Word: pianissimo
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...Adagio is often performed by a full string section rather than just four players, which can muddy the sound and dilute the piece’s emotional impact. Bach Soc did encounter some of these problems by using all of their strings, and only reached a true pianissimo at the poignant end of the piece. The other count against the performance of the Adagio was no fault of the orchestra’s, but rather that of a moronic concertgoer, whose vibrating phone ruined the impact of the climactic grand pause. However, listening to the Adagio for Strings is always...
...soloist for Beethoven's fourth Piano Concerto, Op. 58--technically the most challenging of five; and musically the most adventurous. Schiff is known for silky Schubert and playful Bach, and the Beethoven fit under his fingers less naturally. Although his prodigious gifts made for some hair-raising pianissimo, his playing lacked the requisite Schnabelian drive. He strove for a nearly pedal-free sound at times when more blurring would have been a relief, and he attached the first movement cadenza with all the grace of an angry farmer. The effect was wild, precipitous, unique--but out of place. The second...
...first melody made people smile, not just because of its unwitting affinity to the orchestral part of Carmen's "Habanera," but also because the piano sounded fantastic. The Steinway trilled and sang under Haefliger's fingers, projecting pianissimo lines that were clear no matter how loudly the orchestra played. But the lowest registers were almost over-responsive: Haefliger's loudest octaves sounded like they belonged in Liszt or Busoni, not Mozart...
From France, love and jealousy pianissimo in The Accompanist...
...choral singing, and he drowns out everybody else. A few singers simply stop in the middle of a hymn, overwhelmed. Barber glares. Privately, he tells Buswell that he is even louder than the organ -- to no avail. Finally, at a Sunday rehearsal, Barber dresses Buswell down: "Look, your pianissimo is not our pianissimo. Turn it way down." In the hallway afterward, Buswell, abashed, tells the other singers, "I guess I really blew it in there...