Note: this video was offline for a little while due to an invalid copyright claim which has fortunately been cleared up. You can always listen and download MP3 files of all lectures here even if a copyright claim comes up: archive.org/details/AndrasSchiffBeethovenLectures2004
I'm still not seeing the video, just hearing the audio (with a cover photo of Schiff on the screen). Would love to view the video, if it's still available.
@@Orsonia By "video" I mean the picture with audio (because technically on UA-cam everything is a video). There is no actual video footage of any of the lectures.
What I hear is a celebration this new piano, frustration at not being able to hear as well as he’d like, and an admonishment to not take for granted your place in the world, and to do what you can to help your fellow man.❤
1:03:33 I find it funny how schiff mentions Palestrina as apparently that is someone who Beethoven read up on later in life and drew inspiration amongst Bach and Handel.
3:30 No Sir Andras! I'm not going to admit it! My first Hammerklavier was the legendary recording of Schnabel, which remains up to this day the fastest first movement ever(under 9 minutes!). Then there was Solomon, whose first movement lasts 10 minutes, Gulda with 7 and a half minutes (without the repeat which means again less than 10 minutes), Pollini and Nat with 10 minutes 40 etc...Actually, in your own recording, the first movement lasts longer than all the previous pianists' recordings, with 11 and a half min., the same as Brendel, Backhaus and Kempff( whose first movement lasts 8 min. 42 without the repeat). On the other hand, you said that Liszt was the first pianist to have been able to master this sonata. But in a letter to countess Sayn-Wittgenstein, he states that this sonata's duration is "almost an hour"! It must have been boring to death, and we hear some people today advocating this slow tempo for a sillier reason than the "wrong metronome of Beethoven": none of the pianists from Liszt up till now know HOW to read a metronome marking! When Beethoven says minim=138, this should mean crotchet= 138, so you have to multiply all durations by 2, and then "we can have breakfast, lunch and dinner" while you're still playing! Brilliant idea!
I'm also not certain. Schiff quotes Beethoven as saying the metronome marks "are only valid for the first bar of the piece." I'd like to know where Schiff got that from.
Whilst Andras Schiff is a wonderful pianist and a charming speaker, he is wrong on various counts about the tempo of this work. He says that Beethoven's 138 for the first movement works perfectly, but his own demonstration in this recording comes nowhere near to reaching that speed if you set a metronome against it, despite the fact that it is very fast for the musical content. Also we do not know how many metronomes Beethoven owned. If the one at the Musikverein 'looks like a normal one' as Sir Andras states, then it is not one of the 200 much larger prototype models (1 ft tall) which Maelzel sent out to the leading musicians of the day for 'celebrity endorsement' including Beethoven. We are told by various sources including Saint Saens and von Bulow as well as Anton Schindler that these were incorrectly calibrated and worked more slowly than the smaller model which superceded them and were more generally accurate. Some of Beethoven's metronome markings work, others do not. It is a problem which is not confined to Beethoven, but affects the music of Clementi, Chopin and many others.
I'm also not certain. Schiff quotes Beethoven as saying the metronome marks "are only valid for the first bar of the piece." I'd like to know where Schiff got that from. Wondering if you heard the Peter Serkin recording. (138)
Fortepianos at Beethoven's time didn't have Erard-mechanic yet like our modern grand pianos. Hence the repetitions would have been physically impossible at the "original" metronomic tempo in the first movement. There is no room for speculation on that. Just go to a real Hammerklavier and you will see. That has nothing to do with "wanting to be smarter as the composer", it is sheer facts about the instruments.
Schiff talks about taking the risk in the opening of the first movement, but he himself cheats by making the first note a quarter note. Beethoven wrote an eighth note, an unaccented upbeat, but Schiff plays the first note as an accented downbeat. What is honest about that?
@@PieInTheSky9 No, I invite you to listen again. Schiff plays the opening upbeat as a quarter note. It is definitely not an eighth note as he plays it.
If you're talking about the half tempo theory, that's largely seen as ahistorical by the vast majority of music theorists. But it enjoys some popularity despite that for some reason. I don't think it should be taken too seriously. It's also not a recent theory, it's actually quite old (but that hasn't stopped some of its proponents from ambiguously claiming some sort of credit for it)
This video got an incorrect content ID takedown from UA-cam, which I'm currently disputing (they think it's a different, commercial recording). This happens sometimes because content ID is notoriously inaccurate for classical music. The dispute is still in progress, but it should soon be fully restored. PSA, you can always listen to and download all the lectures from the link in the description.
Hearing performances of greats like Gilels and Gulda is more informative and insightful than Schiff droning on endlessly, obviously only there to hear himself talk more than anything.
Andras Schiff ,my personal favourite pianist .His Bach is perfect .and good here with Beethoven
It's unbelievable that people choose Glenn Goulds bach over schiff😂
I like them both--both valid. We're not the gatekeepers of the music, they are.@@lucvanegmond6168
Note: this video was offline for a little while due to an invalid copyright claim which has fortunately been cleared up.
You can always listen and download MP3 files of all lectures here even if a copyright claim comes up: archive.org/details/AndrasSchiffBeethovenLectures2004
I'm still not seeing the video, just hearing the audio (with a cover photo of Schiff on the screen). Would love to view the video, if it's still available.
@@Orsonia By "video" I mean the picture with audio (because technically on UA-cam everything is a video). There is no actual video footage of any of the lectures.
What I hear is a celebration this new piano, frustration at not being able to hear as well as he’d like, and an admonishment to not take for granted your place in the world, and to do what you can to help your fellow man.❤
My best love of all of Beethoven Piano Sonatas since my teenage years.
THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!
Thank you for your masterful interpretation .
Fantastic 🤩
Beethoven’s teacher was an organist, who taught his student JS Bach, the Well-Tempered Clavier, which Beethoven knew by heart by age 13.
Beethoven's teacher was an organist who taught his student JS Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier. Beethoven knew this work by heart, aged 13.
Fantastic upload
Thank you so much !!!
Awesome... Thank You!
@17:47 Could anyone help me..what did he mean "pre-echoing the 9th symphony"?
foreshadowing
1:03:33 I find it funny how schiff mentions Palestrina as apparently that is someone who Beethoven read up on later in life and drew inspiration amongst Bach and Handel.
3:30 No Sir Andras! I'm not going to admit it! My first Hammerklavier was the legendary recording of Schnabel, which remains up to this day the fastest first movement ever(under 9 minutes!). Then there was Solomon, whose first movement lasts 10 minutes, Gulda with 7 and a half minutes (without the repeat which means again less than 10 minutes), Pollini and Nat with 10 minutes 40 etc...Actually, in your own recording, the first movement lasts longer than all the previous pianists' recordings, with 11 and a half min., the same as Brendel, Backhaus and Kempff( whose first movement lasts 8 min. 42 without the repeat). On the other hand, you said that Liszt was the first pianist to have been able to master this sonata. But in a letter to countess Sayn-Wittgenstein, he states that this sonata's duration is "almost an hour"! It must have been boring to death, and we hear some people today advocating this slow tempo for a sillier reason than the "wrong metronome of Beethoven": none of the pianists from Liszt up till now know HOW to read a metronome marking! When Beethoven says minim=138, this should mean crotchet= 138, so you have to multiply all durations by 2, and then "we can have breakfast, lunch and dinner" while you're still playing! Brilliant idea!
I would have loved Liszt playing really slowly…it must have been riveting
I'm also not certain. Schiff quotes Beethoven as saying the metronome marks "are only valid for the first bar of the piece." I'd like to know where Schiff got that from.
Where does 'vivat Rudolphes' thing come from?
?????????????????????????
Whilst Andras Schiff is a wonderful pianist and a charming speaker, he is wrong on various counts about the tempo of this work. He says that Beethoven's 138 for the first movement works perfectly, but his own demonstration in this recording comes nowhere near to reaching that speed if you set a metronome against it, despite the fact that it is very fast for the musical content. Also we do not know how many metronomes Beethoven owned. If the one at the Musikverein 'looks like a normal one' as Sir Andras states, then it is not one of the 200 much larger prototype models (1 ft tall) which Maelzel sent out to the leading musicians of the day for 'celebrity endorsement' including Beethoven. We are told by various sources including Saint Saens and von Bulow as well as Anton Schindler that these were incorrectly calibrated and worked more slowly than the smaller model which superceded them and were more generally accurate. Some of Beethoven's metronome markings work, others do not. It is a problem which is not confined to Beethoven, but affects the music of Clementi, Chopin and many others.
I'm also not certain. Schiff quotes Beethoven as saying the metronome marks "are only valid for the first bar of the piece." I'd like to know where Schiff got that from. Wondering if you heard the Peter Serkin recording. (138)
Fortepianos at Beethoven's time didn't have Erard-mechanic yet like our modern grand pianos. Hence the repetitions would have been physically impossible at the "original" metronomic tempo in the first movement. There is no room for speculation on that. Just go to a real Hammerklavier and you will see. That has nothing to do with "wanting to be smarter as the composer", it is sheer facts about the instruments.
Mestre indiscutivel
So nao aprecio este tipo de pianos continuo a preferir o bosendorfer
Schiff talks about taking the risk in the opening of the first movement, but he himself cheats by making the first note a quarter note. Beethoven wrote an eighth note, an unaccented upbeat, but Schiff plays the first note as an accented downbeat. What is honest about that?
He plays it as an eighth note.
@@PieInTheSky9 No, I invite you to listen again. Schiff plays the opening upbeat as a quarter note. It is definitely not an eighth note as he plays it.
@@karlakor the implication is that beethoven wrote it as left hand only so that there would be a longer space between the first two notes.
Answer - #WBMP. Sorts the problem out every time.
Ankle biter.
Is it possible that he plays the upbeats at the beginning with an incorrect rhythm?
He plays a quarter note.
Arigato
1:12:30
40:28
The metronom marks of Beethoven were a mystery, but seem to have been cleared by two musicians now.
Wim and Alberto!!!!!
If you're talking about the half tempo theory, that's largely seen as ahistorical by the vast majority of music theorists. But it enjoys some popularity despite that for some reason. I don't think it should be taken too seriously. It's also not a recent theory, it's actually quite old (but that hasn't stopped some of its proponents from ambiguously claiming some sort of credit for it)
Merci beaucoup.. I don't know German. Let the tempo up off the mat.
Finally! I think this video was like deleted
This video got an incorrect content ID takedown from UA-cam, which I'm currently disputing (they think it's a different, commercial recording). This happens sometimes because content ID is notoriously inaccurate for classical music. The dispute is still in progress, but it should soon be fully restored.
PSA, you can always listen to and download all the lectures from the link in the description.
I'm not a fan of Schiff's playing in general, but his dull lecturing style makes me anxious to here some playing
Hearing performances of greats like Gilels and Gulda is more informative and insightful than Schiff droning on endlessly, obviously only there to hear himself talk more than anything.