That was Alcon's Nocturne No. 1, Op. 22, and
it was performed by Mark Viner on Volume 8 of
the Complete Piano Music by Alcon, which has
just been released on the Piano Classics label.
Mark, it's lovely to have you on the Pianist
Podcast today. Thank you. It's lovely to be here.
Great. Well, we are here to talk about your latest
album, Alcon's Complete Piano Music, which is
Volume 8. on the Piano Classics label. It's called
Nocturnes Impromptus and Xorquicos. Firstly,
can you tell us what the Xorquicos are? Well,
it's a Spanish Basque dance which is in five
time and this interested him on and off for some
years from about the mid -1840s until the 1860s
and he wrote a few pieces in this vein. Of course,
there are famous examples by Albéniz, but I don't
think there are so many by French composers from
this period of time. OK, interesting. And so
in this volume number eight, you've also included
nocturnes and impromptus. I mean, most listeners
may be quite unfamiliar with the music of Alcan
in general, don't you think? Yes, I've... Well,
it was interesting. When this whole project began
to take flight, I had to think very quickly about
how all of these pieces would be organised. And
really, there are only two ways of doing it.
You can either jumble things up, which is quite
attractive with, say, a composer like Gottschalk,
but with someone a bit more serious like Alcan,
I felt it was really better to have lots of genres.
confined to single categories. So I just felt
really when I was looking through everything
and really pondering it that all of these pieces
fitted very well and would of course make up
the requisite time for a CD without being too
long or without people being short -changed.
So that's why, and of course some of the pieces
which were impromptus double up as Thorcicos
in a certain way. You probably might have heard
that from the third one of the set of Opus 32.
Yes. And well, in fact, all of those pieces are
in, well, all three of those pieces are in five
and one is in seven. So that's how, why that
decision was made in terms of how things fit
together. I also try to make each one of these
discs as accessible as possible in terms of how
I arrange the repertoire. A lot of it is much
more presentable on CD rather than in public.
And I'm fully aware that not all of it is top
draw. So it's just finding the best way to bolster
it up and make sure that each instalment does
appeal to the novice, as it were. That's very,
very interesting. So when you started on this
epic journey of recording all of Alcon's piano
music, I think there's how many albums do you
think there will be in total? including the transcriptions
it's projected 18 18 okay so when you started
these you know looking at them all did you have
to program 18 like on a big sheet of paper sort
of um of course when i when i did the first volume
um i i didn't have this in my mind at all that
wasn't planned so the first volume was all the
all the etude in the in the major keys um and
that was done i think back in 2016 or so now
But no, I didn't have that plan then. Then when
I did have the idea of doing it, I quickly recorded
the complete preludes. And of course, I didn't
actually have to plan anything by that point.
And even by the third installment, I didn't have
to plan because I was doing the grand sonata
and the trois morceaux dans le genre pathétique
and they were fitted together. It was really
after that that I had to start to think, OK,
now you have to make decisions about where things
are going to go. So there were certain things
I wanted to keep all the transcriptions together.
And at the end of the series, I was thinking
that would be best. So that's how it's sort of
taken flight. And it's, you know, once you have
a sort of framework like that within which to
work, things sort of take flight by themselves,
I find. That's so interesting. So was it your
idea or your record company's idea that you would
record the complete? It wasn't really something
that occurred to me until much later on and it
wasn't my idea at all it was actually a friend's
idea and it was a pianist whose name is Tyler
Hay who was a towering pianist of the first order
and not only that he happens to be a very good
friend indeed and he simply suggested it one
evening when we were talking about projects and
things we were doing he just said well why don't
you just get on and do the lot? I mean, you want
to record other stuff of his, don't you? This
was after I'd done, I think I'd done volume one
by that point. And I said, well, yes. And he
said, well, if you're not going to do it, who
else is going to do it? And will they do it as
well as you? So, yes, I thought, well, of course,
the other thing at the back of my mind and the
reason why I was a little bit wary of doing this
is, you know, I was sort of. eight years younger
at that point i suppose or maybe a little less
and you know you you have certain aspirations
and ideas of where where you ought to be at certain
points and i was warned by a a very prominent
pianist who did a similar thing for another composer
that it wrecked his career um to a degree and
um one has to be aware of that but in my thinking
really um i thought well there's not much of
a career to really wreck actually um perhaps
that there's something that might be gained in
doing this rather than something to be lost that
was my philosophy then and it still is to a large
oh very much so because as i've gone through
the series it seems as though the public at large
has and the critics have actually realized yes
it is happening and now he's this far through
That is so funny because when we do think of
you, Mark Viner, we do seem to think of, I guess,
Alcan and then maybe Blumenfeld, Talberg. We
don't think of you as Beethoven and Mozart and
Schubert. Yes, yes, that's true. And that's something
I have been trying to offset in my actual programs,
of course. my my my recital programs don't at
all they really don't mirror my discography it's
not really possible to to present much of this
music on stage even if i would like to because
tickets have to sell um so i i do i mean you
know i play a lot of this out the way stuff but
that that's never precluded me from playing beethoven
i play a great deal of beethoven then i couldn't
live without him and i've uh i've recently started
filling in many of the sort of blanks in my repertoire
um there were certain composers where where i
i just felt i didn't play enough of them and
i've been gradually just you know much of my
own program making is is up to me and i i've
been trying to remedy that and that's been a
wonderful journey as well and of course playing
all this out the way stuff um um in order to
do so and to make sense of it musically you have
to know your Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn,
Mozart, I mean, because these were the gods of
all these 19th century pianist composers who
wrote this stuff, and it's much of the nuts and
bolts of their musical vocabulary. Yes, no, I
get it. But maybe I should have asked you this
at the start, what actually drew you to his music,
music which is often misunderstood even today,
what drew you to Alcan? It's hard to really give
you a definite answer, it's like asking... somebody
why do you like the color blue um do you have
a first memory yes i do i do it's all very clear
to me well when i was at the personal school
um there was um a and there still is i believe
a spring um piano department sort of festival
um as it were and it's it's where um a certain
area of the repertoire is focused on Back then,
when I was about 13, it was the Chopin Op. 25
Etudes and the Alcan Op. 35s, which of course
I later on recorded, and miscellaneous pieces
by both composers. And of course, the Chopin
I was largely familiar with. What you've got
to remember is that I'd only started playing
the piano at the age of 11, so all of this was
very, very new to me. So I'd only been playing
two years by that point. And I was given a piece
of Alcan at the beginning. In fact, it was the
La chanson de la folle au bord de la mer, which
is the eighth prelude, the song of the madwoman
on the seashore. And then my teacher at the time,
Tessa Nicholson, felt that I needed something
to sort of get my teeth into a bit more. And
it was changed for the Tocatina of the 75, which
I really had found tremendously difficult at
the time because I didn't really have fingers
at all. Yet, in retrospect, it... did me a lot
of good um and i must say at the beginning i
did not like this music at all from those two
pieces i couldn't make sense of it i didn't find
it attractive in any way and then i heard the
major key studies and i just felt completely
blown away um it was the the sheer eccentricity
of the music the single -minded um trajectory
that the music takes the originality of the harmonies,
the verve, the obsessiveness, the sheer magic,
the overwhelming majesty and power in some passages.
It didn't pay heed to any airs and graces. There
are a few composers like that, in fact, that
are quite comfortable to write things that are...
perfectly acceptable to the general public and
then the next second write something which is
completely puzzling. Eric Satie was a bit like
that and Alcon was such an original, pre -thinking,
imaginative composer and of course the other
thing is I didn't really have much to compare
this to at the time so I suppose in retrospect
my aesthetic criteria with which I was discerning
this music wasn't as great as it as it could
have been if I'd started playing the piano at
five you know so I just took I just accepted
it on its own ground on its own terms I could
tell some pieces were were better than others
let's put it but it was just from the word from
that moment I thought I was I was just completely
convinced I mean it is phenomenal music in fact
in our magazine i'm putting a little little alcon
barker role the opus 38 number six um in in our
scores and i've heard you play that on youtube
um as an encore what was it yeah the barcarolle
from book one of office 38. oh my goodness there
are two books in office 38. i've just come back
from recording them all so it's the one that
begins with the grace note yes It's a magical
little thing. Magical piece. And as I decided
I was going to put it in Pianist Magazine, I
looked it up on YouTube and there you were playing
it as an encore somewhere. I shall have to check
where that was. And you played it so amazingly.
And you brought out that magic right through
to the end. What an amazing piece. And the harmonies,
you think, that's wrong. But then actually, it's
right. You know, it's just remarkable. Absolutely,
yes. And I find that something which is so magical.
There was a composer called John White who died
recently. And he termed this sort of thing as
the exposition of the mysterious order, whereby
certain rules in music making were followed through
to their conclusions. And as a result, you would
get those strange dissonances and clashes. Yes.
And that's another attribute of Alcon's music
that I find so irresistible. Yes. Particularly
in his sort of vintage later years, where he
starts doing strange things harmonically. Yes.
And the music, you know, begins very, very unassumingly
and sort of leads you up a garden path and things,
and then the temperature drops a few degrees
and it becomes really strange. Yes. And then
suddenly we're out of it again at the reprise.
It's that sort of stuff. There's something beneath
the surface, something undisclosed in so much
of this music that I find truly irresistible.
Totally. I mean, he was a contemporary of Liszt
and Chopin. Do you think they knew what an amazing
talent, unusual, remarkable talent he was? I
think, you know. Yes, I think they did. Liszt
certainly, I mean, we know that, you know, he
taught, well, one pupil brought him Le Festin
des Hommes in his later years, which is the 12th
study from all the etudes in the minor keys.
And he commented that he was a composer far too
little known who has some very fine things indeed.
I don't think, I think we know less from Chopin,
his views on his music. Despite that, they were
very close and respected him hugely, enough to
entrust him with his sketch for a method. Okay.
Probably for completion, but of course he never
completed it. That's very interesting. I believe
at first maybe Liszt was a little bit cool with
him. Do you think there was some rivalry there?
Yes, there was rivalry since they were in their
teenage years. Alcan was playing a soiree. um
i think at the age of about 11 or 12 in the home
of a um i think it was a russian emigre princess
i'll have to check the source but um the the
young franz list who was two years his senior
attended this and um decided to get up in the
interval and play the piano for everybody present
and of course by then he was already something
and uh it gave the young alcon sleepless nights
and it completely Sort of crushed him for a while.
So goes the story. Then later on, of course,
this rivalry sort of dissolved into a friendly
camaraderie. They shared the concert platform
several times together. I think right up until
the late 1830s. And there was always mutual respect
there. Though interestingly, neither one played
a note of the other's music. Oh my goodness!
So Alcan never played any Liszt and vice versa?
No, not a note. No, nothing at all. Liszt almost
certainly knew the Grand Sonata because there
are similarities with the Liszt B Minor Sonata,
which are just too... It's just too close for
coincidence, really. And, you know, it antedates
the Liszt Sonata by a couple of years. So I think
he was probably influenced by it. But, of course,
Alcan's... aesthetic criteria he was very much
against the trajectory of the new german school
yes unbridled chromaticism all of that you know
he was very much a um i suppose of the leipzig
more conservative camp so his repertoire really
despite the fact he was this great virtuoso his
repertoire was solidly um schumann schubert bach
he played um mozart beethoven so it was really
very um very Germanic classical and especially
during a time just in the wake of the Franco
-Prussian war which is also interesting that
he was embracing still such German things you
might draw a parallel with Myra Hess there just
to show people this is what great music is and
I'm here to show it to you Yes, but how remarkable
that he didn't play any Liszt considering he
was an incredible virtuoso wasn't he? Yes But
they were proprietors. I don't think there's
any evidence to suggest that Talberg played any
Liszt. Okay. Liszt did play some Talberg where
he played, I think it was a second piano part
of the Norma Fantasy for two pianos. But not
much else publicly, no. No, I think they really
stuck to their own. In those days you did, you
played your own wares. You know, if you were
a Clementi, you played your own music on your
own piano. And sold your own piano. My goodness,
what pianos did Alcon play then, do you know?
Well, in the early days, it was pianos by the
firm Henri Pape, and that's one of the reasons
why he was sent over to London about 1834, to
demonstrate them at the Pape showrooms at Soho
Square. And then later on, he gravitated to the
Erard, which was really his choice of instrument.
And in fact, his last Erard, which is also a
pedalier, it's a pedal piano, that's in the Museum
of Musical Instruments in the Paris Conservatoire.
And that's been fully restored. And it's a beautiful
sounding thing. Oh, have you played it? No, I
haven't, regrettably. But there is a record.
I think it's Olivier Laffey playing it. Okay.
Which is really worthwhile listening to. Interesting.
So, I mean, this is difficult music to take on,
isn't it, as a pianist? I mean, what I also can't
believe is you started the piano at 11. How,
by the age of 13, were you playing? this music
at the Purcell School? Well, I think I was lucky
in that I had a very, very fine teacher who is,
I believe, to be especially talented at teaching
the fundamentals of piano technique. So the great
thing is, one of the upside of starting late
is that I can remember precisely how she taught
me. and what she told me to do, just so that
I could play the thing. And that's quite good.
That puts you instead later on as a teacher,
because I feel I know how to teach that technique
in the way I was taught by her. So I got those
fundamentals just at the right time. I think
had it been a little bit later, it would have
been... I'm not sure how easy it would have been
for me. By the time I was 18, I mean, I was playing...
some big things. I was playing Le Festin des
Hommes. A lot of standard repertoire, but besides
that, I mean, I hadn't gone anywhere near Talberg
or Godofsky or Mettner or anything like that.
And I didn't really play a great deal of Liszt
by then. And then, you know, I gradually grew
and developed and went to the Royal College and
studied with Neil Immelmann, who really got me
to listen to what I was doing. to really use
my ears um in terms of pedaling and just just
layering he was fantastic he was absolutely the
right person to go to and then i i sort of was
more or less had my own free reign by then and
i started finding my own path but going back
to your question um i don't think the challenge
is really and i do mean this i don't think it's
any greater than than anything else you would
study um You know what the language is and you
know what to do with it, more or less. But then
there's the facility, isn't there? You know,
people say it's like riding a bike or whatever,
but do you think you had a natural facility?
Oh, there were certain things, yes, there were
certain things I could do quite well. I was always,
I've always been very supple. and there are certain
things i found a great deal easier than others
like with certain passages and octave passages
or doing doing certain things quite quickly or
brilliantly you know when one's younger and one
likes to flex one's muscles and show off yeah
i found i could i could do a lot of that stuff
without uh well it just came quite naturally
so that there was that side that doesn't mean
to say that i found i i found and find any of
this stuff easy because i don't and um but then
there are there are plenty of plenty of pieces
in the standard repertoire which are difficult
and you have to build up for um i mean no one's
going to neglect if if they're you know if they
have to play something like mazeppa you the transcendental
study of list you you really do have to maintain
your sort of physique for doing that. Yes. You
can't really let it go for a week. No. In the
way perhaps you could with a Mozart sonata. It's
a different kind of thing. Stamina. Stamina.
Absolutely. It's the maintenance of your sort
of physical stamina and all of that. So there
are a few pieces like that, yeah, but not all
of it's like that. I really do think, actually,
if you add it all up, it's really only about
25%, 30 % of the music is really out there. I
don't think the vast majority is difficult at
all. There are some pieces which really are,
really are truly hard. Oh, yes. I'm not denying
that. But there are so many things that are just
like your average Schumann or Chopin, quite frankly.
But of course, to play anything well, I mean,
even the Schumann. Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course.
Oh, yeah. There's that that level, of course.
um but and i think of course you know ever since
the the 60s and 70s when this music sort of um
had a sort of renaissance of course things are
always pigeonholed when they're first out what
is it how do we describe it and because you know
the big works like the concerto for solo piano
and the symphony for solo piano were being played
quite a bit and rightly so and they're difficult
pieces people just associated it with this sort
of high level piano wizardry. And those, I'm
not denying the fact that those pieces are, but
I've been trying gradually to try and fill out
the rest of the canvas here and give the full
picture. There's so much, so much of it that's
so attractive and well within reach of the fluent
amateur. You're talking about Alcan or in general?
No, just Alcan's music. There is. Yes, as you
know, because you've published several pieces
in the musical supplement to the magazine. Yes.
Oh, there's some absolute gems. Absolute gems.
So beautiful. Well, obviously, your record company,
they've been supportive of you, Piano Classics,
with your quest to discover all this romantic,
slightly off -the -beaten -track repertoire.
Yes. Yes, they have. Well, I'm immensely grateful
to them and to my producer, Peter Van Winkle,
who's just been top. I've been with them now
for just over 11 years. And it was at a time
where, you know, I think I must have left the
college in about 2013. And I graduated by then.
And you're sort of... in a little bit in a no
man's land if you don't have anything to do and
it can be a very painful frightening place to
be once you're suddenly out there you're trying
to you know make ends meet and just just fulfill
your promise as it were and uh it was actually
uh the italian pianist vincenzo maltempo who
had already recorded a lot of alcan by then i
we were already friendly and he had recorded
for them and i asked him for a sort of introduction.
And he said, of course, I'll write to them. Here's
the email, which is very, very nice. And I think
actually initially, this is quite interesting.
I gave five proposals at the beginning. I think
I proposed a disc of Mettner, Liszt, Godowski,
Talberg and Alcan. And they went for Talberg.
And I didn't really, I mean, I didn't really
want to do it at the time. I'd already played
two pieces. they went for that. And I thought,
well, if they've gone for it, I'll have to do
it. So I did and threw myself into it and ended
up loving this piano writing a great deal more
than I thought I would. It's wonderful fun and
it just makes the piano sound like a chest of
jewels, you know, when it's the right piece.
And so that was my first CD. And then afterwards,
gradually, the doors opened and I think that
did well. It sold well. Then I did a disc of
Liszt. And then we went on to do, I think, some
Chaminade and then that did very well. And I
gradually gained their trust. And I'm just so
grateful for it because it's given me such a
sense of purpose. Just to be, as I say, filling
in the blanks with so much of this repertoire
and just having a sense of artistic fulfilment.
Again, as I said before, so much of this stuff
can't be played. in the concert hall. No. Yeah,
and concerts, I'm not, you know, that's not the
be -all and end -all for me. I know it is for
some people and that's fine, but I really love
digging and investigating and seeing what I can
find and unearth. It gives me an immense thrill
to find a mouldering old score in a second -hand
music shop or even a charity shop somewhere.
And it's something I've never seen before. And
it's just wonderful finding rare scores. Absolutely.
Absolutely. So it's been it's been a really fulfilling,
I hope, on both ends relationship with piano
classics and long may it continue. Yes. And through
that, then, was that your way of getting being
offered dates, concert dates, recitals? I mean,
you've got quite a busy calendar, don't you?
Dates? Not really. I think it's probably, yes,
it has helped a lot more. It has helped. I mean,
being available on record is a sort of gold dust
because you suddenly exist. Whereas it's difficult
to exist just playing concerts, especially if
you're only playing concerts in small churches
in rural England, for example. Even though those
concerts are very spiritually fulfilling, it
doesn't cast the net very wide for us. Yes, I
benefit from that. Yes, I think I do. There have
been certain requests from concert promoters
who asked me to play a certain work because they've
heard the recording. And that can be nice and
surprising and sometimes... a little bit unwelcome
because sometimes I think with certain works
I you know once I've done it I don't want to
go back to it I want to just move on to the next
thing so so there is that that bonus there but
no it's been I wouldn't say I play really any
more than 20 or 25 concerts a year to be honest
which is very little Well, that sounds quite
nice. I mean, you teach, you give masterclasses
as well, don't you? Teaching is important for
you. Yes, I teach a great deal privately and
I have given the occasional masterclass, but
not so often, that sort of thing. But I do enjoy
teaching a great deal, especially when... when
it's very clear that you're helping somebody
get where they want to be. And that doesn't always
happen, you know, because it's very, one of the
hardest things is just simply helping someone
understand what they need to do when they get
home. what do you actually do when you're in
front of a piano, how to practice and all of
that. And then when they do, just take my advice
and follow it through. It's immensely fulfilling.
It really is. And I learn a lot. I mean, I learn
so much. I have done teaching, especially all
levels, be it a five -year -old to an 85 -year
-old. And that really has been the sort of spectrum
of people I've taught. Yes. Yes. Oh, I think
you've got a lovely combination of things going
on. Oh, well, Mark, we're getting close towards
the end now, actually. So I think we'll go off
on a little bit of a lighthearted journey to
round things off. I'm going to ask you some lighthearted
questions. And if you could come back to me with
the answers, that would be great. The first one
being, if you could play only one composer from
now on, who would it be? I know it's not really
going to happen, but... Well, I think it really
is impossible to answer. Of course, what everybody
says and what is considered the correct answer
is Bach. But I wouldn't say that, because I'm
not sure it would be enough for me. I know that
sounds sacrilegious, so as a result... Gone held
to my head, I had no choice at all. I would say
Franz Liszt. Now, the reason why... is because
we've thereby got the Beethoven symphonies, and
we've got just about all the Schubert songs,
and we've got the Bach transcriptions, and we've
got a few songs by Chopin, and we've got the
rest of his own music. That's very, very clever.
Well, it's not too bad, is it, really? I think
if I had to, that would be all right. You can
play all the Beethoven symphonies, yeah, that's
great. Well, yes. Of course, they'll probably
take a bit to work up, and it might be hot on
that desert island. That would be it. Oh, lovely
answer that. One pianist, dead or alive, you
travel long and far to hear? Probably Liszt.
Why? I think... I mean, reading so much about
him, it's... Just the accounts of his playing
and who he was, the magnetic personality. It
would be, I think it would have to be him. Or
it might be Alcan, just to satisfy my own curiosity.
But yes, I think it would probably have to be
Liszt. OK. One person, dead or alive, you'd love
to play for? Probably Alcan. Hmm. You think he'd
give you some good advice? Well, it would be
very nice to know what he thinks of everything
I've been doing and whether I've been doing it
as he would like. And I hope it would be the
right answer. Perhaps then it would be a terrible
thing to choose because what if he doesn't like
it at all? This is very interesting, though.
We don't know how Alcon played, do we? Well,
we have an idea that he was very much in the
severe style. So if you hear the recording, if
you hear recordings by Samson. in his later years
that gives you a sort of measure of what he was
like okay yeah um so so yeah we we have an idea
of what he was like he was very much that old
french school very tight crisp rhythm brilliant
articulation sort of thing you know okay oh okay
i know you've touched on this but i'm going to
ask you do you have any technical struggles oh
all the time oh yeah of course and um You know,
just because... Just because we can do something
doesn't mean that we didn't have to seek out
a solution for it. And it doesn't mean to say
that just because we have the solution, it makes
it easy. It can do. But I... Oh, yeah. Absolutely,
I do. I guess it's how the brain does it, isn't
it? From the brain to the fingers, the solution.
Yes, I think one of the hardest things I actually
had to... Up until fairly recently, and I don't
know whether this was because I was a late starter,
what I found quite difficult to do was when certain
techniques switched like that and you had to
do... The writing changed immediately. Or if
it were a very quick emotional change. in the
music I found that quite hard to do I find it
easier now but I don't know what it is we're
all different we all have our own our own things
but that that was something I would say that
was both musical and technical interesting not
that that gives you a distinct answer well that
sudden change I guess it's like an acrobat who's
i don't do one form of technique and then having
to do another i don't know yeah certainly when
i was a student at college that was something
i was really trying to it was preempting it's
preemptive sort of technique that sort of but
that was then um i think i'm better at it now
but oh no every day with every new piece i study
there's always something yeah of course okay
what would be your advice to an amateur pianist
about how to improve I think, and this is what
I would say about just teaching my own pupils,
I think an appreciation of harmony, from the
very beginning, basic harmony just does wonders.
Just understanding that they're not emulating
abstract notes and patterns just of random notes.
They're actually... they're they are patterns
which are something and you know just the tug
between the sense of pull between tonic and dominant
those sorts of things if you can if you can really
get that into your mind and fingers and see the
harmony that you're playing in your mind as you're
playing it and then gradually broaden that that
with all the keys it just sets you up so well
and it makes learning so much easier That's for
me anyway. Okay, absolutely. If you weren't a
pianist, what would you be? Probably a priest.
But that would be somewhat presumptive on my
part because it's not to say that the clergy
would necessarily want me. Wow. But I think that's
probably what I'd be, yes. So you're obviously
a religious person. oh yes yes it's a hard question
to ask yes yes i i have my faith and um and and
and of course you know things like that are big
parts of our lives and it's not to say it's um
absolutely concrete all the time i don't think
anything is in life is it but it's um it's certainly
a big part of who i am and um i think if i didn't
spend so many hours at the piano it would probably
be In the church, yes. More than I already do,
at least. Lovely. Very interesting. Finally,
one composer you're not quite ready to tackle.
Rachmaninoff. Now that's interesting. Yeah. And
it's not... It's not because I don't like the
music. I absolutely love the music. I just don't...
I just have no... I don't play one note of his
music at all. Not one note. No. Shock horror.
I'm a pianist and I don't play any Rachmaninoff.
I just feel... Also, it's very well represented
by other pianists who play it so wonderfully
well and I love hearing them play it. But I just...
I'm not sure yet whether I'm the right pianist
for it. All sorts of reasons. Yeah, I don't associate
with you. I wouldn't have thought you were, and
don't ask me why, but... No, but I do love it.
I absolutely think it's wonderful. And so many
things I haven't even opened the score to, which
is a terrible thing to admit to. No. No, I don't
think so. Oh, well, you've got time for that.
You might change your mind. Yes. Oh, yes. All
of this changes. Everything is in flux. I mean,
there were I mean, about 10 years ago, I mean,
Beethoven was a bit of a blind spot for me. And
that changed radically ever since lockdown. Really.
I really, really became completely sort of obsessed.
He was my and still is a sort of drug to me.
Beethoven. Oh, I couldn't live without Beethoven.
Yeah, you're right. I don't know many people
who would argue with that case. Yeah, it's just,
it ticks every single box for me. And it's such
a joy to play. It is, but you chose Liszt. You
said if there was one composer from now on you
could play, it would be Liszt. Ah, but then of
course you can play the arrangements of the Beethoven
symphonies, can't you? That's the caveat. But
it would be probably a toss -up between Beethoven
and Liszt, if I'm really honest. Yes. both very
different yes yes well yes i suppose they are
oh mark well listen it's been it's been wonderful
talking to you today so many interesting wonderful
beings yeah and um what are you up to for the
rest of the spring and summer i hope to record
um at some point in the summer and that will
be i think all of the esquisse of alcan And aside
from that, I just need to decide what I'm playing
this season in terms of concert repertoire, because
I still haven't quite made decisions about that.
And that's the 2026 -27 season? Yes, yes, yes.
And how it's going to fit in with various other
projects. There's also a project to record the
Godofsky Java Suite, which is a work I've...
held very close to my heart for years but you
know all of that stuff requires time and planning
and it's not something i especially with with
you know a lot of teaching commitments it's it's
just working out pacing oneself and setting reasonable
goals oh oh well i wish you all the best with
that and no doubt i'll bump into you at a concert
i'm sure somewhere very very soon thanks mark
for joining us today thank you thanks And it
appears on Mark Viner's latest volume eight of
the complete piano music of Alcon, recently released
on the Piano Classics label. Pianist podcasts
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