In an era rife with up-and-coming virtuoso pianists, Awadagin Pratt stands out. Frequently pegged as the Glenn Gould of our age, he just may be...a Gould, that is, with dreadlocks and a flamboyantly jazzy stage presence.
Pratt began playing the piano at the age of six, the violin three years later and at 16 entered the University of Illinois, where he studied piano, violin and conducting, before moving to the Peabody Conservatory and earning diplomas in all three areas. It was as a pianist, however, that he seized the attention of the musical world. His kinetic style and distinctive personality stirred up a storm of critical raves and public interest.
Pratt performed in solo at Jordan Hall Sunday as part of the BankBoston Celebrity Series. The Crimson spoke over the phone with the pianist just before his departure from Albuquerque for Boston:
Crimson: How valuable was the conservatory atmosphere and experience for you? How hard do you think it is for the concertgoing public, even the college concertgoing public, to relate to performers coming from the conservatory experience?
Pratt: I imagine it's not easy to relate to. I spent a few years at the University of Illinois before going to the [Peabody] conservatory. I'd say that in terms of intensity, a conservatory program is closer to graduate work. Even a music major at a four-year program has a very different experience. "Competitive" is possibly a word to explain this, but let's just say the level is higher. People are really aspiring, and the focus of the people around you is different.
C: Which is easier, to perform a concerto or to give a solo recital?
P: They're completely different things. A concerto is something that you have to put together with a conductor and orchestra, and so the success depends on the nature of the compromises made--how willing the conductor is to let you do your thing. In a recital you perform for longer, have an expanded sense of the repertoire, and express a greater variety of musical ideas. The difference between playing for 25 and 75 minutes is immense. So, doing a concerto is an experience that is sometimes great, but can also be decidedly not. In a recital there are no compromises. I know exactly what I want to do and I present that.
C: Is practice ever unnecessary?
P: If I've played a recital a lot, five or six times consecutively, chances are I won't want to sit down with it. I might practice a future concerto. Practice is never unnecessary; there's always more to do with everything. But I don't play for myself so much anymore. I'm usually playing through pieces seeing what I want to program in the future.
C: Given how often you're compared with Glenn Gould, have you ever wanted to play the Goldberg Variations?
P: There was a time I was interested in learning the Goldbergs but I felt I was listening to either of Gould's recordings too much to consider it clearly. Now I feel I could approach it without so much of a "Gouldian conscience" weighing down on me.
C: How do you feel about ultravirtuosic literature? Judging from the pieces on your first album [A Long Way from Normal] you seem to tend toward that end of the spectrum of repertoire.
P: I wouldn't say that, actually. For the past three years I've been giving less [virtuosic] stuff; in many ways, this program is an anomaly. My second disc was four Beethoven sonatas. I don't play any meaninglessly difficult things. No, no Godowsky. Alkan has an interesting tonal language...I try to do sets that illustrate relationships that interest me. I was doing a set [in concert] that would alternate Beethoven sonatas with Rachmaninoff preludes and Bach preludes and fugues, and there was a Chopin nocturne in there.
C: What sorts of relationships?
P: Relationships of mood, relation- C: Is the piano your favorite musical instrument? Read more in Arts
