TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A masterful performance from the veteran Russian pianist Vladimir Viardo earlier this week at the Taipei International Piano Festival rolled back the years and received a rapturous reception from a new generation of fans.
Seventy-three years young, the Russian required a wheelchair to get to his Steinway piano at Eslite Performance Hall, on the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park campus, on Tuesday (July 25) evening. However, he was bouncing around on his stool and appeared decidedly spritely by the end of the solo recital.
Before the intermission, he tackled Schubert's Lieders arranged by Liszt with his trademark nuance and touch, expressing profound emotion and drama. After the break, the audience was treated to Debussy’s “Prelude Book II,” which provided the virtuoso time and space to display his technical accomplishments, vision and personality. There was also a bravura encore of a rearrangement of Shubert by Liszt.
In a change from the published program, he swapped out the rather demanding (especially the finale) Beethoven “Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101,” for Medtner’s “Sonata Romantica.” Speaking after the show to Taiwan News, he explained this was because of a nerve injury, which meant he needed painkillers.
It seemed to make little difference. Rather, the struggle underlines the demands and dedication to his craft that have given Viardo a long and glittering career, which started at the knees of his musician mother, a classical singer and pianist.
He said the Medtner piece complemented Schubert’s adaptations of Liszt. “It’s very sad that his beloved brother died and that’s why he wrote this,” he said of the selection.
Asked about the stylistic differences between Schubert and Debussy, Viardo impishly replied, “Contrast is a uniting principle. If we don’t have contrast, we don’t have children. Understand?”
A professor of piano at the University of North Texas College of Music, Viardo is recognized as one of the world’s finest master-class teachers. During the interview he often references his students, explaining how improvisation is key to a performance, even though the music is typically written out. “This is a very attractive part of our profession, it is like an adventure,” he added.
Asked why he chose not to play Russian composers like Rachmaninov, who he interprets brilliantly, Viardo retorted: “People like to generalize things, usually it’s a very low-class opinion, like, ‘Russians play Russian music best.’ It doesn’t matter where music comes from, it doesn’t have a nationality, it’s the content that’s important.”
Born in the Soviet Union’s Caucasus Mountains, near the Black Sea, Viardo had a classical upbringing and eventually left for Moscow to study under the "Godfather of the Russian piano school," Lev Nikolayevich Naumov.
Asked whether he had a unique style, he replied, “I don’t think I have one style, I just have to follow the composer’s style.” And in fact, this is what he is best known for, colorful and intelligent interpretations of composers from many eras: a man for all seasons.
He achieved international prominence in 1971 after winning a piano competition in Paris, before cementing his reputation two years later at the Van Cliburn Competition. Major orchestras and performance halls beckoned the dashing Russian musician, but instead of making the most of his newfound fame, his travel visa was revoked and he was banned from playing abroad for the next 13 years.
It was a bitter blow but one that the young maestro made the most of, by learning new repertoires. At his Taipei appearance, Viardo did not require sheet music at all, playing entirely from memory.
After he was able to resume his international career, Viardo flourished and collaborated with leading orchestras and conductors, such as Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, and Kirill Kondrashin. He has played all over the world and is in demand as a judge on jury panels at international piano competitions. He has also made countless recordings over the years, including Medtner, Karamanov, Shostakovich, Liszt, and Debussy.
Asked about humanistic qualities and the connection with classical music, Viardo quoted the Bible and the idea that “’beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” — but then added that he does not really want to know the secret of beauty because this might destroy the magic. He cited the example of a surgeon operating and said, “You don’t want to see the guts,” you just want to see the finished result.
As for Taiwan and its classical pianists, Viardo was polite and encouraging. On the subject of talent, he recalled his teacher and other journalists asking the same question: “How do you know if someone is talented or not?” Answer: “Before he starts to play.”
As for how long he intends to continue with his punishing but rewarding schedule of teaching, performing, and judging, Viardo replied, “Well, maybe I don’t always have the strength to play the most difficult pieces now, but if I’m not strong, I still have ways to play.”
And ... Viardo is in fact returning for an encore in Taipei next year. He will hold a masterclass and piano recitals in Taipei and Kaohsiung that will once again be presented by K Art Production, assisted by the Taiwan Association for Music Artists.
(K Art Production photos)
