Oliver-Triendl
© wildundleise
The ICMA jury’s reasoning is based on the argument that you are one of the most inquiring pianists of our time. You have not chosen the comfortable path of well-known scores, but are a constant explorer in the archives, searching for valuable but rarely performed works. My first question is: what was the starting point of your explorations? What was the first discovery that led you down this path of discovering unknown works?
First of all, I feel very honored to receive this award. And it’s absolutely true that I have tried to follow this forgotten or unknown path. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Bach or Beethoven. But for me it’s a very important part of my life to dedicate my time, my work and my enthusiasm to these kinds of pieces and composers. Somehow my particular interest in these composers and works, and in unknown music in general, came about when I was playing, for example, a Brahms piano quartet. And I was always curious because Brahms was not the only composer of his time and he was certainly aware that there were many other composers who are now, in the 21st century, forgotten or almost forgotten. But they were there and I think all these composers always had a certain influence on each other. And I think that’s important to know, and I’ve always been very curious to find out, to see and to establish some relationships between composers. And so over time I had some opportunities to record music because I always loved recording and documenting music that is less known. And it really became a great passion.
Oliver Triendl
Speaking of exploring things, you have made over 150 valuable recordings over time. What are your sources for finding these scores?
There are different kinds of sources. First of all, I have collected a lot of things over time. I have quite a big library. I have many, many, many CDs and I have many books. And I think it’s very important to learn how to research, because you can’t find everything on the internet. Of course you can find a lot of things on the internet nowadays, but among my friends there are a lot of musicologists. And of course you have to know who to ask. So it’s important to have a big network, to meet the right people and to ask the right questions. So it’s also a very broad field, you know.
So either I’m travelling to perform, or I’m at home spending some private time with my wife, or I’m meeting people… but actually every day I’m somehow involved in this kind of research. For example, a little over a year ago I was in Romania and I played a piano recital in Ploiești with the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra. And of course I met people there, I asked questions about Constantinescu’s music, and the next day, after the concert, I met Dan Dediu in Bucharest, in his office, and of course he showed me scores and so on. And we had a very nice conversation and we talked about Romanian composers. So again, I was influenced and inspired by that conversation.
From the moment that you discover an unknown score to the moment that it becomes the subject of a recording, what is your process, both analytical and interpretative?
First of all, I’m recording mainly for Hänssler, cpo and Capriccio. You know, you get a score of a piece you don’t know. Of course, sometimes there are sources like YouTube or in my library, in my CD collection. Maybe I can find other pieces by the same composers. But first of all, I think the main issue is the score. So you have to be able to read the score. Usually I’m going to the piano, sitting there and try to figure out what kind of music the particular piece is. And then I get the first impression. Of course, at that point, I’m not able to play or perform the piece, but from my experience I get a certain impression. And then I have an idea, is this interesting or less interesting or most interesting, or is this something I should really try to realize? In our days it’s not so easy anymore to do CD recordings, it has to do with money, because every CD recording costs a lot of money. And on the other hand, it’s not easy for the CD labels. They don’t sell so many copies nowadays anymore. So it’s mainly about streaming. But still, I think it’s important to make recordings, to make music better known.
Oliver-Triendl
© wildundleise
In Romania, Paul Constantinescu is a well-known name, but as you said, in the broader European cultural landscape, he’s an extremely rarely performed composer. How did you convince the North German Philharmonic Orchestra in Rostock and conductor Marcus Bosch to join you in this endeavor and to record not just the Piano Concerto, but also choreographic poem Wedding in Carpathians?
You know, Marcus Bosch is, first of all, a friend of mine and we collaborated before. And it was not so difficult to convince him, because he’s very open-minded. He is also like me, he is into less-known composers. He didn’t know the pieces by Paul Constantinescu. I sent him some YouTube links, I had some scores… So it was not so difficult in this case to program these two pieces by Constantinescu. We also could count on the help of Stefan Lang, a retired radio producer of the Berlin National German Radio.
So, going back to what you said earlier, when it comes to record labels, we can assume that the selection of recordings produced is also influenced by pragmatic criteria, such as the marketability of a recording. How do the labels receive your proposals, and what audience do you target with such recordings of valuable but lesser-known works?
I have a good relationship with Hänssler, CPO, and Capriccio, and we communicate. Of course, if you record those less-known composers, it’s not for the masses. It’s not for thousands and thousands of people. Usually, people who are buying these kind of recordings are collectors, who also have to be very open-minded and curious. But I think worldwide there are still a lot of collectors who aim for having something new in their collection.
What future projects do you have planned?
There’s a lot in the pipeline. I cannot talk about it because it’s not 100% sure, but one of the next projects is Josef Schelb’s Piano Concerto. He was a late romantic German composer. I did already some music by him also on CD. There’s Johanna Senfter Piano concerto. She was a student of Max Reger and a very interesting composer. I did all her pieces for viola and piano on CD two years ago, also for Hänssler. But this one will be for cpo with the NDR Philharmonic Orchestra. There will be a new release at Capriccio of Emil von Sauer Piano Concerto and Konrad Ansorge Piano Concerto, both were students of Liszt. Sauer more as a pianist and Amsorge was probably the most interesting composition student of Liszt.
I just released Antal Dorati’s Piano Concerto, which is one of the most important piano concertos I discovered somehow, in combination with orchestra works by Mátyás Seiber, another Hungarian. I really hope to be able to do a new project with Romanian music, hopefully. It’s actually only a question of funding, of money.
What’s next? Not easy to say because there are so many things. A new release with cpo will be Vítězslav Novák, a Czech composer, who wrote an amazing Piano Concerto. I really love it. And I will also perform it in autumn.
So, there are many projects, actually, but it needs some additional effort to get them a real life. Actually, I’m working every day on this kind of things. And in our times it doesn’t get easier. But I try my best and I keep on being optimistic. I think it’s very important because sometimes it needs a lot of energy and effort to make something happen but I am not giving up.
