Montréal based mostly pianist Mathieu Gaudet will likely be performing a program of Schubert when he visits Toronto for his recital with Mooredale Concert events on April 2.
“My soul could be very near German music at the start of the nineteenth century — Schubert, Schumann, Brahms are actually my favorite composers,” he says.
In terms of Schubert specifically, it was part of the repertoire he started to totally discover later in his research. The size of his items, he factors out, makes them tough to play in a college recital. He actually started to delve into Schubert’s music when he received to the Grasp’s stage of his research, and realized new items voraciously. “I began to prepare live shows the place I’d play virtually all of his piano music without delay,” he remembers.
That’s what led to his choice to embark on a large challenge as a recording artist. He’s in the midst of a strategy of recording all of Schubert’s works for piano at a price of two releases per 12 months on the Analekta label.
“I simply recorded quantity 8 in November. It’ll most likely be a 14, 15 CD challenge. It’s about midway via,” he says.
From Schubert Vol. 6:
Mathieu Gaudet
Many musicians produce other careers out of necessity or circumstance. Mathieu Gaudet is a comparatively uncommon case of somebody with two careers the place he’s absolutely at house, and by alternative.
Born in New Brunswick, he grew up on the East Coast in Gaspésie and Bas-Saint-Laurent. After secondary research in each science and music, he started severe research of music on the Rimouski Music Conservatory.
- From there, he went on to the Peabody Institute (Baltimore) for a grasp’s with Julian Martin;
- He then studied in Toronto on the Glenn Gould College of Music (Toronto) with André Laplante, Marc Durand, and John Perry, together with grasp lessons with Leon Fleisher;
- In 2007, he returned to the College of Montréal for a doctorate in efficiency, adopted by a grasp’s diploma in conducting with Jean-François Rivest;
- He additionally, and on the similar time, started his medical research, which he took up from age 27 to 35.
Mathieu remembers attending his medical lectures and labs, after which strolling to his piano studio to play for a number of hours between lessons. His household background is within the medical area, and his spouse is a household doctor.
Immediately, he works as an emergency room doctor on the Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital, dedicating his off days to music, and juggling his schedule with performing excursions.
This system
Among the repertoire he’ll play in Toronto represents music he first realized in his teenagers. Even at that age, he knew it spoke to him. “I really feel prefer it’s music that could be very honest,” he says. “I’ve by no means actually been into fireworks and virtuosity. I’m way more attracted by a romantic message.”
This system contains Schubert at different factors in his profession,
- Twelve German Dances, Op. 171;
- Piano Sonata No. 19 in C minor, D. 958;
- Two Scherzos, D. 593;
- 4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899 (First e book).
The Impromptus and Sonata No. 19 distinction the early Scherzos. “It’s late Schubert,” he says. “He wrote these items simply earlier than he died. They’re actually masterworks. Without delay, they’re actually touching, and actually deep, however the construction is superb.”
The items are difficult in varied methods. “The C Minor is a selected large deal, it’s one thing like 750 measures lengthy. It’s a bit like a loopy horse,” he says. “The sluggish motion is so singing. The primary motion is so stark — it’s a bit like Beethoven.”
He’ll be taking part in from the primary e book of the Impromptus. “They’re like songs with out phrases. Everyone is aware of them for good purpose. I like taking part in them. For me, they’re not like salon music, they’re deep and philosophical.”
Immersing himself in Schubert’s piano compositions has meant that his understanding of his works is an ongoing course of, too. “I do really feel there’s actually nothing like studying a composer’s complete oeuvre.” He says he doesn’t perceive the angle of selecting just one or two items to study from a composer’s oeuvre. “After I play a composer, it’s very essential for me to know what I’m speaking about.”
“There’s fairly a hanging distinction between the younger Schubert and the late Schubert,” he says, with out relating to both as essentially superior. “Even when he was younger, he already had this very deep soul.
The early compositions, nevertheless, as he notes, weren’t fairly as deep as they’d grow to be. If he acknowledges a youthful Schubert’s voice within the Scherzos, for instance, it’s one thing he considers in efficiency. “Ought to I be extra enjoyable with it?” he wonders of the sooner works. It’s one of many questions he’s nonetheless exploring.
Brahms himself was keen on Schubert’s Twelve Dances, as he notes. “Schubert put his full coronary heart in it.” Accomplished in 1823, they signify a midpoint in his too-short profession. “It’s an ideal interlude between the 2 large items.”
His method to studying any piece is to start with its total conception. “It’s necessary to me to know what the music is saying. There’s a narrative.” Solely as soon as he’s absolutely grasped each the technical and narrative nuances of the piece is he able to deliver it to the general public. “It must belong to me in a approach earlier than it’s on stage.”
“I’ve this large perspective, however it’s not likely that I’ve discovered a particular reply,” he explains. “It’s at all times kind of a shifting goal. I really feel like, as I play the entire thing, I’ve extra perspective, I’ve extra instruments.”
That’s the place the music comes from. “If we discover the reply, we cease taking part in it,” he says. “It’s actually enjoyable.”
Tickets for the April 2 live performance at Walter Corridor, (Edward Johnson Constructing, UofT ) in addition to the afternoon Music & Truffles live performance for Children (additionally that includes Gaudet) are on sale [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is a Senior Author and Digital Content material Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher with OntarioLearn.
