Welcome back to the PianoPod. I'm Clarissa.
Hi, everyone. I'm Yukimi Song.
For anyone joining our show as an audience for the very first
time, so glad you're here. Yukimi and I are both classical
pianists and piano teachers from New York City. This podcast is
for anyone who plays the piano for fun, loves listening to the
piano music, or for someone who is pursuing a career in piano,
or is simply curious about the world of piano music.
In each episode, we interview a guest speaker who has been
breaking exciting new ground in the music industry. Before
getting started, we want to thank our listeners for tuning
in. Please rate our show or review on Apple podcasts,
because every rating and review will help people find our show.
That's right. So for this episode, we are about to
interview the sensational Peruvian pianist, bandoneonist,
Mr. Claudio Constantini, who currently resides in Madrid,
Spain. Yukimi discovered him through social media and shared
with me one of his real posts on Instagram just a few weeks
ago.
Oh, yes, the one that he holds and plays the bandoneon on one
hand and the other hand he plays the piano, right? And he is
playing his original competition Genesis, I think.
That's right. That is the one. Yeah, I really loved it. And he,
you know, I've never seen anyone do that. And not only that,
his musicianship. Oh my goodness. Wow, it was so electrifying.
So Yukimi, tell us how more about how you discovered him.
Sure. I mean, so you know, as podcasters, we're always
searching for potential guests on our show. And we'll look for
someone who is bringing new ideas or new ways to reach out
to the audience into the classical music world, either
through hashtags or random Instagram suggestions. When you
tap the search icon on the app, I discovered that particular
real post. And Mr. Constantini actually has many posts like
that on his account. Anyway, I just could not help but Google
him and find more video clips on YouTube and start listening
to his music on Spotify.
So glad you found him and shared a post with me. Just by
watching it, I could tell he was a classically trained pianist.
And when you look at his left hand playing the complete, you
know, arpeggios. And of course, you know, he turned out to be
an international concert pianist who performs in major concert
venues around the world. So I can't wait to hear how he
decided to incorporate these two instruments as part of his
artistry. Yeah, me too. Well, he is here. So let's get the
show started.
You're listening to the piano part, where we talk to the
brightest minds in the industry about how they're bringing the
piano into the 21st century.
We are very excited to introduce our guest of episode 12, Mr.
Claudio Constantini, an internationally acclaimed Malta
instrumentalist, piano and bandoneon, and a composer in
demand. Born and raised in Lima, Peru into a musical family, his
unique style is defined by its solid classical roots paired
with a passion for popular music genres, among which Latin
American music and improvisation play a key role.
Mr. Constantini has performed worldwide in many of his
masterpieces, such as Amsterdam's Concert Gabou, the
Berlier Philharmonie, the Los Angeles Opera House, among many
others. In the next season, Mr. Constantini will appear as the
soloist with distinguished orchestras such as the WDR
Symphony Orchestra Cologne, and the Robert Schumann Philharmonie.
He will also premiere his own bandoneon concerto, which the
piece was commissioned to commemorate Astor Piazzolla's
centenary of birth, and perform a Rhapsody in Blue with the
Tacoma Symphony in Seattle. Mr. Constantini has released six
CD albums, one of them titled America has earned him a
nomination for a Latin Grammy Award in 2019 in the category
of best classical album. He has been working on the complete
piano works by Claude Debussy, of which he has already released
two albums, and the first volume was selected among the
10 best albums of the year 2015 by Fanfare Magazine USA.
So today we're going to cover topics including Mr.
Constantini's upbringing, his career as classical pianist and
bandoneonist, and his latest projects such as his brand new
composition Genesis and recording of complete works by
Debussy, and so much more. So Claudio, we're so honored to
have you today and welcome to our show and thank you for
joining us. Well, same to you. Thank you. It's a big pleasure,
big pleasure to be here and to speak with you. I love your
podcast. Thank you so much. Well, we, we love your work. So
thank you. So it's mutual then. Oh, yes, that's very
important. Yeah. Great. So, you know, I, you know, I, I, I
found you on Instagram because, you know, we're always looking
for someone to interview and then I happen to come across
one of your Instagram posts and on your left hand, you were
playing the piano on the right hand side, you're playing the
bandoneon. I think you were playing the, your, your piece
Genesis and I was just blown away. So I quickly texted
Clara and shared the clip with her and we were like, oh my
gosh, who is this? So first thing I did was I really wanted
to share this music to my audience. So the idea is to put
your piece into a playlist. So I asked your permission. You
were like, so kind, you know, of course, please. Sure. So that's
how we started our conversation and here we are. Here you are.
You're here. So we're very happy now. So for the audience
who are listening, I really highly recommend to start
listening to his pieces, but I suggest that you should start
with Genesis. I mean, it's just a perfect piece. Genesis is,
you know, it's a start. So it was just, it's another level of
tango, like, you know, Piazzolla was the new tango, then
there's another level. So later we, we can discuss more about
it, but Claudio, so you're tuning in from Spain, right?
So you're tuning in from Spain and how is Spain? How is
Madrid right now? Well, right now we're in winter, but it's
quite, quite warm, quite warm outside. We got 17 degrees
Celsius. I don't know how much that is in Fahrenheit, but it's
very enjoyable. You can go to the street just like this. So
you don't need that much, but it's unusual, highly unusual.
But anyway, so Madrid is a wonderful city to live in. I
get very inspired with the friendliness that I have here. I
also live right next to a big park, Parque del Retiro, which
is kind of like the central park of Madrid, much smaller, of
course, but it's anyway, it's a big park and I love spending
my mornings walking there and getting some fresh air and some
inspiration. Wow, wonderful. Yeah, but you're not originally
from there, you know, you're from Peru. So we're very curious
to know your beginnings, how your musical study or musical
journey started. So can we start from there? Yeah, sure.
Well, my parents, both musicians, my mom is a conductor
and my father was a pianist. So I was involved with music since
I was a young child, since before I was born, actually. My
mom conducted a concerto once while I was still in her belly.
So I listened to music even before I was born. Nevertheless,
I wasn't really interested in music until I was 12 years old.
I could play the piano like I took some melodies by ear and I
played them with finger, but that's as far as I could. But
then when I was 12, I got so in love with, I fell so in love
with music that I started playing piano all day long. So I
learned really quickly and I woke up at five o'clock in the
morning so that I could practice before going to school.
And then when I came back from school, I was playing till the
night. So it was absolutely crazy. And so I learned really
quickly. I could enter to the conservatory there in Lima. I
was there till 18. Then I left to Finland. I studied my
bachelor's degree in Finland. Then I did my master's degree in
Holland. And then I did a diploma in the Scola Cantorum
in Paris. So that was my trajectory. Then I stayed living
in the Netherlands for some years working there. And then I
decided to come to Spain. Oh, wow. So you have such an
incredible classical solid training, but it just it happened
like almost like all of a sudden, like, you know, before
then was like, you know, music was always there because of
your, you know, upbringing, but all of a sudden, the desire
just woken up with something and yeah, yeah, suddenly it was I
remember exactly the reason. And it was that out of curiosity,
I started putting the LP discs of my parents on the long play
player. And I started recognizing the music that my
mom conducted and that my father practiced at home. So
Brahms and Chopin and Schumann and everything. And, and
suddenly, I just, I saw it, I heard it like with new ears, in
a way, and fell in love with it. How was the your schools like,
or any particular teachers or events that really spoke to you
or influenced you? Yes, I was very lucky with all my
teachers. So my first teacher was my father. He was my teacher
throughout my studies in Peru because he was a teacher at the
conservatory. He was a very, very, very talented pianist. He
actually graduated in Julliard. He was studying with Agustin
Ganevas many years ago, and with Oksana Jablonska, also there in
Julliard. And afterwards, when I went to Finland, I studied with
with two different pianists, who were fantastic teachers,
really fantastic people as well. They took me really much into
care because, you know, I was a young boy who went to the other
side of the world, and it was not always very easy, of course,
it was very different than my culture. And it was also tough
for me because I had to work a lot to be able to sustain my
studies. But so they were great human beings, and they were
great teachers as well. And finally, in the Netherlands, I
studied with Aquiles de Levinje, who was a student of Claudia
Rao, and he was a fantastic, fantastic master, one of the
best teachers I've seen in the world, because I've taken many
master classes and I've seen many classes. And he was really a
special person. He knew how to nurture the best side of
yourself, you know, how to... He taught you in a way how to find
yourself, how to find your own voice, your own personality in
the music. So he didn't teach anybody in the same way. His
lessons were always full of people, they were like master
classes, all of them. So when he gave a lesson, there were
always like 40, 50, 60 people, even from different disciplines,
you know, violinists and cellists who came to listen to
the lessons because they were so intense and so interesting. And
he was so generous. He actually passed away just two weeks ago
or three weeks ago. So it's a big loss. Yeah, he was so very,
very close to me. But anyways, he was probably the greatest
musical influence I had in such a close relationship.
It's always those mentors who change your life, you know? It's
in such a way that sometimes it really influence or sometimes
determines your career. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it sounds like
you're very fortunate to have mentors like that. Wonderful.
Yes, I consider myself very lucky.
So, you know, we can't underestimate the power of
social media, right? Like, we feel like we are posting it for
nothing. But actually, you know, we discover each other here. So
yeah, you never know what will catch the attention of whom I
mean, it's, it's a really interesting times. It never
before. Exactly. And then with this zoom, I mean, hello, we're
in New York, and you're in Madrid, and we're talking
something quite intimate. So it's a very interesting thing.
Anyway, so we want to know that your performance career, I
realized that you're you have substantial, not only the
background, but also career path as a soloist as a solo
classical pianist. So and you performed with numerous
orchestras and so forth. So can you tell us your brief, let's
say history and your career in your musical career as a
pianist? Well, my career is always it has always been
difficult for me to actually define what I do, because I do
so many different things. I mean, for me, it's really clear
in my head, I like this, and I like that, and I do this, and I
do that. But it's very hard for me to communicate that to
people. Because, you know, if you are an Apple distributor,
and you also sell chickens, then it's like, what are you
doing? You don't you don't get a clear message. So that's, that
has always been a source of conflict for me when I present
myself to the public. So as a pianist, I started with a
very, very linear classical, classical path in mind,
especially while I was a student when I was studying, of
course, I was completely immersed with my studies and
with the classical repertoire. And the real change started
when I bought my first bandoneon. I was about 20, 21
years old. And then my horizon expanded somehow. Which is
funny, because before, and when I was in Lima, I used to work
in a piano bar, and I always played popular music, I always
played a bit of jazz, I always played Latin American music,
but that was kind of like the hidden side of me. And when I
brought the bandoneon in, this flourished in a professional
way, not just in an amateur way. And it influenced a lot of
my piano playing, of my piano, of the decisions that I would
take further as a pianist. And so I tried to mix them up as
much as possible. I try to play when I can, I try to play
piano and bandoneon on the same evening, on the same recital.
Even if it's with an orchestra, I often play a piano concerto
and a bandoneon concerto on the same orchestra, because I
feel like one instrument only fills one side of me and not
the full picture. So I try to offer the full picture. And
specifically with piano, I've specialized, I've tried to focus
in specific projects, you know, so not really like before I
wanted to play all the repertoire, but then when I
started recording, then I started focusing more. The first
classical album I did was with Debussy. And so that was a big
focus and it certainly changed and influenced a lot of my
playing and of my performing preferences, because there's
actually a phrase by Arthur Rubenstein, who's my favorite
pianist ever. I love him. And he said that you should never
play a piece that you don't feel absolutely comfortable with.
So if you don't, of course you can study everything, you
should study, you should learn by yourself. But if you have
trouble communicating with a piece, then you should not
concentrate on that one. You should concentrate on what you
really feel that is yours. And there's people who can manage
that with a vast repertoire, but mostly people feel more
comfortable with expressing their, I mean, their
personality is expressed better with a specific composer or
specific type of music. So that's something I've taken to
heart.
You know, Claudio, honestly, to me, the message you're giving
is very clear to us. So I think it's the contrary of what you
think about yourself. But everybody goes through this
phase where, you know, we have this discipline of, let's say
classical music or some other disciplines, and then, you know,
tradition that you inherit from the previous generations,
right? Then all of a sudden you hit the point where, wait a
minute, that's who I am too. But I am also, I have this other
side of myself and you feel like there's a disconnect, but
it's actually connected. And so, but that makes you a very
interesting artist and that makes you a unique artist. So
the message is very clear. And so that's why I wanted to know
more about you as an artist and as a person. So there's one
thing I wanted to ask. So speaking of that, as a
classical pianist, let's say right now we're going to focus
on you as a classical pianist, and then you're currently
working on Debussy works, right? You're trying to record
entire Debussy collection. So, and then I saw on Spotify you
produced CD-Alma, first one and the second one. So what's your
obsession about Debussy? How do you relate to the pieces, works
of Debussy? Well, Debussy is very special to me. I think
that he's one of the few composers that when I play his
music or when I hear his music played, it sounds like it's
being created on the spot. It's really, it has a spontaneous
feel to it, such a spontaneous feel. And it's like really like
it would be improvised in the moment. And it speaks from so
deep within. You know, there's a big difference for me between
Ravel and Debussy, who are like the two big representatives of
so-called impressionistic music. In my mind, Ravel looks
backwards, kind of like Brahms, you know, Brahms coexisted with
Liszt, but his kind of writing was coming from Beethoven or
from, you know, looking back while Liszt was looking
forward. And for me, the same thing sort of happens with
Ravel and Debussy. Debussy had his imagination was somehow
less fixed than Ravel's. Of course, this is not better or
worse. It's just a characteristic of his music.
Ravel's framework somehow, actually, you know, Ravel is the
next composer. I'm going to record the full music once I
finish Debussy. And Ravel is, there's a funny thing about
putting oneself limitations. It actually gives, it can give
you more freedom because Ravel puts strict forms in his,
stricter forms, or more or less than Debussy in his music and
somehow creates a magnificent piece of music and his
imagination flourishes within that framework. Debussy cannot
use really a framework. His imagination is free. He does,
cannot have constraints. So it's, it's coming from his child,
childish heart in a way. So I feel very identified and
connected with this.
We just got to hear the inside scoop about your future
project, which is Ravel. So we can't wait for that.
That's wonderful. And then you also have this another album,
well, classical music album, which is called America. When I
heard there were, let's say, original pieces composed by
Gershwin, but also, is the summertime variations composed
by you?
It's my composition.
Yeah, they were incredible. I mean, one of the variations
really literally sounded like Debussy. Yeah, there was that.
Most probably, yeah.
I love.
Yeah, go ahead.
While we're here, Claudio, you mentioned earlier before we
started the interview that you were in Paris for a few years
or in France. How long were you there?
Well, I was actually, I never lived in Paris. I lived in the
Netherlands and I was studying in Paris. So I was going twice
a month and staying a few days to study because it was, it's
called La Scola Cantorum and it's a school that was founded
by Gabriel Foret, Cesar Frank. And actually, I received, it
was such a special place. I received my lessons in the same
place where Cesar Frank's organ was. So he was playing and
composing there. It was so inspiring. It was amazing. And
you know, this year is Cesar Frank's anniversary. He's also
a great composer who I love. And anyways, so I didn't really
live there, but I was studying there. So going there back and
forth.
Do you think that has a lot of impact on why you're loving
French music so much?
Yeah, probably. Yeah, probably. So, probably. So I guess I'm
absolutely in love with Paris. I have two favorite cities in
the world, Paris and New York, completely different cities.
They're my favorite ones.
So you're going to come here then soon.
Yeah.
Yes. When you're here, we'll take you everywhere. So please
let us know.
Yes.
Wonderful.
Great. So America, so we live in America. So and then you
are originally from Peru, which is Latin America. So let's
talk about your city, back to America. I love the
arrangement of Piazzolla pieces on the piano, right? And then
Yeah.
I particularly love the Verano Porteño because that's one
of my favorite pieces by Piazzolla. So I want to talk
about Astor Piazzolla. I mean, if you talk about Bandoneo, if
you talk about tango music, obviously, he's God. So we have
to talk about him. I don't know where to start even. But tell
us your feeling, your influence from.
Well, I discovered Piazzolla in the same way as I discovered
classical composers, which is by a city at home, which my
parents had. And the music sounded fascinating to me. I
actually had never heard of Bandoneon before. So I had no
idea where the sound came from. I didn't know what the
instrument looked like because the CD didn't have a picture.
So I imagined like some kind of weird instruments. So I could
only imagine. And years later, there was of course no
internet. There was internet, but at home when I was a child
in Peru, we didn't have any internet. So I couldn't even
research on the net. So years later, I discovered what
Bandoneon looked like. And I learned that it was absolutely
difficult to play because it was a very complicated
instrument. I fell in love with Piazzolla's music from the
first minute because it was spoken in such a direct way,
passionate way, and honest way with such sincerity. There's
a phrase by Piazzolla that he said that he plays the
Bandoneon standing up while the traditional Bandoneonists play
sitting down. And he said that he stood up, he played the
Bandoneon standing up because he wanted to have it closer to
his heart. And that's where all his music came from. And
that's how it sounds to me, Piazzolla's music.
So Claudio, I, you know, to prepare for this interview, I
did some research, but I realized I really don't know what
this instrument is. I have never seen one in person. So I'm
very curious.
It's over there.
Oh, okay. Can you like maybe describe to our audience that
might also be a little clueless like me?
Yeah, sure. Sure. Well, I'll bring it closer so that you can
get a glance.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
This is a...
It is similar to an accordion. Yes, actually a kind of like a
cousin of the accordion.
Oh, good.
So it has bellows in the middle, open like this, and it
has the keyboard like this. Yeah. And it's a very, very
complicated system.
Beautiful.
Because you know, when you press a button, and you open
the bellows, you get a note. And when you close the bellows,
you get another one. So that means the keyboard changes.
So for example, if I have C, I open it, and then I press the
same one and close it. And it's a D.
Wow.
Yeah. And there's no relation whatsoever. I mean, it's not,
there's no interval relationship. It can be a fourth,
it can be a second, a third. So it's really, really crazy
instrument to learn.
That is beautiful. When did you start learning this instrument?
When I was about 21 years old, I was living in Finland.
I was living in Finland, and I bought one, I asked for a loan,
and I bought one. It came from Buenos Aires, all the way from
Buenos Aires. I bought it by mail, so I couldn't even get to
see it. But it was good, unfortunately.
Oh, that's so beautiful. Yeah, I always love accordions.
And, you know, I grew up in China, and over there, in the
beginning, I remember I had the choice of learning keyboard or
accordion, but I was so small. And I was like, I can't carry
this. This is so heavy. You know, so it was like a popular
instrument. And fast forward, my teacher, actually, I still
have a teacher, he's Argentinian, and he plays with
accordionist very often. So I get to listen to it. I mean, at
least pre pandemic. So it's a beautiful, beautiful instrument
that I... Yeah, very, very good.
Very warm. And so I know you said you started studying it
when you were older, right?
21, yeah.
And how were you able to eventually sort of match that
within the piano? And did you have to like, how long did you
have to practice every day to become really good at it?
I actually quit playing the piano in order to be able to
learn it. When I finished my bachelor degree, I quit playing
piano for almost two years. And I dedicated full time to the
bandoneon. And then I came back to the piano and I did...
So you were 21 to 23?
Yeah, well, not really. I was 22 or something, I was 23.
When I bought the bandoneon, I still had to finish my piano
studies. And so I did that with the bandoneon. I dedicated
fully to that, to learning music, to listening to music,
transcribing music, and getting to learn the instrument on my
own, of course, because there was no teacher there.
Wow.
So it was a big, big challenge, very big challenge. But I was
so dedicated that within six months of having had my
bandoneon, I had my first concert.
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I would love to come to your
bandoneon. When you come to New York, you have to bring...
Well, I'm sure you will. I can't help but be sure.
Yeah, I would love to. I would love to go.
When did you realize this was part of your identity as a
musician? Because you were starting out as a classical
musician, and then you discovered this instrument,
then you got obsessed, and then now this is part of you as an
identity, right?
Yeah, I couldn't say exactly because, you know, when I bought
it, I thought that I'm never going to be able to play at a
professional level because it's such a difficult instrument to
play, and I'm actually a pianist. So, you know, I was kind
of lying to myself and putting a limit to myself, which I
shouldn't have. But anyways, I said something, but I acted
otherwise. I acted as if I'm going to dedicate to this.
And I think that the bandoneon was a part of me even before I
started playing it, because I listened to music with bandoneon
before I got the instrument, and it was the music I listened
to the most, actually. Piazzolla music and other Argentinian
tango players as well.
You dedicate this one piece to celebrate Piazzolla's 100th
birthday, birthday year, which was last year. So you composed
a bandoneon concerto, correct?
Yes, yes, that's right.
Can you tell us a little? And you are about to perform this
next year in the United States, so can you tell us more about
it, please?
Yeah, sure. This was a commission from an orchestra
here in Spain, in Andalusia in the south. So we did the
premiere in April of last year, of 2021. We played two
concerts, and then I played it also in July with Malaga
Philharmonic in Spain also. And I'll perform it, as you said,
in Seattle. I can't remember now if it's in March 2023, and
that's going to be with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra.
And it's a great opportunity. So this concerto is about 30
minutes long, it's three movements. So it's an attribute
to Piazzolla, and in a sense, it has a lot of Piazzolla
elements, but it's modeled as a classical concerto. So it has
the classical concerto form, especially the first movement,
it is quite structured, you know, with the concerto form.
I wanted to create a music which is not too contemporary
in sound, so that it can reach, so that a wider amount of
public, of audience can understand it. So it is kind of
modern in a way, it doesn't use traditional harmony all the
time. But it's quite simple, if you compare it to modern
academic music. It's not a tonal, it's always in tonality.
And it's very melodic as well. So I wanted to make it very
enjoyable, because it's also quite long, 30 minutes long,
it's quite a long piece. For full orchestra as well, there's
not many bandoneon pieces for orchestra, not even Piazzolla
himself composed such large scale pieces. I mean, he
composed concertos, but the orchestration is usually for a
chamber orchestra, so it is either strings or either strings
and winds, so not a full symphonic orchestra.
Is there any way we can listen to this?
Yeah, it's on YouTube, the premiere is on YouTube.
Oh wow, really? Okay, so we can just type in, what's the title
of the piece?
Bandoneon Concerto, but now I have to look up how it's
actually put on YouTube, so that you can find it.
Yes.
Because I don't remember if it's in English or in Spanish,
because it also has a subtitle, which is Concerto Porteño.
And Concerto Porteño is like, you know, Estaciones Porteños
from Piazzolla. Porteño means that it's from Buenos Aires,
because Buenos Aires is the port city, and the people from
Buenos Aires refer to themselves as Porteños.
Oh, I see, okay. Wow.
Yeah, so that's why it's named like this.
Just let us know the link later, and then we'll make sure
to put that in the description section in this YouTube,
and also in that simple cast, so that everybody can watch it.
So with this, you know, Piazzolla influence, you have
the album called Obstinado, and are they all pieces by Piazzolla?
No, Obstinado are mostly my own pieces.
There's just one or two Piazzolla.
Oh, I see, wow. And then you have also that album called
20th Century Tango and Piano Cosmos.
And so Piano Cosmos are all original, your piano solo
compositions of tango music. And a 20th Century Tango,
was that arrangement or...?
20th Century Tango is an album which I recorded with my wife,
who's a pianist, and I'm playing the piano,
and I'm performing bandoneon in this album, so it's a piano
bandoneon duo. And the idea there was to play tango
compositions of classical composers. So there's tango of
Soti, of Stravinsky, of Milot, Schnittke, and they are paired
with some traditional tango composers such as Dino Salusi,
or Horacio Stamponi, or Horacio Salgan, or Piazzolla.
So you have a contrast there.
Stravinsky wrote a tango music?
He wrote one tango, yeah.
Really?
It's originally for piano solo. It's a very short tango.
Very interesting. Just every day I learn something new.
That's why I love what I do with this podcast.
You have worked with a lot of orchestras, right?
As a pianist and also as a bandoneonist.
I'm still learning the language of the bandoneon.
It's hard, yeah. It's hard to play and it's hard to pronounce as well.
That's right. I have to learn how to do the pronunciation first.
So how was your experience working with all these different orchestras?
Well, fantastic. Last year I played with quite a few, maybe like 30 or something.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, in Spain. So practically all the Spanish orchestras.
And it has been great, really, really great.
I've performed my own concerto. I've performed Piazzolla's concerto.
I've performed Gershwin. I've performed some piano arrangements of myself,
of Latin American pieces. So it's been a lot of different repertoire.
I love playing with orchestras. It's one of the things I enjoy the most.
Usually you don't get to do that so much, but this year has been quite unusual
in the number of orchestras that I've played with.
And I think you're really setting up a good example for all the musicians in the world
that it's possible. Even during a pandemic, you're able to work with so many different
orchestras. It must have been a very exhilarating experience during this time.
But live music is not as present as it used to be.
So it's beautiful. And I know that you sometimes play, we talked about this before,
you play on one hand on piano and the other hand on bodonia. How do you even balance that?
Well, that's a crazy thing.
No, actually, I saw a Finnish bandonianist doing that.
Yeah, a Finnish bandonian is called Mikko Helenius. He's a wonderful musician and a friend of mine.
And once he tried it out and I thought, oh, that's crazy. That's impossible.
He must be a genius. And I told this once to another friend of mine who I often play with,
who's Erwin Schrott, he's a world famous baritone opera singer. And he told me,
next concert we do together, we're going to play like this. You're going to play piano
and bodonian and I'm going to sing together with you. So he challenged me. And so I took
the challenge and we did it. We played in the Munich Opera House, over 2000 people.
And I did that there for the first time together with him.
Wow, so special. I think these days that we were talking about social media, right? That's like
the new age. A lot of things really happen with like these 100 day practice challenges or, you
know, like all kinds of different challenges it comes about. And then we kind of force to our
limit. Okay, let's do it publicly. And so are you just mostly doing this for fun or do you intend
to actually make a recording of that? I was doing it just for fun in the past years, but actually
my next show, my next big project, which is my next album, I'm going to perform it in that way.
So I'm going to perform on piano and on bandoneon, both separately and together. And I'm busy now
learning all the parts. The first show is going to be in April, the end of April. So I've still got
a couple of months to learn it, but it's really probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
So no, no Rachmaninoff or no Ravel is as hard as this. I'm sitting here thinking like, you know,
before the show you were sharing that you work out every morning and listen to the podcast. I'm
thinking, wow, this has to be like, it's not exactly light, right? It's pretty heavy too. So
to be able to balance and that. Yes, but I found a way. I've tried it out quite a lot and I found a
way. Actually I use a strap to strap it to my leg, to one of my legs. So then I have a better balance
and it doesn't fall out because that was actually the main issue, how to actually get a good sound
because if you're not in control of the instrument, then the sound is weak. Wow. So that's such a unique
combination. And you're probably one of the first people to do this in the whole entire world, you
know? And so we can't wait to, you know, hear the recording of it eventually. It's so cool.
That's right. Was that a pandemic project or like something to do during? Okay. So we have to speak
about pandemic. Obviously this has changed all of us, especially particularly musicians, how
not only we lost the opportunity of live performance, but, and most of us, that was the
livelihood. Now then, you know, we had to shift attention toward more digital world and then maybe
that's one of the reasons you started some something silly, something to have fun, but yet now
like maybe you're trying to make recordings or something like that. So can you tell us about
the effect of pandemic? Sure. Yeah, actually the pandemic, when it hits, suddenly all my concerts
got canceled, of course, and I spent most of the year with no performances, no income. So it was a
very tough time emotionally and financially, just like for everybody else. But I think it was
probably one of the most positive things that has happened to me in my life was to
get the opportunity to shut everything off and rethink many things musically, personally.
It has been a really new beginning for me as a person, especially as a person. And of course,
this affects the music because I don't think that you can separate one from the other. I learned to
be absolutely honest with myself and with the decisions that I make and with the things that I
value and the things I stand by. And this affected all the musical decisions and paths that I took.
Piano Cosmos actually is, which is a series of five EP, so five short albums, was the product of the
pandemic. So I sat at the piano every day for hours just writing music and playing. And I selected
pieces from what I wrote and I decided to go to a studio, record them and publish them without
really expecting to do much with that in terms of concerts, because of course there is no possibility
of concerts. But I just wanted the music to exist other than just in my head. And that's why Piano
Cosmos exists. And in a kind of sense, which is my upcoming album and project, of which Genesis is
the first single, it's actually a conceptual album. I don't really speak about it in a concise or open
way, but I planned it from... I did a short story. I imagined a short story, a story of things coming
from the subconscious, like the spiritual side of oneself and how many things are not erased,
but blocked by all the things that we have to go through in our lives. Even artists tend to
go in straightforward paths. You study, you try to get a job or you try to get concerts or you try
to do this or that, because you know the paths of all the people that have come before you. So you try
to imitate the ones that you prefer, the ones you like the most or the ones that you would
wish that you would do. And on the way you might forget or you might oversee many things which
could be important to you, which are important actually to you. And one of them is for me the
connection to other people. And this is something that I really concentrate a lot in my music and
in my performances. And that's one of the things I actually love about social media is that I can
directly communicate with people in an open and honest way, and in an immediate way, by a post or
by a live or by a real or by whatever. And I take this in the music that I perform also publicly.
And in kind of sense this project which started in the pandemic has all to do with that. It has to
do with everything that comes from the subconscious and all the possibilities that we don't nourish
because of these blockages. And so it's really the story of the journey of the person from the
subconscious towards a sort of enlightenment and connection with everything and with the surroundings
and with the people. So yeah, that's kind of like the short version of the story in kind of sense.
That's pretty deep. And yeah, but these things you think during a time like pandemic where, you know,
everything has stopped and you just have to, I don't know, it's a scary time and it makes us feel so
vulnerable and search or answer. And sometimes you, whether you are religious or not, you just look up
and just pray for something, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because there's things that are just bigger
than oneself. And it's very easy to forget if you live a busy life in which you concentrate on just
a few things, even if they're very important things. Once you concentrate on a few things,
you're immediately overlooking others. And everybody is destined to do that, of course,
but there are certain levels, you know. You can overlook a few things or many things. And
and I took a holistic, I don't know if that's the right word, but a holistic approach to life,
concentrating in all of my surroundings. I started to meditate, I started to read a lot
and listen to podcasts a lot and that being more aware of the immediacy of the moment.
Have you started meditating for a long time or is this
a new thing during the pandemic? During the pandemic, I started actually, it's been maybe
a year and a half since I was meditating. And I've been wanting to do it before because I
learned all the benefits it had, but I didn't know how to do it. So I investigated a lot. And
finally I found that transcendental meditation works very well for me. Yes, I'm a TM practitioner.
Yes, wonderful. Yeah, well, that's wonderful. Yeah, so I do it every day and it has changed.
I mean, a lot has changed because of that. Of course, it's not only that, it's an approach to
everything because once you start changing one thing, like you want to have better health,
and so you start eating better, but maybe you also want to go to the next level and you meditate,
then you do exercise and then good things just start piling up. So it's a, I like to
try to get used to good habits. We do this thing where we try to keep ourselves busy all the time
because we don't want to be in that place, you know, because it's such a scary place to be.
But this pandemic taught us it's not as scary as you think, and you have to come back to yourself,
you know, and meditation, of course, is one of the tools to help you to get there. But
there are so many other ways to connect with yourself. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that.
So you mentioned briefly about, you know, Genesis. So let's talk about Genesis, right? So that's,
that's the first thing I heard on Instagram, and I just couldn't help but sharing that to Clara
first. And Clara was like, Oh my gosh, who is this? What is this? And then this is a new level of
tango. I mean, you know, you talk about Piazzolla is nuevo tango, but what is this Genesis? So tell
us about this, you know, your composition, but also, there is an album, this is one of the 12
pieces of this album coming up. Yes. So can you tell us a little bit more? Yeah, sure. Well, this,
this album is called Imkandescence, as I said, and Genesis is the first piece. It's, I mean,
the album is a mixture of many of my influences as a composer, as a classical composer, as a
tango performer, and as a jazz musician. So it's, I don't like really putting labels, but if I would
have to say what it is, it's kind of like a jazz fusion album, I would say. So when you hear
bandoneon, you hear tango. That's kind of, if you know the bandoneon, if you know the tango,
the sound is of the tango. So there's always going to be a little bit of that. But I always,
I always try to take the bandoneon out of the context of tango, because actually its origin
has nothing to do with tango. It's a German instrument, which was invented to play in churches,
you know, church music and salon music as a piano would play. And it got to Argentina to the tango
by accident. So it's really a versatile instrument. And in Genesis, and in the whole of the album
Imkandescence, I, is one of the things I do to show this versatility of the instrument. And of
course, in this album, I also play the piano. So I overlap, I overdub myself playing the piano and
playing the bandoneon. And actually sometimes there's even more than one bandoneon or even more
than one piano at the same time. So I play over myself a few times. Of course, the show is going
to be just in quartet format. I have to rearrange the music so that it fits. But the album, I really
didn't want to put any limitations to myself. If I thought that a second piano is needed here, I just
put it in. And that's it, because it's such a conceptual album. And Genesis is, I spoke about
the subconscious. So Genesis actually does subconscious, is the piece in which many themes
will reappear in later pieces throughout the album. And this is generating all these ideas
and all these melodies are generating in the subconscious. But they don't really get a proper
development or they don't really get to somewhere. They're just like floating around and then
suddenly they finished and a new one comes. So that was the idea of Genesis. That's why it's such a
crazy piece. So you briefly mentioned to me, Astat, so there's a series of pieces. So I think I saw
another piece, but the same design album cover. So Genesis, and what's the second piece that you just,
what's the name of that piece? The second piece is called Alone. And it was released last Friday.
So you can listen to it on Spotify, iTunes, everywhere. And then you are slowly producing
each one of these until May. Yeah, so the album is fully produced, but I'm releasing
a single, one single each month, not the whole album. So I'm going to release four singles.
And after the fourth single, then I will release the full album. It will come out in May.
Okay. Listeners and viewers, be sure to check out his Genesis and Alone. They are out right now on
Spotify or also Apple iTunes. Yeah, iTunes, Google Music. These are all of the training platforms.
This is our tradition and we're honored to have so many amazing artists come to our show. So any
last word of advice for young musicians and young piano music learners? Well, there's so many different
valuable advices that I could say. And each case is, each individual case is special.
But I believe that to be a musician or to be, to have any profession, you need to have such deep
love for what you do. It might be a bit difficult or it might not necessarily be the thing for you,
but that's probably one of the biggest pieces of advice I would say.
It's so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. Yeah. Our audience will benefit from all
these very much, you know, and you're really making yourself as this 21st century musician
through all different media, you know, social media and your different way of presenting
yourself and the music that you're playing and different instruments. That is really cool. So
thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. A big pleasure. Now we are going into fun segment of
this show. So we're going to end on the positive note, very much pun intended here. So let's start.
Claudio, we will ask fun questions and we would like for you to answer them with the shortest
answers possible for each question. I'll try my best. Okay. Nothing to be scared of. Okay.
What is your comfort food? Hamburgers. Ooh, American. Cats or dogs? Dogs.
What is your word or words to live by? Passion and purpose. Passion and purpose. Amazing. Excellent.
What is the most important quality you look for in other people? Honesty. What is the worst quality
in people you want to stay away from? Falsehood. Name three people who inspire you, living or dead?
Arthur Rubinstein, Astor Piazzolla, Bill Evans. Bill Evans. Great. Yeah. Great artist.
Oh, yes. All right. So name one piece in your current playlist. Genesis.
Yeah. Yes. And then it's in our playlist as well. So check it out. Excellent choice. Our story is
this week. So tune in and one book title in your library. Oh, how do you say this in English?
You can say it in Spanish. El lobo estepario, which is the wolf, something like the wolf from
Hermann Hesse. Interesting. It's a classic. I just read it. I finished it last week for the second
time. So that's why it's fresh in my mind. Okay. Do they have an English version? For sure. Yeah,
for sure. But I just don't know the English title, but it's one of his top works. So something to do
with the wolf. Something to do with the wolf. You get only one song or piece to listen to for the
rest of your life. What is it? Well, that's very easy. That's the Brunch Wreck in. Yes. Actually,
previous guest said the same thing. Yes. Oh, really? You know, I've thought about that question many
times in my life. And actually it is one of my top pieces, but it's not necessarily my top piece.
But the reason why I would choose it is because it's so long that I can't discover more things.
And it also has so much orchestration because otherwise I could also choose a very short piece
like a Brunch Intermezzo. Brunch is my favorite composer, by the way. But it's so short that
then three minutes I would have to listen over and over again. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Absolutely.
So it's kind of a logical based answer. All right. Well, last question, last not least, music is blank.
Fill in the blank. Life. Music is life. Wonderful. Beautiful. Ding ding ding ding ding. You win.
You won. Yay. Thank you so much. That was really fun. Yeah, it was nice. Yeah. Thank you so much.
I was surprised I could answer so briefly. Oh, really good. You're very, very brilliant.
And then thank you so much for this wonderful conversation. Very inspiring. Yeah, I think so.
I'm sure it was the same for our audience as well. So sadly, this concludes this episode of the Piano
Parade. And thank you, Claudio, for joining us today and sharing your wonderful stories, insights
and expertise. And you can find more information about him on his website at ClaudioConstantini.com.
And I want to encourage you, audience, to listen to his latest song, a piece alone and also Genesis
and more, so much more. So all the links are listed in the description. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Yes. And the fans for tuning in today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please
read and review on whatever podcasting platform you use. If you're watching us on YouTube,
remember to hit the thumbs up button and be sure to subscribe to our channel. You can also find us
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. The links are in the description below. If you're
interested to be the guest or want to recommend someone to be on our show, or you'd like to sponsor
or collaborate with us, shoot us an email at the pianopodnyc.gmail.com or send us a direct message
via social media. We'll see you for the next episode of the Piano Parade. Bye everyone. And
thank you, Claudio. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's very fun. Big pleasure. Gracias. Thank you. Gracias.
Gracias.