IT was impossible not to be quietly overwhelmed yesterday at the end of Andras Schiff's second concert in his survey of Schumann's piano music. As Schiff's playing of the Geister Variations took off from the printed page and floated into another sphere, the narrative description of the circumstances of Schumann's life at the time of the composition became magnetic.
Ten days before his madness compelled him to throw himself into the Rhine, Schumann had written down the piece. Between that episode and the composer committing himself into an asylum where he spent the rest of his life, lay a few days where he must have experienced some lucidity: during those days
he made a final copy of the Geister Variations.
Schiff - never a pianist to romanticise the moment - somehow touched the exact spirit of this music, especially in the final variation where a clear, expressive melody floated above a cloudy, veiled, murmuring accompaniment At the end, as it dissolved into silence, Schiff sat, hands poised motionless above the keyboard, unmoving, and allowing the silence to hang in the air for what seemed a long, long time. It was an extraordinary moment, filled with emotion and absolute stillness.
And it came at the end of a recital full of fascinating playing where Schiff, a supremely intelligent musician, performed a whole string of character pieces - Papillons, Night Pieces, Songs of the Morning, and Kreisleriana - without once being tempted into over-pictorial characterisation. Whether at his most coolly brain-powered, or his most powerfully energetic, Schiff always seems to hold the emotional extremes of this man's music in a subtle and refined balance. More of Schiff's Schumann on Monday.
n Sponsored by Bank of Scotland
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article