Pianist loves it in New Zealand
A soft spot for the Antipodes draws British pianist Freddy Kempf to New Zealand on a regular basis, he tells Rebecca Fox.
PIANIST Freddy Kempf has a dilemma — family time or skiing.
In the end, family time will win out but that does not mean he will not be gutted to be missing out on the opportunity to go skiing in New Zealand while he is here touring with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Although to be fair it will not be long until he can go skiing at his home in the European Alps.
‘‘It’s [the ski run] 10 minutes’ drive from our home.’’
And there is the small issue of a shoulder injury sustained during his most recent skiing endeavours.
‘‘I should just be recovered from that in time for the European season,’’ he said.
He has admitted he did not love practising and performing with the injury.
However, getting injured, or the possibility of that, is not enough to stop him from enjoying life’s activities.
‘‘I think what is going to happen will happen. You can’t prevent fate.’’
He tries to be ‘‘careful’’ when doing more adventurous things. ‘‘I’m not stupid about it.’’
But he is determined not to miss out on activities like skiing which his three children all do.
‘‘I’m not going to be the one person to be sitting in the car or restaurant.’’
He has also been known for his passion for fast cars but admits that is in the past.
‘‘I was a bit younger — I loved it. Now I have an eightseater van and it doesn’t go that fast.’’
With three children ‘‘so far’’, Kempf says it is a very ‘‘intense time’’ as he juggles the demands of his career with being a father and husband.
‘‘I wish I have more home time so I try and make my away time as short as possible. But when I get here I wish I had a couple of days to go skiing.’’
Part of that means he concentrates many of his performances around Europe, only venturing further afield on longer trips to New Zealand, Australia and Asia.
‘‘I don’t do much in the Americas.’’
Having those dilemmas is a world away from where 8yearold Kempf saw himself when he made his concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He came to further national prominence in 1992 when he was named BBC Young Musician of the Year.
‘‘I never imagined being here [New Zealand] doing this programme.’’
Kempf (39) now plays with some of the world’s largest orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.
As a pianist he faces a new instrument at every venue and has found over the years he has got used to the challenge. He also believes every piano tuner tunes their pianos to suit the venue.
‘‘It’s second nature. My hands do it by themselves.’’
Travelling without his instrument meant he could not practise whenever he chose so he learnt the guitar to have that outlet.
‘‘So I have an instrument to carry around. The piano is very loud and noisy, whereas the guitar is a quieter instrument.’’
He began playing piano aged 4 and can remember loving the sound of the piano when he was a baby.
While he had a lot of different hobbies growing up, piano was the one he was most successful at.
‘‘I was really good at it so continued to do it as a career.’’
He loved it because music provided so many opportunities to grow and develop through a musician’s life.
For Kempf an opportunity came about six years ago.
‘‘I never thought I’d conduct an orchestra.’’
When he discovered he did not have to give up his love of playing piano, but could add another skill, he grabbed the opportunity.
‘‘As a pianist you are very isolated all by yourself. You are all on your own without anyone to talk to. You just show up and play.’’
Conducting while still playing the piano enables him to work closely with musicians and develop relationships, but it is a huge challenge.
‘‘There are so many different types of things to consider and to get across to the orchestra. You have to convince them to trust me.’’
As he has played with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra many times, he knows the musicians well.
‘‘I’ve been very lucky to have an ongoing relationship with the orchestra.
‘‘It’s really nice not to have to try and win over a large group of strangers.’’
The dual roles require slightly different skill sets. As a pianist Kempf is solely focused on himself while a conductor is focused on his orchestra.
So during performances Kempf has to pull his attention away from himself to the orchestra when not playing.
‘‘It’s during rehearsal when conductors do the most work, working through what the orchestra needs to concentrate on.’’
On his last visit to New Zealand he played Beethoven, provoking standing ovations. This time the programme is more varied and should appeal to a wider audience, he says.
‘‘Last time I was here I was lucky to play and conduct a piano concerto which pushed that aspect to the limits — the final piece pushes what can be
done without a conductor.’’
This concert features all famous works from Handel’s Concerto for
Keyboard to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
‘‘Each piece has been chosen to highlight piano’s role through history. It is a tough undertaking. This is a unique chance to do this sort of thing.’’
Taking on the dual role has also helped him understand the role of a conductor and how it has changed through history.
‘‘When pianos were first invented orchestras were a lot smaller and a conductor’s role was less important. Originally there weren’t conductors at all — the violinist did it, so that is how we’ll play the first one.’’
Kempf is looking forward to performing Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante
as it is often not performed because it does not focus on an orchestra and is quite ‘‘fiddly’’.
‘‘It’s a lovely piece of music though, so it is nice to be able to do it with an orchestra.’’
He enjoys Dunedin and playing in the town hall.
‘‘I played there for the first time two years ago and it had great sound and atmosphere.’’