Vladimir Feltsman at the fortepiano. Courtesy VladimirFeltsman.com
Questions for Vladimir Feltsman
An e-mail exchange
Classical Domain: I know that you have preformed Mozart Concerti from the fortepiano, conducting from the keyboard. But have you ever performed music for the solo fortepiano in public?
Vladimir Feltsman: No, it will be the very first time.
CD: You are making a big commitment with this series of concerts, so I'm wondering, were you attracted you to the fortepiano initially. Was it more from an “authentic” or Historically informedpractice, which now dominates the Early music world; or was there an interest in sound relationships in contrast to the modern grand?
VF: “Authentic” might be and often is a misleading word. For me the authenticity is not necessarily related to the instrument, but rather to the spirit of music, a true spirit of the Composer. Certainly, an authentic instrument helps, but does not guarantee the authentic performance. But, surely it might assist a performer to move in the “right” direction. For me personally (hate the word) playing Mozart on fortepiano already modified the way I will play his music on concert grand piano.
CD: Tell me about the differences between your approach on the fortepiano and the modern grand.
VF: The main issue is dynamic range — it is much smaller, more “modest” on fortepiano, but at the same time much more intimate and precious. The “limitations” of fortepiano is a good thing. It pushes you to find more meaning, beauty and subtlety in phrasing and articulation, it pushes you to be more expressive....CD: I'm not in agreement with those who think that the fortepiano is at a disadvantage because it cannot perform all the sonic effects of a modern piano. What it cannot give in increased dynamics and resonance (all things that we have come to love in a piano's ability to evoke moods and contrasts) the fortepiano makes the performer to think much more about the linear flow of the work.
VF: The whole argument about the “disadvantage” of fortepiano is false. That what Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven had available and they could not have a different sound picture in their heads, but the sound of the instrument for which they composed. Another question is how they would react, if their music be played on a concert grand Steinway. The actually might react very positively, but it does not take away anything form the fortepiano, it would not make it an “inferior” instrument.
CD: What I am leading up to is to wonder if, in a way, the fortepiano's great strength is that, within its limits, it has the virtue of clarity. That seems a virtue that is in much more in keeping with the modulation of the narrative flow than in creating an atmosphere. Where the modern piano excels.
VF: No, you can achieve both on concert grand and on fortepiano. You can perhaps emphasize a speaking and “rhetorical” aspect more easily on fortepiano. But again, nothing is guaranteed automatically by the instrument.
CD: Could this “emphasis” Does that lead to more freedom in interpretation, what others might call it liberties?
VF: “Freedom” is the most misused and misunderstood concept. For me, freedom is an expression of discipline. “Liberties” is another story. Mozart, as any true artist was a free man and to make his music justice, a “performer” must be a free man.
CD: What was the process of changing “gears” on the level of bringing your work with the fortepiano to the public “relearning” Mozart's keyboard works on the fortepiano, I assume that relearning is what one would call it?
VF: “Relearning” is the right word. Playing Mozart on fortepiano, playing fortepiano in general requires a different technique and different fingerings. It is a different ball game all together.
CD: You are obviously have a Mozart style that you have developed over the years for the modern grand, did you have to reinvent a way an approach Mozart on the fortepiano?
VF: I did not reinvent anything. It reinvented itself. All I did was just to let it happen and try not to be an obstacle and not to interfere in the process.
The McNulty crafted Walter fortepiano of ca. 1792.
CD: As a musician, did you find any of Mozart's ideas you thought could only, or were best suited to, the fortepiano?
VF: I have no “ideas”. Period. The process is supramental.
CD: Is there a danger that one can get a music box sound, and a more precious Mozart?
VF: There is a danger in being too clever and afraid.
CD: Do you react differently to the Mozart revealed in the fortepiano? Assuming, I guess, that there is something different, from your conception of the Mozart's &38220;sound” that we know from the concert grand?
VF: I “react” positively or negatively depending on the quality of the performance, not the instruments.
Each instrument has it's own qualities and you deal with them. There is no need or purpose to compare or to make different keyboard instruments to compete with each other. Every instrument holds it's own.
CD: We are so familiar with Mozart's keyboard works, does that familiarity lay other traps for a prolonged transversal with the forte piano?
VF: Not for me. Being familiar does not mean much. Being one with it is another story.
CD: And finally, has it changed the way you play Bach, and do you have your eye on any harpsichords?
VF: I've had my eye on harpsichord for along time. We'll see.....
Complete schedule Vladimir Feltsman's Mozart fortepiano Sonata cycle
September 28, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Tishman Auditorium, The New School for Music
Works by by Mozart:
Sonata in C Major, KV 279
Sonata in F Major, KV 280
Sonata in E-flat Major, KV 282
Sonata in B-flat Major, KV 281
Sonata in G Major, KV 283
September 30, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Mannes Concert Hall, Mannes College of Music
Works by by Mozart:
Sonata in D Major, KV 284
Sonata in C Major, KV 309
Sonata in D Major, KV 311
Sonata in a minor, KV 310
October 3, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Mannes Concert Hall, Mannes College of Music
Works by by Mozart:
Sonata in C Major, KV 330
Rondo in a minor, KV 511
Sonata in F Major, KV 332
Sonata in B-flat Major, KV 333
Sonata in A Major, KV 331
October 10, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Mannes Concert Hall, Mannes College of Music
Works by by Mozart:
Sonata in F Major, KV 533
Sonata in C Major, KV 545
Fantasia in c minor, KV 475
Sonata in c minor, KV 457
October 12, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Tishman Auditorium, The New School for Music
Works by by Mozart:
Fantasia in D Minor, KV 385
Rondo in D Major, KV 485
Sonata in B-flat Major, KV 570
Adagio in B Minor, KV 540
Sonata in D Major, KV 576
Anton Walter and Paul McNulty
Anton Walter (1752-1826), who had the title of “Chamber Organ Builder and Instrument Maker” in Vienna, is considered to be the most famous fortepiano maker of his time. He improved the so called “Viennese pianoforte action”, which became a standard for many years. He built about 700 instruments, which were praised for their quality by both Beethoven and Mozart, who purchased a Walter instrument around 1782. According to Mozart's son Carl:“Most remarkable is the wing-shaped Pianoforte for which my father had a special preference to such a degree that he not only wanted to have it in his study all the time, but exclusively used this and no other instrument in all his concerts, regardless of whether they took place in court, in the palaces of noblemen or in theatres or other public places.”
Anton Walter was born near Stuttgart and became active in Vienna in 1778. When in 1800 his stepson joined the company, the firm name was changed from “Anton Walter” to “Anton Walter and Son”, the keyboard compass increased, but the basic construction and sound of the instruments stayed the same.
Fortepianos used for this project are made by Paul McNulty, who is one of the most highly respected builders working today. His pianos are owned by many fine players and feature in many recordings.
The instruments modeled after the instruments of A. Walter and are the result of his long research of the originals, and particularly one ca. 1792 Walter instrument which builder had on restoration in his workshop. For more information please visit Paul McNulty's website.
Vladimir Feltsman
An artist of immense range and insight, Vladimir Feltsman is recognized as one of the most imaginative and constantly interesting musicians of our time.
Born in Moscow in 1952, Mr. Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11. In 1969, he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory of Music to study piano under the guidance of Professor Jacob Flier. He also studied conducting at both the Moscow and the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, Mr. Feltsman won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris; this was followed by intensive concert tours throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe and Japan.
Mr. Feltsman emigrated to the United States in 1987, and that same year, his debut at Carnegie Hall immediately established him as a major pianist on the American scene.
A regular guest soloist with every leading orchestra in the United States, Mr. Feltsman appears on the most prestigious concert series and music festivals worldwide. His 2005-06 seasons includes returns to Carnegie Hall and to the Van Cliburn Foundation Piano Series in recital, a tour of the southeastern US with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev conducting. Playing and conducting with Seattle and New Jersey Symphony orchestras, concerts with London Symphony Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas in London. Mr. Feltsman made his twelfth consecutive appearance at the Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2005 and returned to the Ravinia Festival for his fourth appearance in five years.
In December of 2006 Mr. Feltsman will conduct Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte at Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Among his 2006-07 engagements are concerts in Singapore and Korea with St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Yuri Temirkanov, concerts with Pittsburgh Symphony, tour in Japan, recitals in Philadelphia, Kansas City, San Juan and La Jolla. He will perform Ravel's Concerto for left hand at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Sharing the great tradition of piano playing has become increasingly important to Mr. Feltsman, who holds the Distinguished Chair of Professor of Piano at the State University of New York, New Paltz, and teaches at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He is the founder and Artistic director of the International Festival-Institute PianoSummer at New Paltz, a comprehensive, month-long training program for advanced piano students which offers a unique, multifaceted approach to all aspects of piano performance and attracts musicians from all over the world.
Mr. Feltsman's extensive discography has been released on the Sony Classical, Music heritage Society, and Camerata Tokyo. His discography includes six albums of clavier works of J.S. Bach, recordings of Beethoven's last five piano sonatas, solo piano works of Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, and Messiaen, as well as concertos by Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. Mr. Feltsman, who became a US citizen in 1995, lives in upstate New York.
