“I can only speak for myself, but for me art and politics - art and society - are inseparable," he says. "It is my duty to follow the events of this world because music - musicians - are all parts of it. We are one big family." Artists, sportsmen and other well known figures are in a position to speak up because people will listen to them, he says. When Hitler came to power in the 1930s, leading cultural figures such as Thomas Mann, Toscanini, Bartok and more refused to conform; instead they emigrated and spoke out. Sir Andras Schiff in action. Credit:Yutaka Suzuki “They couldn't change history but they showed their integrity and this gave courage and belief to many people," says Schiff.

“Our times are much more prosaic but I see a great danger for Europe and for the world. Europe is a cultural marvel and we must do everything to keep it together. Instead of that, nationalist and xenophobic movements are doing everything to destroy it.” Schiff argues that education and art can make people more sensitive. "The world is full of hatred, negative energy and plenty of ignorance," he says. "That's why it's pointless to try to explain to someone what's great about Bach. Or why is a sunset beautiful." Schiff's second visit to Australia comes a whole 30 years after the first; since then, the British-based pianist has received a knighthood for services to music.

On his 1988 Australian visit he played two acclaimed Bach concerts at the Adelaide Festival. The German composer is ever-present in Schiff's life: he plays Bach every day and has described him as a manifestation of divinity. “Bach is definitely the greatest of all composers, there is no question about that,” says Schiff. So his two Australian recitals in Melbourne and Sydney both contain Bach, though the programs are built more around Brahms. Melbourne has Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Brahms and Bach, while in Sydney Schiff will play Schumann, Brahms, Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. “I give a lot of thought to my recital programs,” Schiff says. “Sometimes they are monothematic, centred around a single composer. Here Brahms is indeed the central figure, there will be all his late piano pieces."

While Brahms is a favourite, Schiff says he would never play an all-Brahms program "because of the autumnal character and mood that dominates" his pieces. "To me, it works better to combine them with other masters that he loved," says Schiff. I can admire Wagner, but never love him Sir Andras Schiff, pianist The relationship between the works in his programs is strengthened by the tonalities. In Melbourne, for example, the first half of the program is in the key of F sharp and the second half is in D minor. It's important to Schiff to be in sympathy with a composer. He has spoken about how Beethoven uplifts and enriches him, whereas Chopin is a great composer who gives the performer only limited interpretive freedom.

“That’s why I can admire Wagner, but never love him," says Schiff. Chopin, meanwhile, is "a strange case": "From his letters and documents, he is not at all likeable. But his music is sublime.” By the same token, Schiff has less sympathy for the modern competition-driven pianism that prizes pyrotechnics over musicality. “Recordings and CDs are partly to blame for this," he says. "People don’t really listen. They come to watch a concert, although music is really not a visual art.