Luisi intervista a Fanfare

In a better world, Gianluca Luisi would be feted as the natural successor to Maurizio Pollini, but this is a world in which talent doesn’t matter as much as how good you look, how powerful your agent is, and whether or not you’d survive a week on Dancing With the Stars. Sadly, Pollini himself probably wouldn’t make it if he were coming up.
Luisi is a superb pianist who has won several major competitions, including the fourth International Bach Competition in Saarbruecken in 2001. He has studied with Emanueke Verona, Filomena Montopoli, Franco Scala, Giovanni Valentini, and Boris Petrushansky. His repertoire includes not only all of Bach’s keyboard works, by memory no less—on May 15, 2010, he played the complete Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier from memory at Bergamo—but Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, etc., down to contemporary music. You can listen online to a virtual CD of Mozart sonatas, another of the Chopin scherzos, and the complete Bach partitas at onclassical.com. He once split a performance of Beethoven’s complete symphonies in the Liszt transcriptions with Konstantin Sherbakov: Luisi played the Fourth and Eighth solo and joined Sherbakov for duo-piano readings of the Third and Sixth. One upcoming release will be the Chopin piano concertos, recorded with an orchestra in Berlin.
Despite several commercial recordings, he is still not known to a great many music lovers, though his set of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier recently issued on Centaur (see my review following) has catapulted him into some very heavy competition indeed. He played a recital at Carnegie Hall in 2007 of Italian music that included Clementi, Petrassi, and Scarlatti to excellent reviews, and is planning tours of the U.S. and Canada in 2011–12.
I caught up with Luisi via e-mail, where even in the often impersonal world of cyberspace I found him to be as enthusiastic, personable, and engaging as his playing. Apparently, his personality and his artistry are complementary sides of the same person, which as you know is not always the case.
Q: If I may, let me start with one thing for which I truly envy you. How on earth do you manage to memorize so much music, particularly so many long and complex scores?
A: I think memory is only a matter of training. Since I was very young my teachers expected me not to play with a score. Maestro Franco Scala in particular wanted me to memorize a piece every week; a very intensive brain-training. Nevertheless, I could not suggest a memorizing method. It has become quite natural for me.
Q: Some pianists and conductors feel that memorization helps them internalize and interpret the music, while others feel that memorization leads to playing by rote, without any real interpretation. How has memorization affected your playing, if at all?
A: Memorization has always helped me to internalize and interpret the music. It is the first thing I do when I start studying a piece. It is the first step to get to the analysis of a piece. After memorizing, I play with the score following the author’s time signatures. It is just the beginning of what I reckon to be a long search that leads me to the final interpretation. In my opinion, a performance demands such a freedom that I could never conceive playing with a score. When I perform a piece it becomes mine, and this freedom I can obtain only knowing the music by heart.
Q: Among your recordings that I listened to prior to our interview were the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Italian music of Liszt, and the chamber music of George Onslow and Ludwig Thuille. Listening to the Bach, I simply couldn’t envision you playing Liszt, and yet there was something completely commanding in your Liszt performances that only the very finest interpreters, such as Moisevitch and Cziffra, have had. But more surprising, you were really having fun with the music! I don’t think many pianists would equate the words “Liszt” and “fun,” but that’s the way it impressed me. How on earth did you manage to convert Liszt’s demanding technical hurdles into a feeling of enjoyment?
A: I think there are many oxymorons in Liszt’s music. I mean, there are holy aspects, demon aspects, and also funny aspects. We should not forget he was a “Stürmer.” It could seem strange to have a feeling of enjoyment while playing his music, but it is only because of pianists’ attitude to fix their mind on the technique. First of all, this attitude does not allow the pianist to enjoy the music he is playing; consequently it does not let the audience get involved in it. I cannot help thinking that Maestro Cortot (maestro of my actual teacher, Aldo Ciccolini) was absolutely right when he said a pianist should think only to interpret the music in order to improve his technical skills. I would like to be remembered as a pianist who put himself at the disposal of the repertoire, to quote Busoni’s statement. I would like to be a means to let the audience get in contact with the composer. Indeed, my favorite pianist is Claudio Arrau.
Q: I also liked the music of Onslow. How did you come across him? Was it just something you were asked to record, or had you played him previously?
A: I came across Onslow’s music thanks to a friend of mine, Tim Trappe, the founder of the Ensemble Concertant Frankfurt. His musical association deals with the discovering of lesser-known composers of the 18th century. Trappe, who has also a chamber music group, asked me to perform the quintet and the sextet with his own group. I was intrigued by Onslow and accepted. German critics consider him to be the French Beethoven but it really aroused my interest that his quintet is not composed, as usual, for two violins, a viola, and a cello. It is composed for a violin, viola, cello, and double bass, the only example in the history of music together with the “Forelle” of Schubert. After the performance, we decided to record the two pieces.
Q: Regarding your technique, I was impressed by the independence of both hands. In the Bach, it almost seemed as if you could have played the treble voice with the left hand or the bass with the right. How did you manage to achieve this?
A: I achieved this independence thanks to the intensive study I did and do. I always spend many hours a day playing piano.
Q: Let’s discuss the Well-Tempered Clavier. It’s such a challenging piece, and yet I know that you’ve performed the entire Book 1 in concert. How long have you been playing it, and what do you find in it that you think, perhaps, others don’t?
A: I have been playing the two books for 20 years, whether the first or the second. Nevertheless I always find them extremely difficult. Some days ago I played the first book in Bergamo, and in September I am going to play it again in the Potsdam Bachtage (Berlin). The second book I will perform in November 2010 in Italy. Mentally it is very strenuous. I will perform them courageously in two nights. The first book takes two hours and the second takes two and a half. Many colleagues consider me as a fool, because the cycle of the Well-Tempered Clavier is not believed to be suitable for a performance. But the reaction of audiences is diametrically opposite. I always notice that the audience stays absolutely absorbed. A fan who was moved to tears by the music came to me after a concert and thanked me for choosing this repertoire. The reason might be I love to travel along the spiritual way where Bach leads us, that is to say the Calvary of Christ. I start from the prelude in C Major and finish with the last chord of the fugue in B Minor, the raising of Christ on the Cross. I tell a story and the audience understands it.
Q: One thing that impressed me the most about it was Book 2. It always seems to me that when keyboard players get to Book 2, they slow the tempos down and play those pieces as if they were religious chorales, but you kept the buoyancy and spirit up in those pieces. How do you view Book 2?
A: The second book is less heterogeneous than the first. There are much more complex fugues and longer preludes. But there are also easier fugues than in the Book 1. A performance of the Book 2 gives more problems because, as we said above, it takes two hours and a half. But I have been preparing myself in the same way I studied Book 1. In Paris I recorded the two books during three days. The sound engineer at first did not want me to record the two books so quickly. He thought it was not possible and not acceptable professionally. For this reason I had to audition in order to show to be able to keep a high level, in comparison with other recordings on the market. Think that Glenn Gould recorded them over 12 years! Despite the speed in recording, I think there is a deep feeling of interior quiet. The organizer of Potsdam Bachtage in Berlin told me his little children fall asleep listening to me playing some preludes. This is really satisfying for me. This means I achieve a sense of interior peace that surely has a good effect for the well-being of their minds.
Q: Your playing of the Well-Tempered Clavier is so delicate, almost like Dresden china, yet it maintains a wonderful energy within that approach. Have you ever thought of playing Bach on a harpsichord and, if not, why?
A: I have already played Bach on a harpsichord. I have a diploma. There is also a recording, I mean, I recorded Bach’s music on harpsichord, but I don’t want to release it. It is something very intimate. I also play organ in church; I started my music formation when I was a child just playing organ.Then I decided to change and play piano. The piano is my passion, my life.
Q: Now I must discuss your instrument. I was very lucky, many years ago, to sit and play a Bösendorfer. Aside from the pearly, crystal-like tone, what surprised me was how easy the keyboard action was. It seems as if you only have to breathe on the keys and they play. Do you find that this enhances your playing?
A: The main aspects of a Bösendorfer are certainly a different mechanism and building compared to others pianos. It has a different sound similar to the Viennese sound. That is why I chose to become a Bösendorfer pianist. I did very hard work on the sound and found a fantastic partner in this piano. I find its sound really beautiful.
Q: How long have you been playing Bösendorfers?
A: Since 1995. For 15 years.
Q: While listening to your performances of Liszt, I couldn’t help thinking that I’d like to hear you play the music of Alkan. So many pianists play him in a congested, turgid style that I find unlikable. Have you ever played any of his music?
A: I have never played his music but I am very curious about him. My teacher Aldo Ciccolini has already suggested that I play his music.
Q: With your particular qualities of clarity, structure, and a singing line, I also thought immediately of the Beethoven concertos. Your particular qualities of energy, lyricism, and interdependence of hands just seems so right for those works. Do you play them often? And have you thought about recording them with a good Italian or Eastern European orchestra?
A: You have guessed one of my future plans, congratulations! You are really a very good critic!
Q: On the two chamber music CDs I heard, you are playing with three different groups. Are any of those groups with whom you have played in live concerts, or were these meetings simply arranged for the recording sessions?
A: We had already played in live concerts, of course. I never record a piece without performing it. This is a philosophy of my own. I think pieces must live, they have a life.
Q: Another thought that crossed my mind is that you’d be an excellent accompanist for a Lieder singer. Have you worked with any singers and, if so, who were they and what kind of repertoire did you do?
A: I have never played Lieder, but I would be glad to; I hope it would be possible in the future. I’d like to play Schubert’s Lieder, or Schumann’s, but also Mahler’s. Of course I need a partner, that I still do not know.
Q: Are there any thoughts about music, or piano playing, that you would like to add?
A: Yes, it is on the marketing of other interesting CDs, both piano concerts of Chopin in the transcription for quintet with the marvelous Ensemble Concertant Frankfurt (which will be released in 2010), the Liszt Years of Pilgrimage recorded in the BR Munich Radio, and one interesting CD for Naxos with my friends from the Chantilly Quintet, a wonderful ensemble of winds. I want to officially thank Klaus Heymann of Naxos for his interest in working with me. I think he is a special person for me, and is giving me the opportunity to realize my major future discographic projects. One of these include two CDs with the BR Rundfunk Orchestra and one with my friend, the great Italian violinist Marco RoAiano.
Please give me the opportunity to thank friends who helped me to develop my concert career! One special thanks goes to my friends the composer William and Lady Walton and the Walton Foundation in Ischia (William Walton died in 1983 and Lady Walton last March in 2010). They sponsored part of my recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier together with Karsten Bach, Industrie Agentur Deutschland. And then a special thanks to Juanita Struble and the Struble Foundation for Hearths Disease in Oregon, Manfred Ott in Germany, and Pier Guido Ferrerio and Luigi Sorgenti from Italy. Thank you, my friends, for your support!

34:1 (Sept/Oct 2010) of Fanfare Magazine.