Thank you very much Stefano for your comment, I truly appreciated it immensely. As I also told Nancy, I am not an alien; in 10 days I only had to learn the notes because I have been working on the score of this ballad for a long time. There are certainly some inaccuracies and some hesitations; despite having the score in front of me, I was practically playing from memory (in one part of the video, in fact, you can see me turning two pages at once because I completely skipped one having played it from memory). Unfortunately, my memory deceives me; I have never been used to playing from memory in public, a wall that I should have broken down since I was a child, and I always fear the block. When I play from memory, I am not engaged in thinking about the music but in remembering the notes, and this cannot be; when playing, one must think about the music. The point is that having the score in front of me gives me a security that puts me at ease and allows me to concentrate on the music. Compared to last year, I have made giant strides with memory. I never remembered anything of what I played, and if I had had to play in public without a score, I would never have known how to finish a movement of a sonata. Now I have quite a lot of repertoire from memory, almost all my current repertoire, including the four-hand pieces, but the block remains, that sort of terror of making a mistake due to a memory lapse. I practice in this way: score on the desk behind my shoulders, I start playing, and when I get stuck because I don't remember, I turn around to read the score and stare at the notes I didn't remember. Obviously, I study both hands well from memory separately. I have understood that in the end the secret is to learn the left hand well by heart; this gives me confidence, but in concert I always prefer to play with the sheet music. In the end, people come to my concert to listen and not to see whether I have the score in front of me or not. It's not a justification, it's a choice, but confirming my thesis is a famous interview by the great Richter, who spoke of memorized performance as an useless competition that limits a pianist's repertoire; an interview which I attach:
"I decided, alas, too late to keep the score in front of me during concerts, despite having sensed for a long time that it had to be done.
It is paradoxical, but in an era when the repertoire was more limited and less complex, people habitually played with the score, and this wise custom was interrupted by Liszt.
Today the head—rather than being well-supplied with music—is overloaded by a superfluous abundance, and risks becoming dangerously fatigued. What childishness and what vanity, a source of useless toil, this kind of feat of memory competition, when above all one should make good music that touches the listener! A mediocre routine in which a mendacious glory basks, which my dear professor Heinrich Neuhaus so much criticized.
The incessant call to the order of the score would give less license to this "freedom," to this "individuality" of the performer with which the audience is tyrannized and music is infested, and which is nothing more than a lack of humility and respect for the music itself.
Of course, it is not so easy to be absolutely free when one has the score in front, and it takes much time, work, and habit; for this reason, it is better to start as early as possible.
Here is a piece of advice I would gladly give to young pianists: finally adopt this healthy and natural method that will allow them not to bore us throughout their lives with the same programs, and to create for themselves a richer and more varied musical life."
Forget about memory problems in adulthood, as someone mentioned... Richter's was a choice! A choice that I share.
Memory or no memory, I believe it all comes down to the quality of the music. If the music coming from a pianist's hands is good music, at least for me, it doesn't matter whether the music stand is mounted on the piano or not.
Personally, I believe I will never stop playing as long as life and health allow me to. I would lose an important part of myself and certainly would no longer be able to face life in the same way I face it now.
Music has been my greatest passion since I was a child, and imagine that I even gave up girls who, instead of exhorting me to study and perfect myself, wanted to limit me because I spent too much time on it. Girls who don't understand something like that are not for me; they are too stupid. I prefer those who spur me to achieve results in what I consider my main passion and who themselves become passionate about something as noble as classical music.
Regarding the matter of a romanticized Chopin, I find myself in perfect agreement, and in fact, it has been my prerogative not to romanticize. The problem is that when one tries to be measured, one risks being the"
the opposite, meaning playing Chopin as you would play Liszt. With Chopin, one should not demonstrate their technical skills; one should only enjoy his music without making it too saccharine. Chopin was very attentive to this issue with his students.
My performance certainly has its limits, some certainly due to the keyboard I used, others still depending on the attention I devote to hitting the right notes. As I continue to play it, when I no longer need to think about the notes, I am sure that I will gain much awareness of this ballad, also because I feel it is very much my own.
Thank you again for your comment.
