A rising young Maltese pianist has spoken of the importance of playing to home audiences ahead of a recital this Friday.
Bernice Sammut Attard, now based in Paris, said that while she returned to Malta frequently as a part-time violinist in the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, her annual piano recitals were a different experience.
“I look forward to this very much because while there are people I wouldn’t know, there are lots of people that I do I know, compared to other concerts,” she said.
“That’s very nice but it’s also more stressful; it’s the people who’ve seen you all your life who can really say, ‘that was very good’ or ‘I’ve seen you play better’,” said Sammut Attard.
“It’s very healthy to come back home and play to people that have always seen you since you were very little; those are the best audiences.”
The pianist was speaking to X2 from Paris ahead of her concert at Valletta’s Palazzo De La Salle on Friday evening, where she will play a programme of music she chose for its variety.
“Most are pieces I like and wanted to play… and it’s nice to have a varied programme; someone always finds something they’ve never heard and wouldn’t have experienced in another situation,” she said.
Opening with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, which Sammut Attard explained she had chosen due to always selecting a sonata for her annual recital, the programme then moves to Brahms’ Three Intermezzi.
Chopin’s Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A-flat major “Aeolian Harp” is third, followed by French classical titan Debussy’s Étude No. 11 “Pour les arpèges composés”, a choice she said had been influenced by her life in Paris.
“I go to many museums and exhibitions here; everything altogether makes you notice more a very specific style – even the language… everything influences their [French] music,” she said.
“It makes you see things in a different way; I always liked Debussy, but his music is very different now.”
The pianist noted that nationally composed music featured more heavily in classical programmes in France compared to other countries: “Everyone is always playing French music here, it’s very different; when I was in the UK, people did play French music but not like over here”.
Asked about Malta’s approach, Sammut Attard said while she believed the country worked to push Maltese composers such as Charles Camilleri, Joseph Vella and contemporary composer Christopher Muscat, it was “important to have more awareness of the local composers”.
“It’s not a complaint about Malta though at all – when I’m abroad I notice how we’re so tiny, but we have our own language – but here [France] I notice that unlike most countries in the world they are very patriotic about their language and composers,” she said.
“If it’s not us who’s going to fight for our own composers, who will?”
Sammut Attard’s concert closes with Kapustin’s jazz-influenced Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40: No. 7 “Intermezzo”, a work she described as “great fun but also very difficult – but it’s also a change of mood as the programme is quite serious”.
Asked about preparing for Friday’s concert, Sammut Attard said it was important to maintain an effective practice regime.
“There’s so much which goes into a performance… so, if a concert is an hour, you need at least four hours [practice] a day, minimum, which is difficult because sometimes it’s very tiring. But then in a concert it feels very good when you’re very prepared.”
She noted that due to pianists traditionally performing from memory, it was important to take different approaches to learning pieces of music, with ‘muscle memory’ – the ability to repeat tasks undertaken repetitively – though “very important in the beginning, is the first to let you down in front of an audience”.
In addition to muscle memory, it was also important to practice visualising the score of music, she stressed – especially when close to a performance where, should a performer suffer from a memory lapse, “you can visualise the score to know where your fingers should go into the next section”.
“We have so many notes compared to other instruments that the internalisation of them really does help to actually connect with the audience.”
Turning to future plans, Sammut Attard said she had been inspired by former teachers in the UK who enjoyed a range of projects including being professors in a conservatoire [specialist music university] and performing in solo and chamber concerts and with orchestras.
“It’s very inspiring to see someone always working at something different, it keeps the momentum going… I want to keep doing this, keep building my network to have more concerts and learn new repertoire all the time.”
Does she have a message for those in Malta who might be unfamiliar with classical music?
“I think everyone likes classical music, it’s just that they have not heard enough to find something; I’ve rarely met someone who’s heard classical music and says they don’t like anything,” she said.
“It’s very important to attend concerts and check the programme out first. Discover what you like to listen to, then go to concerts of the periods that you like.”
Bernice Sammut Attard will perform at Palazzo De La Salle in Valletta on Friday evening at 8pm. For further information, visit the event page on Facebook.
