<< -- 5 -- Bill Newman 'LIGHT SHINING THROUGH'
'Yes, and I also had problems with Brahms as well. Going back in
years, I loved playing French music like Poulenc, and Gershwin -- not any
more! I am really looking at music where you will find a definite real oeuvre
by a composer.' I suggested Villa-Lobos, wondering if she had heard
of Martino Tirimo's project to examine and catalogue all of his output.
'I only know a movement from Prole do Bebê (The Baby's
Family) featuring two pianists.'
'Other recordings can be better, some are not, but we develop and
improve all the time. I had a good musical grounding in Israel, and sometimes
I have more definite ideas on rhythm and pedalling. Of course, Andreas pedals
beautifully with his left foot in control of the bass line. I don't
need to as his playing merges perfectly with what I am doing in the higher
ranges of the piano.'
When she played Satie on her own, I noticed she used the sustaining pedal
sparingly. 'Yes! I don't like the left foot very much. Earlier
on, I used it in the rhapsodic, mystic pieces -- Caresse; Prélude
à la porte héroïque du ciel -- but usually I have
an idea of a sound which is more open, like a beam of colour; and if I want
it to be opaque I use the left pedal. When I see piano in the score
I won't use pedal but do it with my fingers by using the edges or
the tip. These are so important in pianissimo passages; for instance
if you take a walk, you see the way and go ahead. With music you see the
way, and have the sound in your head -- it's like touching the piano.'
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Copyright © 5 December 2000
Bill Newman, Edgware, UK
BILL NEWMAN'S BERLIN FESTIVAL DIARY
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