A real lesson from a real teacher, not the usual "master classes" in which 10 students are taught in 5 minutes each and are just an opportunity for a name to make a show in front of a camera. Schiff is phenomenal also as a teacher: explanatory, clear, intelligent, tactful. A real man. Chapeu. Thanks Mr Schiff.
This Masterclass is the reason why I took piano lessons again - until this video I thought pfff I get everything by my own - I am also on the Impromtu #3 right now and come back regularly this content is sooooooooooo rich
So much insight in the harmony, the melody, the phrasing....seeing the disected motives, and details, and seeing the big picture, all elements integrated......so rich!!!! Brave guy, the student. Great profesor!!!! Thank you for this wonderful masterclass.
Well, this is the best piano lessons I've ever had. I always loved Schubert, but now have an even greater appreciation for his work than before. Thank you, sincerely!
This is an extraordinary class. We begin with Schubert. Little needs to be said by me of this towering genius. Then we have Andras Schiff, certainly one of the greatest musicians of this or any other time. Lastly, we have this very talented student who, as others have observed, both clearly understands the rare opportunity he has been given and is very, very talented and so can take advantage of Schiff's teaching.
Man, _I_ am learning from this, and I'm neither a pianist nor aspiring to be one. Cheers to MJB for being a lovely and eager-to-learn student, and to András Schiff for being such a lovely teacher and musician.
András Schiff is a great teacher. He has a deep understanding of the piece. Impressive how he is able to spontaneously intonate Mendessohns 4th sympony ... and the student is really talented!
Amazing post! very profitable for students. Such a treat! I love Martin's personality and playing, such aplomb! I'd be frozen having maestro Schiff sitting beside me. 44:25 that part moved me to tears, such intimate and profound communication
Very intriguing to see primarily a Bach-specialist, Schiff Ur, performing Schubert. One of my all-time favorite Schubertians is Alfred Brendel, who was once deemed a Chopin-specialist lol. Mr. Bartlett genuinely makes Music, which is quintessential for any musician. Thank you for this posting, RCM.
he's wealthier than any billionaire. imagine what it's like to thoroughly understand every phrase of thousands of works. to have traveled to so many European countries and looked at the original manuscripts, all the personal letters by the composers, all to achieve the most authentic vision of something that was dreamed up hundreds of years ago in a different world. and to connect all that into our world
You don't have to know every piece in the repertoire to be able to talk intelligently about it, and teach it with artistic integrity. And for what it's worth, having met many such great artists personally, most of them have interests outside classical music and would rather talk about those interests when dining out ;)
learning so much from this masterclasses... thank you so much Royal College of Music, for making these available on the Internet for everyone Could someone please kindly help me out here... What does "memore" in 22:34 mean? What does "ducktail" in 41:17 mean?
curious that Horowitz plays Impromptu 3 much slower and rubato than the student’s original tempo. So who is right: Horowitz or Schiff? I like both interpretations
I am thoroughly enjoying watching this! Bravo, Mr. Bartlett, I expect to hear great things from you! On a completely different note, is that Barbara Bush in the first row? LOLOL
Usually these things are let down by the student understanding the suggestions but being unable to change the mannerisms they have spent months grooving in to their playing. But this guy is phenomenally perceptive and adaptive - a teacher's dream! You can also sense the sheer joy he is feeling at being given such a priceless opportunity. And how lucky are we that these amazing sessions are freely available to us on UA-cam - thank you RCM!
52:30 The way he describes music and compares it to a river flowing so beautiful mesmerizing. "You're stopping the river it's against nature, like the water flows it's in different light, each modulation puts the water in a different light, but not in a different speed. Change the light and the shadow with the tone color"
This was 5/2016. I looked up Bartlett. He's 19 here. He has won about every piano award and is being asked to play concerts now. He has looks, personality, and communicates his love of the music. A great talent.
The guy at the piano is just fantastic: he is caught in the moment of broadening his musical horizon, not just a mere executor of orders. Would love to hear more of him!
This brought me so much joy to watch. Not only because of the fantastic and informative content, but more specifically because I have taken a couple of master classes myself and that experience made watching all the more visceral; the excitement, nerves, terror you feel as this great performer approaches to give you their critiques, and the gradual development of trust as you are met not by a performer but a teacher. Mr. Bartlett's nerves melt away and you can see his eagerness to take in every tidbit of knowledge Sir Schiff has to offer.
This really shows all the little details that go into a good interpretation/performance. The things that Schiff talks about are really just minor subtleties, but they have a huge effect. In a way, he's talking about adding 'imperfections': don't play every note the same way, vary the rhythm a bit, if a passage repeats, add a new color to it, etc. A computer would play this with absolute precision, just rattling off the notes, never making a mistake, never varying in tempo, always repeating the same notes in exactly the same style. But that's lifeless. It's these imperfections (which of course aren't really imperfections) that make the performance human, they add emotion, excitement, tenderness.
At 44 minutes you can just see Bartlett glow when he gets to play with Schiff. Talented student and experienced teacher, just a wonder to watch. I'm not practicing this nor could I practice this with my current skill, and I've still learned a lot here. Finding the tones and just generally evaluating the music from more angles is the reason why a teacher is such an important part of learning the piano. Too bad I have no money for lessons now, I actually feel a bit stuck in my process.
This is wonderful and demonstrates what a civilized style of life can and probably should be about. Think of the millions of our fellow humans just as capable as you and me of appreciating the nuances of the great composers but mired in lives of poverty and hopelessness. We have a long way bot go.
My opinion of the student changed radically in the course of the session. His initial performances I found rather run-of-the-mill, but he took to Schiff's coaching like a duck to water.
Wow what a masterclass by an absolute master. Schiff produced huge improvement in such a short time with this talented young man. I've seen other masterclasses by other virtuoso masters who know how to produce the results but have no idea how to draw the performance out of the student.
play or used to play both these pieces (also the fourth impromptu of the set). So I felt a lot of Sir András' ideas somewhat personally (and Bartlett had a few good ones too in his playing, for sure!). Agree about the nature. Wind, water flowing/winding, fluttering leaves etc (in no.4)... and the breathing of course. The improvement in the young man's playing after Schiff's suggestions was quite stunning I thought! A really useful and eye-opening class! And Martin James Bartlett is one hell of a quick learner!! Some of his playing by the end had my skin tingling (in a good way!). Bravo!
Humans at their sublime best. After watching this it makes you wonder what great heights we are capable of achieving and what we, in reality, are squandering.
No doubt a brilliant and virtuous student. He will be one of the great pianists who will offer us magnificent future performances. Point aside, it must be one of the few times that András Schiff was very motivated, happy, relaxed and pleasantly surprised to see how his student immediately grasped, understood and assimilated each teaching and suggestion. Bravo!!
What an education ! Especially on how to approach the G Flat major Impromptu. And I used to think that Schiff was just a great Bach player. That alone would have been enough - but what a great Schubert player he is !!
An extraordinary student and an extraordinary teacher! It is always a pleasure and an inspiration to listen to Schiff and share his wealth of thoughts and experience.
26:50. Schubert links two disparate keys, Eb and B minor, in an ingenious way. By using accidentals, he turns Eb into its parallel minor (Eb minor) then adds the relative major chord (Gb), the "pivot chord" which is the enharmonic equivalent of F#. F# is the dominant chord (V) of B minor ( harmonic). Brilliant.
Schiff is, I think, a genius. I really felt for the student when Schiff asked about harmonies; knew the boy would be at a loss. Still, he is very responsive to these wonderful teaching methods.
This reminds me of my lessons with Earl Wild. He would have me making more adjustments at one and the same time than I could readily keep track of, but, without fail and just when I feared imminent collapse from mental overload, he would break the tension with an outrageously obscene joke (that's the advantage of a private session -- I wonder what Schiff is like behind closed doors).
I had come to the ballade 2 as well, and gymonopedie 1, but hey're absolutely rare, it seems. And ever since I've watched the video years ago I still find myself thinking about this specific topic from time to time. Thanks for adding the Brahms to my list
Keep coming back to this one. Bartlett’s nondefensiveness really tempers Schiffs tendency to be somewhat harsh in his criticism. It makes this both entertaining to listen and very informational
It is such a pleasure to watch and listen to Maestro Schiff incorporate both scholastic and artistic mastery of this repertoire and to be able to communicate both to this talented, sensitive student. Bravo.
Истинное Наслаждение быть свидетелем Рождения Музыки! Чудный, Тонкий, Одарённый юноша и Гениальный Мастер!!! И это слияние обоих с Шубертом на 45 минуте и далее 59.. И вообще... Сердце не выдерживает.. .Такое СОВЕРШЕНСТВО!!!!!!!!!
An extraordinarily receptive student.
The student is so respectful and humble. He listens and takes every advice carefully. Great student taught by a great teacher.
A real lesson from a real teacher, not the usual "master classes" in which 10 students are taught in 5 minutes each and are just an opportunity for a name to make a show in front of a camera. Schiff is phenomenal also as a teacher: explanatory, clear, intelligent, tactful. A real man. Chapeu. Thanks Mr Schiff.
This Masterclass is the reason why I took piano lessons again - until this video I thought pfff I get everything by my own - I am also on the Impromtu #3 right now and come back regularly this content is sooooooooooo rich
WoW. I shall never hear op. 90 the same way again. Schiff is a genius.
So much insight in the harmony, the melody, the phrasing....seeing the disected motives, and details, and seeing the big picture, all elements integrated......so rich!!!!
Brave guy, the student. Great profesor!!!! Thank you for this wonderful masterclass.
Priceless! It's a privilege to be taught by Sir András Schiff. Thank you the Royal College of Music.
Well, this is the best piano lessons I've ever had. I always loved Schubert, but now have an even greater appreciation for his work than before. Thank you, sincerely!
What a compliment at the end. Schiff is a great Master, one of the best. And the student seems to be very sympathetic.
Thank you for the upload.
This is an extraordinary class. We begin with Schubert. Little needs to be said by me of this towering genius. Then we have Andras Schiff, certainly one of the greatest musicians of this or any other time. Lastly, we have this very talented student who, as others have observed, both clearly understands the rare opportunity he has been given and is very, very talented and so can take advantage of Schiff's teaching.
Man, _I_ am learning from this, and I'm neither a pianist nor aspiring to be one.
Cheers to MJB for being a lovely and eager-to-learn student, and to András Schiff for being such a lovely teacher and musician.
That's absolutely priceless!! Pure gold!!
András Schiff is a great teacher. He has a deep understanding of the piece. Impressive how he is able to spontaneously intonate Mendessohns 4th sympony ... and the student is really talented!
Why my tears come out when Schiff sing...
"It's cheap. Make it expensive."
Thanks for that sentence.
Amazing post! very profitable for students. Such a treat!
I love Martin's personality and playing, such aplomb! I'd be frozen having maestro Schiff sitting beside me.
44:25 that part moved me to tears, such intimate and profound communication
Very intriguing to see primarily a Bach-specialist, Schiff Ur, performing Schubert. One of my all-time favorite Schubertians is Alfred Brendel, who was once deemed a Chopin-specialist lol. Mr. Bartlett genuinely makes Music, which is quintessential for any musician. Thank you for this posting, RCM.
I love how he's pedalling with Schiff at 41:38
I like how you can see his smile when he plays, just goes to show how much he enjoys the music!
Wow... how lucky I am to be able to see this... truly a masterclass 🙏😭😭
What a wonderful performance - from both !
That woman with the scarf, I can see her love of Classical music, it's beautiful to see, the whole thing is beautiful
Imagine how much you could learn by having regular lessons with schiff
I've been practicing piano for life time but i still wonder what takes to play such beautifully without even looking at their hands!
Excellent teacher, excellent student! Bravo!
Sir Andra's Schiff, einer der großatigsten Pianisten unserer Zeit!
Have watched this performance several times, great talent! 38:41 'Sing to la', adorable!
Such a level of mastery here...
I don't get how these guys like Schiff know almost every piece in the repertoire and then more. If I had Andras Schiff talking to me I'd be paralyzed.
he's wealthier than any billionaire. imagine what it's like to thoroughly understand every phrase of thousands of works. to have traveled to so many European countries and looked at the original manuscripts, all the personal letters by the composers, all to achieve the most authentic vision of something that was dreamed up hundreds of years ago in a different world. and to connect all that into our world
You don't have to know every piece in the repertoire to be able to talk intelligently about it, and teach it with artistic integrity. And for what it's worth, having met many such great artists personally, most of them have interests outside classical music and would rather talk about those interests when dining out ;)
wonderful masterclass: like Horowitz, water, wind and other wild weather
I loved this, my alma mater.
Thank you so much for uploading this!!!
This student is great.
When Sir Andras touching the piano it's music!
learning so much from this masterclasses... thank you so much Royal College of Music, for making these available on the Internet for everyone
Could someone please kindly help me out here...
What does "memore" in 22:34 mean?
What does "ducktail" in 41:17 mean?
Сплошное удовольствие ...Большой мастер ....
At about 5:30 you can see the ghost of Steinway in the piano, pleased with the performance.
Wonderful, so inspiring...
curious that Horowitz plays Impromptu 3 much slower and rubato than the student’s original tempo. So who is right: Horowitz or Schiff? I like both interpretations
the answer is yes
I don't know anything about music theory, i have no idea what they are talking about but i still enjoyed it heh.
He is really Great!
20:03 and 31:08 Schiff is such an anti-eccentricist lol.
This guy looks like Glenn Gould. And he plays really really good!
excellent student
Great teacher
bravo!
I am thoroughly enjoying watching this! Bravo, Mr. Bartlett, I expect to hear great things from you! On a completely different note, is that Barbara Bush in the first row? LOLOL
Barbara Bush? At the College of Music? Now - that's funny.
Heldenlife I thought that was Barbara Bush too! Ahahaha
12:01 start
Sometimes it hits me Schubert only lived to be 31 and ruins my day..
Usually these things are let down by the student understanding the suggestions but being unable to change the mannerisms they have spent months grooving in to their playing. But this guy is phenomenally perceptive and adaptive - a teacher's dream! You can also sense the sheer joy he is feeling at being given such a priceless opportunity. And how lucky are we that these amazing sessions are freely available to us on UA-cam - thank you RCM!
Well said
I love Schiff! his "very good" means stop.
52:30 The way he describes music and compares it to a river flowing so beautiful mesmerizing. "You're stopping the river it's against nature, like the water flows it's in different light, each modulation puts the water in a different light, but not in a different speed. Change the light and the shadow with the tone color"
This was 5/2016. I looked up Bartlett. He's 19 here. He has won about every piano award and is being asked to play concerts now. He has looks, personality, and communicates his love of the music. A great talent.
20:21 "the music has to move not you" I liked that sentence lol
That kid is brilliant and so coachable... and I feel privileged to be able to watch this. Amazing.
TOTALLY agree
What a talented student! Thanks for the upload!
Just a side note that Martin James Bartlett went on to perform the G flat No. 3 at this year's Van Cliburn competition (Preliminary Round).
Sir András Schiff and his elegance can evolve this student to a top solist.. The kid has a really balanced and mature touch.Amazing masterclass btw..
The guy at the piano is just fantastic: he is caught in the moment of broadening his musical horizon, not just a mere executor of orders. Would love to hear more of him!
This brought me so much joy to watch. Not only because of the fantastic and informative content, but more specifically because I have taken a couple of master classes myself and that experience made watching all the more visceral; the excitement, nerves, terror you feel as this great performer approaches to give you their critiques, and the gradual development of trust as you are met not by a performer but a teacher. Mr. Bartlett's nerves melt away and you can see his eagerness to take in every tidbit of knowledge Sir Schiff has to offer.
Lots of emotions, sentiment, but never sentimentality......daaaamn great!!
Such an inspiring & immersive masterclass.
I got totally sucked in 👐🏻
This is one of the best masterclasses for any instrument that I have ever seen.
i agree 100%
I do agree to !
"it's too democratic" lololol
I play these pieces for years at a non professional level, but this lesson really openend my eyes for new aspects. Thank you, gotta go try this now:-)
i'm very happy when pianists know harmony... true
This really shows all the little details that go into a good interpretation/performance. The things that Schiff talks about are really just minor subtleties, but they have a huge effect. In a way, he's talking about adding 'imperfections': don't play every note the same way, vary the rhythm a bit, if a passage repeats, add a new color to it, etc. A computer would play this with absolute precision, just rattling off the notes, never making a mistake, never varying in tempo, always repeating the same notes in exactly the same style. But that's lifeless. It's these imperfections (which of course aren't really imperfections) that make the performance human, they add emotion, excitement, tenderness.
At 44 minutes you can just see Bartlett glow when he gets to play with Schiff. Talented student and experienced teacher, just a wonder to watch. I'm not practicing this nor could I practice this with my current skill, and I've still learned a lot here. Finding the tones and just generally evaluating the music from more angles is the reason why a teacher is such an important part of learning the piano. Too bad I have no money for lessons now, I actually feel a bit stuck in my process.
This was an absolute joy to watch.
This is wonderful and demonstrates what a civilized style of life can and probably should be about. Think of the millions of our fellow humans just as capable as you and me of appreciating the nuances of the great composers but mired in lives of poverty and hopelessness. We have a long way bot go.
Great comment.
Civilization is having the time and access to contemplate, and savor the great accomplishments of humankind.
This is one of the most eye-opening things I've ever watched.
My opinion of the student changed radically in the course of the session. His initial performances I found rather run-of-the-mill, but he took to Schiff's coaching like a duck to water.
Snake Charming Business!!! hahahah....He made very comical comments. I like this thorough master class.
30:55 hahaha! great moment.
Wow what a masterclass by an absolute master. Schiff produced huge improvement in such a short time with this talented young man. I've seen other masterclasses by other virtuoso masters who know how to produce the results but have no idea how to draw the performance out of the student.
what a beautiful level of attention to detail by Schiff! and amazing how fast the student absorbed the comments into his play!
play or used to play both these pieces (also the fourth impromptu of the set). So I felt a lot of Sir András' ideas somewhat personally (and Bartlett had a few good ones too in his playing, for sure!). Agree about the nature. Wind, water flowing/winding, fluttering leaves etc (in no.4)... and the breathing of course.
The improvement in the young man's playing after Schiff's suggestions was quite stunning I thought! A really useful and eye-opening class! And Martin James Bartlett is one hell of a quick learner!! Some of his playing by the end had my skin tingling (in a good way!). Bravo!
Now I am playing these impromptus. This video/masterclass has helped me a lot. Thanks for post it! 👍👍👍
One of the best Masterclass I have ever heard !
Both , teacher & student are extraordinary !
Humans at their sublime best.
After watching this it makes you wonder what great heights we are capable of achieving and what we, in reality, are squandering.
"imagine this cantabile legato and then you make the piano do it, but actually it's not doing it"
Best sentence of entire class
What a beautiful setting... The Master, The virtuoso student and a most beautiful crowd of appreciative people enjoying it all, really beautiful...
Brilliant how quickly he can create the sound of a muted horn when suggested by Schiff.
Imagine being an audience sitting next to Schiff
I rarely watch a masterclass on youtube and think "wow, that kid can really play Schubert" Conrats brother that's beautiful music making
No doubt a brilliant and virtuous student. He will be one of the great pianists who will offer us magnificent future performances.
Point aside, it must be one of the few times that András Schiff was very motivated, happy, relaxed and pleasantly surprised to see how his student immediately grasped, understood and assimilated each teaching and suggestion.
Bravo!!
What an education ! Especially on how to approach the G Flat major Impromptu. And I used to think that Schiff was just a great Bach player. That alone would have been enough - but what a great Schubert player he is !!
I love how the little girl in the front row raises her finger at 21:23 when she hears the difference in Bartlett's playing
An extraordinary student and an extraordinary teacher! It is always a pleasure and an inspiration to listen to Schiff and share his wealth of thoughts and experience.
The level of this is absolutely awesome. He complements the master so well. Really gets into the music wonderfully.
26:50. Schubert links two disparate keys, Eb and B minor, in an ingenious way. By using accidentals, he turns Eb into its parallel minor (Eb minor) then adds the relative major chord (Gb), the "pivot chord" which is the enharmonic equivalent of F#. F# is the dominant chord (V) of B minor ( harmonic). Brilliant.
Schiff is, I think, a genius. I really felt for the student when Schiff asked about harmonies; knew the boy would be at a loss. Still, he is very responsive to these wonderful teaching methods.
Wonderful Masterclass, wonderful pianist. Thank you to Andras Schiff for the teaching.
This reminds me of my lessons with Earl Wild. He would have me making more adjustments at one and the same time than I could readily keep track of, but, without fail and just when I feared imminent collapse from mental overload, he would break the tension with an outrageously obscene joke (that's the advantage of a private session -- I wonder what Schiff is like behind closed doors).
Oh my the G flat is beautiful
Really not much piano major music that ends in minor. Except Brahms op 119 and may be Chopin 2 ballade, as examples, can't remember.
I had come to the ballade 2 as well, and gymonopedie 1, but hey're absolutely rare, it seems.
And ever since I've watched the video years ago I still find myself thinking about this specific topic from time to time.
Thanks for adding the Brahms to my list
Keep coming back to this one. Bartlett’s nondefensiveness really tempers Schiffs tendency to be somewhat harsh in his criticism. It makes this both entertaining to listen and very informational
It is such a pleasure to watch and listen to Maestro Schiff incorporate both scholastic and artistic mastery of this repertoire and to be able to communicate both to this talented, sensitive student. Bravo.
Истинное Наслаждение быть свидетелем Рождения Музыки! Чудный, Тонкий, Одарённый юноша и Гениальный Мастер!!! И это слияние обоих с Шубертом на 45 минуте и далее 59.. И вообще... Сердце не выдерживает.. .Такое СОВЕРШЕНСТВО!!!!!!!!!
Third time I've watched this. Most receptive student ever! Best and happiest masterclass ever!
Absolutely extraordinary student