"I was only 8 when I went to the Yehudi Menuhin School," she points out. "At that time, it catered for only pianists and string players, so chamber music became part of my life. Perhaps it's slightly idealistic, but I often think that when you do concertos, they should be approached like massive-scale chamber music."
In Nelson, Stott played solos by John Psathas and Gao Ping in a festival that seemed, to her, to feature New Zealand music in about 70 per cent of the programmes; and it was appreciated.
"When you go to a new place, it's wonderful to come face to face with music that you might not have heard otherwise."
Kathryn Stott has no fears of the contemporary, but she does worry about "spending sometimes months working on an incredibly difficult work and feeling you've not got any personal rewards at the end of it".
Not so with her fellow countryman Graham Fitkin, whom she has now commissioned seven times. However stimulating commissioning may be, "it often involves chasing money and that's not easy these days. If only it could be like the time when Sir Peter Maxwell Davies came up to me and asked, 'How would you like it if I wrote you a concerto?'"
That particular concerto was completed in 1997 and recorded on Collins Classics, with the composer conducting, a CD recently re-released on Naxos.
Stott has a substantial catalogue of recordings, including many discs with Swiss cellist Christian Poltera, concertos by Herbert Howells and George Lloyd, plus a highly-regarded collection of Faure's complete piano music.
"I got a handle on Faure early on, but it's a matter of where you start. His later pieces are quite strange and not so easy to bring off, even if you're familiar with the language."
When we come to Thursday's Concerto, Stott puts Shostakovich firmly on her list of favourites.
"Someone asked me recently what I thought of the Second Piano Concerto and I described it as lean and virile. Even the beautiful slow movement is so sparse you don't think of it as romantic; it's beautiful but not lush, in the sense of filled-out notes and chords."
Shostakovich wrote this concerto in 1957 for his son, Maxim. He had just completed his mighty Eleventh Symphony and, alongside that symphonic titan, the concerto might seem lighter fare. Nevertheless, the Russian pianist, Alexander Melnikov, recently warned us about being dazzled by its "populist simplicity".
"It's a tough little piece," says Stott. "It may start off with this very simple melody but, before you know it, you're into something dramatic and full-on. It's an action-stations concerto but with nothing of the blockbuster to it."
Performance
What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Thursday at 8pm
