Now that recital programming is more and more like CD packaging the point of attending a live performance seems to have undergone a 180 degree turnaround. Mieczyslaw Horszowski used to program wonderful mixtures of period, style, and form as if to say: I love the piano so much--listen to what it can do!
I am stunned to recall the impact of such an approach, particularly when I realize that it has affected my own programming. I want my audience to leave with a sense of how much I love the piano. Each listener is thus invited to love something--anything--as much.
