Andrei Gavrilov in conversation with Melanie Spanswick 

Thank you Ms Sapnswick and Mr Gavrilov. Thanks for sharing.

I have just discovered these interviews and what priceless gems they are! It is so interesting to hear these great pianists talk about their backgrounds, and there is also a lot that can be learned from them. Melanie Spanswick has a natural gift for this sort of discussion. She has a lovely manner that makes the interview a delight, and the guests clearly respond to this. She says just enough to guide the conversation, and never interrupts or imposes her own views. A good many television interviewers could learn from her!

Nice interview.Thanks fir posting.

What a great interviewer, asking only the questions that will get an interesting response.

What a wonderful pleasure to hear this musical icon, speak about his life!!!!!!

I think some of Gavrilov's views are quite out of thin air. He vastly overstates the significance of religion in Rachmaninov's music, who himself explained how he was influenced by a lot of the culture he grew up with, including but not limited to religion, music, books and many other things. And the idea that you must have lived in Russia or somehow try to emulate the composer's lifestyle (which let's be real is hardly even possible in many cases; I'm pretty sure that drinking with a German today has little to do with doing so in Bach's time) makes little sense. Rachmaninov who is considered one of the greatest performers of all time, certainly didn't live in Beethoven's footsteps. Nor did Liszt, I assume, when he premiered the Hammerklavier Sonata in a performance you can still read about today. And the notion that expressing oneself in the music is wrong because one should instead "read the text" and only play the "real meaning" of the music is obviously a non-argument, because what he really is implying is that his way to play the music is right. Everyone expresses themselves playing music. Trying to play what one considers to be the "true meaning of the text" is an expression of oneself. If there was only one correct way to play a piece, no composer would have ever accepted a performance of his pieces by someone else as equal or even superior to their own interpretations, like Rachmaninov and Chopin did. Just like Bach's music can appeal to someone who is not a protestant, German, or has anything to do with the culture of Bach's time, it can be played in its full beauty by such a person too. "If you aren't familiar with the Orthodox church, forget about playing Rachmaninov" is a ludicrous satement, that, if thought a bit further, would prohibit Gavrilov from playing a lot of the music he does. I can't find a period of living in Paris in his Biography, yet he plays Chopin. I also presume he hasn't "tried" homosexuality to gain a better "understanding" of Tchaikovsky's music. He plays them well regardless, disproving his own statement. A great pianist I think, with some odd views.

"If they're not changing for good after the concert, during the concert... if it's not a lifetime event for the audience - every concert - it's a bad concert. Then it's a charlatan music. Nothing else." Absolutely. Thank You! ❤

"Half of Bach are German songs". Which half I wonder?