The upcoming concert of Rafał Blechacz (pronounced: blehatch) on April 22, 2018 in Plauhouse Theater, gave me a time to  pursue a bit more his personal reflections on music and on being a pianist.  Not through the way he plays but through the way he thinks.

The aesthetics and philosophy behind a player is something much more than just a perfect technical training.  If we allow the thought that some musicians are not just performers but an artists themselves—we have to accept the fact that the music they play (by the nature of creativity an art form in itself and work of an artist-composer) becomes a separate art form on its own. Yes, it still is a composition of composer X or Y—but comes to us through the filter, or medium re-creating it during a public concert.  Probably much more a concert then a surgical atmosphere of a recording studio.

It is not the same as making your own ‘variations on Chopin/Debussy or Shostakovich ’. You still try to be as faithful as possible to the score—but you do (or ought to) colour it with your own emotions and ’feeling’ of it. And there are  ways to do it, technically speaking. Not all would agree with it, there are purists, who wants nothing but outmost adherence to notes and composer’s markings about tempo, style and pedaling, piano or forte. And sometimes it might be appropriate, sometimes it might be enough. Yet, there are definitely times an places, when a player’s own art and emotions will augment the sound and experience for a listener.

When you see famous painting by Pablo Picasso, ‘Guernica”’,  it comes to you not only as ‘picture’ of what the painter created. It comes to you through your memory, your experience, your own not only aesthetical but (in case of this particular painting—especially) your ethical condition. You are the medium to experience the painting. You conjure emotions and comparisons of your own. And only through that filter you can see it.  With music such a medium is the player. It is that extra layer added to the work created by an original artist-composer.  The more abstract, non-descriptional the music is—the more varied and different visions it will create in the listener mind.

In a recent interview he gave in Atlanta, Blechacz surprised me very pleasantly as how close his views on this matter are to mine. I souppose it doesn’t hurt, that he is doing his dotoral thesis in philosophy of music …

Here are exerpts of the interview:

Do you consider yourself an artistic heir of Krystian Zimerman, who was the latest Polish winner of the Chopin Competition before you?

This might be a risky statement because every artist has a different personality, draws inspiration from different things, and is a different human being. For sure, we belong to the group of Chopin Competition winners, but we follow separate paths. 

But you do keep in touch, right? 

Yes, indeed. This contact was especially important after the Chopin Competition in 2005, when Krystian Zimerman sent me a beautiful letter of congratulations, in which he also offered to help. It was a tough period for me because winning the competition created a variety of situations that were entirely foreign to me. Krystian Zimerman’s experience and the many conversations we had were very helpful in giving the proper direction to my post-competition path. A good example would be choosing the right artistic agency. 

In the thirteen years that have passed since then, has your attitude toward Chopin’s music changed? 

Yes, definitely, though the changes are not massive; nor are they controversial. I think I have a more liberal approach to certain interpretative ideas, or to the choice of tempo. A good example is tempo rubato in mazurkas. Also, a tremendous influence—in addition to my whole artistic and personal development—is the fact that I have been presenting my repertoire at various concert halls, with different acoustics, on a different piano, and in front of different audiences, which always take an active part in building the interpretation. Each composition “grows” onto you, onto your personality, and you get more and more familiar with particular concepts behind it. This is a truly beautiful process, because when you put a particular composition aside (and I am not talking just about Chopin’s music) and get back to it after a year or so, you rediscover it, and you look at it through the prism of your public performances and the experience of playing music by other composers. 

You have recorded several CDs with Chopin’s music, including preludes, mazurkas, polonaises, and concertos. What challenges does each form present to the pianist? 

Mazurkas and polonaises, as well as the third movements of both piano concertos, were inspired by the characteristic traits of Polish folk music. These are stylized dances, but still, the typical spirit of the Polish folk dances is ever-present and can be distinctly heard. That is why, when playing mazurkas and polonaises, it is imperative to convey the mood and spirit of a particular dance. Choosing the right tempo and other interpretative means of expression is equally vital. Quite often, especially during a piano competition, some pianists treat a mazurka, for example, like a waltz. They are both dances in triple time, but the understanding of the time signature is different, and you need to be aware of this difference when you start working on a given composition. In the case of other genres, such as nocturnes, scherzos or ballades, most crucial is the expression of emotions and imagination. Another important factor is the so-called “Chopinistic style,” and as a winner of the Chopin Competition, I feel obliged to cherish this style and communicate it in the most appropriate manner. 

You also put stress on the use of color. 

That’s right. Looking for interesting colors and hues to express the character of each composition, choosing the right sound to a particular phrase—all these are crucial elements of the musical performance. The interpretation becomes more appealing and enticing to the audience. I must admit that it was the music by Claude Debussy and other composers of the Impressionistic era that enriched my understanding and the use of color in music.