Blogging the Festival - Part II

The hardest part of blogging the Festival is finding time to do it! I have a few minutes now so will try to get caught up on some the notes I've taken over the past few days.

First a bit more on Menahem Pressler, who is a marvel and inspiration on so many levels. 85 years young and sharp as a tack, he's able to keep up with and often outperform his students technically. He doesn't even wear glasses. Sitting in on his last master class I overheard some more precious quotes.

After a 14-year-old prodigy displays dazzling pyrotechnics on a Ravel piece, Pressler has this to say: "There were a few good things, but most of it was wrong. When he writes piano, you play forte. When he writes pianissimo, you play mezzo forte. You play it at a tempo which means you're spending money which you don't have." He sums up by saying "If you have the fingers to play this, and the brains, you
should also have the responsibility."

Another young boy plays for him and he responds: "This piece needs 50 more pounds. So you've got to eat a lot!"

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On to the great German clarinetist Karl Leister's master class. Leister's bio reads like a who's who of the classical world. He's played under the baton of Herbert von Karajan, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Neville Marriner, Aaron Copland, and many more. When I mention I'm a jazz musician, he shares a story about his friendship with legendary jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman. He once offered Benny tickets to his concert and Benny insisted on paying for them -- he found a cheque waiting for him at his hotel. He did not want to accept money from his friend, so he never cashed the cheque, and still has it to this day. I joke with him that this would be worth a lot on eBay, but he will never part with it.

He describes one variation his student plays as a long "discussion" between the piano and clarinet, and at the end, "you shake hands". The importance of visualization and storytelling in the music is something that all the teachers -- Pressler, Parker, Tsutsumi, Seiler, Laplante -- have stressed: Don't just read the notes.

"The clarinet must always *sing*, not play", Leister intones.

"This is done in a bakery, not on stage", he says as a clarinetist swirls his bell on a long note.

"You polished the floor" (he drags his feet), he says regarding another phrase.

"You don't listen", he chides a young student, "I see it in your eyes."

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Juno Award winner Andre Laplante is a Canadian national treasure, and one of the world's top piano virtuosos. When I entered his master class he was working with a student on a Schumann piece. The following are some of his comments:

He stresses the fluidity of body movement in playing, telling his student to "make the phrase dance".

"Horowitz looks a bit like a turtle when he plays. It's kind of freaky, but it works."

"If there ever was a Sturm und Drang composer in Germany, my God, that is Schumann."

"When we take a new step, we are often afraid we're going to fall. Don't be afraid. Take the step. You won't fall. You're so ready."

"This is the best crazy music in the world. But you have to bring enormous contrast. You're trying to control too much. You have to be free as the wind."

"It's good sometimes to practice playing without emoting -- just play the logic of the piece."

"Tell us the story that *you* hear."

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I've already drawn one parallel between music and yoga by comparing the musician masters to yoga teachers making small adjustments that make all the difference to their students' practices. Lately I've been thinking about another parallel: At the end of a yoga retreat, I feel uplifted, revitalized, and like all the molecules in my body are vibrating with energy. After a month of the Toronto Summer Music Festival, I feel much the same way. To sum up, I'll end here with one last Pressler quote: "When you hear a great artist perform, you feel fulfilled -- you come out a better person. You feel sanctified, elevated -- a better person."