1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:23,960 You can't follow them in the same way that you follow a singer. 2 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,640 As a rule, you have to keep in mind that they need structure. 3 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,280 You can't see them, so they know where the music is. 4 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,120 They need to know where the music is. 5 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:40,920 In a way, your primary responsibility is a structural responsibility. 6 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:42,560 Welcome back to the PianoPod. 7 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,760 I am your host, Yukimi Song. 8 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:50,000 Thanks for tuning in for the second half of Season 3, Episode 15, with a guest, Dr. 9 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,640 Alan Moverman, piano soloist at New York City Ballet. 10 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:58,800 In Part 2, you will get to hear Alan's take on what makes someone to be the greatest ballet 11 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,680 pianist and what it's like to work with world-renowned dancers and choreographers at New York City 12 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:06,440 Ballet and more. 13 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,760 Before continuing the show, I want to welcome everybody listening to the PianoPod for the 14 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:11,760 first time. 15 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,840 I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City, passionate about creating a 16 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,760 thriving and meaningful community of the classical music industry through this podcast. 17 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,800 Please visit yukimisongsuyu.com to find out more about my work. 18 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,240 In each episode of the PianoPod, I interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting 19 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,040 new ground in the industry. 20 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,400 Please rate the show and review it on your favorite podcasting platform because every 21 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,120 rating review will help people find my show. 22 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:43,960 So my friends, here is Part 2 of the PianoPod, Season 3, Episode 15, with Alan Moverman. 23 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:47,840 Please enjoy the show. 24 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:54,000 Harold Boss Gordon, who was probably one of the great ballet pianists in history, Gordon 25 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,960 Belsner, was Balanchine's kind of right-hand man. 26 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:02,400 He was the man at the piano when Balanchine choreographed all the masterpieces, Nutcracker, 27 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,760 well not Nutcracker, but he was a little after that time, but all these Stravinsky, you know, 28 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,200 it was Gordon, Stravinsky, and Balanchine sitting in the room. 29 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:16,200 What makes them, these people, the great ballet pianists and soloists? 30 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,880 Well, the music we do is really hard. 31 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:26,720 So you kind of have to be a concert-level pianist to play here, more or less. 32 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:33,160 I mean, that doesn't mean you're András Schiff, but you have to have gone pretty far, 33 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,300 you know, played big recitals. 34 00:02:35,300 --> 00:02:38,760 And so Gordon was a wonderful pianist. 35 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:40,120 That was the start. 36 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:48,200 He was supremely gifted, beautiful sound, you know, warm, approachable, fantastic technique, 37 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,000 you know, immaculate kind of musical thinking. 38 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:57,900 He was a student of Michelangelo, and also, but in a way, something that is maybe a little 39 00:02:57,900 --> 00:03:02,360 like me in a certain way, he was a composition student of John Cage. 40 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:03,360 Wow. 41 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:11,520 So he had like this kind of funky, creative, cool aspect to him that opened him up, you 42 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:12,520 know. 43 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,400 He would talk about David Lynch movies, and you know, all these, he had all these interests 44 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,480 that were so interesting. 45 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:24,840 And so he was an amazing pianist, but he was also like a wide-ranging person. 46 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,920 And he never would have been satisfied, I don't think, with just struggling with, you 47 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,480 know, fine-tuning his Beethoven sonata. 48 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:39,440 I don't think that was his, you know, he wanted to be more with people, I think. 49 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:47,000 And that, I think you have to be not so, maybe not so single-minded about piano. 50 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,160 But to play here, you have to start with being basically concert-level pianist. 51 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,220 I mean, one of our pianists now, Steve Gosling, he's probably one of the ten greatest performers 52 00:03:57,220 --> 00:03:59,280 of contemporary music in the world. 53 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:00,280 He's incredible. 54 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:05,400 I mean, he, you know, he has like 30 records, and you know, he's played all, you know, 55 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:06,400 this impossible music. 56 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:07,400 Wow. 57 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:15,920 You know, Edis and crazy stuff, you know, Stockhausen, all the stuff. 58 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:22,360 And we've had really Susan Walters, who was one of our pianists, she's a fantastic pianist, 59 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:23,640 Elaine Chelton. 60 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,800 So anyway, you have to be a good pianist, but then you have to have this little, you 61 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,720 have to be a good musician. 62 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:35,040 If you have to choose between the two, it's probably better to be a little bit, if you 63 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:40,680 can even divide these things, which is hard, a little better musician than you are a pianist. 64 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:41,680 Wow. 65 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:42,680 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 66 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:48,640 You have to care more about the music than you care about being Mr. Perfect, which is 67 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:50,800 kind of a relief in a certain way. 68 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,200 If you think about it, it's, music is fun. 69 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:59,720 It sounds like also being musician requires more flexibility, versatility. 70 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:04,600 It's not just about what's on the score, but you also have to read the room, what's going 71 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,840 on on the, you know, exactly. 72 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,260 Read the room is a really good skill. 73 00:05:09,260 --> 00:05:12,440 Read the room is saying a lot. 74 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,520 I was thinking about that yesterday in my rehearsal, because I was playing Serenade 75 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:22,840 and I was thinking, oh, well, the ballet rehearsal director said, oh, it's too, it's too fast. 76 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:25,680 They're just remembering it. 77 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,160 But it's hard because I was at this part in the music, which I have trouble playing. 78 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:36,000 And so I was like, is it me or is it... 79 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:37,920 Which happens every day. 80 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,040 So at that point, you have to make a decision. 81 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,240 You have to decide, am I going to slow down my tempo? 82 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,240 Or if I'm going to slow tempo, you also have to a little bit ask yourself, was I actually 83 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,340 wrong or were they wrong? 84 00:05:51,340 --> 00:05:57,940 It's important to keep your sense, your center, you know, like you can change for them, but 85 00:05:57,940 --> 00:05:59,560 still think they were wrong. 86 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:00,800 It wasn't too fast. 87 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,180 Maybe it wasn't too fast. 88 00:06:02,180 --> 00:06:06,400 Maybe the answer, because sometimes they get behind, you know, they're doing fine for a 89 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,520 while, then they are to have trouble with the step and they're like, oh, it's too fast. 90 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:16,320 So what are you then if she's like, oh, maybe I rush, you know, and they can say you're 91 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,440 rushing when you're sometimes you're not rushing. 92 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:20,440 Sometimes you are. 93 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:21,440 Right. 94 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:22,440 Yeah. 95 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:24,440 Pianist, pianist, we all tend to rush. 96 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:25,440 Yes. 97 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:26,440 Yeah. 98 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:27,440 Yeah. 99 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:32,840 Now, in your bio, you are saying that you worked with this amazing, the most celebrated 100 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:40,960 choreographers such as Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, and all the wonderful, 101 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:42,040 wonderful choreographers. 102 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:50,400 So even I know of, I've heard of Jerome Robbins, the name, and also he did the choreograph 103 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,640 for West Side Story. 104 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:54,480 So you worked with him. 105 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:59,400 Can you tell us how was it like to work with this amazing choreographer? 106 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:06,120 Well, I mean, all right, I have to say I worked with him at the very end of his life and I 107 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:11,260 don't think I really experienced the full Jerry Robbins. 108 00:07:11,260 --> 00:07:18,440 He was famously hard to work with and critical, you know, unbelievably critical, apparently. 109 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:20,520 It was a different time. 110 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,080 It was an old school. 111 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:27,800 I'm sure things that were done in those days would not have been done the same way now. 112 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:33,880 But by the time I worked with him, he just left me alone because I don't think he had 113 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,640 enough energy to bother with me. 114 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:43,800 And you know, I was the pianist for, or one of the two pianists for choreographing his 115 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,520 last ballet, which was Brandenburg. 116 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:51,160 And I also worked with him on a couple other pieces, but that was my main experience as 117 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:58,360 to movements from several Brandenburg concertos and a couple other pieces, I think, that aren't 118 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,080 in Brandenburg concertos. 119 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,320 So I don't have any of the great stories. 120 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:08,840 You can read biography and tell the great stories, but he was famously difficult. 121 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:15,140 But the only funny thing I remember, I remember two really funny things about him. 122 00:08:15,140 --> 00:08:22,080 One was that, you know, to give you an idea of how I stacked up in his hierarchy of people 123 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:27,520 in his life, even though I spent, you know, probably 30 hours with the guy, he'd just 124 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,520 say, hey, you play. 125 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,600 And so I play, you know, and apparently thought I was okay. 126 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,080 He told the people on the fourth floor that he's okay. 127 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:40,980 I was I had only just started. 128 00:08:40,980 --> 00:08:44,240 I think I had only I think I had only played for four months. 129 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,560 Then I rehearsed another couple things. 130 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:52,800 Suite of Dances, I played the which is actually a Bach cello suites, but we rehearsed it on 131 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,680 piano and then we brought in Wendy Sutter to play it. 132 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:58,720 At that time, it was Wendy. 133 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:00,200 Now it's Ann Kim a lot. 134 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:01,460 So that was funny. 135 00:09:01,460 --> 00:09:06,680 But I remember I had one moment with him where he was sitting at the piano next to me on 136 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:09,120 the stage of the theater here. 137 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:10,880 We're at the Koch Theater here. 138 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:16,160 And he was just playing some notes and he just started reminiscing how he used to play 139 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:17,160 the piano. 140 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,180 And it was it was kind of sweet. 141 00:09:19,180 --> 00:09:21,520 He was in his mid 70s then. 142 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:23,840 And I don't think he quite made 80. 143 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:25,240 I'm not sure. 144 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:30,240 But people he was a stressful guy, but obviously a genius. 145 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:37,480 I think I should say for the people who aren't ballet fans but might be interested in going 146 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:43,480 and checking out, he had he created a special kind of intimacy on stage between the piano 147 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:50,680 and the dancers in his piano ballets, in particular, the Chopin, also this Tchaikovsky piece. 148 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:54,000 It's really hard to define, but you kind of have to see it. 149 00:09:54,000 --> 00:10:02,560 But it was like this this kind of very almost quiet theatrical space that you'd feel between 150 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:06,000 the solo pianist and the dancers. 151 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,840 I think it had a lot to do with the fact that one of his I know this for a fact that one 152 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,440 of his inspirations was the ballet studio itself. 153 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:22,680 So the connection I'm sure you felt being playing for dance classes at some point, anyone 154 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:28,440 who's played knows that there can be a special quality in the room. 155 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:33,440 And he was able to do something like that with these Chopin pieces. 156 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,800 What was interesting is they often had no set. 157 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:58,920 They were often just dancers on stage and piano kind of pared down, you know, and had 158 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,440 a particular quality. 159 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:08,320 And even in the fast pieces like, I forget it. 160 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,960 But just it was very special. 161 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,040 It was very, very special, different, totally different than Balanchine. 162 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,440 All choreographers have a different relationship with music. 163 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:25,440 Some people illustrate the music more like bleed the audience to understand the music. 164 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,200 Some composers respond to the music with their own. 165 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:30,200 How do I? 166 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:31,200 OK, here's the music. 167 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,440 How do I feel about this? 168 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:39,080 This thing I'm confronting like so they could have beautiful music and they could even express 169 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,200 something angry sometimes. 170 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:49,480 Maybe they're like, well, I didn't get any of that. 171 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,280 Let's talk about New York City Ballet. 172 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,320 How exciting is that this ballet company is? 173 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:59,880 And you've been working for them for 20 years, 28 years, 28, I think. 174 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,920 And what's so special about this ballet company? 175 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,360 Well, it's just I mean, it's just got a lot of great dancers. 176 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:13,560 You know, I mean, you know, it's it's the top or one of the very tops. 177 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,160 And they're just wonderful. 178 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,280 And that's that's the main thing. 179 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,360 And then we've had the best choreographers here. 180 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:28,000 I mean, there are other great choreographers, but we've had probably the main ones. 181 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,440 Robin's Balanchine, Complete Genius. 182 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:36,880 I mean, Balanchine without without Balanchine, a lot of those Stravinsky scores, in my view, 183 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:38,760 don't even really work. 184 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:44,840 One of the most interesting things about Balanchine, there are a lot of interesting things, but 185 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:52,640 there's some music that almost needs the dance and not right of spring and not really Petrushka. 186 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,000 But you get Stravinsky post 1930. 187 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,400 The dance helps. 188 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,640 It helps you without the dance. 189 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,320 There's something about it that I mean, why didn't great orchestras not play all that 190 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:05,320 music? 191 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,600 Very rare to hear even a performance of Symphony in Three Movements. 192 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:13,740 It's an exciting piece, dramatic, hardly ever. 193 00:13:13,740 --> 00:13:15,360 We play it here. 194 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:20,520 When you see it with the dance, you know, it puts you right back into the you know, 195 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:25,280 you're there in World War Two and the boats are floating around the Pacific and, you know, 196 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,280 there's bombs flying and you know, it just helps. 197 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,920 But it's not somehow Stravinsky sometimes is not enough. 198 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,440 It's like there's something suggested that maybe is not fully realized. 199 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,280 But it's great. 200 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:40,280 It's great stuff. 201 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:41,640 We do tons and tons. 202 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,120 I can't tell you Stravinsky pieces. 203 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,680 But how many how many programs do you have at New York City Ballet? 204 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:52,840 Well, I mean, different seasons are different. 205 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:53,840 Right, right. 206 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:58,920 I mean, and you know, believe it or not, we used to do seasons regularly with 50 ballets, 207 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,200 50 full length ballets a season. 208 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:02,680 Oh, my goodness. 209 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,640 I mean, it was insane. 210 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,440 You know, that that also had to do with the fact that, you know, the subscribers wanted 211 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:10,720 to see the great Balanchine Ballets. 212 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,840 They were just hungry to see them. 213 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,160 And some of them honestly were sometimes like kind of thrown on. 214 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,480 You know, they you know, the dance, our dancers are really fast. 215 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:26,000 I've sat in the piano room in like Tivoli Concert Hall in Denmark. 216 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,640 You know, someone gets injured. 217 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:35,280 A principal dancer, Joaquin learned Judicart by Stravinsky, one of the most complicated 218 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:36,980 Stravinsky scores. 219 00:14:36,980 --> 00:14:42,300 He learned this principal role in five hours and when performed it that night, you know, 220 00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:47,040 and we just we just hacked away at it all afternoon. 221 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:48,400 You know, he did it. 222 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:49,600 It was great. 223 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:53,800 And that happens not infrequently. 224 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:59,360 Too much repertoire, but but tons and tons and tons of great stuff. 225 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:04,560 I mean, you should see you should see the music cabinet in the music room. 226 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,840 I should bring you into the music room and just take out the scores. 227 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:15,440 You know, what's there would just I mean, you know, there's vibrant scores. 228 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:20,840 You know, there's scores by all these great living composers are like, you know, ten Philip 229 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:22,640 Glass scores there. 230 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:27,000 You know, there's I just can't even tell you there's you know, John Adams was here for 231 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,000 a while. 232 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,720 We play like I think we play five John Adams scores. 233 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:38,680 I play often Howlwoolie Junction for two pianos. 234 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,320 You should play it if you like that sort of thing. 235 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:43,720 It's really one of his best pieces. 236 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,760 It's really fantastic, fun and beautiful. 237 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:49,060 We do fearful symmetries. 238 00:15:49,060 --> 00:15:53,720 We do harmony, harmony, we are huge pieces. 239 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,460 And you know, like, for example, we play fearful symmetries. 240 00:15:57,460 --> 00:16:05,800 We play it on the piano in the rehearsals. 241 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,360 I mean, I haven't played it in 15 years. 242 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:13,680 But I you know, for the you know, 30 minutes of John Adams, you know, it gets really hard 243 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:20,440 by so many different repertoire that you that you are using in the ballet. 244 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:21,440 That's fun. 245 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:22,440 It's fun. 246 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,040 If you're if you're that kind of musician, you should definitely work here. 247 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,600 You should definitely and and and if you're if you're someone who just likes music and 248 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:36,320 is has a lot of facility at the piano and like it's you know, they need you. 249 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:42,240 These days, people get really like piano is so hard and people really get into their box. 250 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:47,720 And and I know that the new generations are expanding a lot. 251 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,600 Even a lot of classical musicians improvise a little bit now. 252 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:51,600 Oh, yeah. 253 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:52,600 Oh, yeah. 254 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:53,600 It's changed. 255 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,240 I mean, it used to be when I was in Juilliard, it was like, holy, holy cow, you know, it's 256 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:03,360 unbelievable, you know. 257 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,640 You know, like you just you know, every practice room, you know, right. 258 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,920 People are trying to get those fingers moving. 259 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:09,920 And yeah, it's good. 260 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,520 You know, if that's what you want to do, great. 261 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:13,520 Right. 262 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,160 And but I think we need to talk about how we're going to bring this industry forward. 263 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:19,160 Right. 264 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,160 So then especially this post pandemic era and then you mentioned as pianists, we tend 265 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:29,440 to be in the room practicing all the time and not communicating with others, not collaborating 266 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:30,440 with others. 267 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,080 But that sort of culture has to change. 268 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,440 I know we have to practice on our own. 269 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:42,920 But your job, your career is all about working with others, working with people in the people. 270 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:48,160 And that's something that I want to encourage new generations to experience. 271 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:54,200 And, you know, don't just get stuck in a practice room all day, but experience the life. 272 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,360 And that's how you experience music, too. 273 00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:00,360 I completely agree. 274 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,860 Hey, TPP friends and listeners. 275 00:18:03,860 --> 00:18:06,920 The Piano Pod is in its third season. 276 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:12,280 Thanks to all of you for watching or listening to every episode since its launch in 2020. 277 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:17,240 I started this show with a simple question I had in mind for quite some time, which is 278 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,800 how can we as classical pianists and music educators present the beautiful classical 279 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:27,120 music tradition to the 21st century audience in a fun and contemporary and stylish and 280 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:28,120 engaging way? 281 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:33,960 It's been an incredible journey for the last three years, and I love what I do through 282 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:39,680 this podcast, providing a platform for pianists and educators to reflect and discuss freely 283 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:44,960 how we can keep the classical music industry thriving and relevant in this rapidly changing 284 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:45,960 world. 285 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:50,800 Now more than ever, I need your support so that I can continue my work by bringing you 286 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:55,620 highly valuable content biweekly by interviewing groundbreakers in the industry. 287 00:18:55,620 --> 00:18:59,280 Your support will go directly to all the costs of the Piano Pod. 288 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:04,640 You can make a one-time donation or monthly pledge by clicking the PayPal link in the 289 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:09,800 show notes or going to the Piano Pod's website at thepianopod.com. 290 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,680 As a thank you, you will receive the Piano Pod's fun logo sticker in the mail. 291 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:19,800 So please support my show today and don't forget to subscribe and continue listening 292 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,360 and tell your friends and colleagues about the Piano Pod. 293 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:38,600 Let's continue with the episode. 294 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:44,100 So let's talk about your career and life outside of New York City Ballet. 295 00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:49,460 So you have this ongoing project with a painter. 296 00:19:49,460 --> 00:19:51,320 Her name is Karen. 297 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,840 Capke. 298 00:19:53,840 --> 00:20:01,960 Well years ago I decided to focus my energies outside the ballet, my energies that had to 299 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,720 do with me as a recitalist. 300 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:11,480 I decided to focus it on late works, pieces that composers wrote toward the end of their 301 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:12,480 lives. 302 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:20,640 And I was inspired by a book called Late Style by Edward Said who's a philosopher, was a 303 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:27,120 philosopher at Columbia and was very famous in that field. 304 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:30,720 He was also a friend of Daniel Berenbaum. 305 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:35,840 He was very involved with Israeli-Palestinian issues. 306 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,880 In fact that was I think the basis of how they got together because Daniel Berenbaum 307 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:48,280 was Israeli and Said was Palestinian. 308 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:54,640 I think that he may have had to do with the founding of this east-west orchestra that 309 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:59,320 exists where they have Palestinians and Israelis play together. 310 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,560 They've done shows around the world. 311 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:06,440 Anyway he's very interesting and he wrote about Lake Beethoven and Lake Strauss and 312 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:07,960 Lake Mozart. 313 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:14,920 So my project is to learn and perform the last three Beethoven sonatas, the last three 314 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:23,040 Schubert sonatas and the Prokofiev War sonatas but I don't like the sixth sonata that much. 315 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:24,040 Oh no. 316 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,040 So I'm not going to do it. 317 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,080 I don't think I'm going to do it. 318 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:35,720 And so I substitute the Copland Piano Fantasy which is a very late Copland work and always 319 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,360 meant a lot to me. 320 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:45,560 So based on those pieces and surrounding them with lots of other pieces, late Ligeti etudes, 321 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,040 late Arvo Peric pieces, Philip Glass etudes are fairly late. 322 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,360 I play those. 323 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:54,420 So that's the music part of the project. 324 00:21:54,420 --> 00:22:02,000 And then Karen created paintings as a result of our conversations about the music. 325 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:08,040 And we've done three of these recitals slash art exhibitions. 326 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:13,160 You can see when you hear me playing the Copland Fantasy you can see there are people sitting 327 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:18,440 on the right and left of me and there are paintings behind them. 328 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:24,880 And then in back of the piano is a projection of the painting that is the Copland Piano 329 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:26,420 Fantasy painting. 330 00:22:26,420 --> 00:22:31,700 But the other paintings actually were from other parts of the recital and had been projected 331 00:22:31,700 --> 00:22:34,780 onto the wall, onto the screen. 332 00:22:34,780 --> 00:22:40,400 You know when I played the other pieces I played a Bach piece and I played Opus 111 333 00:22:40,400 --> 00:23:02,840 and even a Bill Evans transcription, a transcription of Jazz solo and she painted that as well. 334 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:15,360 So, that's a perfect example of what we did. 335 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:18,680 So we did that in different places. 336 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,600 You know three recitals, they're very complicated to put together. 337 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:29,560 Especially as most musicians know when you do these things. 338 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:33,720 My job is at New York City Ballet, it's very satisfying but when I do these other things 339 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:41,320 there's no management, there's no stage manager to greet me. 340 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,480 There's no one to make my programs. 341 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,920 You have to embrace it if you want to do those things and I have. 342 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:55,400 I get inspired by, maybe this is too heady, but there was a great conceptual artist named 343 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:56,440 Christo. 344 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,080 He died recently, maybe you know him. 345 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,760 He made environmental art, I think they called it that, something like that. 346 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,360 It's kind of a silly name. 347 00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:10,840 But years ago he made something called the gates in Central Park. 348 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,360 I think maybe before you were born. 349 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:19,800 But I mean my daughter was like two when we did it. 350 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:26,840 What he did is all the paths of Central Park there were like these kind of curtains that 351 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:32,240 fell over the path and these little metal constructions and they were orange. 352 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:36,000 It was very beautiful and it was through the whole park and he did this all over the place. 353 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:41,640 He did it in the mountains of California, he did it in Japan, different things. 354 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:48,080 He was really great and he said that the thing that interested him was how he had to work 355 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:52,680 through the bureaucracy to get the permits. 356 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,440 It wasn't just the art, it was about the process of producing the art. 357 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:03,120 So I like to think when I get depressed that I have to call too many people on the phone, 358 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:09,140 when I do my own projects, I like to think idealistically that you're really in the world. 359 00:25:09,140 --> 00:25:13,320 You're finding out how things work. 360 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:19,080 You're relating to people, you're talking to secretaries, you're talking to heads of 361 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:24,640 opera, opera America, you've got to be personable. 362 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:29,000 You want to work together with them and enter these other worlds that are a little more 363 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,280 cut and dry. 364 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,480 So it's a challenge but it's an interesting challenge. 365 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:41,880 You know ultimately if we can't operate in the world, no matter how high our ideals, 366 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:47,720 it's very important to be able to operate in the world in a way that's consistent with 367 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:59,080 your values, not to sell out but as an act of connection and even being generous to yourself. 368 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,560 You want to feel that you're connected and you have a meaningful way of interacting with 369 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,840 colleagues, with your bosses. 370 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:12,300 All these things are really important and I do think that, and maybe I get this a little 371 00:26:12,300 --> 00:26:20,520 bit from Gil Kalish because Gil Kalish was like super, super mensch, super great guy. 372 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:25,160 He was a musician but everyone said, oh Gil, he's like a regular guy. 373 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,800 But he was very, you could tell that he paid a lot of attention to people and that was 374 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,200 the main thing he taught us. 375 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:40,560 It's not just about you and your piano playing, it's about more than that and your life and 376 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,560 that's a really important thing. 377 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:51,000 No matter who you are, no matter where your gift placed you, you want to have a good life 378 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:57,840 and generally it makes it easier to communicate something so precious if you have, if your 379 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:02,800 environment is fulfilled in a way, full. 380 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:08,240 Absolutely and then you're really living the beautiful life surrounded by people and then 381 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:13,960 surrounded by beautiful art and now, do you plan to do this project with the painter, 382 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:14,960 Karen, soon? 383 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:19,200 I think we might be done with the paintings actually. 384 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:27,800 Now I'm looking for, maybe you know somebody, I'm looking for actors to recite poetry and 385 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:32,640 probably I'll bring it all together but I, you know, this is one of my things is what 386 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,640 I was talking about, about dance is that I think when there's another medium that's set 387 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,240 against music, it helps the audience. 388 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,120 You know I'm very frustrated because I like some very esoteric music like Beethoven and 389 00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:47,920 stuff but I want the audience to get it. 390 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,200 I want them to enjoy it. 391 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,400 I don't want them to go, oh that sounds really complicated. 392 00:27:54,400 --> 00:28:00,640 And so when they have a painting or like in the Copeland or in the Beethoven, they have 393 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:08,560 this painting of what I think is a picture of a kind of feminist message actually of 394 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:20,560 disturbance. 395 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,120 You know it's somehow, it helps the audience. 396 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:27,360 They connect, oh this is disturbing. 397 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:36,880 It's not beautiful, it's beautiful in its disturbingness. 398 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:43,640 You know and so they see a painting, in other art forms people understand that but sometimes 399 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,520 people they just want everything to be beautiful. 400 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,600 Yeah everything to be pretty, right? 401 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:49,600 Pretty. 402 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,280 Yeah pretty, yes. 403 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,040 We want to stay away from prettiness. 404 00:28:54,040 --> 00:29:02,760 Well a little prettiness is okay, you know like foray has a lot of prettiness but on 405 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:03,960 a high level. 406 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,920 But sometimes we need grotesque in beauty, right? 407 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,600 Absolutely, otherwise nothing means anything. 408 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:14,000 Otherwise there is no beauty. 409 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,360 And that's what's great about collaborating with other art forms, so you get it. 410 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:24,120 And it's just such a damn relief too because it's like you know you just you want to play 411 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:31,640 these solo pieces but you know you're not, most of us are not famous pianists you know 412 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,400 who get to play them many many times. 413 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:40,160 You want to make it special for yourself and you want to make it an event for your audience. 414 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,640 Otherwise it's just it's not fun. 415 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,520 It's just yeah yeah absolutely. 416 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,320 Thank you for really sharing your wisdom. 417 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:53,640 So I want to promote New York City Ballet and is there anything that you want to say 418 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,520 about upcoming events or program? 419 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:03,800 Well we're having the spring season coming up that starts in April, late April. 420 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:09,080 The great thing about New York City Ballet now is we have gotten Alexey Ratmansky as 421 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,600 our artist in residence. 422 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:17,120 Alexey is you know along with Justin Peck who's really amazing. 423 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,720 He actually did the new West Side Story movie. 424 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:21,960 He was a choreographer. 425 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:31,840 But Alexey is arguably the greatest choreographer of our time in my opinion and in a lot of 426 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,080 people think that he is so great. 427 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:40,560 He is just so great and he also choreographs really great music to really like Shostakovich 428 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,920 concertos and things. 429 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:47,840 And we are just so fortunate to have him coming here. 430 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:56,040 You know this is the company of Balanchine and Robbins and Alexey is a really and Justin 431 00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:01,960 too but Alexey is I mean getting him is just a wonderful thing for everyone. 432 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:08,040 The dancers in particular they love working with great choreographers like Justin and 433 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:09,040 Alexey. 434 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:10,560 They just love it. 435 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:15,720 You know it's like when you worked with your greatest piano teacher ever you know like 436 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:20,880 Leanne Fleischer or whoever you played for you know like that's the way they feel when 437 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,600 they're in the studio with Alexey. 438 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,680 And that's what you want them to have. 439 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,920 You want that for them. 440 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:39,960 So for those who are listening and watching please visit www.nycballet.com to learn more 441 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:46,560 about New York City Ballet and their programs and their new season coming up in late April. 442 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:52,720 So this has been really fun and inspiring conversation Alan and I unfortunately I have 443 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,520 to let you go very soon because your rehearsal is coming up. 444 00:31:56,520 --> 00:32:00,340 But before I let you go we have one more thing to do. 445 00:32:00,340 --> 00:32:02,840 It's called the piano part rapid fire questions. 446 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:07,240 I didn't warn you but this is part of the show where I get to ask fun questions to each 447 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:08,240 guest. 448 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,760 Here's a little warning as silly as these questions may sound your answers may reveal 449 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:14,440 who you truly are. 450 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,760 So yes I'm good at hiding that. 451 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:19,760 Okay good. 452 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:27,960 So please answer them with the shortest responses as possible and no yes no explanation needed 453 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:28,960 okay. 454 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:29,960 Oh God. 455 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:30,960 All right. 456 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,520 So question number one what is your comfort food. 457 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:43,400 The restaurant across the way from us it's a kind of African influenced restaurant in 458 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,880 the new renovated David Geth mall. 459 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,440 Anything they have there is my comfort food. 460 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:52,160 Great I need to try I need to try that. 461 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,780 Now how do you like your coffee. 462 00:32:54,780 --> 00:32:57,040 With half and half and no sugar. 463 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:58,040 Sounds great. 464 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:04,480 Or in Starbucks what do they say a light splash. 465 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:05,480 Cats or dogs. 466 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:06,480 Both. 467 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,080 What is your word or words to live by. 468 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,080 Freedom. 469 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:15,000 What is the most important quality you look for in other people. 470 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,000 Understanding. 471 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,720 Name three people who inspire you living or dead. 472 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,640 Abraham Lincoln Schubert Rappmansky. 473 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,200 Sounds good. 474 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,920 Name one piece in your current playlist. 475 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,640 Or a Silver Song for my father. 476 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:34,160 It's a jazz. 477 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:36,800 So last question fill in the blank. 478 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,440 Music is blank. 479 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:40,440 Fulfillment. 480 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,360 Yay ding ding ding you won. 481 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,280 Thank you so much Alan for really joining here today. 482 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:47,280 Thank you. 483 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:51,960 You keep me I really appreciate the opportunity to share these things with you and and I hope 484 00:33:51,960 --> 00:34:01,000 that you know everyone will find a good path for themselves either as professional musicians 485 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,720 or transforming that dream into something beautiful. 486 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:06,720 Well said. 487 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,420 So this concludes the episode of the piano part. 488 00:34:09,420 --> 00:34:13,320 Thank you once again Alan for joining my show today and sharing your stories and insights 489 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,920 and expertise and you can find more information about New York City Ballet. 490 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,640 Please visit NYC Ballet dot com. 491 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,120 Thank you to my wonderful audience and fans for tuning in. 492 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:27,280 If you enjoyed today's episode please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform 493 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:28,280 you use. 494 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,920 If you are watching us on YouTube remember to hit the thumbs up button and subscribe 495 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:32,920 to my channel. 496 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,680 You can also find my show on Facebook Twitter Instagram and LinkedIn. 497 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,040 The links are listed in the show notes. 498 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,280 I will see you for the next episode of the piano part. 499 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:49,040 Bye everyone and thank you Alan.