This album redefines the encore

This album redefines the encore

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norman lebrecht

November 26, 2016

From the Lebrecht Album of the Week:

If you thought of encores as sweetmeats, this album redefines the genre. Each is piece is not so much a cap on the proceedings as a new line of inquiry, a way of keeping all the evening’s music in mind while continuing to explore its possible ramifications.

Read on here.

And here.

audience applause

Comments

  • Halldor says:

    Kind of wish encores were still sweetmeats. So tired of string soloists giving us po-faced unaccompanied Bach the whole time, even after big Romantic concertos. You’re hungering for a lollipop and they force feed you stale rye-bread…

    • Talking the talk says:

      Wow, leaving the level of the performer’s artistry aside, that’s the first time I’ve heard Bach characterised as ‘stale rye-bread…’

  • Cyril Blair says:

    I’m always interested to hear what encore(s) the performer is going to play, but after 1.5-2 hours of listening intently I’m not really sure my brain is receptive to brand new “lines of inquiry.” More like a latte followed by a nap.

    Last time I heard Schiff play, a program of late sonatas in February, his encores were a movement from a Schubert sonata and the aria from the Goldberg Variations. Last time I heard Pollini play (a program of Chopin and Schumann) he played several encores including an entire Chopin ballade, ballsy for a geezer).

  • Simon Evnine says:

    I remember Pierre Laurent Aimard doing a Beethoven Concerto in New York and giving a Stockhausen Klavierstuck as an encore !

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