BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Since his debut playing a Mozart piano concerto at the Sydney Opera House when he was just nine years old, Simon Tedeschi has grown into one of the country’s leading pianists. With his recordings, he’s made it to the top 5 across the ARIA and Limelight Classical Charts, and as a soloist has won awards and performed across the world. Now 25 years after his childhood public debut, Simon has launched a new album of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and will present the work as he embarks on a national tour spanning several months.
Your life. Filled with incredible achievements. You played for Pavarotti at 13, and played the hands of genius musician David Helfgott in the film Shine. You’ve performed in front of world leaders including George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama. How does it feel to be associated with the best of the best?
It feels pleasurable but strange, particularly when I am ultimately just a musician and have devoted my life not to self aggrandisement but to great music.
How do you feel about the idea of classical musicians achieving celebrity status? Is it possible?
Well, it is clearly possible, judging by the iconic status of those past and present. No more so than now, as we live in the age of the celebrity, the gilded cage, the Selfie Stick.
Having achieved so much in your career already, what are you looking forward to next?
I’m looking forward to playing Brahms 1 with the Sydney Youth Orchestra next year. And in terms of a singular big goal, I’d like to own lots of animals.
Tell us about your new release and why you decided to record Pictures at an Exhibition.
It was actually Toby Chadd from ABC Classics who initially made the call. I was completely awed after our discussion – the opportunity to record a piece of this grandeur and majesty is not something that happens every day. In preparation, I did not listen to any other recordings, but instead read voluminously about Mussorgsky and the cultural landscape that the piece reflects.
What’s your personal connection to the work?
In any work as great as this, the music functions as a Rorschach inkblot – reflecting the temperament, wishes, history and conflicts of the interpreter. The movement with the greatest connection for me is Samuel Goldenberg and Schmulye – having grown up with Polish Jewish grandparents, the aching, incessant, pleading tone of this movement is the terror from which my grandparents came and ultimately escaped (to Australia!).
There have been so many orchestral arrangements of Mussorgsky’s masterpiece – which is your favourite?
I like and dislike all of them equally. I find Pogorelich’s piano interpretation to be the most curious, quixotic, colourful.
What does his original piano music offer us that the later arrangements don’t?
Because it’s one instrument and not 80, the piano is capable of being more malleable with shading, tempo and the capriciousness of the moment. However, even if this piece had not been arranged for orchestra, I would still be thinking of it very symphonically.
See Simon Tedeschi perform the Mussorgsky across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane from September 27 to January 10. More info www.simontedeschi.com.
Image supplied, credit Maja Baska.
