From the heart, to the heart' as Beethoven said. And classical piano playing had real life and emotional communicative power in the 1920's, 30s and 40s. Since then, pianists appear to have become judge and jury in their own demise, and for many listeners, rather than being a life changing experience of higher revelation, piano music has become reduced to the sort of anodyne background music you hear in the hotel lift. Let us first diagnose this downfall, and then point to some positives.
Four elements conspired to alter public taste: recordings, competitions, modern instruments, and larger halls.
Aided by the increasing interest in higher fidelity commercial recordings, a different aesthetic of piano performance was gradually forming in the 1950s, 60s and onwards, which now favoured a clean sound, rather antiseptic, free of smudges, free of irrational individuality. For repeated listening at home, many people would rather have an LP which was straightforward, rather than an LP which was revelatory and demanding to listen to! So producers of record companies wielded more and more power, and projects became defined by convenience - 'there's a gap in the market for complete Satie, which pianist can be relied on to learn quickly, play cleanly and not have tantrums in the studio?And he/she must look good on the front cover'. Rather than preserving the voice of a lone genius. Pianists, with a monkey sitting on their shoulder, that fearful knowledge that audiences are able to compare recordings carefully at home on CD ("O, he's slower than Michelangeli at bar 54"), seem to have cultivated a zone of self preservation, an unwillingness to take risks, including that greatest of human risks: expressing deep-felt emotions. Late 20th century pianists - the cultivation of artificial pearls.
International jurors are also responsible for shaping the product that emerges before the public. Contestants have been rewarded for playing conservatively, since a straightforward interpretation which is accurate, loud, fast and crowd pleasing is more likely to gain the winning vote in the gladiatorial colisseum. Do the maths: if the choice is between two pianists, with seven jurors, the pianist who plays straight may be marked 7 out of ten by all jurors, total 49; whereas one who plays in a 'visionary / mad / genius' style may be marked say 10 out of 10 by two jurors who are sympathetic, and 5 out of 10 by the others who don't believe the public will accept him/her, total 45. In brief, individual artistry is out, and accurate sportsmanship is in. This process has shaped (or maimed) the taste of a generation of concert goers (not to mention the damage done to the ears, hearts and fingers of aspiring pianists who have played Liszt's Sonata one billion times in a quest for technical perfection).
While record companies and competition juries have shaped a less colourful product, the piano manufacturers and concert hall managers have too played their part. Instruments have become heavier, halls bigger; with so many seats to fill, the managers again are more likely to play safe in favour of artists who will hit all the right notes night after night.
This background has a consequence on the technical production of piano music. In matters of tone quality, older pianists (such as Anton Rubinstein) favoured a fuller sound through 'free fall' technique, whereby the weight of gravity is used in falling on the keys with grandeur; this technique, however, came at the risk of hitting adjacent wrong notes (since the hands were falling from a dangerous height - hard to control). The modern pianist, being risk averse, prefers to play the keys from closer distance, thus ensuring accuracy, at the cost of tone or timbre. The modern audience, listening at home on a CD, appreciates the clean sound, and gradually the appreciation of the aesthetic and emotional advantages of the older, richer sound, has been lost. The depth of raw emotional communication has been sacrificed for a pre-packaged cleanliness.
So it seems, gone are the longer, resonating sounds and the grandeur of emotion of a bygone era. For an echo of a distant era try listening to Ervin Nyiregyhazi's account of Liszt's Legend no. 2, or, to view this pianist's technique in action, try Blanchet's In the Old Turkish Harem Garden' on youtube. Warning: pianistic adult content!!
Will an appreciation of the older aesthetic ever return? Or is this a futile wish, like harking back to the days of the horse and cart? Should we return to candle-lit soirees in intimate venues, an age of patronage? Instruments which are slightly lighter and capable of Chopinesque poetry as well as Lisztian strength? Is the world ready for a reinterpretation of the piano recital?
This blog and my web site, matthewkoumis/com, will be posting detailed appreciation of such masters of the golden age of pianism as Josef Hofmann, Yves Nat, Sofronitszky, Alfred Cortot, Josef Lhevinne, Ignaz Friedman, Dinu Lipatti, Annie Fischer etc referring to specific technical elements as described by pianists in their memoirs, and as visible in recordings and videos on youtube. My posts will include recommended reading and listening, and recommended repertoire for those pianists wanting a kind of 'Great Pianists Boot Camp', in the comfort of your own home! Points will include: hand position, position of the thumb, pedalling, phrasing, repertoire, concert suggestions, and useful links. It is hoped this will stimulate discussion and inform my older and younger colleagues in the international community of pianists, and enable a reawakening of appreciation of genuine pianism, as it was so to speak in the days 'before the flood'!
With best wishes to fellow enthusiastic pianophiles, and also to those who may yet be converted! 'From the heart to the heart'.
