As I like to say, a very big part of piano technique is about delivering weight. When we sit at the piano, the upper torso remains balanced over the pelvis, delivering the weight through the sit bones to the bench. As our thighbones are above the sit bones, it permits to have the legs completely free to move, using them for support when we play in extremes part of the keyboard and/or to pedal. That’s roughly what happens in the case of a balanced sitting. But to achieve a balanced sitting and avoid unnecessary tensions, you must first find the adequate bench. It must be comfortable, adjustable, silent… If you don’t find it, you’ll never achieve a balanced sitting during the performance, and the playing will suffer : technically weak, harsh sound and poor tone quality. That’s why Samson François was so right : a good piano is useless if you can’t reach a balanced sitting.

In fact, in my twenties I was obsessed with balanced sitting. I used to practice at school, and most conservatories don’t invest in benches so students get these uncomfortable cheap benches and the sitting problems that go alongside. I had to solve this issue and make my buttocks happy (as well as my back!). At first I used a cushion, but this was not plainly satisfactory; a cushion slips, is not firm enough and gets flat. So with the help of my physical therapist, I designed and built an ergonomic cushion fitting my needs. That’s how I ended up carrying a weird cushion everywhere I had to play. This cushion was so famous among Prague Conservatory’s students that it quickly got a name : podprdelka (litterally: the “underbum”).

I still use it, although I built an ergonomic bench for my home practice, and I must say it improved my playing a lot, helping me to find a balanced sitting and avoid unnecessary tensions.

So, if you want to play well, follow Samson François’ advice and meet the first requirement : sitting well. Then, you’ll choose the piano you want to play. Far too many people (even professionals) don’t even look at the bench and blame the piano if they didn’t played well. In fact, their sitting is responsible for their technical mistakes or bad sound : the bench is thus much more important than the piano itself!

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Oh, I forgot to tell you the most important : what I was wearing that day. I was wearing a navy blue suit and a blue shirt without a tie. No extravaganza, classic outfit I wear almost every day. So what should a pianist look like? I really don’t know. Obviously I didn’t wear what this guy expected me to wear, I should have looked a bit more “artist”. Well, we’re going back to the endless discussion: what is a musician supposed to look like?

Some musicians are really over-thinking what they are wearing on stage : once I saw a pianist changing her dress three times during a recital. I can totally remind this fact about her and can clearly remember the sparkling dresses even after a few years, but I completely forgot the most important : her name, the works she played and how she played. Funny isn’t it? Not funny at all. Sad, very sad. She just drew my attention on something else than what I was supposed to focus on. She just made me feel clothing more important than music, she just turned a piano recital into a fashion show. Let’s take a big shortcut here : she thought she was more important to the recital than the music itself. You now may understand why it is best to wear a sober outfit on stage.

I don’t think the musician should wear clothes just to show he is a musician. I am a musician, do I need to draw attention of everyone on me? I’m not playing the piano to get famous or be the center of attention of the room I’m standing in, I’m playing the piano because I love music and think music can help people in their daily life. This is not about me, this is about music and audience. I’m not the kind of interpreter who wants to be a star, I’m the kind of interpreter who withdraws behind the works and composers trying to serve them as much as I can. In fact, my first aim is to be honest : honest with me, honest with the audience, honest with music. And to be honest with me, I need to wear the clothes I want to and not act like a certain image of the musician. I know it sounds a bit idealistic in today’s world but that’s just who I am.

No, I won’t dress up like an artist because I don’t need to look like an artist : I am an artist. No matter what marketers or people say, I don’t need a uniform to (make) feel I am a pianist, and after all, the most important is the music played, not the guy who plays it. And it should stay like this.

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If you want to please the audience, please yourself first : I think programming is first about you. I may sound a little selfish here but let me explain. I deeply believe that if you are intimately connected to the works you play, the audience will do so. If you are convinced your program and playing are wonderful, you can convince an audience. Not before.

Tailor the program for the audience : I always ask presenters about their audience to find out what I can or cannot play. Most of the time the Artistic Director can tell you what sort of audience you will meet, if they don’t know, ask for the most crowded concerts from the last season and have a look at their program.

Structure, structure and structure again : Like musical forms, there must be a structure in the program involving among others the famous tension/rest couple. No audience could bear 2 or 3 very tensed works in a row, nor 3 calm works in a row. You have to let breathe the audience after tension but not send them to sleep!

Audience dislikes being lost : people like to feel in a safe environment. And what is a safe environment musically speaking? Music they know and appreciate. You have to find a balance between known and unknown pieces : enough “hits” for people who want to feel safe, enough “discoveries” for people who like surprises.

Never forget your programming is part of your public image : Programming should express who you are as an artist. Did you ever see Glenn Gould playing la Campanella or the flight of the bumble bee?

As you can see, balance is important at every level of understanding. Programming is really an exhausting task : These are only 5 advices on 5 of the hundreds of parameters you have to deal with when building a program. Programs are a part of your success if they are good, but a bad program can also ruin a recital or a tour, so take your time and think about it!

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For a long time my physiotherapist has pressed me to do something to maintain my body healthy, arguing that my recurring back problems are effects of a lack of physical activity. Up until now, I had always answered I was too busy for this. But if I want to continue to have all my “features”, I have to seriously consider having a regular physical activity routine.

I can not practice “dangerous-for-fingers” sports as basketball or volleyball, I do not like running, playing tennis gives me tendonitis, then what? The solution would be to take part in less agressive activities as Pilates, yoga or stretching. I opted for yoga which was already interesting me. Swimming is also a good option, but requires an adequate infrastructure, not always easy to find.

Our discipline is intimately linked to the gesture and the body in motion. Who would not maintain the tools of his trade? Unfortunately the musicians are not the best example to follow and often confront themselves to postural and muscular problems later in their professional life. When you are young, you always think these problems won’t show up. This is a huge mistake, so don’t wait and take care of your body!

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My life would be surely unbearable for those who can’t live without their social network. I grew up without siblings, I was not very popular at school, I learned to live in an environment where social contacts were fairly limited. I played alone at home and unlike other children I did not know boredom. I discovered it later, ironically in a period during which I was opening myself up to others.

It’s not that I’m antisocial, far from it, but I feel good when I’m alone. The hours spent at the piano are always a pleasure and I give myself spaces of solitude after work, because every musician will tell you, we need at least half an hour after the last played note to be back to reality. Disturbing me at work: an error my friends don’t commit anymore. I’m in such cases grumpy and say the first thing that comes into my head (It does not even make sense sometimes) to get back to work as quickly as possible.

I am sure that we choose the instrument according to our own character. It seems to me that if I did not like the loneliness that surrounds me, I wouldn’t have wanted to become a pianist. I would have chosen an instrument that allows better socialization, as a wind instrument for example. The pianist even involved in chamber music remains a bit “strange”. And finally I like it!

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Punchy à la Gavrilov or slow and charismatic like Michelangeli’s one, the way to cover the distance from the stage door to the piano is an obsession. I have never been able to appear on stage in a natural manner so far. Being aware that several hundred pairs of eyes are watching every step of mine is driving me nuts. It may seem ridiculous, because walking to the piano is perhaps technically the simplest thing to do in a recital, but a billion questions arise at the same time: do I have to walk and take a bow in front of the piano, or stay behind the bench? A hand on the piano or not? The concentrated air or friendly and smiling? Small or big steps? Fast or slow ones?

Some pianists practice their entrance, count the number of steps and keep time in order to fit a perfect timing, neither too long nor too short. A strategy has been developed and the pianist becomes an actor for a few seconds. But finally, isn’t this apprehension just a cannot-see-the-forest-for-the-trees attitude? I mean, isn’t it a way to artificially forget what we really fear, that is to say playing?

I do not really know, since leaving scene is also problematic, although our job is almost done. What does frighten us so much then?

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While you are here, enjoy one of my favorite concertos by one of my favorite interpreters (at least in Ravel!)

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Born in 1970 in Jacksonville, FL, Brad Mehldau recorded his first opus in 1995 for Warner, and has released 26 albums to date, solo or as a leader or co-leader.

Happy listening!

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• Biography  

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