Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Interview with Daniel Pollack

Hi Everyone,

Below is the first part of my interview with Daniel Pollack, who was in San Francisco on Monday night. In this installment, the pianist/professor talks about the current trend(s) of pianism and what he would like to see changed.

As always, thank you very much for reading
http://www.examiner.com/piano-in-san-francisco/interview-with-pianist-daniel-pollack-part-i

Very interesting as always. Do you prepare most/all of the questions ahead of time? Do the pianists know the questions ahead of time?

Have you thought about putting all the interviews together in a book?

Pollack always sounds ticked off. There is a YouTube video in which he nearly repeats the same themes and thoughts. He is always angry at the current generation and their pianism; yet he and some of his similarly-minded colleagues are major pedagogues and judges of the competitions that select these so called soul-less young pianists. How does he reconcile that?

Very interesting. I will be honest the bit about him traveling to another country and about how his students don't care. He kind of went on about that one. I can understand the sentiment, but he does seem a bit harsh.

exactly. look how they have been chosen their winners in some major competitions in recent years?

take 2010 Chopin competition for example: when a passionate and original pianist such as Bozhanov seemed to merge as a front runner, they changed the rule at the last minute to push him out of top 3. that's how those competitions do to any individualist/original pianists... talking about why modern pianism is like this!

Bozhanov! I really enjoyed listening to his music making. What's become of him? He sounds like he may have a strong and a bit of an independent personality.

I really got a lot of out of this interview... I think he brings up an important point: music not only need to be in the schools on a high level (instead of the awful fakeness and endless arrangements that most non-arts schools play these days), but also in the home. Most of the excellent young musicians I know have homes literally immersed in music, and IMO that is one major thing that would not only foster interest among young people but sustain that interest as well.

How to get the parents interested in classical music, well, that is another matter!

>I will be honest the bit about him traveling to another country and about how his students don't care. He kind of went on about that one. I can understand the sentiment, but he does seem a bit harsh.

Yes but his main point seems to be that people do not listen.
I'm not sure if he's harsh or realistic. And maybe many people feel not listened too as well, it seems a two-way mechanism to me.