well. let's put it this way. i wouldn't turn down an opportunity like this. but, hey - he'll come to philly sooner or later.
He used to be my hero too but now I only have lukewarm feelings toward him .... where did we go wrong?
i agree with kassaa. perahia is awful.
awful? He is one of the greatest pianists, very controlled, beautiful sound, great technique (normally!) and he is a gentle and intelligent person. I'm only sad about that he seems to restrict himself to the peaceful part of music nowadays. I would be very happy, if he would get back some of the sharpness of his early years.But he never plays awful. Never.
his bach CD was one of the most boring things ive listened to. he may be very controlled, but his tone is very flat and bored me very easily. same thing goes for his mendelssohn and schumann CDs. i can think of many people that play those respected pieces much better than he does. for example: gould for the bach, serkin for the mendelssohn, and lipatti for the schumann.
I can see where you're coming from and it's a matter of taste - mind you, one that I don't share. Gould generally irritates me and Serkin's Mendelssohn is just too rough. Lipatti's just a master!
Is it after his hand was injured that you think his playing has declined?