Yes, I fled classical music news. My interest gradually went down until I figured these news were in fact having a negative impact on my mood. News have become a long list of bankruptcies, alarmist titles, epic fails, disasters, concerns about the future of classical music. Well, if I was an adept of conspiracy theories I could have easily thought a mogul somewhere wanted all the classical music related people to commit suicide so he can definitely get rid of our noisy art.

In the course of the 3 last years, I have been reading the same thing over and over : classical music is endangered, everything in this business goes wrong. Booh, that sounds scary. Let’s spend the next 30 seconds trying to understand all this. Why such a statement? Everyone has an explanation: today’s composers are unable to write beautiful classical music like in the past, audience is aging and declining, classical music world is too stuffy and so on… Well, discussing the validity of these arguments would be indeed a lot of fun. But more important than an endless subjective fight is to notice that the heavy criticism basically led nowhere, except to a schism and an increasing number of worried and depressed people in the world of classical music.

Have you ever wondered why people like classical music? Maybe, because it makes them disconnect with their problems, bring them a little joy and happiness. Classical Music changed my life to the point I couldn’t live without it. It helped me go through difficult times in my life. And I believe it can do so for other people. But I’m also pretty sure it wouldn’t have had this effect on me if I had been overloaded with a huge amount of negative news. I guess I would have run away if it has simply reflected the cruel world we’re living in.

Sure the classical music business is not a heaven. It has its issues, everyone knows it, even the audience. Like everyone else in this business I struggle every day. I should say: Like everyone in any business I struggle every day. But that’s not important. The point is that no matter how tough my work can be, no matter the problems I encounter, I will be forever thankful I can play the piano, I will be forever grateful for the life I’m living. No matter what, classical music is a positive experience.

A long time ago, I acted in plays as a hobby and I learned one of the most important lessons: what happens backstage stays backstage. Especially the downsides. Endlessly publicly pointing out problems is not even the beginning of a solution. Endlessly being angry and vindictive is harmful. Endlessly predicting a revolution is tiring. Endlessly blaming others for our own failure is useless. All of this is counterproductive.

I’m happy. Truly happy. I want this happiness to be contagious. I want my love of classical music to be contagious. And I want to make my audiences even happier than I am using the only way I know to do so: playing music.

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“Musicians can’t compete, music is not a race, there is no winner, no looser”. Yes, it’s surely aesthetically ugly, maybe inappropriate, at least not romantic at all to make musicians compete for a trophy. I agree with this. BUT, music is for us a business too, a passion/business certainly, but a damn hard business. And in any business there are competitions and competitors. This doesn’t mean that we hate each other and we want other pianists to burn in hell. No. I meant competitors in a sense that other people are “providing the same kind of service”. Like it or not, competition even in the fabulous and marvelous world of music exists, that’s a fact. And music competitions can be a way to learn that. As well as a way to set a practice goal.

So why did I stop competing if competitions are so great? (sniggering in the audience) In fact, I was expecting to get a constructive criticism about my playing and meeting people doing the same thing as I do. What did I get? None of that. Participants didn’t want to speak to each other (as if I was going to steal them their talent just with a conversation) and I met nobody I could keep in touch with. For the constructive criticism, let me tell you a short story (here comes the connection with Janáček).

A couple of years ago, I performed In the mists for one of the rounds of my soon-to-be last international competition. After the jury’s decision, I decided to test the water and ask the jury members what they liked and what they didn’t like. I got various advices, a third of them could have been helpful if I had not been told the exact opposite right after, and the last third of these precious “advices” didn’t make any sense at all. And here came the cherry on the cake. One of the members didn’t like at all my Janáček. OK, I can take that you know, but what I was really interested in was why? Suspense… Let’s precise here that members of the jury are supposed to have no information about participants: The guy didn’t know anything about me, and that’s why it was so hilarious.

He advised me to listen to Czech people speaking, for me to get the color of the language, maybe even learn a bit of Czech or work with a Czech teacher because I was obviously not aware of Czech culture, how Czech music has to sound and of the bohemian background of Janáček’s music. Wow. Frankly, I’m still surprised I stayed impassive. The guy, (I’m sorry I can’t remember his name but I made my research in those times) obviously never spoke Czech, never had more exposition to Czech culture than his 3 days trip to Prague 10 years earlier. Anyway, I just wanted to throw in his face I was a 5th year Czech speaking student of Prague Conservatory and that Janáček had no bohemian roots or background but Moravian ones. I didn’t do so but I can remember myself standing in the room with a piece of quiche in the hand just looking at this guy and thinking “this competition thing is a huge joke”. I made up my mind: I would never apply for one again.

Was it a mistake to make up my mind having only one experience? Was it a childish reaction? No, in fact I think I just found a good excuse not to be involved in more competitions. Admit it, it was a very good excuse! But the truth is I never needed to have external practice goals, and I don’t care much about what other pianists can say about my playing. As far as I can remember, I’ve always hated competitions, but when I was a child I did not really have a choice. In my childhood, that maybe taught me how to deal with stage fright. I certainly could have used the kickstarter an international competition can be, but I’m happy I didn’t use this shortcut: I’ve learned a lot more about my job and the music business that way.

Competitions aren’t good or bad, they are a tool in the pianist’s life. A tool you choose to use or not, a tool you know how to use or not, a tool you like or not. Life is not easier nor harder with or without a prize. The important is what you can learn from the experience, and believe me, I learned a lot, even if I didn’t find what I was looking for in the first place.

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• » A complex life
  

  Adam Thurman: Part of the reason I enjoy working in the arts is that there are no easy answers.

• » Should We Be Told When To Retire?
  

  Pattyoboe : Some of us have talked about the retirement thing. (Of course we also discuss the fact that our retirement plan isn’t exactly something we could live on.) Many of us fear hanging on longer than we should.

• » Old stomping grounds
  

  The original post by James Gaffigan : It was an interesting surprise a few weeks ago to hear that there was a possibility for me to conduct the Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall.

Very sensitive topics, aren’t they? What is your opinion?

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Your first step towards a recording is a good definition of the project. Clearly, why do you want to record? For promotion? To be a worldwide famous star? Every artist has different expectations about recording and the solution must be tailored to his needs. In my case, I want to record because I love working in studios, because I have a program that is close to my heart and deserves to be heard by a wider audience than the concert one. Of course, I also need a CD as promotional support, I do not deny it.

My current experiments with independent labels and those of my colleagues are not very successful. The music market is going through a crisis. None of them provides conditions satisfying my own desires and needs, and the ratio time and investment vs. benefits is quite inconclusive. I still have to produce the CD on my own with a lot less freedom than via self-production while promotion and distribution remain uncertain. Apart from wasting sponsors’ money, which is not in my interest, I do not really understand the advantage of such a system, especially since the days of many independent labels are numbered: if the label collapses, you must take everything from scratch once again.

Majors: not an option for me right now. While distribution and promotion are almost perfect, it is a double edged sword and can hurt you very badly. I’m not big enough to negotiate a fabulous contract with a major label : I’ll be “washed-up” quickly. It is indeed very interesting to record for DG, Sony and others when you have access to their premium service. Not when you are one of the thousands average artists who recorded for them. In short, you don’t call them, they’ll call you, if they fell in love with you or if there is business to be done, in brief if you represent a profitable investment.

If running his own label was a really crazy idea for an independent artist a few decades ago, today many are doing well running their own company. The advantages are numerous: you can keep control over your career, control product quality and have an opportunity to truly express your unfettered musical vision. But it’s no bed of roses. It’s a titanic task, and promotion and distribution are difficult to handle when you start from scratch. But the development of new distribution channels and growth of music downloads are pushing us in that direction and help us to realize such projects. So why not?

Recording is not (except in very rare instances) a source of income anymore, the industry has substantially changed, technologies have changed, but we, classical musicians, are still thinking as we used to years ago. It is time for us to move on, to get a different perspective on the recording industry and finally create a business model serving the artists’ and music lovers’ interests.

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She was born in Bernaville in the Somme department in Northern France region of Picardy on October 4, 1919. Accepted to the Paris Conservatory in 1932, she had studied piano, harmony and collaborative piano. Vocal coach at the orchestre National de France during the mid 1940′s, she taught sight-reading before becoming piano professor at the Paris Conservatoire.

She has served the music of her time with dedication and gusto.

Thank you Genevieve Joy, you will remain immortal in our hearts.

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Having played hundreds of pianos, I can tell you how they can be different. The brand plays a crucial role for certain standards, but the piano preparation is essential. If the quality of the used materials, the finishing or the manufacturing are very important parameters, the technician who performed the tuning and harmonization operations is just as important. Of course, many other components are involved, but the harmonization is really the step that gives its own identity to the piano. The harmonization can even affect our perception of mechanics, for example, a smooth or soft sound can gives us the impression of a “lazy” and heavy keyboard.

As for the pianos of a same brand and same model, there is an infinite number of shades, caused by factors outside the production itself. Let’s take the example of the environment: according to different rooms, the piano will not sound at all alike. Similarly, the size of the piano is to adapt to the volume of the available room. The Steinway D is a mythical instrument, but placed in a 30 square meters room, the myth shatters… Designed for rooms of large volume, it needs plenty of space to express itself!

Finally, choosing a piano is quite like choosing a car. It is necessary to define your needs in advance, as well as your budget. Just as a formula 1 requires a professional driver, some exceptional pianos require experienced pianists to deliver the best of themselves. I met some people, who were mistakenly thinking that buying a Steinway would automatically enable them to have Lipatti’s sound. Moreover, just as a formula 1 (again), these pianos require a very expensive and very frequent maintenance to stay on top of their performance. It is therefore necessary to not only consider the purchase but also maintenance costs, which can be fairly high.

But the most important in all this is to choose a piano that you really like. Whatever the brand, or what’s being said, if you have a crush on it, do not hesitate. Once identified, ask to be delivered the precise instrument you have tried. As I told you, two pianos of the same model and same brand may be very different. Write down the serial number and leave your mark on the piano (sign the underside, for example) and check on delivery that it is the piano you have chosen, and if all goes well, then you will enjoy many happy years with your instrument!

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Because here is the point: who has an interest in protecting artists? Let’s imagine you are a professional musician and your project of album comes true: you get signed to a record label. What are you going to get next? As you will not sell millions of discs, it will certainly take a long time before you get something more…

For a classical artist, recording is not a major source of income, but is rather a marketing tool, which helps us to sell concerts. A kind of visit card, which promotes our work to the public, concerts organizers and the press. Its purpose is therefore to be propagated as much as possible, no matter if its distribution is free, as long as it is not a substantial source of income.

Finally, the record label is the main interested party in this business. The company wants to cover its production expenses, which is laudable, but will survive only if it sells enough discs. The fight against piracy benefits mainly the record company but not its artist.

Whether this fight against piracy fails or free downloading wins the battle, record companies in their present form will cease to exist. (as well as all the organisations for protection of artists’ “rights”). The artist, as for him, will always be there and will be able to adapt to the new market rules.

Who does benefit from law?

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More recently, announcements are succeeding one another: Yamaha has reduced its piano production and suppressed jobs, two big monthly magazines on culture merged to face up to the crisis, General Motors withdrawed as the lead sponsor of the Montreal International Jazz Festival… The examples are numerous, showing that the crisis is affecting the arts.

The fact is that classical music is essentially subsidized by private sponsoring and/or state funds. States are now drawing huge sums to bail out banks and companies in difficulty, leading to savings in less “visible” budgets (culture, for example), and the private sponsoring to tick over, the said companies having less liquid assets for sponsoring.

Now a question which concerns me: who will then subsidize festivals, which are necessary for musicians to make a living? Who will fund municipal or national cultural policies? Will we have to radically change our work habits in order to still be able to make a living from our art? To go in for something new?

Not that easy to see through this mess, and even less easy to know what’s going to be cooked up for us!

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Lachenmann often talked about his compositions as musique concrète instrumentale. Continuously inventing playing techniques, he creates a totally new sound world, but also, in his pieces, puts performers to a severe test.

His works are regularly performed in all the big contemporary music festivals: Holland Festival, Ars Musica Brussels, Festival d’Automne (Paris), Steiericher Herbst (Graz), Huddersfield, Tage für Neue Musik (Stuttgart), Tage für Neue Kammermusik (Witten), Musik der Zeit (Cologne), Chicago, Zurich, Ultima (Oslo), Viitasaari, Sarrebruck, Reggio Emilia…

Listen to Wiegenmusic by Helmut Lachenmann.

Once again, happy birthday Mister Lachenmann!

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From Gramophone to The Sun, there’s only a short step… The free artist, making his own choices disappeared beneath marketing. To reach a new audience and sell more than ever is one of our leaders’ main ideas. In our world of image, the most important is not the contents anymore but the container. In their race, the labels do not bet anymore on musician’s quality of interpretation but on his appearance, and his actor’s skills.

Anna Netrebko in a famous quizz show is, according to Deutsche Grammophon, a success: the head of international marketing points out that 70.000 discs were sold in the two months following the broadcasting. But is this really a place for Anna Netrebko?

They now sell us Grimaud’s lovely face, the lips of Renee Fleming, the plunging neckline of Angela Gheorghiu, and so on… Arièle Butaux, producer for France Musique, stated: “at equal talent, a pretty girl with blue eyes will prevail over an ugly oily-haired girl.“ And went on: “And what is certain is that in the 21st century, Clara Haskil would not pursue a career!”. This proves that with higher talent, a chubby person does not have any career opportunity.

In our perfect world, the box-office diktat gained the upper hand on musical thought. It’s now essential to sell discs. The time when the record label bet on an artist and let him progress fifteen or twenty years is behind us. People need stars. A young singer enters the marketplace, O.k., but he must sing all the repertoire immediately. Producers make him believe that he can do it, and finally he looses his voice.

Today, there is no time to wait. Everything is going faster and faster, but towards where? We need time to build and grow a repertoire, but nobody wants to wait anymore. “It becomes difficult to think about the meaning of a music when reigns the race for contracts and planes. But perhaps we cannot mix anymore the current life style with the internal rhythm of the serious music.” said Rostropovitch. But who wants to know the meaning of a music? Who wants to understand music? Surely not a large majority of professionals, who only see in it one simple product which can bring them glory as well as money.

The keyword now is : marketing. You have to sell. Tickets for example: so you’re frequently asked to play a program with only classical hits, and pay attention to communication: Your career depends on it. A new spirit was born, art is becoming a huge company adapted to the customer. I hope that all is not lost and art is not a company. Should it be otherwise, then art would be dead.

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