Performing latest work by Hastings-based composer Polo Piatti

SussexWorld

It was by chance that American virtuoso pianist Thomas Pandolfi came across the work of Hastings-based composer Polo Piatti.

Transcript

00:00 Here we go.

00:03 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers.

00:07 Really lovely to speak to in South Carolina this afternoon,

00:10 Thomas Pandolfi. Now Thomas, you have just recorded the premier recording

00:14 of Polo Piatti's 'Bohemian Concerto'. Now, a significant piece. Polo lives in

00:20 Hastings, of course, and you were just attracted by Polo.

00:25 You heard a piece of his and approached him, and this is the result.

00:29 I, by complete chance, heard a piece of Polo's

00:33 on the internet, and I was immediately struck by the beauty of its

00:37 melodic content. And I decided to send him a quick note. I asked him if he had

00:42 any piano works that he might be interested in my either premiering or

00:48 just promoting here in the States. And he immediately wrote back and he

00:51 said, by chance, I just happen to have this

00:55 massive piano concerto that I'm looking to premiere. And so he sent me

00:59 an audio file that was a computerized version,

01:04 just to give me some idea of how it sounded, and

01:07 sent me the score. I took a quick read through it,

01:10 and I was immediately attracted again, not only to its melodic content,

01:14 but its brilliant, almost neo-romantic style and continuation

01:20 of high virtuosity from the 19th century

01:24 in modern day harmonics. And that must be one of the most exciting

01:27 things for a pianist, for any musician, to be going where no one's gone before.

01:31 You are effectively creating this to an extent. You're collaborating on you when

01:35 you're doing this for the first time ever.

01:38 Yes, indeed. And working with a living composer is

01:41 immensely invigorating, inspiring. It's just, it gets all of the creative

01:46 juices going. And it's so interesting to, you know,

01:51 toss ideas back and forth and really realize

01:54 that composers can be quite flexible in their approach, and open to other

02:00 ideas. And it's a great learning experience also for the performer

02:04 to go through that whole process. So I've loved it, and I look forward to

02:10 continuing to promote this, promote and perform this fantastic piece.

02:13 It's interesting to think of that as a collaborative process, isn't it? You

02:17 think of performer, composer, but the two, no, clearly.

02:21 Yes, yes. And of course with all the composers from the past,

02:25 we're not able to do that, at least in the flesh.

02:29 So it's nice to have that opportunity. And from the inside then, what makes

02:34 this such a special piece of music as far as you're concerned?

02:38 I think it is this embracing of melodic beauty, very accessible melodies

02:45 that audiences will enjoy, the fascination

02:50 of the piano virtuosity is absolutely extreme. It's really

02:55 almost like virtuosity on steroids. It's really quite something from the

03:01 athletic point of view on the keyboard. And then it's,

03:06 I mentioned Apollo, that it's almost cinematic in its scope. I can

03:10 hear the melodies being part of a movie soundtrack. So it's got

03:16 everything. And your recording is obviously now out

03:19 there. Is it something that you would hope to return to with Apollo again?

03:24 Oh yes, I look forward to exploring many more works of Apollo's.

03:30 Fantastic. We're really lovely to speak to you in South Carolina.

03:34 Hugely exciting. Great. Thank you so much indeed for your time.

03:38 Thank you. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.

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