“Chopin is not the typical so-called Romantic composer: He never shouts. He tells you a very deep, personal story. It’s like a friend who tells you a very big secret in your ear.”
I recently caught up with the articulate, energetic Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, fresh off a flight from
Fliter spoke with feeling about performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with The Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. Following are excerpts from the phone conversation.
On performing with Vladimir Ashkenazy:
You performed the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 at The
I have in my thoughts the fact that he could come down and play the piano better than me! So it’s quite a demanding situation, no doubt, for me, and very inspiring in any case. I haven’t met Ashkenazy yet, but I know from some people who knew him that he is a very generous man and a kind character – but besides that, music, I think, comes out from his body and from his soul.
The Chopin Concerto needs a very special combination between the conductor and performer. You need to breathe together. You cannot really predict in rehearsal where and when are you going to make a rubato or wait for this phrase to end. It’s something that has to become a natural way of talking and breathing.
You need that kind of communication with a conductor, so this is a very big advantage, the fact that he is a pianist and has played this concerto himself all his life. He knows exactly what is going on, and he knows every single note, where it is going.
On rubato in Chopin’s music
Rubato, the give and take in tempo that makes Chopin’s music so distinctive, requires something special from the performer -- an extra flexibility.
When we are talking, we don’t say everything in the same way or everything with the same speed. You give certain accents to certain words that we consider more important in the phrase. You bring your intensity down at certain moments of the phrasing that need less interest.
Chopin talks to us from his human experience. Rubato comes naturally out of that idea he had – to give himself, his experience of life, to us. That’s what I try to do when I play his music, I try to enter into his world and tell it to the public.
On her relationship to Chopin, who this year is being celebrated on the 200th anniversary of his birth:
Would you say Chopin is a composer whose music has always come naturally to you?
I grew up listening to Chopin’s music since I was a young child; my father played Chopin and we had many recordings of Arthur Rubinstein playing in our house. It was part of my everyday life, Chopin, so definitely that became part of my blood.
I am thankful to have discovered Chopin at a young age, because even if it is difficult for a young child to understand Chopin, or the depth of it at a young age, Chopin develops so many aspects for the interpreter.
He had a very deep relationship with the piano, because he was a composer that basically composed for the piano. He developed a new way of playing the piano with his music, and a different physical relationship with the piano.
On Chopin’s revolution of piano technique
Physically, it’s a different experience to play his music than to play other composers’ music?
Yes. No doubt – starting with the position of the hands, which are slightly different when you play his music. They are slightly more open so you can embrace the keyboard in a more elastic way. He used to play like that, and some of his students used to talk about that, and his revolution to the piano technique.
The pedal is not used anymore in the classical way; Chopin uses it to give color. Listening to singers is very important [in playing Chopin], because it’s all about inflection and color. That is what singers are mostly interested in. It’s not mainly how you do it but how you detail the phrase.
If it’s about death or disappointment, the color has to change. OR, if you are singing something about life or love, the color changes. The world that you create in the imagination is very important in Chopin’s music. It’s like telling a story – you change the character.
On performing with The
When I played the Chopin Second Concerto with the Orchestra, I recall the feeling of flying, thanks to them – flying into another dimension. That’s actually what I always try to achieve when I play Chopin’s music, because it’s supposed to give you the possibility to go to
You are venturing into another dimension when you play Chopin’s music. With this orchestra I felt that previously, and I hope we can reproduce that next time we play together.
Is there something special that you’re looking forward to in
A place that is green, and a place that has some water – that’s my main interest. Besides discovering the beauty of a city itself, if it has some natural attractions I am even happier. Our activities are shut in a room and you are sitting in a room all day long, so I try to find a balance and find some fresh air, have a walk. That has become incredibly important to me.
– Interviewed by Elaine Guregian
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