Variety

Perhaps our current lingo is diversity, but not sure it fits here.  I've heard Robert Schmidli several times and he's always impressed for his skills but today I noticed the variety of his playing.  First up JS Bach but one of only a few variations and one I wasn't aware of: Aria variata alla maniera Italiana.  Robert called them his forgotten variations after Goldberg and one other, and described the variations as more varied in tempo and character than usual, with 10 tempo variations and sandwiched by the opening theme.  Then something very different, a Chopin nocturne and different again, some Debussy impressionism, even if Debussy didn't think too highly of the description, and different again, a Liszt Hungarian rhapsody.  So quite some travel in style.  I felt the more romantic styles were Robert's forte, although I loved his Bach, too, that more formal and consistent approach.  Either way, yet again some great playing and apt interpretations from Robert.

Robert Schmidli (piano) performed at Wesley.