That was the opening of Clara Schumann's Romance,
Op. 11 No. 1, and it was performed by Lucy Parham.
I'm Erica Worth and welcome to this Pianist Podcast.
Today I am speaking with Lucy about her diverse
life in music, with a particular emphasis on
her composer portrait series, which celebrates
its 25th anniversary. Lucy, it's lovely to have
you on the Pianist Podcast today. Lovely to be
here with you. Thank you for inviting me. You're
very welcome. I thought I'd kick off by discussing
a rather landmark achievement in your Composer
Portrait series, this being its 25th anniversary.
So why don't you explain to the listeners what
they can expect at a Composer Portrait concert?
Well, first of all, I mean, the thought that
it's 25 years is quite extraordinary, makes me
feel very old, which of course I am. I, you know,
as with many things in life, these composer portraits
came out of something of a much, almost like
a smaller kernel of an idea. And I used to chat
a lot in my recitals. I've always been very fond
of the music of Robert and Clara Schumann. So
I'd be chatting to the audience and often I'd
read one of the letters before I would play the
fantasy or something like that. And then I would
play it and people would say, gosh, it really
made a difference to hear that letter read before
you played the piece because it put it in context.
And these comments will come quite frequently.
And it just began to plant a kernel of an idea
that maybe there's a way to have more of the
readings and more pieces, but shorter pieces
whereby you could tell a story and give a recital
at the same time. I had never seen this done.
I hadn't really planned to do anything like that.
It just evolved. I mean, don't laugh. It evolved
out of me talking too much in my concerts. So
it sort of came out of that. And I think that,
you know, people sometimes say, yes, what will
I, is it a lecture recital? There is nothing
lecture -like about it at all, far from it. I
would say it's more like in the way that when
we were at school and we would go to music lessons
and you'd see the dusty bust of the composer
on a shelf and you wouldn't, they weren't real
people. They were just people who you maybe learnt
about in a music class. And I wanted to bring
them to life so that you knew about their love
life, their struggles, their financial struggles,
their domestic struggles. But that was in the
context of the music. So if you were to come,
you'd hear about their love or certainly a certain
portion of their life interspersed with pieces
that they wrote. Always whole pieces. I never
chop pieces up. So it's complete pieces. Occasionally
it's one movement, but that's very, very occasional.
And then the actor, narrator. becomes the voice
of that composer. They're not reading random
letters. The letters form a story. And we both
own the stage together. And certainly with my
latest one of I, Clara, I think that both the
actress and I feel we are alternately Clara.
When I'm playing, I'm Clara. And when she is
reading, she's Clara. And then we become one
person in the middle somewhere. So that's a little
bit of the background. Goodness, that is remarkable.
How very interesting. I mean, it really is a
collaboration. It's 50 -50, isn't it, really?
It is. I mean, there tends to be a little bit
more in the way of music than words, but it is
a collaboration. And really, for me, it's a form
of chamber music. And I think what I've really
loved about it is that it's brought people to
concerts that might not otherwise come to concerts.
So they might come because they fancy seeing,
Dame Harriet Walter, for instance, because they've
seen her in theatre or on telly or whatever,
and they might not be a regular concert goer.
But then that's a way to get into going to concerts.
And people have said that, you know, I wouldn't
normally go to a classical concert, but I enjoy
doing that. So it's a good way to combine the
both, I think. That's amazing. And to date, how
many are there of these composer portraits? There
are six. there are six shows now and I've probably
in that 20, I was trying to work this out this
morning, but I must've done, I mean, many hundreds,
probably up to nearer the thousand, but I mean,
certainly, certainly 500, maybe 800. I know it's
a lot. It's a lot. I've haven't counted them
all, but. Have you exported them? Have you played
overseas? Yes, I've been, I've done them in various
countries overseas. Obviously, language is the
barrier. So on the whole, they're better English
speaking countries. And I feel it would be a
little presumptuous to take a show about a German
composer to Germany in English, for instance.
But I think one of the highlights was going abroad,
was going to Turkey to the beautiful big hall
in Istanbul with a very well -known Turkish actress.
We well, she she did the show in Turkish. Obviously,
I speak absolutely no Turkish at all. And normally,
you know, I mean, you've seen some of the shows
and you know that the baton is handed between
me and the actress fairly seamlessly. I know
where to come in and I know the kind of mood
to take up from the actor. But of course, because
I speak no Turkish, we had to arrange this sort
of code whereby the last sentence before I would
play the piece. She had a little table with props
on it and she would raise her glass or she would
run her fingers through her hair. So I had a
little list on the piano. I don't have the music,
but I had a little list saying runs fingers through
hair or picks up pen. The trouble was occasionally
she would do this unprompted, unrelated to that
by mistake. And I didn't know if that was my
cue or not. So I think I've never felt so exhausted
at the end of a concert. It was she was terrific
and it was. Amazing to do it in that space. But
in Turkish was not something that I'd ever. And
the text was transcribed by an English professor
into Turkish over there. So hopefully it was
very close to the text. But yes, who thought?
Who'd have thought? Now, I don't know who that
actress was or actor, but you've got some amazing
actors on your on the roster, don't you? I mean,
you've talked about Dame Harriet Walter. Juliet
Stevenson. Oh, my goodness. It goes on and on.
I'm having a blank. But if you could explain
actors and actresses. Yes, of course. The thing
the great difference between music world and
the drama world is that musicians, as you know,
get booked up very far in advance. You know,
people are looking for 2027 now, but actors tend
to get. sometimes weeks occasionally even days
in advance um apart from maybe a major play but
they might have six months notice so the problem
i was encountering was that if a certain actor
or actress would say yes they could do that date
when it came to the date they weren't free to
do the date because suddenly they've got a run
at national theater or they're in a film in hollywood
or something so then i didn't have that actor
anymore so it became apparent that um you know
you can't run on a system of understudies but
you can run on a system of a pool of actors who
are all happy to stand in for one another and
there's no lead person but whoever is available
and it's known that if that person is not available
somebody I would go to somebody else and hopefully
they would be kind enough to step in so I didn't
know any actors at all when I started literally
none but I've always loved going to the theatre
yeah I was a bit awestruck by these actors. How
did you manage to get them to take part in your
show? I mean, you didn't know them that well.
I mean, it's quite remarkable how they have enjoyed
and continue to enjoy working with you in these
shows. Well, I think, I mean, in the beginning,
I literally knew no actors at all. And I wrote
Cold to a wonderful actor called Malcolm Sinclair,
who I'd seen in a production of Alan house and
garden I saw in his biography that he worked
a lot with the national ensemble so I knew that
he liked music and I wrote to him via spotlight
the actress director and said I'm not some bonkers
musician but I've got a bit of an idea you know
what do you think and we met for coffee and he
was lovely and he said don't put don't put any
extra narration in just use their words and get
back to me when you've done it so That was really
quite that was quite something. But he did narrate
and has narrated a lot for me in the past. And
then, you know, if he couldn't do it, he might
suggest somebody else. And if somebody else couldn't
suggest, they might have suggested. But I've
been very fortunate, Erica, that actually a lot
of these people I work with have become real
friends in my life. So, you know, we it's more
than a working. relationship now and that makes
it really special because you know sometimes
for instance if you're going to Scotland we might
go up the day before so you've got a nice train
journey and then you don't come back till the
day after so essentially you're hanging out with
someone for three days and that's a lovely way
for friendships to form and I feel very I mean,
Simon Russell Beale and I had the most extraordinary
time and touring in Southern Ireland as part
of Finnegan Collins' wonderful festival in Galway.
And it rained for five days to the point that
if you would step outside, you would feel you'd
gone in the shower. And I have never laughed
with somebody so much. And they looked after
us so well in Galway. The weather was, I have
no words for the weather, but it's one of those
memorable times. that I won't forget. And of
course, those things like that are very bonding
experiences. Oh, it sounds amazing. And I know
you've got so many of them are your friends now.
It's fantastic. And what's it like working with
actors compared to working with musicians? Do
they see things differently? Do they work differently?
Do they have to prepare as much as a poor concert
pianist? I think nobody has to prepare as much
as a poor concert pianist. I mean, Well, you
know, we we we're locked in our room for days
and days and hours and weeks. And so, no, I mean,
if any of them were here now, nobody would say
that they would spend eight weeks on on a script.
But they do take it seriously. And often they'll
ask really interesting questions about the script.
Or they might say, I don't think the sentence
works here. Why don't we move it? Or what what
was the context of this? So they do for sure.
I mean, nobody's just turning up and reading
it. Work goes into it. And then we'll work on
the actual day and try to make it seamless. And
then sometimes, such as in my Rachmaninoff show,
Henry Goodman is another wonderful actor, as
you know, I work with, who had a fantastic idea
about starting with a pre -recorded telegram
that had been sent to Rachmaninoff on his deathbed.
And he said, I think we should pre -record it
and play it through speakers at the start of
the show. And I said, no, no, no, that's going
to be a nightmare because you've got to get the
recording to all the venues in advance. But actually,
even though it is logistically a little bit of
a nightmare, it makes a huge difference because
I know you've seen my Rachmaninoff show, but
this is... blasted out through the speakers before
he even comes on the stage and then he comes
on very and then suddenly he's in the body of
Rachmaninoff really you feel you're with Rachmaninoff
on the stage so and similarly Harriet with iClara
has come up with some staging ideas so these
are not staged shows but sometimes they come
up with great ideas that I could never have thought
of because I'm not an actor or a director but
um you know it's it's it's interesting to learn
about that Has it ever happened? And of course,
you don't have to mention any names where you've
asked a certain actor to do one of your shows
and it just hasn't worked. Yes, I think sometimes
you don't. It has happened a couple of times,
not recently, but in the more distant past where
you can see it's not particularly something that
they would want to do further on and didn't take
it quite as seriously. But not to any large,
large extent. I think, you know, all the people
I work with are, you know, we're a close -knit
little team. And so, no, not anymore. Maybe a
long time ago, but not these days. Okay. Yeah.
Okay. Well, talking of the repertoire that goes
into these shows, most of it, apart from maybe
Debussy, but most of it. It's romantic. And I
think your repertoire is diverse, but I noticed
there is a leaning towards a romantic style,
especially Schumann and Brahms. Is this the music
that you love? Oh, it really is. I mean, Schumann,
Chopin, Brahms are my absolute. Actually, and
Rachmaninoff. You're right. They're all romantic.
How could I say otherwise? It's always, since
I was a child, that was the music that just drew
me in, spoke to me. And how can you not love
these composers? And we all play that game, don't
we? If you were on a desert island and you can
only take one composer, who would it be? Well,
I'm going to ask you that later. I'm going to
ask you that later. So hold tight there. No,
I know you mentioned these great composers. What
about Clara Schumann? I notice, I believe you
were the first to record both the Clara and Robert
Schumann concertos onto one album. Yes, you know,
in the mid 90s, in 1996, it was the 100th anniversary
of her death. And obviously, you know, for people
listening, Clara Schumann is incredibly popular
today. But in the 90s, almost nobody played her
music. And the interest was just not there. But
I always loved it. And I thought it had such
a unique voice. Obviously not in the same league
as Robert's music, but it's beautiful music.
It's incredible that she wrote what she did under
the circumstances that she lived in and having
really very little chance to study composition.
And of course, she was the most extraordinary
pianist that we have known apart from Liszt.
So the fact that she composed as well is really
extraordinary. And in the 90s, nobody was playing
her music. So I did do a concert at the Wigmore
Hall. to commemorate her 100th anniversary which
was a combination of both of their pieces and
with a big major work of Schumann in each half
as well. I played Carnival and also Chryslerianna
and a lot of her shorter pieces and then that
year also I recorded the piano concerto of Robert
and the piano concerto of Clara and her beautiful
concert sets, which is, she didn't finish, but
was finished by a wonderful musicologist. And
so I recorded that. And I believe at the time
that was the first coupling. I may be wrong,
but that was the first coupling. And certainly
in this country, people were not, it was always
Greek and Schumann. You remember you'd have those,
the Schumann went with the Greek, not with the
Clara. So I'm both in a minor. Interesting. It's
30 odd years ago now. It's remarkable. Well,
I mean, I can tell performing, of course, is
a big part of your life. But you obviously teaching
is important, too. You're a professor at the
Guildhall. And of course, you're a regular writer
for our advanced how to play column inside pianist.
I mean, teaching is an important part of your
musical life. I think it's for me, it's a really
important. apart and I've learned so much through
teaching because then when you're practicing
you think oh am I doing what I'm saying how would
I explain this to somebody else and also things
that you take for granted that aren't too difficult
to do somebody else may find challenging and
you have to work out how you do that and conversely
the other way you know sometimes I have students
who can play things with such ease that I You
know, I couldn't believe it. It would take me,
you know, days and days and days to be able weeks
and weeks. So it teaches you a lot about yourself
and about other people because, you know, we've
all got different personalities. And it's it's
a very good thing to do for a musician. I think
one needs a lot of patience, but I get so much
back from that. I feel it's a great privilege
for me. Oh, that's fantastic. I mean, you yourself
had a great teacher in Joan Havel. I did. You
know, she was an extraordinary teacher. And I
always say to this day that I don't think I'd
be playing the piano now had I not met her. She
totally I was a 16 year old who really needed
a lot of technical help and support. And she
she was the first person who really believed
in me and said, you know, you could you could
do this. And we worked very well together because
she gave 100 percent and I gave 100 percent.
And that in a teacher student relationship is
always the that, you know, I wanted to learn.
I was hungry to learn and to be helped. And she
was she I absolutely owe so much to her. Wow.
And was she the she was the teacher behind you
when you won the 1984 piano category of young
musician? She was. I'd only just gone to her,
actually. And funny enough, there's a tiny little
story attached to this that my first lesson with
her was the morning after the 19, the previous
competition. And I'd heard it on the television
and I'd been eliminated from that competition,
I think, in the first or second round. And I'd
gone to her house and I said, oh, you know, it
was wonderful. And she said, well, if you work
hard, you could win that next time. And I thought.
You're mad. You know who? Obviously, I could
never win it. And she said, yeah, we'll work
really hard and you could win it. And it really
made me think a lot about the power of positive
thoughts with teaching and really getting, you
know, encouraging somebody. Of course, nobody
knew if you could win or not win. But the belief
that you could was enough to fire you up and
keep you going. Yes, you could say that. But
obviously, she did have faith in you. She could
see something there. you know well one would
one one would hope so well she was right wasn't
she and that really did launch your career and
one could say right i think do you know what
i mean back in the day in the 80s it it was it's
not that it's not a huge competition now because
it is but i think uh the fact that they were
we only had four or five channels you know so
And the final was live on BBC Two. And I'd only
played about three concertos in my life with
a local youth orchestra. So can you imagine the
pressure to play live on the television with
BBC Philharmonic? I mean, it was massive. I was
only 17 or 18. So, but the coverage, I remember
going to do my driving test a couple of days
later in Guildford. You have to do reversing
round a corner. And I clicked the corner and
the driving instructor said to me, oh, you clicked
the corner. He said, but I think you've been
very busy this weekend playing the piano. So
why don't we have another go? So he sort of it
was just such a nice thing to do. Even the driving
instructor had seen it on the telly. Yes. Goodness,
that's remarkable. Examiner, not instructor,
examiner. It was the actual test. So, yes, funny
little things like that. But it's a long time
ago now. Yeah. Well, talking of TV, I'm now going
to turn to radio. And you enjoy presenting on
both Radio 3 and Radio 4 as well, don't you?
Yeah. You know, I've really enjoyed doing the
radio. I've always loved radio since I was a...
kid I used to sort of burrow down my bed with
a radio and a single earphone when I was about
eight so as a medium it's always something I'd
I've loved probably more than television actually
and would choose it as a medium but um it's been
a great privilege to do programs and sometimes
I do some record review or building a library
um various programs like that on radio three
and I've made some features for radio four and
it's a joy to go and chat to people and explore
other things about music and you know the microphone
is your friend and it's very different from television
and there's an intimacy about it that I think
is very appealing to me so I've enjoyed doing
it and feel grateful for all those opportunities
to do that because it engages my brain in another
way which is a good idea. Well, absolutely. And
I really enjoy listening to some of your building
libraries on Radio 3. And I mean, I know sometimes
you're given something like Rack 3 or the Schumann
Concerto. Surely it must take so much preparation
for these programmes when you've got so many
recordings to compare. Yeah, I mean, it's a it's
a huge task because actually and I think what
a lot of people don't realise when they listen
and. for a very good reason because why would
you but you can only have eight or nine recordings
in your final pick so you're always going to
leave out somebody's favorite it's impossible
with those pieces you've just mentioned there
are so many standards benchmark and wonderful
recordings so it's just a little snapshot and
sometimes I like to include pieces interpretations
that aren't so well known to you know open the
the daughter somebody else who I've enjoyed very
much but maybe isn't one of the most famous pianists
in the world that that's a nice to be able to
to do that and um actually on the 27th of this
month I'm going to be doing um Christ Liriana
for building a library which is a piece very
close to my own heart and ironically I've actually
recorded it myself although obviously that will
not be In the programme. But it's a lot of work,
as you say, and a lot of study. And it gives
me a lot to think about. I think it's a very
interesting job to do. How wonderful. So that's
the 27th of December. That's the 27th on radio.
The afternoon of Saturday, the 27th. Record review.
It's building a library. Fantastic. Oh, exciting.
I'll be listening. OK, right. We're now going
to ask you a few questions. I'm going to ask
you a few questions and we're going to go back
to that one desert island question. So these
are some light hearted questions that I'd like
to pose to you. First one being, if you could
play only one composer from now on, who would
it be? For me, that's quite easy, actually, that
Brahms. Wow. OK. Yeah. Why? Because. I mean,
Schumann coming in a very, very close second
with Chopin. But there's something about Brahms
that just touches my soul so much that I couldn't
live without his music, even though it's a relatively
small output compared with Beethoven or some
of the other composers. But that is the music.
And I include in that all the symphonies and
the double concerto and all of it. That would
be... If I could only take one away, it would
be his complete work, songs, everything. Fantastic.
OK, next question. One pianist, dead or alive,
you'd travel long and far to hear? Oh, that's
a very, very difficult question. Dead or alive.
My goodness. I mean, probably Horowitz. Oh, OK.
I would say. But, you know, I'd quite like to
have heard Clara Schumann. I figured you'd say
that. Have you heard Horowitz? Have you heard
Horowitz live? Never heard him live, no. I have
many of his recordings, of course. And there
are so many wonderful pianists in the world,
that's a difficult one to answer. Of course.
One person, dead or alive, you would like to
play for? Ooh. I think I'd have to say Clara
to that one, wouldn't I? I mean, you know, I
think she could give me a few tips on playing
her music. What about Robert as well? Maybe the
two of them together? Maybe the two of them.
Maybe we could have a private soiree. OK, next
question. Do you have any technical struggles
at the piano? Oh, loads. Absolutely. I think
there were so many. Every piece is full of technical
struggles, even what one doesn't think of as
technique, you know, to play a beautiful cantabile
piece with the most amazing sound and legato
projection. This is also technique, but it's
not just about running around in double thirds.
But running around in double thirds is also quite
tricky. So, yes, it's all tricky. But, you know,
that's why we do it. So there are obviously pieces
that I am not going to play because there are
people who can play them much better. So now
that I'm older, I like to think more about the
pieces that really suit me and leave the other
rep, much as I love it, to people who can really
knock it out of the park. That's a very, very
clever idea. Absolutely. What would be your advice
to an amateur pianist about how to improve? Oh,
well, I think. Funnily enough, I've taught a
lot of amateur pianists over the years. And I
would say it's consistency. It's about, you may
know that I'm a bit of a gym bunny as well. And
it's a similar kind of thing. It's little and
often. And it's not that crash to our practice
the day before your lesson. It's getting to the
piano every day, even if it's for 15 minutes.
It's always better to do a little bit well. than
to try and do a lot roughly and take it. So I
often say to my students, it's like having a
set of Lego and you've got to build a house out
of it. You have to start with that first bit
of Lego and start to build the foundations. So
a little bit every day would be my advice. Goodness,
do you go to the gym every day? I go to the gym
at least four times a week, yeah. My goodness,
and does that help you relax a bit away from
the piano? It's not very relaxing. this is not
this is not relevant to our webinar but um i
was diagnosed with osteoporosis and they wanted
to have all kinds of things to help me with that
but then somebody said oh you can go and lift
weights and it helps and i got a bit addicted
so something else took me there and now i really
enjoy going and i think it's very good for the
for the for the mind and i'm with all these you
know men with big muscles and uh it's quite It's
a different part of my life. That is fantastic.
I get it. I get it. If you weren't a pianist,
what would you be? Don't laugh. I always wanted
to be a detective. I'm trying not to laugh. Great.
Why? I really kind of fancied. I often thought
about, you know, joining the police, becoming
a detective. I don't know. I probably read too
many crime novels. Yeah, I would have, I think,
enjoyed that. I don't know whether I would have,
but it's something I thought about when I was
younger. So the moment has passed now. That's
so interesting. I think it would be a very, very
interesting career, actually. Yes. Something
a bit left field. Wonderful. OK, last question.
One composer you're not quite ready to tackle.
That's a very good question because one of my
favourite composers, for obvious reasons, is
Bach. I couldn't live without his music. And
yet I don't think I've ever programmed his music
in a recital. Wow. Even though I have played
quite a lot of it, but I don't feel comfortable
playing his music on stage. And that's just because
of the way it suits me, suits my hands. But I
love it with a passion and will listen a lot,
not obviously just to the keyboard, but all his
outputs. So I would have to say Bach is, if one's
talking about standard, not slightly left field.
That's so interesting. What about then Mozart,
Scarlatti? Do you feel the same a bit there?
No, not really, because I've played a lot of
those. I've played lots of Mozart concerti over
the years and many Scarlatti sonatas and things.
So, yeah. Bach is very, very difficult for pianists,
I think. And there are so many wonderful Bach
experts that I feel that's their territory. And
I would not impose upon that because I wouldn't
do it as well. It's so vast that it's almost
a whole career in itself, isn't it? You're right,
it is. And I think if we think of the great Bach
specialists in our world, most of them do focus
on that area very strongly. It's not all they
play, but they're very well. If you think of
people like Schiff and Angela Hewitt, these are
people, you know, for for playing. Yeah, absolutely.
Oh, Lucy, it's been such a pleasure having you
on the podcast and we've come to the end. What
can I say? What are you up to? What are you up
to this week? Busy week ahead. A busy week ahead.
I run a series called Shackleford Concerts in
Surrey. And we always have a Christmas concert,
which is a lot of fun. We have narrators and
Christmas music. And I'm playing some duets with
wonderful pianist Richard Sisson. So I am busy
doing things for that to get that concert off
the ground. And it's festive fun. Oh, how lovely.
When is that concert? That's on the 18th of...
December in Surrey. It's sort of near the Guildford
area. If anyone wanted to come, it's on the website.
It's called Shackle for Concerts. And it's a
mixture of readings and music. And we have Susan
Bullock singing and Lisa Friend playing the flute
and Joanna David and Freddie Fox narrating. So
we've got a lovely Tom Elwyn singing. It's going
to be a fantastic lineup. And we have a lot of
fun. We do a matinee in the evening and a lot
of laughter is had, as you can imagine. Fantastic.
OK, well, you know, hope all goes well in the
rehearsals next week. Thank you. And I hope you
have a lovely Christmas. You're doing such a
brilliant job with the magazine. We're very lucky
to have you and the magazine. Oh, thank you so
much, Lucy. Thank you very much for joining us
today. It's a pleasure. Happy Christmas. Happy
Christmas. Bye bye. That was Liszt's Un Sospiro
and it was performed by Lucy Parham. Pianist
podcasts are free and a really good way to support
what we do is by subscribing to Pianist. Visit
our website at pianistmagazine .com and listen
to us on YouTube by searching Pianist Magazine.
And don't forget to sign up to our newsletter,
which is full of extra playing tips and useful
information. Go to pianistmagazine .com to find
out how to sign up.