Andras Schiff concert in Seattle
Nice Sunday afternoon concert yesterday. JS Bach Piano Concerto 1054, Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto (which happens to be my favorite in the cycle) and after the intermission, Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Schiff conducted from the piano. The Bartok piece is complicated and not the sort of music you can walk down the street and whistle. It needs to be seen in performance as well as heard.
Maestro Schiff gave a little introduction about Bela Bartok, how he came to the US in 1940 because the Hungarian government collaborated with the Nazis. He talked about Bartok's health and suffering from leukemia while writing this piece. Schiff ended with "Bartok built bridges, not walls."
The audience went wild with cheers and applause. It was nice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A1s_Schiff
