Sir András Schiff ~ Plush 2 ~ Monday 8th June 2015 7:30pm J. Haydn Sonata No. 60 in C Major, Hob. XVI:50 1. Allegro 2. Adagio 3. Allegro molto L. v. Beethoven Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 1. Vivace ma non troppo. Adagio espressivo 2. Prestissimo 3. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo ~ W. A. Mozart Sonata No. 16 in C Major K. 545 1. Allegro 2. Andante 3. Rondo F. Schubert Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D. 958 1. Allegro 2. Adagio 3. Menuetto & Trio 4. Allegro
PROGRAMME Joseph Haydn was the most famous composer of his day. At the time of his legendary visits to London between 1791-95, he was courted by the monarchy and had his works performed incessantly in private and in concert. His last three keyboard sonatas were written towards the end of this time, and with two dedicatees in mind: the first was the accomplished virtuoso and friend of Haydn s, Therese Bartolozzi, and the second the distinctive English fortepiano, broader in range than the delicate Viennese instruments Haydn was accustomed to. It s not a given that a musician s character corresponds to his musical personality, but Haydn s genial, humorous nature is certainly in evidence in so much of his music. The Sonata in C is a case in point, full of comic hops, dry and disinterested bass lines and spontaneous surprises, leaving one to ponder whether there was some kind of in-joke between performer and composer. The brilliant first movement is monothematic, eschewing any secondary themes to concentrate purely on presenting the opening subject again and again with variations. The Cantabile Adagio is followed by the splendidly irregular Finale, where phrase lengths are too short and harmonic cul-desacs are stumbled upon all too frequently, before the music negotiates it s way to a conclusion. What would Haydn have made of his pupil Beethoven s extraordinary last three keyboard works? Haydn had been so impressed by Beethoven s early quartets that he abandoned any further plans to write in that genre following his two Opus 77 quartets, leaving that avenue to his new charge. But the last three of Beethoven s 32 piano sonatas inhabit a different world scarcely conceivable in scope just 20 years later. Beethoven s so-called late style had begun a few works prior to his third-last opus 109 Sonata. Amongst the many defining features of this style was a radical compression of form, displayed here with startling clarity in the first movement. The exposition lasts just 16 bars! A delicate melody is gently buried within chord figurations before a singing second theme that exhausts itself after a few seconds. The rest of the movement unravels this material as from a small kernel, but with a concision that remains to the end. Perhaps the brevity of the opening gives a clue to the outbreak of emotional violence that occurs in the prestissimo second movement, where the dreamy quality of the music is interrupted with a clap of thunder. Again the movement is short, and unremitting, the listener granted a momentary respite in a veiled but sullen development. The last variation movement is a thing of wonder, so complete that the work seems almost to be in two halves. Here we can find another prevailing theme of Beethoven s late period - the fascination with baroque music and technique. As Sir Andras remarked in a Wigmore Hall lecture on this work, it is difficult to think that Beethoven was not inspired by Bach s Goldberg variations when writing this movement. Its theme is similarly calm, simple and unadorned as Bach s, the music slowly increasing in intensity and complexity as the variations progress before arriving back to its source via a magical sequence of trilled figurations in the dominant key, penetrating the depths of one s soul. Mozart s Sonata in C K.545 is one of the better travelled works. Written fuer Anfaenger (for beginners), it has been savaged for decades by students around the world, preferably behind closed doors. This is of course misleading, as Mozart remains one of the most challenging composers to master. As Busoni famously remarked, his music is too easy for children, and too difficult for adults. The apparent simplicity of this music belies a typically brilliant three movement structure that almost stealthily underpins the work. We take Mozart for granted these days, so effortless and familiar does his music seem to us. Take a closer look and the wonders are there, even in such a carefree piece as this. 1828 must rank as one of the greatest musical years, thanks to one man. As Schubert slowly succumbed to his illness, he created a body of work unique in the deep affection it has inspired in it s devoted audience over so many years. Just two months before passing away, he completed 130 manuscript pages in just a few weeks that comprise his final three sonatas in C minor, A
and Bb. All are towering achievements, of which the C minor is the most serious. Schubert had served as pallbearer at Beethoven s funeral the previous year, and chose a key for this sonata so closely associated with many of Beethoven s masterpieces. While Beethoven concentrated on foreshortening and concentrating his musical forms later in life, Schubert s great gift was the opposite, stretching and elaborating his material in the search for poetic meaning and timeless atmosphere. This is most evident in the slow movement adagio which offers a haven of peace against the torrential impact of the music surrounding it. The waves of turbulent scales cascading in the outer movements also have their own calm eyes of the storm, leading one eminent pianist to describe the impact of the music as sleepwalking along the edge of an abyss. The third movement minuet is an ambiguous hybrid of dance and scherzo, with a whimsical nature punctured by silence. It s echoes of Laendler themes in the trio section seem fainter than in other works, and they soon give way to the Danse macabre of the Finale that hurls it s way to its fateful conclusion. Adrian Brendel Music Director Sir András Schiff Sir András Schiff Sir András Schiff is world-renowned and critically acclaimed as a pianist, conductor, pedagogue and lecturer. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1953, he started piano lessons at age five with Elisabeth Vadász. He continued his musical studies at the Ferenc Liszt Academy with Professor Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados, and in London with George Malcolm. Having recently completed The Bach Project throughout the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 concert seasons, North America prepares for The Last Sonatas, a series of three recitals comprising the final three sonatas of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. The Last Sonatas takes place over the course of the next two seasons with the complete series slated for New York s Carnegie Hall, San Francisco s Symphony Hall, Los Angeles s Disney Hall, Chicago s Symphony Hall, Washington Performing Arts Strathmore Hall, The Vancouver Recital Society and University Musical Society of The University of Michigan. Further recitals are scheduled in Napa, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Scottsdale and Kansas City. In October 2015, the San Francisco Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic host this versatile artist in a series of concerts with orchestra and chorus Sir András s first performances in North America on the podium and at the piano with chorus, orchestra and soloists. In his role as lecturer, Sir András Schiff has put together a round table forum to be presented on December 17 by New York s 92nd Street Y, addressing the pianist s belief that it is the responsibility of every politically-informed artist to speak out against racial injustice and persecution. Violinist Gidon Kremer and author David Grossman join the dialogue. As pedagogue, he partners with 92Y and SubCulture for Sir András Schiff Selects: Young Pianists a three-concert series in February & March curated by Sir András and introducing rising young pianists Kwouk-Wai Lo, Roman Rabinovich and Adam Golka. Sir András Schiff has established a prolific discography, and since 1997 has been an exclusive artist for ECM New Series and its producer, Manfred Eicher. Recordings for ECM include the complete solo piano music of Beethoven and Janáček, two solo albums of Schumann piano pieces, his second recordings of the Bach Partitas and Goldberg Variations, The Well Tempered Clavier, Books I and II and Beethoven s Diabelli Variations recorded on two instruments: a Bechstein from 1921 and an original fortepiano from Vienna 1820 the place and time of the composition. The pianist recently completed a
recording in July at Beethovenhaus, Bonn on the Franz Brodmann Fortepiano used also for the Diabelli 2 album. The all- Schubert disc featuring Sonata in B (D960), Sonata in G (D894), Moments Musicaux (D780) and the Impromptus will be released in spring 2015. Orchestral engagements find Sir András Schiff performing mainly as both conductor and soloist. In 1999 he created his own chamber orchestra, the Cappella Andrea Barca, which consists of international soloists, chamber musicians and friends. He also works every year with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. (Oxford, UK), and received honorary degrees from Leeds University and Music Schools in Budapest, Detmold and Munich. In the spring of 2011 Sir András Schiff attracted attention because of his opposition to the alarming political development in Hungary, and in view of the ensuing attacks on him from some Hungarian Nationalists decided not to perform again in his home country. In June 2014, he was awarded a Knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2014 Birthday Honours. Since childhood he has enjoyed playing chamber music, and from 1989 until 1998 was Artistic Director of the internationally praised Musiktage Mondsee chamber music festival near Salzburg. In 1995, together with Heinz Holliger, he founded the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte in Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland. In 1998 he started a similar series, entitled Homage to Palladio at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. From 2004 to 2007 he was Artist in Residence of the Kunstfest Weimar. In the 2007-8 season, he was Pianist in Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic. Sir András Schiff has been awarded numerous international prizes and his relationship with publisher G Henle continues over the next few years with a joint edition of Mozart s piano concertos and both volumes of The Well- Tempered Clavier. He is an Honorary Member of the Beethoven House in Bonn in recognition of his interpretations of Beethoven s works, has received the Wigmore Hall Medal in appreciation of 30 years of music-making at Wigmore Hall, the Schumann Prize awarded by the city of Zwickau, the Golden Mozart-Medaille by the International Stiftung Mozarteum, the Order pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts, the Grosse Verdienstkreuz mit Stern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland and was made a Member of Honour of Vienna Konzerthaus. He was given The Royal Philharmonic Society s Gold Medal, has been made a Special Supernumerary Fellow of Balliol College
Patrons HISTORY Founded in 1995, Plush Festival is a summer concert series of classical and contemporary music run by the Brendel family. Musicians visit Plush from around the world, and have included Radu Lupu, Andras Schiff, Paul Lewis, Imogen Cooper, John Taylor, Louis Lortie, Mark Padmore, Lawrence Power, Stian Carstensen, Gwilym Simcock and the Szymanowski Quartet to name a few. Programmes span a diverse repertoire of solo and ensemble works, from Bach Cantatas and Beethoven quartets to contemporary jazz and folk music. In 2013 the festival embarked on a new annual education project connecting aspiring young players in Dorset with visiting musicians. SUPPORT Plush Festival is kept alive by its community of supporters and sponsors. Patron 200, ( 400/couple) Advance season programme priority booking annual drinks party. Friend 20, ( 40/couple) Advance season programme priority booking after Patrons. Sponsor a Seat 45 per seat, or for 200 you will recieve the best available seats for any concert you attend. Sponsor a Concert Make a signficant impact on the festival while enjoying the benefits of having your name or company directly associated with the event/artist. Sponsorship starts at 500. Thank you to all of our Patrons, Friends, volunteers and contributors. Your support and dedication is an inspiration. Nicola Beauman Susan Belgrave Antony & Pandy Brown Lucy Carter Amabel Clarke Jennifer & Derek Coombs Dione Digby D.B.E., D.L. Mrs & Mrs Dilhorne John & Felicity Fairbairn Roy Foster Jonathan & Tessa Gaisman Hans Götz Ken Hitz Raymond Jack Andrey & Sara Kidel Georgia Langton and Giorgio Moltoni Maria Makris-Gouvas & Mr. Graham Williams Mr Bob Maguire Mr Lupus Maltzahn John McBratney Adam & Nelly Munthe Patrick Neill of Bladen Peter Pagnamenta Anthony Palmer John Pearson Jane Peretz Anthony & Val Pitt-Rivers Paul Rogan Quarrie Francesca Radcliffe Pamela Ramsey Guy & Valerie Smallwood Duncan Veasey Joachim Voigt CONTACT Adrian Brendel Music Director Kat Brendel Festival Manager Tel: 020 3286 1885 info@plushfestival.com www.plushfestival.com Facebook/Twitter: plushfestival Office address: 13 Well Walk, London NW3 1BY Festival address: St Johns, Plush, DT2 7RJ Music at Plush Ltd Charity no. 1121687