Interview with pianist Adam Skoumal

Which of them takes up the most of your time?

When two cute little girls come to their daddy asking him to fix a broken doll then everything else naturally takes a backseat.

You didn’t go to the conservatory until after completing grammar school. Wasn’t that a bit late? Or did you benefit from that?

It was late, and it’s something I do regret a bit. On the other hand, when you’re older you have a clearer idea in your mind of what exactly you want to do in life, and what you’re willing to sacrifice. What’s more, a general education in the exact sciences comes in handy in an artistic profession too.

Why did you choose the piano of all instruments?

Because we had an old piano at home.

You studied piano at AMU in Prague and later at prestigious schools in the US. What did you learn, and what experience did you gain through studying in the States?

The school system in America works a bit differently than in our country, above all in that studying costs a lot of money. Students repay loans for decades in some cases, so they want to get the maximum for their money. There is system of grants, which everyone fights really hard for. As for competition between students, our conservatories or AMU can’t compare. I’m glad I spent part of my young life away from home. You learn to look after yourself, and realise that you get nothing for free in an artistic profession.

Today you’re performing Dvořák’s Concerto in G minor – in what version?

I’m playing 90 percent the original, the rest is my adaptation. I came across a few good ideas in Kurz’s version, but it seemed to me that Kurz changed Dvořák’s piano style unnecessarily, and the result sounds more like Liszt.

Have you gone through any development in this regard, or have you always played it “your way”?

I first played Dvořák at a competition where it wouldn’t have been advisable to experiment with one’s own adaptations. I’ve played “my” version for about 10 years now, but I improve something else with every performance.

Could you share with listeners something about the process by which you approach interpreting a piece? And how does your erudition as a composer help in this respect?

I think that every interpreter should try and write something from time to time, even a small cadenza or exercise. It helps refine your sense of form and harmony, and changes your view of the interpreted piece. A century ago it was still automatically expected that ever soloist would perform his own compositions. In the present day there’s specialisation in every field, and it seems a pity to me to people are losing that overview somewhat.

What kind of music are you trying to compose?

The kind that audiences who regularly go to classical concerts understand. I’m not a big fan of festivals of contemporary music. They strike me as a closed society of solitary composers, their students and a few snobs congratulating one another, but they’ve completely lost contact with the normal world of concerts. Of course it’s very hard to enjoy success with a new piece if you perform it in concert alongside Bach or Mozart. But that kind of cruel comparison is important – otherwise the piece doesn’t survive more than one performance.

You’ve already composed three piano concertos. Could you please tell us with what idea or on what bases did you approach their creation?

I wrote those compositions for myself, so I was mainly thinking about what I’d like to practice on the piano. Soloists want to appear as virtuosos, but at the same time they don’t want to spend a year suffering over some pointlessly difficult passages. If a composer doesn’t bear that in mind, he won’t find that many people include his piece in their repertoire.

What are you working on right now?

I recently got a beautiful commission from the Prague Spring festival – to write a violin concerto. I really enjoy composing for violin, because I regularly accompany several excellent violinists. My wife is a violinist too. She’s my first adviser when it comes to technical problems to do with violin playing.

In the second part we’ll play Rachmaninoff, who throughout his life had doubts as to whether it was wise to devote himself simultaneously to the work of conductor, composer and pianist. How do you see it? Is it hard to combine interpretive and compositional work? Or is it beneficial? All famous composers were either virtuosos or mastered one instrument to a very high standard. I think that is the first condition if anyone is to consider composing at all. I read one time in some programme how one contemporary composer was boasting that he had no musical education whatever. He said that’d freed him from the binds of convention. The result was great suffering both on stage and in the auditorium. When it comes to conducting, that’s one area I’m definitely never going to get into. I don’t have either the will power or the ambition to show others how they should play. And as you know, it’s enough for the conductor to make the slightest mistake and in that moment he becomes the most despised and derided figure among the musicians…