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Steaming up the keyboard

Pianist Fazil Say takes his own approach to the classics

By Brooke Edge
For The Prague Post
February 7th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Watch these hands, especially when they start playing four-handed arrangements.
Pianist and composer Fazil Say has classical music critics falling over themselves to find new words of praise: “Protégé,” “brilliant” and “magician” became rote long ago in reviews of his performances. The German newspaper Die Welt simply called him “Wonderboy.” One reviewer for the Turkish magazine Cornucopia waxed sexual in describing Say’s performance as a night of caresses, conquests and finally consummation, resulting in “tidal waves of emotional tension and physical release.”
This steamy style of piano playing will be on display at the Rudolfinum on Saturday night as Say makes his fourth appearance in Prague, playing Haydn, Beethoven and Bach with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. And he sounds just as enthusiastic about performing here as the city’s music lovers will be to hear him.
“I love the city,” he says. “Prague is one of my favorite cities in the world. I have great respect for the audiences,” he adds, citing their commitment to a rich cultural history of music, theater and film.
The seemingly indefatigable Say is visiting Prague as part of yet another European tour. He has been crisscrossing this continent (and others) practically nonstop since winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions competition at age 24 in 1994, trailing accolades, successful CDs and original compositions in his wake. He has a concert hall named after him in his native Turkey. And he’s got a hit video on YouTube.
Asked the secret of his success, Say says simply, “Playing my best is always my target, as is composing my best.”
Say has been composing music since his teens, and today his lengthy roster of original works includes piano solos, chamber music, pieces for orchestras and jazz quartets, and even piano-DJ fusions. The Turkish government commissioned an oratorio interpreting the poems of Nazim Hikmet, and the city of Vienna honored Say with a commission to compose a ballet for the 2006 Mozart anniversary year.
In concerts that might be called “arena classical,” Say packs in thousands of fans to hear the new works and his interpretations of old masters. He has called Bach “sacred,” and counts Mozart and Beethoven among his best musical friends. Say likes to play the music that inspires him and play it as he feels it. The way it comes through his fingers has been universally acknowledged as filled with fantastic talent, but his occasional deviances from traditional renditions have sometimes ruffled the feathers and fur coats of classical music purists.
Fazil Say

When: Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7:30
Where: Rudolfinum
Tickets: 180–530 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue

One number in particular helped spread word of his technical and creative prowess. Inspired by the late jazz pianist Bill Evans’ album Conversations with Myself, Say took on the challenge of performing Rite of Spring in Stravinsky’s four-hand piano arrangement solo. Using a piano that records as he plays, Say adds two invisible hands to the keys so that he can literally perform with himself. His Rite of Spring has caused jaws to drop worldwide, including here when he was featured in the 2002 Prague Spring festival.
The French newspaper Le Figaro said of Say, “He is not merely a pianist of genius; undoubtedly he will be one of the great artists of the 21st century.” Say appears to be actively chasing down this prediction by performing live for as many people as possible. His 2007 schedule is already packed, with 25 dates throughout Europe in January and February alone.
Returning to Prague, though, is a highlight. “I love playing for the audience in Prague,” he says. “I hope audiences in Prague will always come to see me.”

Brooke Edge can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (7/02/2007):

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