Musical ‘Signposts’

In town next week for a piano lecture recital on 'The Dualities of Liszt-Saint or Sinner',Karl Lutchmayer is a man who enjoys an international career as a pianist as well as a lecturer.

In town next week for a piano lecture recital on ‘The Dualities of Liszt-Saint or Sinner’,Karl Lutchmayer is a man who enjoys an international career as a pianist as well as a lecturer. A student of the Royal College of Music,he won numerous awards and scholarships,and went on to hold the prestigious Constant & Kit Lambert Fellowship,becoming the first instrumentalist in history to ever receive the award. He describes it as having been a rare honour,and one of the key moments in his early professional life. All my colleagues and professors had said it was impossible to be both a pianist and a lecturer,so when the Worshipful Company of Musicians awarded this award they were essentially saying not only that it was possible,but that they respected my career path.

Lutchmayer has performed at all the major London halls and has had broadcasts on BBC Radio3 and Classic FM. His regular recital series at the Warehouse has also been received with critical acclaim. He is a regular chamber performer,particularly with Dialogos,his own ensemble. Lutchmayer says that it is very easy to give concerts when the audience doesn’t really follow what’s going on since they don’t know a lot about the music. I started Dialogos to ensure that when we played,the audience was really listening,rather than just hearing music whilst they thought of something else,by really introducing the music properly and giving aural ‘signposts’ to the audience so that they were really living the performance along with us.

The recital has an intriguing title,it adds a sense of mystery to the performance. Lutchmayer tells us that even in Liszt’s lifetime,his friends couldn’t decide whether he was an artist or a charlatan,a priest or a sinner,a pianist or a composer. This concert is but one in a series that he is giving in London that explores these themes in the music of Liszt. Among the pieces that he will perform next week is The Totantaz ( Dance of Death ),which is an overt meditation on death and devilry,while the pieces at Villa D’Este in Rome ,show the same humane themes in a different manner.

Alongside his performances,Lutchmayer is currently a professor of performing practice at Trinity College of Music,and has recently returned from a guest professorship at Ithaca,New York. He is also a regular guest lecturer at the Manhattan and Julliard Schools in New York,and at Wigmore Hall in London. He compares the two teaching experiences,saying that in America,information and technical skills are valued more than independent thought,while the British music system provides more space in the schedule for contemplation and consideration,an encouragement to take risks,make mistakes and then learn from them.

Lutchmayer also maintains that he is an avid fan of contemporary music. According to him,classical music encompasses a wide variety of composers,all of whom were trying to touch the hearts of their contemporaries; modern composers are no different. He deems it only fair that some works will fall by the wayside,while others will be tomorrow’s classics. We have in fact got far too used to a musical diet consisting only of masterpieces which is actually doing us harm in engaging with real art. It is the equivalent of only eating caviar and foie grass at every meal – it would soon get very sickly!

(Karl Lutchmayer will give a piano lecture recital on Sunday,June 26,at 6:30 pm at Mazda Hall,Dastur Primary School,Camp)

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