‘I knew it was my music’: Idil Biret Concert & Interview

Those assembled in Westminster Cathedral Hall earlier this month had the pleasure and privilege to hear the celebrated Turkish pianist Idil Biret in a concert arranged by the Chopin Society. Biret performed the Polonaise Fantasie and B minor sonata by Frederic Chopin, as well as the op 28 Fantasie and Etudes of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. Biret is recognised as one of the best interpreters of the romantic repertoire in our time. Studying in her youth with such iconic teachers as Nadia Boulanger, Wilhelm Kempff, and Alfred Cortot, she has nevertheless cultivated a deeply individual voice over her career.

The Polonaise Fantasie was brisk, but not at the expense of its grandiosity or structure. As with the sonata which followed, it was perfectly measured from the distant, pedal-swathed harmonies of its opening to the heroic, martial ending. The slow movement of the following sonata was particularly memorable and listened to by the audience in rapt silence. The respectful quiet was broken only by the declamatory octaves of the presto,  soon dispatched with a virtuoso’s consummate ease.

Scriabin’s Fantasie, a work characteristically sensuous and ecstatic, requires fiendish virtuosity of the pianist. Biret played with fire and brimstone and enthusiasm. How superbly she brought to life Scriabin’s Promethean search for new art forms and experiences. The selection of etudes from op. 8 and op. 42 allowed the audience into more intimate company. The A flat major etude, with its Chekhov-like languor and slow, brooding melodies radiated with the feeling of Old Russia, the kind seen in the paintings of Levitan, that Medtner was to eulogise in Sonata Reminiscenza and the national character of which is so apparent in the preludes of Rachmaninoff.

After the concert, Ms Biret was gracious enough to grant me a small interview.

When did you first discover the music of Scriabin?

Years ago I knew the daughter of Alexander Glazunov, Madame Elena Glazunov, who was married to the musicologist Herbert Gunther. One day she told me ‘Why don’t you play the Russian music? It’s exactly the thing for you!’ Another gentleman told me ‘you must study Scriabin!’ When I started to, I absolutely fell in love. It’s incredible work. The sonatas…the late sonatas… I think he’s one of the most important composers of the twentieth century, without a doubt.

People often see Chopin’s influence on the earlier works…do you find any in the later pieces?

When you think that Scriabin wrote the first etude, the C sharp minor, when he was only fifteen…it’s amazing. It’s extraordinary because it’s all there, it’s totally Scriabin. To say it sounds like Chopin is misleading. He was inspired by him of course, but he was also inspired by Wagner and Liszt, let’s not forget. There is Chopin, but a very Russian Chopin. When playing Chopin, the sound and arm weight you use is not at all the same as when you play Scriabin. There is always a certain reserve. With Scriabin, you have to use the whole body. The fortissimo for each composer is different. You can’t play Schumann, as you play Chopin either.  Even with composers of the same century, the same time, there are some kind of similarities..but don’t lose sight of the distinctions too.

Although he’s more widely known for the Germanic repertoire, Kempff was very interested by Chopin, wasn’t he?

When I was working with him, he was very interested by Chopin, and I remember we spent a whole day studying the B minor sonata together. What he told me was extraordinary, I remember all the details. He admired Alfred Cortot very much. Whenever he was going to make a recording, he went to see Cortot, and he played for him. With the Polonaise Fantasie, I remember he told me ‘Now… I’m going to see how Cortot plays it’… Yes, Kempff was an incredible Chopin pianist. He played certain pieces wonderfully well. The third nocturne in B major, for instance. The Polonaise Fantasie…and with the B minor sonata….I have learnt so much from him. In certain ways, they had the same ideas – Cortot and Kempff. The legato, the bel canto, always insisting on the beauty of the sound. Always round…not hitting the keys, not percussive.

What were Kempff’s feelings about Russian music, about Scriabin?

He didn’t play very much of it, true. I admired very much Rachmaninoff, like a god – his music is perfection, by the way – and so I once asked Kempff, ‘did you ever hear Rachmaninoff himself play?’ And after a short silence he said ‘yes, it was incredible. I will never forget it.’

Is there any piece of Chopin’s which you think particularly interested Scriabin? I often hear the Polonaise Fantasie in his work.

True, I was thinking also of the Polonaise Fantasie. Also maybe in the Mazurkas, the Etudes.. The titles are very similar, naturally. I have some recordings of Scriabin, though the quality of them is not so good. It’s fantastic the way he played, the freedom, the beauty. It’s very interesting to consider how he began. Both he and Rachmaninoff were studying with Zverev, you know.

Do you remember Cortot’s approach to Scriabin?

He played Scriabin. He played the fifth sonata. I have a recording, which I need to listen to again. Scriabin’s son-in-law, Sofronitsky, there I think you get the real character of Scriabin. He plays it beautifully. I think you have to get a feeling for this music. When Horowitz is inspired, he plays Scriabin beautifully too. He has the sense of polyphony, and what he can do is absolutely fantastic. But sometimes, it’s a little bit too prosaic. How should I put it…Scriabin is more spiritual. Sometimes this is missing. There is one recording however, it’s a live recording of a recital, and he plays two etudes magnificently.

Is there a piece by Scriabin you feel closest to?

Too difficult to say! I love the Fantasie. Even though it’s a relatively short piece, the conception is very big. He reaches peaks. Lazar Berman plays it very well, for instance. He has a very Russian style. Then there are the Etudes of course…and the sonatas. The First is wonderful, the Second too..not to mention the last sonatas, but they are difficult for the audience. The piano concerto, whilst very beautiful, is a little bit problematic. It never comes exactly to a peak…there are beautiful things, but he doesn’t really finish. Sometimes we see there’s a little bit missing in this concerto. The second movement is absolutely magic. The third movement, beautiful. But with Rachmaninoff’s concertos you often come to a high point. With Scriabin’s concerto, that’s not so.

I see a very clear similarity between Scriabin and Mahler. They’re both in search of the ecstatic.

Yes, absolutely! The wonderful musicologist and biographer of Mahler, Henry-Louis De La Grange, told me that when he was young he wanted to write a musical biography, and hesitated between Scriabin and Mahler as his subject. He was very attracted by Scriabin, but he chose in the end to write on Mahler. But I am intrigued…I would have liked to see what he’d have written about Scriabin.

Was Scriabin’s legacy continued in the way Chopin’s was?

I found a lot of Scriabin in Messiaen, but you have a lot of composers who were influenced by that style, more or less. It’s a strange thing. But Messaien I hear it a lot, and maybe someone like Xenakis too. When I was very young, I was improvising at the piano (You know, I’m still improvising quite a lot!) and without knowing him, I was improvising in Scriabin’s style! And when I discovered it, I knew it was my music.