Overplaying for top notch pianists...

[stringoverstrung]

Hi all,

i saw Zoltan Kocsis a few times. A few years ago, his solo recital was great. (among others great Bartok Sonata). The next two times his concerts were a lot more superfluous. Then i heard that he told Levente Kende that he plays like >200 concerts a year. I once had the same experience with Pletnev. His encore Chopin ballade no 1. was not good at all.
Why do they do that? Is it just for the money? or do they loose their self criticism when they grow older? or are they pushed by their contracts or management?
Did one of you experience the same thing?
Thanks for sharing your comments.

[thierry13]

You can't give the performance of your life everytime, and that has nothing to do with loosing self criticism or growing older.

[cmg]

Hi all,

i saw Zoltan Kocsis a few times. A few years ago, his solo recital was great. (among others great Bartok Sonata). The next two times his concerts were a lot more superfluous. Then i heard that he told Levente Kende that he plays like >200 concerts a year. I once had the same experience with Pletnev. His encore Chopin ballade no 1. was not good at all.
Why do they do that? Is it just for the money? or do they loose their self criticism when they grow older? or are they pushed by their contracts or management?
Did one of you experience the same thing?
Thanks for sharing your comments.

You try playing 200 concerts a year and see if you can make each one a memorable experience for everyone in the audience.  It's just not possible to be "on" always and all the time.  These folks are humans, not machines.

[m19834]

I think that each individual approaches this pretty differently.  Some people have more or less a "game face" and some kind of "place" within themselves that just kind of rides the wave, whereas others may go through a kind of deep soul searching each and every time they step out on stage (which can be absolutely exhausting).  Either way, the performance may not always be brilliant and of course, everybody in the audience may not walk away feeling satisfied.  Also, what, exactly, each audience member walks away with can be very largely dependent on them as an individual, and their own receptivity.

I think that for the performer, what matters most is that however they choose to go about it all, it is true to themselves. 

Last season was the first time I really had a substantial amount of (singing/opera) shows/performances (about 120), and even then, it was quite mild both in content and in quantity compared to "concert artists."  I found that there were elements of it that I truly enjoyed, though I was definitely too busy during that time to "stop and smell the flowers" in my life.  I guess that is one thing, and the experience was fine.  But, after I "came down" from the season, I found that there was something very much missing in my life as a result of having spent all of that time and energy in other ways.  It was a great experience for me in several ways to have that kind of season last year, but there are some definite reasons I have chosen not to do that again this year (I may change my mind again next year, who knows ?  :-).

Long ago, I realized that I did not want to spend my years doing something that I didn't feel was true to me.  I think that route is kind of a bumpy road, at least for me it has been a bit that way because it means that I am not necessarily doing the same thing each day, each month, each year.  It's like each year I have to completely recreate myself based on what was learned the year before.  I suppose that everybody does this to some degree, but it can be pretty easy to live one's life in an outlined and secure "role" instead.  I have some kind of fire in my belly and if that is not used properly, it is *quite* destructive for me and everybody around me, I think (probably a good portion of my life and energy is spent trying to be a positive force rather than a destructive one  ).  What that means to me is that I can't, at this point in my life, go work in an office, for example (I could probably find it in me if my life depended on it -- I have done much "worse" before).   

For me, I have felt led from place to place, activity to activity, based on what that fire is doing.  But, eventually I have been led beyond wherever I was before.  For example, I started working with children in various capacities as my main job (for a number of years, actually) because I felt that I loved children (after realizing that the job I had at the time was not going to work for me as my occupation).  That was fine and I learned a lot, but at some point I became *so* distracted by music while I was at my job, that I literally couldn't keep doing what I was doing.  So, something true to myself led me to work with children, and that was a good experience, but then something else stepped in and led me "beyond" that, too. 

I guess my point is in all of this, I realize that a job is just a job no matter what it is.  Just because a person has a concert career, or just because I may have a concert career of *some* sort (probably I could try to be having an opera/singing career), it doesn't automatically make it musical.  Everybody goes about this in different ways though.  Even an occupation in music, even by a person whom *loves* music and is very artistic by nature, even that occupation can be or can become just a job (I am not judging this, mind you).

[tompilk]

i suppose restricting your number of performances makes it appear more special. For instance, Martha Argerich and Krystian Zimerman have a huge following of die-hard fans (me included!).

[lostinidlewonder]

The concert organizing is all done by their managers. I would be extremely impressed if they could manage to do that themselves, often they get concert appointments because of the strong reputation their big name managers have with concert halls.

Doing so many concerts I find that their playing suffers, but only very slightly I don't think most people would notice. You play the same thing so many times its very hard to keep things "fresh". As an experienced pianist you know what your music sounds like when you get bored with it, you can easily experience it when you practice the same phrase too many time Sometimes when it has to be loud you just play loud you don't bother about the shades of loudness the same goes for the softness. Sometimes you don't bother with the expressive use of rubato and just play through the notes more measured.

I hear recordings of some pianists, they are real pieces of art! But we know that these are often engineered with many takes until you get exactly what you want. I find that some people forget that  live performances are different from recorded performances. It is much more exciting, there are so many unknowns and things that can go wrong, it's a real drama on stage between the performer and their instrument, this is what makes live music so interesting to watch.

The performers doing 200+ a year really are to be admired because the music flows through them like it's nothing difficult! They can play 2 hour concerts and then have the energy to do the next one and the next one! Water off a ducks back. These guys are machines if you ask me! But I know personally a few international concert pianists and they have suffered physically and emotionally a great deal from doing 200+ concerts a year. Some even take injections in their spine and arm to give them some relief from their pain just so they can perform on the night. The money is very good, I really can't see the enjoyment in doing this. Giving your music so much that your body starts breaking down, it is just too masochistic for me

[quasimodo]

Chopin's 1st Ballade as an encore  ??
Man, that's brave and crazy!

[stringoverstrung]

thanks for all your interesting comments
I did not intend it as a criticism to those hard working people at all and

you're probably right: most people don't notice: he got a standing ovation.