Pianist and conductor thrash it out

Pianist Steven Osborne. Photo / Supplied

May is a month for Steven Osborne fans to mark. Not only is he touring the country with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, but the Scottish pianist's new CD of Rachmaninov Preludes has just been released. He has no qualms about tackling repertoire so many great pianists have already recorded.

"In the end, everybody has something individual to offer," he explains. "It's crucial to trust that I have something personal to say and enough level of skills to express that in the music."

Osborne's Hyperion label is the perfect antidote for anyone who does not feel comfortable with Rachmaninov's flagrant romanticism. "This music is so open, so vulnerable. If I imagined Rachmaninov being like his music, I would see him as the sort of person who would talk openly about his problems, perhaps to the point of being self-obsessed."

This is certainly not the case with Shostakovich, whose First Piano Concerto features in the first of Osborne's two NZSO turns.

"Shostakovich couldn't be more different," Osborne points out. "Whereas Rachmaninov is incredibly revealing, Shostakovich hides behind all kinds of different gambits. In this Concerto, the second movement is very deeply sad but the other ones around it are like circus performances.

"The Finale offers the greatest adrenalin rush of anything in the repertoire. It's energetic to the point of being manic and ends up going into this kind of stride passage pretty much as fast as even Art Tatum would play."

On the other hand, next Saturday's Mozart Concerto K595 is an "extremely subtle piece. It's Mozart's last piano concerto and ... You could see this as some sort of melancholy farewell but you'd be missing the point."

Osborne confesses he can't find the words to express his innermost feelings about Mozart but he has no trouble when it comes to the day-to-day life of a concert pianist. Venues are first up.

"When you go into a hall you become aware of its characteristics. If there are problems, it doesn't help to remind yourself of them."

Pressed to choose a favourite, he opts for London's Wigmore Hall. "It was the first time I ever played in a real hall and at a real piano. I was 10 and it was a scholarship audition. I'll never forget being astonished by the sound that came out - the incredible beauty, the richness and the resonance.

When I talk to Osborne he has yet to meet Matthias Bamert, who will conduct his Shostakovich and Mozart, but, as it turns out, this Scotsman is not averse to a touch of gladiatorial jousting between podium and piano.

"I really like it when conductors bring their own ideas to a concerto and don't give them up too readily, showing that they really want to create something with you. That's incredibly productive.

"It makes it more like chamber music as you try to thrash out a very powerful compromise. And it's not an entirely comfortable process because one is quite attached to one's ideas. At first it slightly hurts your pride but when you get over that, with a musician you can trust, you can learn so much from it."

Performance

What: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Friday May 22 at 6.30pm & Saturday May 23 at 3pm