All the Goodes

I think that one of the small joys of going to hear a great performer is to discover what it is they choose to play. While I may think I have listened to a large sampling of classical music, it is always a delight to hear a piece of music I have never heard before, and played exquisitely. I have to admit, Richard Goode did precisely that this evening.

I rushed in a few minutes late and missed the first few minutes of one of Bach's Prelude and Fugues from the second book of the Well Tempered Clavier. And finding that someone had decided to make my seat theirs, I had to wait a while longer before finding a seat I could occupy. Such was a small trifle, simply listening to Mr. Goode play, wherever I was, was good enough. Mr. Goode then played a set of three Haydn Sonatas. I could look up the numbers if you want. Following a brief intermission, he returned with Schumann's Kreisleriana. All were excellently played, with keen attention to detail. Furthermore, the acoustics of the hall, the Herbst Theater, were stunning in my opinion. I haven't been to many solo piano concerts, but often the tone of the piano can get muddied in the middle registers due to no fault of the performer per se, but the poor acoustics of the hall. Not so here at the Herbst theater. The piano was very clear and vibrant. I look forward to hearing Brad Mehldau there tomorrow night.

As Mr. Goode played the Haydn sonatas, I could not help but thinking of how delicately these works were put together. The counterpoint and delicate balance between the voices, the modulation from one key center to another. It takes a deep appreciation of the intricacy of the composition to play these with as much elan as Mr. Goode did; I thought he did a remarkable job of elucidating these details from the composition itself. It reminded me of what I have read about Berrocal sculptures (as in Martin Gardiner's essay From Burrs to Berrocal). The work as a whole is not understood nor fully realized until each piece has put in its proper place in the proper order.

The Schumann was very nice as well. Not as rigorous in form as the Haydn, but harmonically richer, Mr. Goode was able to play it in its full romantic glory. Hearing it reminds me of a whole set of piano compositions of the romantic period, the Fantasies and Songs without Words, that I really have not investigated, probably because I've been somewhat traumatized by solo piano music for a while. I'll have to re investigate that pocket of rich romantic music.

Playing a short second set is not necessarily grounds for playing three encores, but whatever. I couldn't really complain at hearing a Chopin Nocturne and the Sarabande from Bach's Partita no.1. There was something else, but I didn't recognize it.