Karl Paulnack's lecture title was perhaps a bit confusing, and his program had to be postponed. Consequently, Monday's group was unusually small, making a real problem for the recorder (me) because everyone should have heard his excellent presentation. A fluent speaker with a sense of humor, he gave the best overview imaginable on accompanying/collaborating.
To work in this area of music-making, one must be a pianist who can do anything. If one works with singers, know languages and the differences between German and Russian with its many consonants at the beginning of words (e.g. schmerz) and French, Spanish and Italian where the vowel comes more quickly. It's with the vowel that the piano must play. The pianist needs to be able to play the accompaniment and sing the vocal line at the same time. Of course, one needs to sight-read well, be constantly aware of one's partner and know many arias (about 400) to be an opera singer's rehearsal accompanist. Watch the breathing!
When playing with strings, watch both the bow and the fingers. Be humble, because we pianists have fixed pitch and no-one else does, excepting the celeste. We're the one who is always out-of-tune. Balance is subjective. He says, "NEVER close the lid." You can play softly enough without muffling the sound. He believes one should give as much as possible in every way, as long as you do not eclipse the soloist.
The pianist has a sound that can only attack, decay, sustain, release. The singer and all other singing instruments can enlarge the sound after the attack. Making our theme sound as close as possible to the soloist's theme is, therefore, a very difficult task - but an essential one.
Mr. Paulnack dealt with duos, chamber music, wind and brass repertoire as well as sound production, orchestral work, conductor-soloist-pianist, (where the pianist simulates an orchestra), score-reading, reduction skills, and pianist in the orchestra.
He stressed that the pianist, when working with a soloist, is building a partnership ("as one does in a good marriage.)"
The second part of his talk was devoted to countering the worry many of us have - that classical music is somehow on the way out. Mr. Paulnack says, "No, it will always be here because it is the way we hold on to ourselves." Cultures always have had, and always will have, music. Music is not entertainment; it is life and death. He cited Venezuela's El Sistema which gives life and hope to the children of the country. The government there plans to have an instrument in the hands of every child by 2015. We need to teach the fact that music is necessary to our life. We think it's a matter of money. No, money is not the problem. We must teach the vital importance of music, how to give ourselves to it as listeners, just as the players give themselves to the music they perform.
He reminded us to counsel the young, as they choose their life work, not to ask what the world needs. Instead, to ask "what do I need to light me up, to make me come alive?" - because the world needs our exhilaration. We must do what we love.
