Keyboard dreams: Contemporary Piano Faces Festival in St Petersburg

So here I am in piano heaven in St Petersburg, Russia as a guest of the Contemporary Piano Faces festival. As the snow buckets down and the temperature plunges below zero, the action has been red-hot at this week-long jamboree organised by Mira Yevtich, a Serbian pianist who trained in Moscow, taught in Australia, and now tours the world as a concert performer. All the concerts are all held at the Mariinsky Theatre’s acoustically superb new concert hall, and much of the brawn behind the festival is provided by powerhouse conductor Valery Gergiev, the chief of the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet and of the London Symphony.

Known for his boundless energy and hectic schedule (does the guy ever sleep?), Gergiev kicked off the festival in typical style with a musical marathon – three Beethoven concertos (Nos 2, 3 and 5) with the Mariinsky Orchestra. The pianist: US-born Nicholas Angelich, who delivered an electrifying rendition of the three works. Most impressive is how each work, played consecutively, was presented in its own distinct soundworld, from the slightly kooky Classicism of the Second to the stormy rhetoric of the Third through to the triumph and bombast of the Fifth, nicknamed The Emperor.

I was lucky enough to talk catch up with Nicholas after the concert for a man-to-man piano chat.

So three Beethoven Concertos in one evening. That’s quite a musical marathon…

It’s amazing to play so much music all at one. Playing just one Beethoven concerto is difficult; playing three is very challenging, yet very fulfilling. I think this kind of program can only be done on a special occasion, and with a conductor like Gergiev that I feel very comfortable with. I wouldn’t try to do this sort of thing with any sort of repertoire, but in this case it’s very justified. I think Beethoven’s music remains very contemporary, very modern and almost shocking in parts. Having played three concertos in one evening yesterday, I’m struck by how different they all are. It’s completely different emotional and instrumental writing. You have to be able to change and be able to express yourself differently for each one, to create a new world for each concerto.

You’ve done the same thing with the Brahms Concertos as well – playing both in one concert.

Yes, well there’s an interesting point of difference there too – the first was an early work, written when Brahms was still not sure of himself as a composer, and the second was a mature work. Still, these marathons are not something I would not do on every occasion.

You’ve recorded Brahms more than any other composer. Why do you find this music special?

That’s a tough question. How do you talk about something or someone you love? You’re obviously very close to this music on a human level. You grow with it and over the years you have a better understanding of it. And that’s one of he things we have to do as a performer, to develop an understanding of the music. Brahms is a very complex figure – like Beethoven but for different reasons. He had an ease, a mastery of the form, of musical structure, yet he expressed himself in so many different ways. I don’t think he’s as simplistic as some people would portray him.

Yes, take the Op 10 Ballades, for instance, one of his early works.

Exactly, they are completely visionary, which is why Schumann was so fascinated by him. There’s always that originality in his work. He’s not this kind of big, fat old conservative with a beard. He had a very strange life. He could have won immense fame as a piano virtuoso, but he just wasn’t interested. He was a more complex figure than people imagine.

Your last recording was an acclaimed disc of Bach’s Goldberg Variations – what are you working on next?

I’m finding it hard to decide. The problem with being a pianist is that there’s so much choice! But I suppose it’s better than not having enough to choose from. So I’m still mulling over what should come next.

How do you find the lifestyle of a touring virtuoso?

Very difficult. When constantly travelling you can get very far away from the music. The worst thing is to get into some sort of routine. And it can be hard to take time off, when you don’t really know how to do it. I try not to play as much as many pianist out there, and I take breaks from the instrument. Being a musician is not all about playing.

No risk you’ll have a Glenn Gould moment and decide to abandon the concert stage?

When I was young I thought Gould was very odd for doing that. But as time went on, I begin to understand why he did it. It certainly wasn’t for superficial reasons, it wasn’t just eccentricity. And he left us all these recordings – so he certainly lived up to his own standards.

Was Gould a touchpoint for you when recording the Goldbergs?

Both his recordings are legendary. But when you play a piece there comes a point where you have to put aside the recordings, sit down and ask, “What is the score telling me?”

How did you get involved with the festival?

Through our mutual friend Mira Yevtich, whom I have known since I was 12. She always has very original ideas about what’s going on in the musical world – and how to make projects that are different from everything else.

One last question: when you played at the Sydney Opera House recently, our reviewer commented that a B natural was out of tune – www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/310988,live-review-sydney-symphony-with-nicholas-angelich–jakub-hrusa.aspx

Was this the case?

I didn’t notice that being the case, but then again it’s not what I’m focussing on while I play. Often someone in the orchestra or in the hall can notice a tuning problem you just don’t hear because you’re so focussed on other things, like creating a certain sound. So he may have been right, but I was probably just caught up in the music!