-Schiff!
