# Andras Schiff Beethoven Lecture Series



## jfmurray

Are there fans here of the Andras Schiff lecture series which accompanied his concerts of all 32 sonatas a few years ago?

Not only do I appreciate his insights, his gentle manner, his strong opinions unapologetically expressed, but his accented voice is so easy to listen to. He often treats you to full sections of a movement.

I discovered them a few summers ago, and spent hours in the car listening to tapes of them. Then I put them on my iPod and spent hours at the gym working out to them.

Here is the link from the Guardian newspaper:
http://music.guardian.co.uk/classica...943867,00.html

Enjoy!http://music.guardian.co.uk/classica...943867,00,html


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## Klavierspieler

Yeah! Schiff ftw!


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## kv466

On certain Beethoven sonatas he is absolutely great and one of the best.


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## Manxfeeder

Rats, the link doesn't work for me. I'd like to hear them. When they first appeared, I was too busy to listen.


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## violadude

These lectures are really incredible. I wish there were more podcast-type lectures about specific pieces on the internet. They are extremely valuable.


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## violadude

http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/page/0,,1943867,00.html

Here's a link that will hopefully work.


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## Webernite

I've listened to about half a dozen of them over the past few weeks. They're quite good, and sometimes amusing.


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## Manxfeeder

violadude said:


> http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/page/0,,1943867,00.html
> 
> Here's a link that will hopefully work.


There it is! Thanks.


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## jfmurray

Are there any other podcast/lectures that others have found interesting? I love ones where the speaker takes you through the structure of a piece. Schiff has a series on Haydn pieces as well, although the editing was weird, and there were moments when the lecture looped back onto itself.


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## Vaneyes

Thanks for bringing these up. I listened to Part I a couple of years ago, and never made it back. AS far exceeded my expectation.


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## Meaghan

I listened to a few last summer. I discovered them because one was linked on the wikipedia page about the Op. 81a, and I found the lecture to be good food for thought in the early stages of my research on that sonata. (I'm now writing a big analysis paper on it.) He addresses concepts in a way that is easy for the average CM listener to understand without being too watered down. I wouldn't have minded a bit more theory (I like that stuff), but he's catering to his audience, I suppose.


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## Lisztian

I have not been able to take him seriously since he said "you could take half the notes out of Liszt and Rachmaninoff and it would not make a difference." Okay these are very useful lectures, but still.


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## violadude

Lisztian said:


> I have not been able to take him seriously since he said "you could take half the notes out of Liszt and Rachmaninoff and it would not make a difference." Okay these are very useful lectures, but still.


Which one did he say that one in?


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## Lisztian

violadude said:


> Which one did he say that one in?


He didn't say it one of these lectures, but has said that a few times elsewhere.


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## violadude

Lisztian said:


> He didn't say it one of these lectures, but has said that a few times elsewhere.


Oh, ya I generally really love these lectures on Beethoven's piano sonatas, but he did say a few things that I didn't agree with.


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## clavichorder

Lisztian said:


> I have not been able to take him seriously since he said "you could take half the notes out of Liszt and Rachmaninoff and it would not make a difference." Okay these are very useful lectures, but still.


That's certainly an irksome thing to say!


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## Lisztian

clavichorder said:


> That's certainly an irksome thing to say!


Indeed. While I do think he is one of the greatest pianists alive...i'm not fond of the person. He comes across, to me, as EXTREMELY arrogant, snobbish, opinionated...really the stereotype of the high-brow, unpleasant classical musician. Just my opinion, of course.


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## Ukko

My sampling of both his lectures and his recordings of Beethoven indicate that the former surpasses the latter.


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## Lisztian

^I don't disagree


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## Vaneyes

Before I listened to his lectures, I wondered how he would come across, since I remembered a newspaper review describing an incident in-concert--his withdrawing from the stage because of e-devices going off.

I do not know which occurred first...these lectures, or that abandonment of ship. Anyway, what I've heard from the lectures, he comes across as knowledgable in an agreeable manner, even charming on occasion.

I have not met the man, or seen him in concert. I own his CDs for Sonatas from Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and concerti from Bach.

I searched for the Liszt and Rachmaninov quote, but couldn't find any. I did locate a statement by the BPO concert download website, that says Schiff only performs composers who he perceives to have a musical relationship with Bach. When I read that, for sake of convenience, I went to the Archiv Music website and acquired the list of composers and recordings that they have for him. The following...

Bach, Johann Sebastian (41) 
Bartók, Béla (4) 
Beethoven, Ludwig van (17) 
Brahms, Johannes (4) 
Britten, Benjamin (1) 
Busoni, Ferruccio (1) 
Chopin, Frédéric (1) 
Debussy, Claude (1) 
Dohnányi, Ernö von (3) 
Dvorák, Antonín (4) 
Handel, George Frideric (2) 
Haydn, Franz Joseph (9) 
Janácek, Leos (2) 
Mahler, Gustav (1) 
Mendelssohn, Felix (4) 
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (42) 
Reger, Max (3) 
Scarlatti, Domenico (2) 
Schubert, Franz (30) 
Schumann, Robert (9) 
Smetana, Bedrich (4) 
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich (1) 
Veress, Sándor (3) 
Wolf, Hugo (1)


As we can see, Mr. Schiff leaves a lot of good composers out of his repertoire. Not the first to do that. Nor would he be the first to slight composers. GG did, for one example, and probably in rougher form.


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## Klavierspieler

Lisztian said:


> ^I don't disagree


I do.


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## Ukko

/\ Schiff plays Bartók well, in a restrained sort of way. I wonder if D. Scarlatti ever saw a score or heard music by S.Bach.


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## Fugue Meister

They are wonderful and insightful. In case anyone didn't know they are all on wikipedia under the individual Beethoven sonata pages at the bottom under external like, and all but 3 are on youtube.


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## KenOC

Easiest way to get the excellent Schiff lectures:

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/schiffbeethovenlecturerecitals


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## tdc

Lisztian said:


> I have not been able to take him seriously since he said "you could take half the notes out of Liszt and Rachmaninoff and it would not make a difference."


I've always admired Schiff and now I like him even more.


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## Ukko

tdc said:


> I've always admired Schiff and now I like him even more.


Hah. Always nice to recognize similar feathers. eh?


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