An interview with Alexandre Kantorow

Why are you drawn to Brahms? His is some of the first music I really connected to, so naturally I come back to it. He has the intellectual side of the Classical period, where he looks up to Beethoven, and at the same time he is still part of the Romantic period. He has a lot of dignity in how he shows his emotions, but there are moments where he lets go. I think it’s a good balance between the heart and the head. And that is reflected in the programme for this album?

You find his dignity mostly in the mature pieces, but in his youth you have this very ambitious, explorative side. In the Sonata he treats the piano like an orchestra, expanding the volume and the tones the piano can carry; there are actually some impressionistic moments and some very strange dissonances. It’s this part of his music I wanted to showcase.

What are the challenges of the Third Sonata for you?

Well, it’s a five-movement work and the movements are very connected to each other, so you have to feel the length and keep the structure intact, as well as the forward momentum. Also it’s about the sound that you produce, because there are a lot of powerful moments. You really have to balance the moments where it’s extreme and demands an explosion of sound. It’s hard to not be carried away immediately from the first bars. There are a lot of emotional moments in the music, too, a lot of lyricism and a lot of drama. So finding this balance where you need to make it sentimental, but not too sugary, is also a challenge. It is exhausting, but it’s exhilarating.