In 2019 and 2022 I had the great fortune to be chosen by the eminent pianist Maria Joao Pires to participate in one of the workshops for young performers that he organizes at his Quinta de Belgais, near the city of Castelo Branco, in Portugal. In the cozy house of the farm, several bedrooms are used for the workshop for the individual lodging of the participants and two rooms with their respective pianos. One of these rooms, close to the rooms, was used for individual study; while in the other, located in the opposite wing of the house and adjacent to the place where we met to eat and talk, the master classes.
These individual classes were witnessed by the entire group. We listened to each other and, at the same time that we forged our criteria about the music performed, we enriched them with the comments and indications of João Pires. In these sessions I was trained in the interpretation of works by Beethoven and Chopin. The teachings exceeded the limits of the pieces, not only because I was nourished by everything related to the repertoires of the other participants, but also because, from the approach, the ideas and experiences of this great performer, I came to perceive and apprehend the details of the different ways in which music surrounds us.
María understands and communicates the music she performs in an exclusive and unique way. Her personal style goes hand in hand with a particular worldview. As an enthusiastic admirer of the ancient disciplines and doctrines of yoga and Buddhism, she spoke and taught us about meditation and contemplation, systematic practices of her spiritual training, with which she achieved greater physical and mental control, and the harmonic union between the body, mind and soul. To the above, she added other arguments, such as the benefit of deep concentration and muscle relaxation, in addition to establishing connections with our subconscious. The latter was an essential condition for understanding the pieces to be interpreted, because according to her criteria, in music there are no measures or limits, since this art comes from the instinctive, unconscious and intangible.
Another of the conclusions I reached during my stay in Belgais is that the great pianists have a very strong relationship with their physical bodies. When María told us “…the technique does not exist”, this is what she was referring to. She explained to us that the instrument and the performer’s organism are not separate and distant elements, but constitute a unit. For this and the aforementioned reasons, she exercised us in meditation and always made us practice it before beginning to play.
She is a far cry from the conceits of some famous artists, and this is reflected in the austere lifestyle she follows. She is used to baking her own bread and preparing her meals self-sufficient with the products of the farm. At daybreak, she always found her alone preparing some food for breakfast. Right now we talk a lot while making our favorite orange juice. I must point out that she not only taught me many things on the piano, but also in the kitchen, where she has great expertise. I still remember the delicious green soup who stewed us with potatoes and cabbage cuove galega freshly harvested on the property, so that we could taste the Portuguese national dish.
He also has the habit of walking an hour and a half at sunset. On these journeys I accompanied her several times. Our conversations covered the most diverse topics. She shared and dialogued with me as if we had known each other forever; We talked about the arts and also about the most natural and simple aspects of everyday life. Also, she said all the time: “Life is wonderful, but there is also a lot of suffering… maybe music is like life…”. A judgment very close to reality.
We agreed on many things, from artistic, musical and humanist ideas, to certain experiences that conditioned us rejection by totalitarian regimes, whatever their ideologies.
She has a very warm and human soul, her generosity has no limits; she is always willing to listen and advise anyone who needs it. She is also one of the wisest people I have ever met. To this day, her stay at the Quinta de Belgais constitutes one of the most significant events of my artistic career and of my life. This experience marks the ways in which I approach the interpretation of the most varied pieces of my repertoire. With Maria I got the answers to many of my questions. I noticed and assimilated new approaches on the communicative peculiarities of music and sounds, and the different ways of revealing and transmitting the life and spirituality that emanate from them.
AQ
My meeting with María João Pires: an unforgettable experience