you That was the third movement of Ravel's Ma
Mère Loire and it was played by Alessio Bax and
Lucille Chung. I'm Erica Wirth and welcome to
this Pianist Podcast. Today I will be chatting
with the Italian -born pianist Alessio Bax about
his passion for chamber music, his exciting life
in New York City and much more. Alessio, it's
great to have you on the Pianist Podcast today.
Thank you, Erica. Very welcome. I'd like to kick
off by asking you about the inaugural London
Festival of Chamber Music, which takes place
at the end of March at Smith Square Hall in London,
and of which you are artistic director. How did
this come about? Well, as you know, I've been
interested in organising festivals as a way to
really get friends and musicians together. And
there are many reasons for this. I mean, as I
get older, of course, I still love playing concerti
every week and I still do. But I really cherish
these opportunities of collaborating with great
musicians that happen to be great people and
great friends. First of all, it's so much fun.
And I think at this stage in my life, it's where
I learned the most. you know sharing the stage
with with amazing musicians especially playing
different instruments and different repertoire
being challenged every year with a new repertoire
um in different type of conditions i mean it's
something that i really um i think it's been
um uh enlightening to me in the last years that's
very very interesting yeah because i mean you
obviously love chamber music it's become has
it become the focus of your Playing? I'm still
doing mostly concerti almost. I mean, this year,
almost every week. So this is a labor of love
in a way. And normally chamber music is reserved
for the summer. There are a few summer festivals,
you know, the one I've been directing in Italy
for 10 years now. It'll be my last year in Italy
as artistic director. And then James Haines Festival
in Seattle, for example. And there are a few
others, but very few. And during the year, the
occasional tour with... you know, long -time
collaborators. And other than that, there's not
much chamber music. And of course, playing two
pianos with my wife, Lucille Chung. Of course.
But this opportunity came about because I've
known, it's now called Sinfonia Smith Square.
And they took over what was formerly called,
I have to keep this straight, there's so many
name changes, St. John's Smith Square, and now
Smith Square Hall, and Sinfonia Smith Square,
the orchestra itself, the organization, used
to be the South Bank Sinfonia, with whom I first
collaborated 22 years ago. So after winning the
Leeds competition, I had the opportunity to play
with them. I also played with them with their
patron, Vladimir Ashkenazy, conducting me in
Rachmaninoff, which was a dream. We've made a
couple of recordings together, but it's an organization
that's just run so well. And over the years,
it's grown in such beautiful ways. They have
a great team of doers and problem solvers, you
know, as it were. And, you know, once they got
a hold of St. John Smith Square, they had to
fill it, you know, in different ways. And I thought,
you know, this space is so special. First of
all, the history of it is incredible, you know.
And the facility itself, I mean, it's a medium
-sized hall. This sounds fantastic. It's incredibly
flexible. You can have concerts on stage. You
can have concerts on the floor, lengthwise or
in its width. And it always sounds good. It's
not too small. It's not too big. So you can have
orchestra. They have a resonant orchestra, obviously,
Sinfonia Smith Square. And I thought, you know,
London is so many great concerts. So much, actually,
as you know, great chamber music, but not really
a real festival where people get together, they
work. a specific repertoire maybe things they've
never done before in the hall where they're going
to play and and they spend time together eat
meals together um and i thought there was an
opportunity to create something really special
uh given the flexibility of the space and of
the organization as well um how long have you
been preparing for this how long it's been a
couple of years uh really um But we have an opportunity,
which is very rare nowadays for many reasons,
to mix chamber music with orchestral pieces,
with concerti, and I've been blessed to know
really wonderful instrumentalists they also are
great conductors so so the orchestra and the
audience will see them in different uh with different
hats on you know they'll play chamber music then
they'll lead the orchestra they'll coach um the
orchestral players in the chamber music um the
the The bursaries, they're actually bursaries
in the orchestra. They stay there for a year
and then they go on to different professional
jobs. They have access to all the musicians all
the time, which it would be very, very fun, I
think, for everyone involved. That's fantastic.
So it takes place over a weekend, does it? I
mean, I see 25 to 29 in March. It's very busy.
You know, we have seven events. between the 25th
and 29th so there are evening concerts there's
late night concerts lunchtime concerts as well
and there's a chamber music session of coaching
with all the musicians together pitching in so
there's a lot a lot going on oh it sounds absolutely
fantastic Anything utterly unique that you'd
like to tell me about during that weekend? I
mean, you said there was coaching, which I really
liked, you know. Yes, yes. And also to have these
amazing musicians all together. You know, everyone
will have a different outlook. And the fact that
we have an orchestra available, which is really
vibrant, young and great. And so the type of
repertoire we can do is incredible. You know,
we'll have... the programs are mixed with concerti,
symphonies, and chamber music. That's something
that no other place can do for whatever reason,
you know. Then the late night concerts were very
adventurous programs as well. There is, you know,
a folk element to it with the wonderful French
Cypriot singer Sarah Restidou, who will sing.
from anywhere from Cypriot's false songs through
Ravel, Kurt Weill and Ligeti with orchestra.
It is really like, I think there's, I felt really
like a kid in a candy store, you know? Yes, that's
amazing. I mean, what's great about you, I've
noticed, you play all types of repertoire. As
you say, you've played, you know, you do the
rack two, the rack three, and then you like to
really branch out and discover new repertoire.
Is that something important to you to always
discover? I mean, we're so lucky as pianists
to have so much great repertoire. There's still
things I haven't done and, you know, I have less
and less time. But yeah, but I'm, you know, there's
some type of pianist that... love to do one two
concerti a year i like to keep it more varied
maybe to a fault i mean this year between january
and may i calculated 11 different concerti which
i think it's a bit a bit much but um it's hard
to to pass opportunities that that that you know
that's something you can learn from i find and
How do you juggle 11 concerti? How do you juggle
that? One at a time. Sorry? One at a time. I'm
through four now, so I still have a few more
to go. Oh, my goodness. Well, they're obviously
all pieces that you've played many, many times,
but you still have to brush them up to whatever
again, don't you? Yeah, some are, but it's still,
you know, being on stage to me. And it's not
getting any easier. I mean, it still feels like
a life or death situation, you know, where you
give it all and you never know what's going to
happen. So you can prepare as much as you want
and then still not know what's going to happen.
But you learn from these experiences and sometimes,
you know, you don't want it to feel so comfortable
that it's not special anymore. So there's a fine
line. It's exciting. My teacher used to say this
all the time, and it's so true. There's never
been one concert where at one point, it could
be when you first hear about the concert, it
could be as you're preparing, it could be the
day of the concert, hopefully not during the
concert, where there hasn't been a moment of
panic. It's like, oh my God, I have to play Rack
3. Sometimes I wake up from a nap and it's like...
oh what's tonight and have this like few seconds
where okay it's it's it's we rehearsed it this
morning it's fine oh my goodness isn't that funny
because you always people always think you get
nervous just before you walk on the stage or
or during a performance but you're just saying
you i mean during the performance is the worst
time to get nervous obviously and and and that
doesn't thankfully if you prepare well enough
doesn't happen too often But right before going
on stage or the morning or sometimes before a
huge... I remember a few years ago I was touring
with Hammerklavier Sonata. And I had this feeling
every morning I had to play that, that this is
going to be a different day. You know, you wake
up in the morning with... And it's not nervousness.
It's just a responsibility that you feel, like
a heaviness that you feel. Oh, wow, I have to
go through Hammer Clavier today. Let's see. You
know, and then once you start, it's a beautiful
journey. Oh, my goodness. Hopefully you get people
on board. I mean, what's really, yeah. No, what's
really interesting when you're playing a piece
like that, you've got to be so immersed in it,
haven't you? But then again, you've got to almost
be above it. Right. Yeah. Yeah, that's the goal.
I mean, the best experiences I've ever had is
when you're at the piano and you feel like you're
in control of what you're doing, yet you're basically
like a conductor, you know, and you're observing
this, you're hearing the sound in the space,
not at the piano. But that's a very, very hard
thing to achieve. You know, and you need also
a lot of experience. And the more people you
have on stage, the more problematic that is,
you know, because everybody has to be in tune.
So that's why I think chamber music is so important,
because you learn to be flexible. I mean, very
often, whether it's a collaboration, a concerto
or chamber music, I think of them as basically
the same experience. And I mean, the way to get
there are a bit different. You know, if you're
playing rack three, you need... you know different
type of sound and so on but the at the end it's
all the same and and you know often people think
of a collaboration as finding middle ground or
a common something in common and i don't think
of it that way i think that's chamber music i
bring everything i have to bring my colleagues
to the same and the results should be better
than than any of us by ourselves that's the idea
also with orchestra you know if you have to compromise
then it's not so much fun anymore That's interesting.
Don't you feel more, I don't know what to say,
nervous, lonely when you're playing a recital?
Isn't there more of a burden on you when there's
just yourself on the stage? Yes and no. I mean,
recital is still, I think to this day, is one
of the hardest experiences for pianists because,
you know, it's a large program by yourself. If
you're a violinist, it's already chamber music,
you know. unless you're playing solo Bach. You
ask any violinist, that's the most terrifying
thing to do. But we have to do that quite often
as pianists, you know, and there's this added
pressure of having to play, recital the memory
as well. So it is somewhat terrifying, yet you're
in control of the journey, 100%, you know. you
take all the glory and you take all the blame.
Yes, I mean, goodness. But it's something I have
to say. I mean, unfortunately, especially, you
know, my career brings me in different places
and I come to Europe every couple of months or
so, but it's mostly in the US now. And that's
something that's unfortunately is disappearing.
There are very few recital series. And I mean,
when I was younger, I was mostly playing. playing
recitals and having, you know, before the Leeds
competition, especially, and having some orchestral
experience, dreaming, you know, one day I would
play with orchestras all the time. And now that's
mostly what I'm doing on the orchestras and recitals
are disappearing. And it's very, very tricky.
And that's in America or you feel all over the
world in general? I think all over the world
in America is more obvious because there were
never that many recital series. I mean, you can
count them now on one hand. good recital series
and if you appear there one year you're not going
to go back for in for a few years so um and there's
so many wonderful pianists young pianists and
up and coming that should be playing as well
so goodness yes you're right now you you were
born in barry in julia the pulia region of italy
um not an obvious i mean you that you took your
first lessons there in barry you had a oh yeah
i was very lucky that i mean there's a very good
um conservatory quite large and uh especially
for piano you know there are many great pianists
that came from barry or from their um they detached
the monopoly it was like next next door town
um that's part of the same conservatory like
benedetto lupo beatrice rana you know and it's
all that the coming going back to the neapolitan
school of vincenzo vitale and then all that and
the the children and grandchildren musical grandchildren
nino rota was was the director of the conservatory
before my time and and godfather to everyone
that went through that conservatory so it was
a very good tradition and i always had very good
teachers i have to say so that um Then I think
the Southern Utah in general and the city of
Bari had a few years when I was growing up that
didn't do so well. The theater, beautiful Petruzzelli
Theater burned down and was not rebuilt for 20
years. And now there's a renaissance in the arts
and music. The Berlin Philharmonic played their
Europa concert. you know, their biggest concert
of the year in Bari last year. So it's a dream
come true, you know. Is it a lovely theatre?
It is, it's a beautiful, beautiful opera theatre,
of course. I mean, next to San Carlo in Naples,
probably, you know, the best in the South. Interesting.
And so after that, where did you go and study?
Or, yes, I mean, where did you move away from
Bari? Well, I finished the conservatory quite
young. I was 14 instead of, you know, the regular
age was 20. And it's my parents that realized
there was... much more outside body um i always
since the age of eight i've been going to master
classes first with paul badura skoda for many
years and then joaquin achucaro and then eventually
i decided to come to america to study with joaquin
achucaro who's been a great mentor of mine wonderful
He's 93, still practicing five, six hours a day.
I just saw him last month in Bilbao and I was
playing there and he gave me a two -hour lesson,
which was really fantastic. And so, yeah, that's
how I moved. I've been in the States ever since.
That's great that you're telling me you're still
having a lesson. Oh, yeah. It's been a while.
It was just as demanding as ever. That is fantastic.
Fantastic. That is fantastic. So and then, of
course, you won the Leeds, didn't you, in 2000.
So how old were you then in your 20s? I was 22,
yeah. So young. And you won the Leeds. I mean,
nowadays, it's not that young anymore. But back
then, it was. Yeah, you're right. You're right.
And you'd won the Hamamatsu three years earlier.
Are these competition wins, did they launch your
career, really? Absolutely. I mean, I think I
absolutely have to say that, like, you know,
nobody knew my name before that. Although, you
know, I have to say back in those years, late
90s and 2000, competitions, as you may remember,
were not seen, were seen with a little bit of
a suspicious attitude. You know, there were this
thing like. competition winners, which was not
necessarily seen as a good thing. And you had
to prove yourself in the real world. I'm glad
that in the old days. um in the days of radu
lupo murray pariah they both won the leads it
was it was you know you've absolutely started
a career unless you messed it up by yourself
and and then now i think they they um it's a
very positive thing you know everyone is looking
for the next winner of bank library or or or
or a chopin competition especially um and there's
a focus on youth but i think i was really in
the years where where okay, there's a competition
winner. How good is this person really? Which
in a way was very healthy way to start. Yes.
I kind of started a little slower. I didn't have,
you know, 100 concerts on my first year after
winning the leads. And then I had a chance to
focus at the same time more on chamber music
as well, especially after moving to New York
and grow kind of organically. Yet people... knew
that I had won those competitions. So there was
a level of trust that, you know, at least I would
have had the chops or the musicianship to be
on stage. Who was the conductor at the time?
Was it Simon Rattle? Simon Rattle was his last
year. And, you know, my dream getting into the
leads. But before in the Hamamatsu, my dream
was to play the Brahms first concerto with a...
what they would call a proper orchestra, and
they did. They ended up winning. And in Leeds,
my dream was to play with Sir Simon and CBSO.
And did you play the Brahms again there? I played
the Brahms, yeah. And it was really, I mean,
we had, I think, a 30 -minute rehearsal for a
45 -minute concerto. This is number one or two?
Number one or two? Number one, number one. And
there were three very different Brahms. first
concert in the finals out of 60. There were three
bronze ones in the finals. It was really a dream.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Wow. And now you're in
New York. How come you've chosen to live in New
York? Well, I was, as I said, I'd been in the
States for a long time studying. And, you know,
they've lived in Dallas, that's where Quakina
Chukarot taught, and in Bari before that. I was
coming to New York very often for concerts and
rehearsals, but I had never lived in a big music
center. So I thought it was about time to do
that. And it did change my life. I think it was
very important to come to New York at that time,
just to be in the middle of things and know people
and play very high level chamber music. And it
was a very, very good decision. when did you
move to new york how many years ago um about
15 years so it changed your life because you
were so much surrounded by the best and so uh
in a way in a way yes and kind of i think at
some point in your in your life you have to live
in a major music center you know when you have
touring orchestra coming in and you can hear
great concerts you can you can spend time with
people like that I mean to this day uh if I'm
home and and we have friends visiting playing
Carnegie Hall or New York Philharmonic or whatever
um you know I would organize dinners at home
and and and just be with people I think it's
very important to to cultivate these friendships
with people that you like and admire absolutely
I presume you live on the Upper West Side Upper
East now. We have a daughter that's 11 years
old and she goes to school here. So it just makes
things a little bit easier. Yeah, because I always
think of the Upper West Side as being like the
artisty area. I mean, right now, honestly, I
love New York. There's so much to offer, especially
to a child, actually. She sings in the children's
chorus at the Met Opera. There's about 35 performances
every year and it's a very rigorous program.
But it's at the highest possible level. I mean,
and that's because we live here. So that's just
one example how many things the city can offer.
I don't know. And now I think it's very exciting.
I don't know nowadays how important for me it
is. you know to live in new york as opposed to
a much more livable place you know but so we
i don't know where we'll end up eventually but
for now this is home yeah it's a great city i
mean honestly for what you're doing it really
is and your wife of course is lucille chung she's
a wonderful pianist and you've even made recordings
with her haven't you So next week we'll be in
Florida with Jacksonville Symphony and we're
playing three concerti in the same programme,
three times. So it will be our show. It will
be fun. Oh my goodness, so you'll play one...
Well, we're doing the Mozart double, the Poulenc
concerto and Saint -Saëns Carnival of the Animals
on the same programme. That is fantastic. It
will be a big party. Three days in a row, so
that will be fun. Oh, my goodness. I think it's
great. And did you ever kind of like fall out
about ideas or, you know? No, I mean, this is
really like we've been playing together for such
a long time. We don't even need to speak in rehearsals.
You know, we just get. and get together if we
have to learn new repertoire of course they take
time and learn it but otherwise it's something
that just somehow happens you know I do so much
chamber music with so many people and I think
it's great but when it comes to two pianos or
piano for hands it's a very different beast altogether
you know the result has to be the same but when
you're sharing the same instrument yes it's much
more complicated it's not I mean it rarely works
no matter how great the talents are that you
get two people randomly together and on two pianos
or one piano for hand and it works. It's very
difficult. That is very interesting. My goodness.
I'm sure listeners would love to know how you
met Lucille. We met at the Hamamatsu competition
in 97. But she was, it was very complicated.
We just met as friends for many years, but she
was about to move to Italy and I was already
in America. So it took a few years to get together
after that. But that's when we first met. And
because she was studying in Imola at the Piano
Academy, we had many friends in common, Italian
friends in common. So they introduced us. That's
amazing. You had the whole Italy thing in common.
Did you always know you wanted to be a pianist?
I mean, obviously you were great from a very
young age. Yeah, I mean, I started at seven,
so I wasn't that young. If I were not musicians,
it was not the thing to do. But as a southern
Italian boy, of course, I wanted to be a soccer
star first, like everybody else. But very quickly,
I saw that the neighborhood kids were so much
better than me. I mean, I love the idea of soccer,
but football, but it was not. There was not much
talent, you know? So the next thing was music,
just because I got as a Christmas gift, a little
keyboard. And I loved it. I remember getting
it first. And as I was growing older, the keyboard
grew bigger. Eventually it became a piano. And
my mindset never changed. There was never a moment
where I thought, should I really be doing this?
You know? Yeah. Yeah. And what piano do you play
on? What piano do you have at home right now?
We have a Steinway B and a Yamaha as well. Yes.
And do you have enough room so that you can both
practice at the same time? We could, because
it doesn't happen often, honestly. Unfortunately,
that's one difficult, challenging side of this
profession. I'm rarely home. So I have to rely
on practice on the road and a lot of scheduling
and organization. I mean, you have to be absolutely
professionally organized in this venture, you
know. But at home, I mean, it doesn't really
happen that often that we're both practicing
all day. Do you ever get problems with the neighbors?
Thankfully not. You're very lucky. I think it's
because we're gone so much. But most of them,
you know, when we meet them in the elevator,
we try not to be too friendly just in case. And
are you the one playing the piano? And it's like,
yeah, yes. Why? Oh, it sounds so beautiful. Usually
we get that. So that's nice. Oh, that's wonderful.
They don't say you're playing that C major scale
again and again and again. You know, the same
passage again and again. Oh, yeah. I wouldn't
want me as a neighbor, you know, that's for sure.
I get it, I get it. And you have a really good
partnership with Signum record label as well.
Yes, they've been amazing. I mean, you know,
my debut recording was for Warner Classics ages
ago, 2004, I think. And the production team was
called Floating Earth. It was run by Steve Long.
And it was incredible. Mike Hatch was engineer
and Steve's and Anna Barry became my producer
for every single recording. And then I found
out after I think the Warner Classic of that
time kind of collapsed and that was rebuilt later
that Steve owned a label, Signum. Same production
team, same quality. And so I pitched a Bach transcription
CD. And then, I mean, I think we probably have
11, 12 recordings now together. Everything I
pitched, he said, yes, he made it happen. It's
really incredible. Oh, wonderful. And every single
recording, I think, they just outdo themselves
in terms of quality, sound, beauty. And it's
such a joy. to do any projects. I mean, one time
I think was a Russian album with pictures and
exhibition and some scribing. It told me, it's
like, we just released the pictures. Can we wait
a few months? But other than that, we always
said yes to every project. And there's one now
coming out on May 1st. Oh, yes. um that's uh
the complete beethoven cello sonatas with paul
watkins was one of my really favorite collaborators
and friends and something i'm really proud of
because it's a complete set and the cello sonata
is also the it is perfect vehicle to show beethoven's
from in every stage of his life okay the project
that that uh really um has so much love in it.
So I love this music so much. Oh, great. Look
forward to listening to that. As we're getting
towards the end of our discussions, I thought
I'd post some light -hearted questions to you
and see how you answer them. So let's go a bit
casual. I'm sure you'll enjoy answering. So let's
see. The first one. If you could play only one
composer from now on, who would it be? That would
be sad for me. Probably, I would say Beethoven,
for what I just said, you know, the range. is
so so huge i mean i could spend a lifetime of
on one president fugue you know and still still
not get it but a bit of it would be just so fulfilling
because there's so much in it i mean i could
say schubert because there's so much beauty and
emotions but but beethoven has it all somehow
you know going from early Beethoven to late and
and he's written so much for piano so it would
be really great I know you're right there's no
stopping you're changing ideas on one sonata
I mean every sonata is it's if it creates its
own universe it's incredible they're not as they're
alike same structure same idea but but somehow
yeah and there's so much in it really yeah I
agree. One pianist, dead or alive, you travel
long and far to hear. Oh, wait, if they're dead,
how far are we talking? Oh, I don't know, down
the road. Somebody, you know, you would if you
had to. Yeah, I'm a Rachmaninoff, absolutely.
Like, I wish I could have heard him live. Apparently,
by all accounts, his live concerts were 10 times
better than his recordings, which are really...
inhuman in a way it's incredible incredible playing
and musicianship understanding and hear everything
yeah of everything yeah okay one person dead
or alive you'd love to play for I'd have to say
Rachmaninoff because also he um I mean I could
say Franz Liszt but I have a feeling that a lot
of what Liszt was doing I mean pianistically
at least, was very natural somehow. I don't know
why I think so. In composition, of course, it's
genius in so many ways and groundbreaking much
more than people realize. But Rachmaninoff knew
that he worked very hard as well. So he would
know exactly how to do things. Of course, I wouldn't
have his hands, but that would be great to play
for him. And I wanted to be, I would love to
be his friend though, because apparently he was
quite guarded in a way, but with his friends,
he would have this incredible generosity of spirit
and warmth, which of course we get with his music.
Wonderful. Okay. Do you have any technical struggles
at the piano? Yeah, I mean, I think everything
is really technique in a way. Like how to create
a specific sound or color. And it's something
that I've learned a lot with my teacher, with
Joaquina Chucaro. You know, many people say sound
starts in the head. You have to imagine a sound,
but you have to know how to do it. Just because...
the piano more than other instruments it's really
like a very complicated machine so there is a
certain way of using your body to get certain
results which i think is is really reliable and
and over the years you you discover new things
so everything is technique and um there's nothing
specific i mean there are things that come easier
to me at this point but i i I think, yeah, figuring
out how the instrument works, how your body works
and not fighting against it is the most important
part. Lovely. Okay. What would your advice be
to an amateur pianist on how to improve? How
to improve? That's very good. I mean, this is
not only for an amateur pianist, actually, but
I think it's, again, what I was saying, not fight
against your body. and use it to make things
easier if something if a passage doesn't sound
right or doesn't feel right stop and figure out
why and and and try to find a way to work it
especially because i think music piano music
most of it was written by composers that really
understood the instrument and even you know Rachmaninoff
is very difficult but he knew better than anybody
else how to play the piano so there has to be
a way to make things easier and not fight against
your own body and not fight against against gravity
you know because you're going to lose use gravity
rather than fight against it because at the end
of the day we're pressing keys down so very often
people and that's something natural if you have
a little bit of musicality in you and you want
to create tension music it translates into tension
in your body and that's the one thing that's
counterintuitive you know you have to you know
if you want to create tension in music you have
to be more relaxed and that's yeah very interesting
if you I think I know this answer but if you
weren't a pianist What would you be? What's your
guess? A soccer star. Oh, no, no. Well, no, I
don't think I have to be realistic in my dreams.
No, but also I would want to have a career that's
long lived. You know, I love to cook. So I don't
think I could do it professionally because the
reality of being a professional chef in the kitchen
is very difficult. But cooking for friends and
for small parties, that's really one of my passions.
So it would have to be that. How wonderful. How
do you find the time? Well, we've got to eat.
That's wonderful. There are stories of... I had
an article years ago in the dining section of
the New York Times where they interviewed me
about my passion. And that little, little tiny
article with a tiny picture got more attention
than any half -page reviews in the classical
music section that I ever got. Well, I know you're
a foodie because I remember once when I was going
to New York, you gave me a list of restaurants.
That's right. But yeah, I know you are. On a
weekly basis, I get... messages from friends
touring that asking me where should I go eat
in this town or in that town and by now I have
a very big map in fact I'm thinking about starting
a side career suggesting places to eat for musicians
you know after concerts or near concert halls
and things like that that's a really good idea
I just have to find the time brilliant Final
question. One composer you're not quite ready
to tackle. Oh, wow. There's, oh, there are many.
Somehow, and it's probably because I didn't do
much growing up and it's something that you probably
have to start quite young. Prokofiev. I've never
played the piano concerti and a lot of people
do. I can't imagine. learning one now like when
you have something every single week of the year
so I hope I hope at some point I can take some
time off to delve into it but it's it's just
the kind of pieces there's so many notes so demanding
that that I think they're much easier to learn
when you're younger yes I'm so glad I learned
the Rachmaninoffs when I was young and you know
this because yeah I think in a way I'm much more
efficient with my practice time now than I was
when I was studying. I think I've wasted a lot
of time, but I think that's part of the process.
Yet you do need a lot of time to learn those.
So I'm not quite ready just for lack of time.
I love the music. Yes, you've got to prioritise,
haven't you? um okay alessio i think we've come
to the end of our wonderful discussion you know
i don't want to keep you so long because you're
so busy you're on concerto number whatever when's
your next thing when's your next concerto appearance
well it's uh in florida now there are with these
three pieces with uh with lucille oh at the weekend
yeah And then I have to check my schedule, but
there's a lot. I mean, I have both Brahms in
this few months, Rachmaninoff 2 and 3, Beethoven
3, I did 5 and 3, MacDowell 2nd, I think the
Faya, Nights in the Garden, Spain. I mean, there's
really a lot. It's all beautiful. They're like,
some of them I've played a lot, some others less
so, but they're all... friends somehow fantastic
oh golly well i hope your weekend goes well in
florida and i look forward to coming to hear
you in london at the end of it'll be like a big
musical feast there's so much different music
and and and you know i'm so lucky after so many
years all these great musicians kind of trust
what they put together and they send up without
knowing what this festival was at all because
there it's the first one and i'm so glad they
will be all there together fantastic well i hope
it's a great success i'll see you there and thank
you so much for joining me on this podcast today
thank you what a pleasure erica thank you bye
That was Rachmaninoff's arrangement of the Gavotte
from Bach's Violin Partita No. 3 in A Major,
and it was played by Alessio Bax. Pianist podcasts
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