Smile!
Unsolicited beauty pageant tip for you Cliburn competitors:
S M I L E ! ! !
It’s a gorgeous piano. It’s a sensational room. It’s an incredibly rare audience — one of the best audiences ever for piano jocks. You are at the tip-top of your game: young, well-practiced and in cracking good form. You’ve been adopted by wonderful, bighearted Fort Worth families. But: just statistically speaking, most of you will probably not come back to Fort Worth to play again. And for many of you, music may become less of a career and more of an avocation. So, when you walk out on stage, it’s worth taking a moment, just a moment, to look at the absolutely marvelous audience you are playing for, remember that all of us are friends now, and let your enthusiasm shine with a great, big smile.
I know, some of you would rather dust off the keyboard with your little towels, and then furrow your brow as you get ready to plunge in, but trust me, there isn’t a better way to begin than with a real smile. It makes everyone feel fabulous, and helps push away the terror of the moment.
And if that doesn’t help you crack through the molto serioso facade of the affair, it might help to remember where this whole rather peculiar artistic institution — the piano recital — came from. Liszt gets credit for pioneering the solo piano concert. He was the guy who turned the piano sideways, grew rock-star hair, wore silk and velvet suits with a bucket full of bling, and embarked on glamorous worldwide tours long before it was fashionable. His programming was wild, and full of improvisation and fun. There was plenty of room in the cracks, between the pieces, to tell stories, have a glass of cognac, and schmooze. He was in the habit of hanging out before and after the concert to shake hands with folks. And even if he had never played or written a note, he’d have gone down as one of history’s great travelers. In short, this was a guy who had stories to tell, and often as not, he enjoyed telling them through music. All of us who play piano concerts follow in those footsteps.
I think Liszt would be tickled to see nine of you playing his sonata, and others picking some of his more notably vapid pieces. But even in those — or especially in those — nothing’s more important than having an insanely great time. Liszt knew all about the odd self-indulgence of these things. He used to joke “Le concert… c’est moi!” — knowing full well how nutty it all was, and knowing not to take his pomposity too seriously. More than anything, he must have had a hell of a lot of fun playing these gigs, and everyone knew it from the moment he strode into the room.
I bet he had a great smile, and played like there was no tomorrow.
Have a blast and let it show.
— Mike
May 27th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Here here! More smiles is always a good thing.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
This is all very weird, with people speculating as to who will enter the finals even before any note is played. There are quite a few factors that will decide a place in the finals - the semifinals recital, the piano quintet, the modern set piece, balanced against the preliminary round performance. The painist should also touch the heart of the jury, and stimulate their minds, and then play as perfectly as possible. In that count, any of the 12 could make the finals.
Having said that, I am totally intrigued by the unconventional recital repertoire offered in the sem-final recital by the women - Lam and Wu especially, and Son. They certainly cannot be said to be playing to the jury, but just for themselves and for music. Brava!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Great post. There should be an award for stage demeanor. Maybe you should decide it.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:57 am
@Chang Tou Liang
Surely you can see that there might be someadvantage to not playing well-known repertoire in your recital? I don’t agree with your assessment in the slightest.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
@Takahata Yuichi: I’m not sure Chang Tou Liang is off the mark. The jury’s job is to feed stars into the mainstream classical machinery. Of course they are looking for artistry. but they are probably not particularly searching for artists determined to expose non-standard repertoire to unwilling audiences. It bothers me that we get the same dozen concertos every single time, but I understand that the jury must know for sure that the contestants can play the marketable stuff.
If a contestant can find non-standard pieces, then play them with great persuasion, winning over the audience, that would really stand out to the jury, I believe. (But only if mixed in with standard repertoire.) It’s a fine line to tread. Little-known pieces with great winning qualities are hard to find, and that’s probably why the Vine sonata is adopted by so many contestants. Soon it will be standard repertoire, if it isn’t already.