Page 130 - PDF Flip TR Program Demo

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The Music at Tippet Rise
From conducting orchestras to playing piano in solo and chamber recitals, Jeffrey Kahane cannot remember a time when he was not passionate about making music.
Devanney Haruta: In addition to being a concert pianist, you’re also a conductor. How do these two roles influence each other?
Jeffrey Kahane: Being a conductor and thinking in terms of orchestral textures encourages thinking about the sound of the piano in an orchestral way. When I play music on the piano, I often am thinking not just as a pianist, but also as someone who deals with orchestral sonorities all the time. And similarly, chamber music is a more complicated texture sonically than solo piano music because it involves
multiple instruments. So, there is a carry-over, I suppose, between thinking as a conductor and thinking as a chamber musician. Conversely, when I am conducting an orchestra,
I often think the way a pianist thinks in terms of orches- tral textures, meaning I’m very concerned with clarity and balance. I try also to bring a certain kind of spontaneity that carries over from the way that I play.
DH: How would you describe the differences between a solo and a chamber recital?
JK: I think, especially for a pianist, a solo recital is proba- bly the single-most demanding thing because it’s just you for two or two-and-a-half hours. It requires much more intense preparation; it’s a little like training for a marathon. Playing
CONVERSATION WITH
JEFFREY KAHANE