Schiff, simply impossible

Palm"Bach will never grow old. The construction of his works is those ideal geometric figures where everything is in its place and there is never a superfluous line," said Fryderyk Chopin. Sir András Schiff, a luxury of many carats, the protagonist of the second concert of the Pollença Festival, began his talk by saying that Bach was the greatest composer of all time and his favorite. It's not very original, but no one has any other choice. Therefore, a good reason to start his performance with the'Aria of the Goldberg Variations. A measured, delicate, as if weightless reading, which made it clear that, once again, we were the fortunate spectators of a memorable evening, and that, furthermore, we had no idea what was coming next. Sir András doesn't like others writing his programs, which he explains much better with the addition of an enigmatic element. The truth is that two days earlier he had given a concert in Torroella de Montgrí and more or less repeated the composers, but I think he only repeated one of the pieces from our batch. Intermezzo by Brahms and the Bach encore. Let it be clear, therefore, that it is not difficult to predict what we will feel, it is simply impossible.

Just as it is impossible not to enjoy each of his choices without respite or rest. The second, a Bach from his youth, ten years old, the Capriccio sopra lantananza del sudo fratello dilettissimo, and again this precise and colorful touch made us forget the previous interpretation. He continued with Josef Haydn, the Sonata in C minor, a piece of style sturm und drink ('torment and stress') that the great protagonist of the evening transformed into a lament that somehow connected with the tone of the previous Bach. At one point in the performance, microphone in hand, Sir András Schiff apologized for the sadness of the repertoire he was offering us, but the course did not change at all, so with Mozart, logical after Haydn, he continued navigating between melancholy and affliction. From the genius of Salzburg he offered us the Rondo No. 3 in A minor K 511, one Walking passed through Schiff's exquisite sieve.

Without cutting the thread of this broad and well-chosen musical tour, the gradation of the concert changed a little, offering the Three intermezzi, by Johannes Brahms, miniatures that demand what, on the other hand, is one of Schiff's many great virtues, which is how to give life and color to every detail. A Beethoven could not be missing either and we heard the Sonata No. 9 in E major, his favorite, which according to the performer has nothing to do with any of the others, even moving away a little from the composer's always powerful aesthetic, although it maintains its original seal.

The time came to say goodbye, which in these cases is always too soon, and Schiff offered a Masurka, Chopin's. Needless to say, we didn't let him go and he offered another. And a next one, with which he returned to the beginning, to Bach, with the first movement of Italian concert. The intensity of the applause did not decrease and he said: "The last". And it was the last one, which wasn't bad either. FormidableImprumpto by Franz Schubert, an explosion of colors, tones, and passions. All of it a true marvel.