Sir Andras Schiff Recital at Disney Concert Hall on Sunday Oct. 18 and my memorable moment with him 10/24/15

October 24, 2015

This concert was one of Sir Schiff’s “Last Sonatas by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert” project. He performed Haydn: Sonata in E -flat major, Hob. XVI: 52, Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111, Mozart: Sonata in D major, K. 576, and Schubert: Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960. All of those sonatas are so special. And he performed exquisitely. I am so afraid to explain why I liked his recital. The words are not enough to express. Sir Schiff’s beautiful mind, an amazing control of touch, the depth of emotion, the color and the space… He created a very special world in the Disney Hall’s excellent acoustic. When I was listening Schubert’s sonata, the quote of Schubert came to my mind “When I wished to sing of love it turned to sorrow. And when I wished to sing of sorrow it was transformed for me into love.” He played Robert Schumann’s last work “Theme and Variations” as an encore. It was written right before he was admitted to the asylum (actually he committed suicide during this composition, but was rescued.) It was a perfect encore to finish the recital.

Next day Sir Schiff kindly took my invitation to come for dinner at my house. We enjoyed the conversation and the food (the cooking is my hobby!) in our patio. It was a beautiful evening…..