Schiff on Beethoven

Last night Adèle and I were at the Bridgewater Hall to hear Andras Schiff play four Beethoven piano sonatas, including the Tempest. I don't really know how to write about this, so I'll just say that over the years I have heard that sonata played many times, but I've never heard an interpretation of it like Schiff delivered at the Bridgewater, every note given its full, distinct value. It was out of this world. Schiff also played the Waldstein - which he reckons to be 'one of the greatest pieces of music there is... a milestone in the history of piano music' (see the final link of this post) - and I can't say there was anything much wrong with that either, or with the other two.

He appears to be doing the same programme soon in New York, and in San Francisco, LA and Chicago. If you're there or thereabouts and can get a ticket, you should think about going. There were plenty of empty seats in Manchester last night.

Googling on Schiff and the Beethoven sonatas led me to this, a treasure trove: Andras Schiff's lectures on the sonatas, all of them downloadable.