The Paris Catacombs by Victor Hartmann
the End of Time, which I think like the Mussorgsky
can capture a sense of matter with sound and
intervals, which is amazing.
Before I asked you about some of the techniques
that you use to learn - we had a conversation a
while ago about how you link them to movies, I
was trying to jog your memory. Do you want to
tell the audience how you use that, because
you're a bit of a movie buff yourself?
I am indeed a movie buff, I love movies. I think
movies are an enormous release for me, whereas
music, I've been doing it for such a long time...
People often say to me oh, it must be so good to
relax and play the piano all day... I haven't relaxed
with the piano since 1989. It's stimulation, it's
incredible stimulation. Even if I am listening to
elevator music there's some part of my brain that is
still clicking over, and it's most frustrating. But in
terms of movies, I am attracted both to great movies
and atrocious movies, and also images. For instance
with Gnomus I thought of Gremlins, with The Old
Castle I thought of some of the Peter Cushing films
I really like from the 60s and 70s, and Peter Lorre
and the Hammer Horror sort of vintage. With the
last movement, which is that incredible release, I
thought of what's going on in the Ukraine at the
moment, because the movement is the Great Gate
of Kiev - and this shows in a concrete way how
relevant great classical music is today and always
will be. It speaks to us at a very deep place.
Do you exchange different techniques with
different pianists, are you aware of other people
who do that kind of thing?
They wouldn't admit to it, I don't think. I don't think
you'd get Ashkenazy saying that he watched
Gremlins. But there's this marvellous impish
movement called Ballet of the Unborn Chicks in
their Shells, and I thought of where my mother lives
- she lives in a very farmland-like property with lots
of hills and meadows and she has some chickens.
I'm always amazed both at the vivacity of the
chickens, but also the incessant quality, the
collective incessant quality. This is what I try to put
into my performance and my recording.