Yesterday evening at Carnegie Hall, the Hungarian pianist András Schiff performed in recital several of the most important late works by the music's greatest classical composers - Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert.
The program opened with Haydn's Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI: 50 (1794). The piece dates from the composer's second trip to London and was dedicated to Terese Jansen Bartolozzi, a well known pianist and music teacher, who published the work in 1800. More important, though, was the piano for which Hadyn intended the work. This was the large "English" piano he encountered while in London. Its most notable feature was a keyboard whose range extended beyond that of the fortepianos he had previously used in Vienna. Hadyn was so enthralled by the possibilities of the instrument that he brought one back with him when he eventually returned to Austria. It must have been incredibly exciting for a composer as experienced as Haydn to come into contact with an instrument whose modifications opened up to him new possibilities in the expression of his ideas. In writing a sonata to be played upon it, he was able to move beyond the limitations previously imposed by the fortepiano and create music of far greater complexity.
The next work was Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 (1820). This was the first of the master's three final sonatas and, together with the Diabelli Variations he wrote during the same period, the culmination of his thoughts on music composed for the piano. In its structure, the Op. 109 differs so markedly from all the Beethoven sonatas that had preceded it that it is fair to call it revolutionary. The first movement is extremely short, so much so that it has been suggested that the composer originally intended the work to consist of only the latter two movements and added this on later. The third movement is most unusual for a sonata in that it contains a theme and variations. Beethoven wrote the piece at the same time he was working on the Ninth Symphony and the Missa solemnis and it was obvious that he was moving into uncharted territory. His inability to hear his own works or those of other composers had completely isolated him by this point from the world around him. Terrible as it must have been to have been so afflicted, his condition can actually be seen as an advantage in the sense that he was free to move forward with the development of his own musical ideas without having to concern himself with popular taste or even the sound of his own works when played. More than any other artist before or since, he was locked into the world of pure imagination and freed from any other considerations.
This was followed by Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 545 (1788). The fact that this well known piece was described by Mozart himself as being "for beginners" has created a misconception that this sonata - it is sometimes referred to as Sonata semplice - is somehow inferior to the composer's other late works. This is not the case at all. From the opening bars, this is Mozart at his finest in his unmistakable late style. If anything, the simplicity of style allows the listener to better appreciate the composer's genius.
The program ended with Schubert's Piano Sonata in C Minor, D. 958 (1828). When listening to any of the works written by Schubert in the last year of his life it's difficult not to give way to sentimentality and to read into them the composer's presentiment of his own impending death. This is certainly true of the last three sonatas which have an almost symphonic grandeur that in the nineteenth century led critics to unfairly view them as mere imitations of Beethoven's equally imposing piano works. But this is unfair. Although the works are quite clearly influenced by Beethoven, they have their own distinct style and voice and reveal Schubert to have been a great composer in his own right. While they do give a nod to Beethoven's classic style, they are firmly within the Romantic tradition in their celebration of the tragic artist doomed to die young and unappreciated. As such, they are incredibly moving works.
András Schiff is a wonderful pianist. I first took note of his talent when I purchased last year a recording of all three Bartók concertos he had made with fellow Hungarian Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orichestra. At yesterday evening's recital, he was in total command of his instrument and showed his deep passion for the music in every note he played. His style was impeccable - as classic as the music he was performing - and never interfered with my appreciation of the works themselves. Although I had long been familiar with all the pieces on the program, Schiff made each seem fresh and brought to them all a new level of insight. I came away feeling I had witnessed a revelation of sorts.
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