A musical romance with Mother Russia

Freddy Kempf says he tries to find a new interpretation based on what the conductor wants. Photo / Supplied

Berlin-based British pianist Freddy Kempf is in something of a Russian mood when I call him. And I must admit I am too, having fallen under the spell of his new Prokofiev album on the BIS label, pairing the popular Third Piano Concerto with the unsparingly virtuoso Second.

Kempf is particularly pleased to have had conductor Andrew Litton along for the project, with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

"Andrew studied with Rostropovich so he's strong on the Russian repertoire," he says.

"And he's an accomplished pianist. He knows these subtleties that only someone who has played the notes would realise."

Russian repertoire is on the bill when Kempf visits us with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Lazarev in just under a fortnight's time.

"The Rachmaninov Third and the Tchaikovsky First are the two concertos I played in the finals of the Tchaikovsky Competition," Kempf remembers, recalling that momentous 1998 contest when what should have been a winning performance from the 20-year-old English pianist was placed third behind two Russians.

"In fact, Rachmaninov's Second Concerto is what I was dreaming of playing when I was 7 or 8. Although it has the edge over the Third in terms of general excitement, the Third is his magnum opus in terms of writing for piano and orchestra.

"It's a long piece so you can't rely on exciting moments - you have to build something up or people will lose interest. And, because it is technically more difficult, it is possible to get lost trying to get round the notes."

He pauses when I ask him how he tackles a concerto such as the Tchaikovsky, well known to the brink of notoriety.

"I try to find a new interpretation based on what the conductor wants," he says. "I know Alexander quite well and we've played this already before. It's good to keep things free so if the orchestra wants to do something different in the concert and they can see that I'm watching them, we can try something new."

Kempf laughs, recalling a recent performance of the work in Seoul when a Canadian conductor surprised him with a massive accelerando during one of the pianist's octave passages.

"I had to tell him not to do that tomorrow. I did study the piece in Russia so I feel I've got a very Russian interpretation of it. The traditions which I have gotten used to are unique to Russia, set things which get handed down. Russians would never play that opening theme Allegro, it's always Allegro moderato."

For Kempf, his feeling for Russia and its culture goes far deeper than nailing the right tempo. "I love the language," he says. "In fact, I do a lot more work in Russia than any other non-Russian artist. I go to cities like Ekaterinburg as well as places like Barnaul and Kemerovo in Siberia.

"The country has certainly opened up in the last three or four years, but it's changing slowly.

"Once out of Moscow, you find that communism has left a heavy, deep mark on the country but, in a strange way, it has enriched the cultural life.

"People love the arts. For Russians, it's a normal activity to go to a concert whereas anywhere else it's a slightly special thing to do, not normal entertainment.

"They are much better educated in the arts at the expense of the sciences so your average Russian knows more about painting, literature and music than he would about diets or medicine."

After his "Russian tour" with the NZSO, supported by an orchestra which also plays us Glazunov, Glinka and Prokofiev's Seventh Symphony, Kempf returns to Europe to give "a few Chopin recitals", tour the English festival circuit with his wife's Ovid Trio and, returning to things Russian, prepare for a new recording of Stravinsky's Petrushka.

PERFORMANCE

Who: British pianist Freddy Kempf with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Friday, June 18, at 6.30pm; Saturday, June 19, at 3pm

On disc: Prokofiev Piano Concertos 2 & 3 (BIS, through Ode Records)