SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

J. S. Bach, Schumann and Prokofiev: Martin Stadtfeld (piano), Laeiszhalle Hamburg, 28.4.2009 (TKT)

J. S. Bach:  Toccata in F sharp minor, BWV 910; Toccata in D major, BWV 912, Toccata in E minor, BWV 914
Schumann: Toccata in C major, op.7
J. S. Bach: French Suite in B minor, BWV 831
Prokofiev: Toccata in D minor, op.11


The musical form of the toccata originated in Italy (the name comes from Italian toccare, “to touch”) in the late 16th century. It typically referred to a virtuoso piece, most often for one instrument. Hans Leo Hassler brought it to Germany, where the form was developed to perfection by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Baroque keyboard music, it had a prelude-like character with rapid runs and arpeggios – but it could also consist of several parts, most often including one or more fugues. (Each of the seven Bach toccatas for harpsichord contains at least one fugue; on the other hand, in the famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, which may or may not have been written by Bach, the name is clearly synonymous with “prelude”.)

The vague definition of the genre, its improvisational nature, and its virtuoso character – all of this makes it a form likely to appeal to modern tastes. Stadtfeld made it the theme of his latest Hamburg recital, leading us through two centuries of the toccata’s development and playing examples by four composers. (This count includes the first encore, a toccata by Liszt, supposedly “in Bach’s style” but actually more of a salon piece that seems to be set in Austro-Hungarian Vienna, a place in a different galaxy from Bach’s.)

Stadtfeld has performed and recorded Bach more frequently than all other composers in his repertoire combined. It was, once again, easy to realize why his Bach interpretations are so successful: his ability to hear and render polyphonic structures is truly formidable. Add to this his skill of playing the different “registers” of the piano, like the registers of an organ or harpsichord, and the result is Bach of extreme clarity, music whose complexity becomes palpable. On the other hand, this is not synonymous with deep emotion. Stadtfeld is excellent at playing restrained or inward-looking passages, but the presumably extraverted parts have a veneer of smoothness, as if they were a mask behind which the pianist hides his true self. There are many surprising crescendos and decrescendos, but sometimes it seems as if they were used as a means of merely pretending profound feelings.

This deficit became more apparent in the toccatas by Schumann and Prokofiev. It takes some audacity to include both pieces in one recital, as piano music hardly becomes more difficult than these two works. Despite quite a number of wrong notes (which I found refreshing, a welcome break from the often sterile perfection often encountered in today’s concert halls), Stadtfeld’s technique is up to that challenge. (He did interpose Bach’s lovely French Suite in b minor between the two works, a fortuitous choice – for the audience as well.) Even so, the Schumann sounded almost detached at times, without that emotional indulgence which makes Schumann so often so irresistible. It was as if Stadtfeld were playing with a safety net.

He chose a relatively slow tempo for the Prokofiev toccata – which, in fact, was akin to Prokofiev’s own performance in the composer’s extant piano roll recording. This did not make the work any less effective than other, more famous, versions, although the performance lacked either the aggressiveness or the sense of being chased that seems inherent in this work. Instead, it had elements of playfulness.

One of Stadtfeld’s great accomplishments is that he successfully opens up young listeners to the wealth classical music offers. He visits schools, and he released a CD where he explains The Well-Tempered Clavier to a 12-year-old girl. On the night of his recital, the average age of the audience must have been 20 years younger than on any concert night I ever experienced at Hamburg’s music hall – and at the end the listeners stamped their feet out of sheer enthusiasm. Kudos!

Thomas K Thornton


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