Kristian Bezuidenhout joins Handel and Haydn as fortepiano soloist in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto on October 19 and 21.  He recently sat down with the Society to discuss his background and perspective on performing the music of Beethoven on period appropriate fortepiano.

How did you become interested in performing music on historic keyboards?
Growing up in Queensland, Australia, in the 1990’s meant that exposure to early keyboard instruments was, at best, extremely limited.  My earliest memory of the harpsichord was a workshop at which I was invited to play Bach and Scarlatti. At the time I thought it was a strangely fascinating instrument.  Apart from that, I was an obsessive record collector and started building up a library of recordings on period instruments, including John Eliot Gardiner’s life-changing Matthew Passion and Malcolm Bilson’s survey of the Mozart piano concertos.   My first chance to seriously explore the intricacies old keyboards came during my student days at the Eastman School of Music, where I studied secondary harpsichord with Arthur Haas and fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson.

Who has influence your performing and music making?
Perhaps the single-most important figure for me in the last ten years has been the renowned lutinist Paul O’Dette, whom I was lucky enough to have as a mentor, continuo coach and performance practice teacher at the Eastman School of Music.  Again, John Eliot Gardiner’s music-making really inspired me.  Who can imagine the world now without his groundbreaking readings of Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos and symphonies, or the Verdi Requiem? 

You will perform Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto on fortepiano this weekend.  What qualities does this unique instrument possess?
First, it is important to realize that the piano we know and love today, with its rich and powerful tone and massive carrying power, was an instrument that was completely unknown in the late 18th century.  The late 18th and early 19th century piano – now called fortepiano to distinguish it from the modern pianoforte - is an instrument that opens up worlds of color and expression in the performance of the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and their contemporaries. 

The sound is much less “massive” on the fortepiano. It has a delicacy and refinement that is perfectly suited to the speech-like qualities of late 18th century music.  Builders and players insisted that each register of the keyboard have a slightly different character and sonic quality:  the lower bass for example has an almost bassoon-like raspy quality; the tenor region is sonorous and creamy, whereas the highest notes in the treble sound almost like a harp or cimbalon.

Because of its distinctive qualities, the fortepiano emerges as a more equal partner with the orchestra compared to the modern piano.

How do you approach interpreting Beethoven’s music? 
Beethoven was a star on the keyboard, and I’ve always felt that one should try and recreate the type of excitement and volatility that must have been present in his performances. By all accounts, Beethoven was a real rogue performer.  His playing is described as stunning, exciting, brilliant, at times even brutal; apparently he was much more interested in the quality of the musical result than any outward show of perfection or control.  He was known to say “Brechen soll das Klavier” (the piano should break).