Hailed as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Joaquín Achúcarro will be performing during this year’s edition of the Three Palaces Festival. Joseph Borg interviews him about career, collaborations and inspirations.
Joaquín Achúcarro has been critically acclaimed for almost six decades. He has been described by the Chicago Sunday Times as “the consummate artist”. His impeccable and model artistic career has earned him a reputation of the highest degree, both nationally and internationally. His interpretations will endure, no doubt about that.
Renowned, authoritative French magazine Diapason named him one of the greatest pianists, alongside other legends like Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninov and Vladimir Horowitz. Lately, he has also had an asteroid named in his honour. I caught up with him some weeks ahead of his Malta concert.
British conductor Simon Rattle commented on the special sound that you extract from the piano and that other renowned conductor Zubin Mehta stated that he only heard this sound from Arthur Rubinstein. Was Rubinstein an inspiration to you?
Meeting Rubinstein was one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable afternoons of my life. To please one of his friends, the pianist had agreed to spare some time to listen to my playing. After I had played a few bars of a Schubert sonata he sat back, closed his eyes and murmured to himself ‘musician to the core’.
Then, he asked me to play some Schumann, Chopin and even Spanish music (he was colossal in that field). He was a little reluctant when I asked to play Ravel's Scarbo movement from Gaspard de la Nuit. ‘I have heard a few young pianists attempt it and cannot make head or tail of this piece’ were his words.
To my joy, when I finished he thanks me for ‘revealing’ to him this masterwork of music. We then shared a serious conversation about music, but gradually his conversation became more and more funny, anecdotes, stories. By the end, we were both laughing.
You have worked with more than 350 conductors, many of them highly acclaimed. Can you recall any particularly special moments between soloist and conductor?
Since you have mentioned Zubin Mehta, I can tell you that this particular comment about my sound was made when we were having dinner after our performance of Rachmaninoff’s Fourth Concerto with the New York Philharmonic.
I also recall Yehudi Menuhin stepping down from his podium (we were doing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.22 in E Flat Major with the Berlin Philharmonic) to tell me how much he had enjoyed my cadenza, which I had not played at the rehearsals to save time.
Music is a part of being human. It’s as important as speech
In the past, musicians did not have access to different interpretations of works in the same way they do today. How much do you think the approach to a performance has changed over the years as a result of this?
The problem (and the duty) of any artist is to find this deep bottom within ourselves in which we don't need to ask anybody whether what we are doing is good. It is a totally personal task. But, like a lawyer who is about to defend a case would consult libraries and seek the advice of his colleagues, musicians can get ideas from recordings and then accept them or reject them as part of that search.
You have a special love for Brahms's Second Concerto. What is it about this work that you find so irresistible?
Its colossal proportions, which don't exclude moments of mysterious intimacy, moments of joy, humour and defiance to the performer. But Brahms’s Second is not alone. I have a special love for Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Falla...
In 1997 you played at the inauguration of the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum in front of an audience of 25,000 which was broadcast live in over 100 countries. How did you feel to perform to such a large audience?
In cases like this you don't think of ‘how many’ but ‘how well can I do the task?’. Thank God it did go well.
In your home country, Spain, you are a national icon and have been the recipient of the two highest honours in the Arts: in 1992 the Spanish Government awarded you the Premio Nacional de Música and in 1996 you were knighted by King Juan Carlos with the Gold Medal of Fine Arts. How strong is your affinity with Spanish music, particularly that from the Basque region?
When I embarked on this career I was not thinking of medals but the joy of music. However, it is a great satisfaction to have these honours. As for my affinity with Spanish music, I have heard Spanish and Basque rhythms since my childhood. Somehow, I have them in my blood in the same way as a Viennese has the Waltz, or a Polish person the mazurka, quite naturally.
You were named Artist for Peace 2000 by Unesco in recognition of your "extraordinary artistic achievement" and in 2003 you received the Great Cross of Civil Merit from King Juan Carlos. How much can music education help social development in a rapidly changing world?
I cannot stress enough that music is a part of being human. It’s as important as speech, a way of communication of emotions that words are unable to express.
The Three Palaces Festival runs between tomorrow and Saturday at various locations.
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