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“If nothing else, Fran, you’ll be the best-dressed Diploma candidate this season!”. So declared a good friend of mine who knows well my love of clothes and who has often been an enthusiastic companion on shopping sprees.
Joking apart, the Trinity Guildhall regulations state that one should dress as if for “an afternoon or early evening recital”. So an “evening gown” is not required, but something pretty smart nonetheless. Long before I’d decided on my Diploma programme, I’d already worked out what I was going to wear: a Little Black Dress from LK Bennett with 1950s styling, demure yet faintly sexy, in a fluid jersey fabric which is comfortable and easy to wear, and low-heeled mock-croc shoes. A small heel is essential for pedalling, while a high heel renders the action virtually impossible.
One of my Twitter friends made a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment to me about a blog post on piano teacher’s attire, so this article is, in part, to satisfy his curiosity, as well as my own musings on what pianists wear.
Yuja Wang at Hollywood Bowl (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times)
Recently, Chinese piano Yuja Wang created a bit of a furore amongst critics and concert-goers for appearing in a dress more at home on the fashion catwalk than the concert platform: a thigh-skimming, body-hugging frock and gold stilettos. When I saw the pictures of “that outfit”, my first thought was “how on earth can she pedal in those shoes?”. What occupied the critics publicly was whether such attire was “appropriate” for the classical music scene, while privately many of them were no doubt slavering with delight over the view of a slim young female leg during the 40 minutes or so of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto. This hoo-hah says something about the perception of male and female artists in the eyes of both audience and critics.
The days of the traditional virtuoso “uniform” of white tie and tails for male pianists are long past, and it is rare to see anyone but the most senior musicians in this attire now (of all the male pianists I’ve heard this year, only Charles Rosen and Maurizio Pollini wore white tie and tails). Lounge suits, open-necked shirts, Nehru collars, silk shirts with diamonté studs (Robert Levin) – I’ve seen them all this season. Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne and Stephen Hough all favour a sort of black “smock” (presumably for comfort?), and Hough is rarely seen without his shiny metallic shoes on the concert platform. Meanwhile, Turkish pianist Fazil Say cut a rather shabby Oscar Wild-esque figure in a black tee-shirt and long velvet coat not unlike a dressing gown.
Angela Hewitt
But while the men are allowed to “go casual”, women pianists are still expected to turn out in a more traditional evening gown, and any deviation from this can be met with cries of horror, the wringing of hands and general pulling of eyes. Some, like Yuja Wang and Angela Hewitt, have made the fashion statement part of their artistic persona: Hewitt favours designer gowns, bright lipstick and red shoes. When I saw her at the Wigmore Hall in June she wore an extraordinary dress with some interesting zip arrangements, not unlike the “safety pin dress” by Versace, famously worn by Liz Hurley, and I confess the zips interested me more than her Chopin. Japanese pianist Mitsuko Uchida likes the finely pleated creations of Issey Miyake, and so, when she raises her arms, a lovely image is created of the gossamer wings of a beautiful butterfly. Helene Grimaud, who I saw at the Proms this summer, chose a stylish, somewhat mannish, grey suit for her performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.
Fazil Say
At the end of the day, it is of course entirely up to the performer what they wear, but it is also important that their dress reflects the occasion, for the moment the performer walks onto the stage, the audience’s attention is engaged and awakened. Mannerisms, attire, the way one greets the audience, all these things matter, and all contribute to the experience of the performance for the audience, as well as a means of differentiating performer from audience, and defining one’s role for them.
I admit I’m torn between admiring Ms Wang’s chutzpah for wearing such a daring outfit while wondering whether she wanted the audience to focus on her music or her legs.
And as for my Twitter friend’s enquiry about what I wear to teach piano….. I favour easy, comfortable clothes, my Wright & Teague charm bracelets, which chink and tinkle as I play, low-heeled shoes or boots (it gets cold in my piano room in the winter), and some interesting beads, a pendant or a scarf…..
More on Yuja Wang’s dress here
Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt wittily and imaginatively coupled two of Bach’s French Suites with a handful of miniatures by Chopin, all composed in Paris, in an enjoyable lunchtime concert at London’s Wigmore Hall. Read my full review here
I thought I would start 2011 with reasonably good intentions and try to keep track of all the concerts I attend this year, in advance of them, so that when I come to review the year in December, I will be able to refer back to this post…. Once, I had similarly good intentions about my reading and religiously kept a reading diary. After a while, though, I decided life was too short for such anally retentive activities, and I let it go. Thus, when fellow blogger Somewhere Boy offered his review of books he’d read in 2010, I was unable, embarrassingly, to recall much of what I’d read last year. Maybe, it’s less to do with keeping lists, and more to do with getting old(er)….?!
Meanwhile, here, the concerts I have booked, so far, for 2011. I am sure it will come as no surprise to any of my regular readers all of my selections feature the piano. By the way, I tend to select concerts based on programme rather than performer, though there are one or two exceptions, Elisabeth Leonskaja being the most obvious: I just love her old-skool approach.
January – Piers Lane (piano), Wigmore Hall. It was the inclusion of Chopin’s four Ballades that sold this concert to me (I am learning the First Ballade – on and off (mostly “off”!) at the moment). The programme also includes Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Opus 110 which is my Desert Island piece. Early last year, as part of Radio 3′s Chopin anniversary celebrations, Piers Lane wrote and presented a series of very interesting essays about Chopin. If he is as articulate at the piano, it will be a wonderful way to start my concert year. The programme includes music by Schubert and Brahms as well.
February – Maurizio Pollini (piano), Royal Festival Hall. Tagged ‘The Pollini Project’, this concert forms part of a series Pollini is presenting on the South Bank, spanning repertoire from Bach to Boulez. Sadly, I missed Pollini playing Chopin last year, and I have never heard him live. This programme is Beethoven’s last three sonatas, so it will be fascinating to hear two versions of the Opus 110 within the space of only a couple of weeks.
March - Angela Hewitt (piano), Royal Festival Hall. I love the clarity and humour of Hewitt’s Bach playing. Part of the International Piano Series, this concert includes music by Bach, Handel, Beethoven and Brahms (Handel Variations).
April – End of Course Concert. Once again, I am attending my teacher’s Advanced Piano Course, three days of intensive masterclasses, which end with an informal concert. This year, I have, somewhat rashly, agreed to play Chopin’s Etude Opus 10, No. 3 (the ‘Tristesse’). I say “rashly” because just thinking about the dread sixths in the climactic middle section makes my hands ache! Joking apart, I was hugely impressed by the extremely high standards of musicianship and technical ability at last year’s course, and the variety of music presented, from Bach to Kapustin.
June – Angela Hewitt, Wigmore Hall. Back to the Wig for a lunchtime concert of two Bach French Suites and a Chopin selection. A great and appropriate combination: Chopin revered Bach, and it is said that never a day passed without him referring to the WTC. My only slight anxiety is that Angela Hewitt will bring in a Fazioli piano for this concert (as she did for a previous concert I attended at WH), and its huge voice might be too much for Bach’s Baroque traceries and Chopin’s nuances….
June – Elisabeth Leonskaja, Wigmore Hall. A welcome return of this great Russian maestra, playing Schubert, including the ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy.
June – Penelope Roskell, Sutton House, Hackney. A summer gala concert given by my teacher at Sutton House, a charming Elizabethan house in Hackney. Penelope is Artistic Director of the Sutton House Music Society, which presents a range of concerts and soloists throughout the year. When I saw her perform the year before last (a Mozart piano concerto with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet), it made sense of so much of what she talks about during our lessons. This concert, called Reason and Romance, juxtaposes Bach’s Suites and Schumann’s ‘Papillons’.
July – Imogen Cooper, Wigmore Hall. I admire Imogen Cooper’s rather understated style and the absolute precision of her playing. This programme includes an early Beethoven sonata (Op 10, No. 3) and works by Chopin, including the F minor Fantasie, and “my” Ballade (the No. 1 in G Minor).
July – Students’ Concert. A chance for my students to show off to family and friends. After the success of the Christmas concert, we shall be using the same lovely venue. Currently, I am thinking of giving the concert a “Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon” theme.
I have yet to see the Wigmore Autumn programme, though I know that Sylvia, my friend and regular concert companion, will leap upon it as soon as it is released!
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