Over to the Teatro Rococó de Schwentzingen on June 3, 2011 for a recital by the legendary Andras Schiff – recorded by Southwest German Radio.
This Variations concert begins with Two Variations K. 500 by Mozart – and then over to Mendelssohn for Variations Sérieuses op 54.Followed by Haydn’s Variations Hob.XVII/6 – and then Schumann’s Geister Variations WoO 24 – 33 Diabelli Variations by Beethoven and finally Variations BWV 988 by J.S. Bach.
Schiff is one of the most renowned interpreters of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann. His many recordings for the Decca label include much of the keyboard music of Bach, music of Domenico Scarlatti, Ernst von Dohnányi, Johannes Brahms, and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the complete piano sonatas of Mozart and Schubert, and the complete piano concertos of Mozart with the Camerata Academica Salzburg led by Sándor Végh, and of Mendelssohn with Charles Dutoit. His recordings for the Teldec label include the complete piano concertos of Beethoven with the Staatskapelle Dresden led by Bernard Haitink, and of Béla Bartók with the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Iván Fischer, as well as solo works by Haydn, Brahms, and others. Notable recordings for the ECM label include the complete piano concertos of Brahms with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, music of Janáček and Sándor Veress, major works of Schubert and Beethoven using a period fortepiano, and live recordings of all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, made in Zurich. Between 2004 and 2006 he gave a series of lecture-recitals on the complete Beethoven sonatas in London’s Wigmore Hall. His live concert recordings for ECM also include his second traversals of the Bach Partitas and Goldberg Variations.
Schiff has given lectures on the interpretation of the music he plays; in 2024, he lectured at the Wigmore Hall, London on Bach’s Art of Fugue, before performing the piece in the same concert.
For G. Henle, he provided fingerings for new editions of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier (published in 2006) and fingerings and missing cadenzas for a new edition of the Mozart piano concertos (begun in 2007).
Schiff has said he admires many pianists, including Artur Schnabel, Edwin Fischer, Alfred Cortot, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ignaz Friedman, Josef Hofmann, Glenn Gould, Annie Fischer, Rudolf Serkin, Mieczysław Horszowski, Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Richard Goode and Peter Serkin.
Face it, you can use the time off – so press Play and relax.
