Photo by Dominic Chamot

You have worked both as a soloist and in collaboration with orchestras. Do you feel a different connection with the music in each context?  

Playing solo and playing with orchestra are two very different musical realities. I love both passionately. In a solo recital there is a direct and uninterrupted connection between the music, me and the audience. There is the freedom to let yourself go completely and to let the moment decide what the music needs. The only thing that matters is the sound that the instrument produces and how it travels through the room into the audience. When playing with an orchestra there is the added element of playing together with a large number of musicians who all rely on your role as a leader. Some of the musicians (including the ones who have very important parts to play) sit very far away from you and in a position to which the piano doesn’t project very well. So there are some musical ideas that have to be sacrificed in order to create a real connection between the players by highlighting certain elements in the piano part that help to play together. But these sacrifices are made up by the endless possibilities that come with adding this huge body of sound to the stage. There is no feeling like a proper tutti climax in a Rachmaninoff concerto, when a huge crowd of people join you in blasting out pure emotion.

You teach at the Musikschule Riehen. What is the main advice you give to your students, and why?  

Don’t play if you don’t feel like it. It’s the same advice I had to give myself at one point in my own life. In the moment that you vow never to force yourself, that’s when you start to really practice. Especially considering the insanely busy lives of the children and teenagers in Switzerland, who have to deal with pressure from school, plus an average of about two to three extra-curricular activities per day, music can easily become just another element of stress. But in my conception that goes against the very essence of music. How can you cultivate the love for this art if your main experience of it is one of discomfort?

If you could relive a performance with any legendary pianist, who would it be and why?  

That’s almost impossible to decide. But if I had to choose, it would probably be Franz Liszt. First of all, there is no way that it wouldn’t be impressive to hear him play. If his compositions are anything to go by, he must have had the most unique and creative approach to the keyboard. His pieces are full of passages that are extremely weird and different from any other passage but at the same time very comfortable to play. So he must have understood something about playing the piano that nobody else did. On top of it there are just as many passages that seem completely unplayable! Now these I would really like to hear him play. In addition, there is so much discussion about how to play and how not to play his music (and the music of his time). I’m sure that we’d all be very surprised to hear how he would go about interpreting his own music. I believe it would be a life-changing experience.

Is there a piece you haven’t performed yet that is on your dream list?  

Much more than one! Apart from all the piano repertoire that I love and don’t have the time to study I have some less realistic wishes of playing the Viola in Bach’s B minor Mass, the Cello in Brahms’ Symphonies, the Timpani in Bruckner’s Symphonies and to sing the Tristan. But we just have one life, don’t we?

Photo by Oliver Adell

Classical music continues to face challenges in reaching new audiences. What do you think the industry could do to revitalize interest in this genre?  

I like Andras Schiff’s reply to this: We only believe that classical music is in a crisis because we compare it to pop music nowadays. If we compare how many people listen to Bach today, to how many listened to him during his time, it’s an amazing increase!
But I do believe that there is currently a struggle to market classical music to the generation of 20-50 years olds. There are a lot of kid’s and young people’s concerts and a lot of concerts that are comfortably attended by the older generation. But when we look at the daily routine of working adults we see that there is no way that they will go to a classical music concert in the evening after a workday of 8 hours, having to rush through their dinner to make it in time, just to be sitting silently in a room full of relaxed retired people. It just doesn’t sound fun. I believe that we need to add new formats of classical music concerts specifically shaped for the needs of this generation and we need to adjust the surrounding elements of the concerts to what they like. I’m thinking a regular weekend late night event with free booze and socialising opportunities, preferably including things like an Instagram photo wall. From my experience there is nothing wrong with the music itself, it is timeless and touches anybody who opens up to the experience. But in order to get people to open up for it, we need to put it in a context which is attractive from the point of view of the audience we want to reach.

 In your opinion, how do social media platforms influence the life of a classical musician today?  

I can only talk about my own experience, which is ambiguous. I have had some very positive experiences, including engagements for concerts based on my social media. But I actually have serious doubts about mental health regarding social media and especially considering artists and musicians promoting themselves on the platforms. The problem is the following: You need a lot of self-confidence to promote yourself, especially on social media. You will have to share recordings of music which is always a difficult task as there will rarely be a recording that you are completely happy with. But you need to cultivate a certain arrogance to stop yourself from overthinking and spending too much time choosing, editing, etc. This goes very much against my belief that as a musician you need a healthy balance between self-confidence and self-doubt. I think if you’re unbalanced, you make it much more difficult for yourself to improve. So that’s why I completely removed my access to any social media, except for when I need to post something. I’m still wondering if the time you put into it is worth the return you get…

What role should music education institutions play in preparing artists for the current challenges in the industry?  

Most institutions are already offering a wide variety of preparatory classes including classes about music business, as well as specialised courses on orchestra playing, contemporary music etc. But I think the biggest challenge of them all is to make the students understand how important these classes actually are. Most music students (including myself back in the days) are overly idealistic in believing that music and art are the only things that matter and that even thinking about the business aspect of it will make you a worse musician. To an extent this is very sympathetic thinking, but it doesn’t really serve anybody, least of all the students themselves. I found myself after my studies frantically roaming the depth of my memories for informations I had picked up during my studies that I had considered useless at the time. If there is a remedy for this that the music education institutions could use, it would mean a big change in the music world, as it would tackle they way things have been going probably for a very long time already.