Combining probing intellectual insights with a playing technique of supreme ease, pianist András Schiff makes performing even the most challenging of pieces appear effortless. Born in Budapest in 1953, Schiff studied at the city’s world-renowned Franz Liszt Academy of Music, which instilled in him a highly disciplined approach to every aspect of pianism. In later life, this enabled him to introduce a tantalising element of controlled fantasy into his playing of (especially) the Viennese classics. Schiff focuses his attention almost exclusively on bona fide masterworks—his extensive discography is highlighted by complete Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert sonata cycles, in which not a single note seems superfluous. No less penetrating is his playing of Johann Sebastian Bach, which counterpoints structural integrity with (where appropriate) delightful whimsy. Schiff’s infectious combination of seriousness and good humour can be savoured in a series of online lectures and masterclasses. Typically playful is the name of the multinational Vicenza-based ensemble he founded in 1999, the Cappella Andrea Barca— Barca (in Italian) and Schiff (in German) both mean “boat”.