Saturday, October 30, 2004

Review: Schiff the Eccentric

The pianist Andras Schiff came to Carnegie Hall Thursday night Irina and I sat in nosebleed land to hear his traversals of the major piano works of Leos Janacek, a set of polkas by Bedrich Smetana, and the third Sonata of Frederick Chopin.

Mr. Schiff has become well-known in part for his ability to new ideas to old works, but in Janacek's deceptively simple On the Overgrown Path, Book I, Mr. Schiff displayed the polyphonic sense which has made him a renown Bach player. He brought out the inner voices of Janacek's sullen rustic score, giving us a feint rustle of leaves here, the eerie stillness surrounding the hooting of an owl there. The score was written in part as a memorial to Janacek's daughter, Olga, who died of typhoid fever in 1903. Mr. Schiff's clear ability as a colorist came through in these short pieces.

Smetana's Poetic Polkas, Op. 8, were somewhat less successful. Smetana attempted to do with these Polkas what Chopic did for the Mazurka; he wanted to elevate a national dance to a high art form. These are charming pieces, but Mr. Schiff took them a bit too seriously, and some of the spontaneity of the Polkas was lost.

Janacek's two major works, his 1.X, 1905 Sonata, and his suite, In the Mists, were well-delivered; the Sonata, a somewhat awkward piece was written to commemorate October 1, 1905, the date a Czech student protesting in favor of a new university was killed by police.

Chopin's 3rd Sonata, his Op. 58, was sluggish and mannered. Known for eccentricity, Mr. Schiff's admittedly original interpretation left much to be desired; he apparently decided to reinterpret Chopin's tempo marking. The first movement Allegro Maestoso was all Maestoso and no Allegro, and was slowed down to such a extent that the movement was robbed of its drama. The Scherzo received similar treatment, coming at a pedestrian stroll rather than at the light, quicksilver Molto vivace that is marked in the score. The Finale continued on this path. Overall, it was a ponderous reading. (The New York Times disagreed with me and called it "sparkling and regal". Regal, yes. Sparkling? Not exactly.)

Mr. Schiff's encores were much better, a Chopin Mazurka and Nocturne, followed by an excellent performance of Mozart's A minor Rondo, K. 511. That Mr. Schiff can play with lucid beauty is self-evident; that he will be different for difference's sake is also self-evident.