By Klaus P. Richter, Munich
It promised to be an evening of interesting piano aphorisms in the Prinzregententheater, with a relaxed sequence of 40 preludes. Because “foreplays” are mostly appetizer and tend to rank among lighter fare. In Bach’s case they are at least tuning forks for the subsequent fugues in the “Well-Tempered Clavier”, with the exploration of tonal spaces of the soul. But for the many others who were inspired by it, from Chopin to Alkan, Rachmaninov or Shostakovich, it is more character pieces, often atmospheric images, magical promises of more, which draw on the flair of the genre associatively.