Feature Article by Jacqueline Kharouf
I Have to Perform: An Interview with Pianist Nada
In April of this year—a day after my birthday, actually—I finally had the opportunity to meet one of my frequent collaborators here at Fanfare: Pianist Nada. Nada lives in Kentucky, but she made a connection to composer Ofer Ben-Amots, who teaches music composition and theory at Colorado College. Ben-Amots put Nada in contact with visual artist Karen Mosbacher, who is a visiting faculty member at Colorado College. Mosbacher hosts performances in her home as part of her Mosbacher Salon Collective, which “showcases the interplay between art and music, featuring accomplished performers accompanied by works of fine art.” For this latest performance, Mosbacher hosted Nada, and I made the hour-long drive from my home in the suburbs of Denver to the outskirts of Colorado Springs to see and experience Nada in person.

Mosbacher introduced herself and Nada. She explained that, as a visual artist, she is particularly drawn to music and also experiences synesthesia—that brilliant fusion of sound and color—which informs her interpretation of music as visual representation. As I sat, definitely envious of Karen’s ability, I listened to the outpouring of music and color from my friend at the piano. Nada explored the myriad iterations of theme and variation as interpreted by Beetho­ven in his 32 Variations on an Original Theme in C Minor, WoO 80, and as imagined by Naji Hakim, a contemporary composer who explored Jean Langlais’s Variations on a Theme. She performed Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and, of course, a piece by Ofer Ben-Amots called “To the Mountaintop,” taking us to the very top of Pike’s Peak (as Ben-Amots explained in his own remarks before the performance). I was quite happy in this space—a collaboration of sorts between art, music, and friendship—and immediately drawn into the light and energy of Nada, who has such a presence at the instrument. She has spoken to me often about the strength of Brahms—that this has carried her through many challenges and struggles in her life—but I think now that this strength is entirely her own.

In the following interview, we chat about her preference for performance work and her latest recording—an all-digital release of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 transcribed for solo piano—as well as her new mission to perform more.

Dear Nada, it was such a pleasure to hear you perform in person last month. You came to Colorado to give a salon performance as part of Karen Mosbacher’s Salon Collective in Colorado Springs. I wonder if you could tell me a little bit about how you met Karen and became involved in her salon series.

Well, I met Karen Mosbacher through composer Ofer Ben-Amots. I met Karen for the first time when I arrived in Colorado. Ofer put me in touch with her because we had never met before. And it was kind of a new situation because I had performed his music, but I had never met him in person either, and he’s such a wonderful, warm, and generous human being. And then I was so happy to meet Karen because she is really a truly fantastic person and artist. So it was great. Everything just felt really positive.

I was really very excited for the performance, not only because I was looking forward to seeing you in person and to meeting you—we’ve become friends (which is really lovely) after working together on several projects for Fanfare and elsewhere—but also because I was curious to experience your performance in a live setting. I think that recordings, for all their advancements and technical specifications, are certainly one way to experience music, but a live performance is something else entirely. Which do you most prefer? If you could choose to work in one medium—live versus recording—which would you choose and why would you choose it?

Although I have been compared a lot to Glenn Gould because of my work in radio and because of a lot of my recording work, unlike Glenn Gould I do prefer live performances—no question about that. I feel comfortable in a recording setting and I know some pianists just don’t like it all. But I’ve come to record so much that I actually feel comfortable, and especially since I started recording Brahms, which is a great love of mine, it just got me into feeling at least comfortable. But I do prefer live performances.

I’m curious about that. Why do you think certain performers don’t like the recording process?

Well, because there’s a vibe from the public you know, there’s a vibe—even if the public doesn’t respond audibly. Even if they’re quiet, as a performer, we feel that they’re there. We feel them and I guess the audience creates a sense of atmosphere. I know there’s a reaction from the audience and sometimes you can even feel if the public is receptive or not, despite the fact that you do not hear any applause. You can feel the sense of listening, you know, there is a psychic side of feeling that you get from the audience. But I think also certain performers like the public because they can shine. It’s obvious that they just want to show off. That’s not my personality—I don’t want to show off. I want to communicate the fact that there is a medium, a live medium right there to communicate—between the composer and the audience—which is very nice. When you’re in a recording studio, or when we started performing streaming, that was so hard, not knowing. There wasn’t that feeling, that vibe from the public.

Streaming is almost like recording to a computer.

Exactly.

But speaking of recordings, we should formally introduce your latest recording, which is a digital-only release of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, transcribed for solo piano. Please tell me a little bit about this project. Why have you decided to work on recording these solo transcriptions of Brahms’s symphonic works? Will you continue recording Brahms’s other symphonies?

Well, I started this project during the pandemic, actually. This is completely, honestly true. During the middle of the pandemic, I was looking for pieces to work on and I asked myself, what do I do when I really want to perform?

I wanted to perform more of Brahms’s chamber music, but that was out of the question because of the pandemic. But something I’d love to do someday is to conduct the symphonies. It is one of my dreams. I think I must have mentioned that in one of my first interviews, when my first Brahms reviews came out. I was interviewed back then, and I said that one of my dreams was to conduct. So, because I couldn’t do that during the pandemic, I worked on the symphonies from the piano.

Have you done any conducting before?

Never, never, but I looked at it seriously. I looked during 2019, just before the pandemic. I was seriously looking at doing some conducting, but because the pandemic hit, a lot of things changed.

In my opinion, there are definitely not enough female conductors. Or, I often see that there are not enough women who are conductors.

But you know what, there are actually many more women conductors now. It’s amazing. The trend is going up—there are more women pianists. Most of those new emerging pianists are women, and most of those new emerging conductors are now women! The world has suddenly changed.

Do you think that, even for something like your Brahms festival, you would actively feature women performers, or is that something that you can’t really plan for?

The first performer I invited to the Brahms festival was a woman, but that was just by chance because I happened to ask her. But I’m not going to be looking particularly for women to be a part of the festival.

Looking back to the album, it’s interesting to think that, in a way, the solo piano transcription might be close to the way that Brahms heard the symphony himself (as he sat at the piano composing, perhaps). And yet, I think it also brings a modern sort of urgency to the symphony that we might not otherwise hear—or not hear so intimately—with a full orchestra. I wonder if you could tell me a little about the value of transcription, both for yourself and in terms of your relationship with Brahms. Is there something a bit distinctive or special about Brahms transcriptions (as opposed to the transcriptions of symphonies by other composers)?

You know, he didn’t transcribe the symphonies; however, he did a version for piano four hands of the first symphony. Probably he played them at the piano, but he didn’t transcribe them. He probably was aware of transcriptions of his works. I think in the particular case of the second symphony, he was aware and maybe even revised that one because when I looked at the music myself, I didn’t do any changes to it. That was pretty good the way it was.

When you hear a symphony at the piano, it is different. Not only does it bring a little more clarity to all the voicings that are important to hear, but the pianist is somehow forced to bring out those important lines rather than all the sounds of the symphony. That’s probably what brings out this intimacy and also this clarity of language. You don’t always get that in the full orchestra simply because you have to have a very good conductor who understands the whole piece, and knows how to bring out what’s important. If you have a bad conductor, then you have a mess. You have lots of notes and you don’t know where the theme is. You don’t know which one is the most important line, but in a piano reduction, you’re forced to do the music. It must be done.

This transcription was also written in the 19th century. Because people didn’t have recordings back then, they relied on these symphonic transcriptions in order to perform this music at home.

What are the particular challenges of recording these types of transcriptions? Is it at all helpful to listen to the full symphony (that is, with the full orchestra) when preparing or practicing these pieces?

Absolutely. I actually have the music to the symphony—the actual full music of the orchestra. I always familiarize myself with the full score. I know exactly the instrumentation and everything that goes on; otherwise there’s no point in trying to play or record it. And I have heard many different conductors in the recordings of the symphonies. I always go back to Sergiu Celibidache because he brings out the music as simply as possible. His tempo is perfect. His phrasing is perfect. Some people play the symphonies too fast, too slow, too whatever, too strong, but Celibidache is perfect. I believe he brings out the music so clearly and so simply, and that’s what Brahms wanted.

I was listening to your recording today and I was really struck by the number of melodic lines—really heartbreaking lines—sounded so modern to me. Clear, straightforward, and interesting. I was surprised that in transcription I could hear each of these elements. It’s exactly like you said that at the piano, you’re forced to hone in on those really key themes. That is the key.

You have to make room for the music. It’s not only about the notes. It’s not about playing loud. It’s about the themes and breathing.

What transcription did you work from? How do you go about selecting a transcription that you want to record?

The transcriber of the second symphony is Robert Keller. Otto Singer transcribed the first, third, and fourth symphonies—at least, those are the versions that I have. The arrangers were mediocre composers, but very good arrangers. Arranging music for the piano was very lucrative in the 19th century, and even Brahms earned some income from this type of work. Brahms rearranged several pieces, especially the Hungarian Dances, which were so popular, and he rearranged some of those for orchestras and for piano four hands. So, it was something that was very popular at the time, because people needed music for the piano in order to hear orchestral music and to entertain in their homes.

Did you try to find another arrangement, or is there only one arranger who transcribed the second symphony?

I only have the version by Robert Keller. I’m not aware that there are other versions, but there may be some.

We’ve often talked and worked together on writing pieces about your particular relationship with Brahms. Has this relationship changed recently? If so, why do you think it has changed or shifted? Do you think that you are moving on musically in ways that are beyond the scope of Brahms’s repertoire? Have you been feeling a particular draw or calling to take on a new challenge, perhaps?

That’s an excellent question because you probably know me very well now! My relationship with Brahms has changed. It’s a bit more interior now. You know, we had this conversation when I told you that I felt he was there. Because I feel very deeply now that my message is to go out to the world. I have to perform. Whenever I go to his music, it is like home—no matter what. When I perform now, I have to perform many different composers because you can’t always just play Brahms. People don’t always connect to his music. Now I perform Schubert, I perform Liszt, I perform Chopin, and many other composers and possibly some Brahms.

Yeah, it sounds like…. Well, I think to be like an artist, if you’re stuck in one place, or if you get too comfortable in one place, then you’re not really pushing yourself or you’re not really growing.

You have to be open to what the universe wants you to do. There’s a certain environment in which you move. I mean, right now, I have already recorded all of Brahms’s music. I would love to perform his chamber music and all the things I haven’t performed yet. But that’s basically because his music is so rich and so immense. I don’t think there’s any music above Brahms. Brahms and Bach are the greatest giants. Bach is so intense—just great—that you can never get tired of him. And the same with Brahms. Whenever you go back, you find something incredibly important and rich. So much beauty. And I don’t think I’m the only one because I’ve heard other people say the same thing about Brahms and Bach.

I was just thinking back to your performance at the salon concert. I was kind of hoping you would play some Brahms. Honestly, I don’t think you did.

Oh, right. No, I didn’t. I’ve performed a lot of Brahms repertoire and people have that expectations when I play. People don’t want to hear me repeat that repertoire too often, so I have to change my repertoire.

What are you working on now? What new repertoire are you learning?

I’m actually learning the Third Symphony, and some Scriabin and Bach-Busoni. My next project after that will be building on my concert repertoire. I’m in touch with living composers, Fernando Otero, Ofer Ben-Amots, and Naji Hakim, and hoping to make more new connections as well.

Are you going to continue doing more digital recordings? Will you record another album on a physical CD?

Right now, it’s my intention to release all four Brahms symphonies as digital recordings and then, possibly, collect all four recordings together as an actual CD. Do you prefer CDs?

It was pretty convenient to use your site and it was really fast. I downloaded the four tracks for Symphony No. 2 very quickly, and I just listened to it on iTunes. It’s part of my library now forever, which is cool. And I think it just saves so much time. I grew up when CDs were a relatively new thing. My parents collected a lot of CDs and so I still like that tactility of having a CD. In today’s modern age, the digital download does save time. If I buy it digitally then I don’t have to burn it. I used to do that. I would burn CDs to my computer and that takes up a lot of time and a lot of space.

I understand that what is frustrating about having a digital-only album is that it is difficult to find the liner notes. People would prefer liner notes, so we include the liner notes, even on the downloads.

Yes, that’s true. I think the digital liner notes are important, but I also think the format is not super-convenient. It is much better to have it in a physical printed object.

Yes, especially when you have songs or an opera or things that you don’t know about, and you want to read where they come from. It’s a little hard if you have a digital product.

Do you have plans for more performances?

Yes, I have several things up in the air at this point. I may be performing in the Netherlands, in Europe, and possibly in Mexico in the upcoming months.

BRAHMS (transcr. Keller) Symphony No. 2 • Pianist Nada (pn) • 4TAY 4074 (Download: 41:27) Reviewed from a WAV download: 48 kHz/16-bit

This article originally appeared in Issue 48:1 (Sept/Oct 2024) of Fanfare Magazine.