Word: tempi
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...first half. When Lifschitz released his recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the age of 16, he drew comparisons with the great Glenn Gould. One could also make an association with Gould based on his Brahms performance: both pianists took the work at almost unbearably slow tempi. Unlike Leonard Bernstein, who performed the work with Gould in 1962, James Bolle did not preface the performance with a disclaimer on artistic differences. The first movement was too long, aimless and lacking in a sense of overarching structure, as every quarter-note beat was pounded out. Lifschitz succeeded much...
This is not to say that the performance was unflawed. Conductor Sebastian Weigle’s brisk tempi proved a mixed blessing. While the overture exuded an almost electric energy, other numbers seemed slightly rushed. Tamino and Pamina’s Act II duet could have luxuriated longer in its loving lyricism, and Weigle’s charge into part two of the Queen of the Night’s big first act aria was a bit too fast for soprano Mary Dunleavy, resulting in an awkward adjustment as her coloratura fireworks begin. Nor was Dunleavy vocally perfect...
...intimidate Richard Dreyfus in "The Competition," came off worse. Its main weakness was lack of dynamic range--or rather, lack of sensitive dynamic range, as one tended to be awed by Zimerman's ferocious key depth without forgetting the harsh sounds it sometimes produced. A stricter observance of tempi would also have been in order; this was Chopin, not Debussy. In any case the risks he took at high speeds were admirable, and his confident, blind leaps across three octaves are a reproach to showier pianists who conduct their business at unnecessary altitudes above the keyboard. The Three Mazurkas...
...second half of the recital comprised Perahia's magisterial reading of the Schubert C Minor Sonata D. 958. This interpretation was worlds away from the famous hair-sizzling live recording made in Budapest in 1958 (coincidence?) by Sviatoslav Richter-The tempi were less "hell" and more "high water." The beginning of the first movement, phrased to remind us of Beethoven's 32 variations in the same key was the first of many well-executed musical decisions that kept the audience rapt for the entirety of this very long sonata. Peheria was rewarded with three encores...
...concert also featured Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, that phylanstery of complex chromatic chords. While this piece showed off Allanbrook's technique to advantage, the performance suffered from major intonation problems. The tempi were questionable, but the reading cohered, if quirkily, and the ambition was impressive given the forces available...