Mariam Batsashvili on Influences

Mariam Batsashvili's new album, Influences, is a chronological journey through sonatas that she holds close, spiritually and musically. Ahead of her BBC Proms appearance, playing Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on 27th July, I spoke with Mariam about the new album, her spiritual connection with the music, the formative influences of her teacher and the qualities she seeks in a piano.

Influences is an apt title for the album. The chronological order helps to highlight how each composer influences the next one, but also developments in musical language, and advancements in the piano itself. What inspired you to take this approach? 

Exactly this expression of musical development throughout years. So, you have Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, who are relatively close in time to each other, and you have Liszt, who is linked to Beethoven. I choose always, whatever I play in concerts or recordings, the pieces I truly love, and it's not that I decided to challenge myself and play something that is not really mine.

Even though there are so many other sonatas which are fantastic, I chose these ones because they speak to me. The idea of Influences is that the listener will make links between the sonatas, and whilst hearing the character and signature of each composer, the evolution of sonata form and the development of music is audible.

We know that Liszt loved Beethoven. 

Liszt transcribed Beethoven's symphonies, and Beethoven's Appassionata was one of his frequently performed pieces in his concerts, and it was very magical for me to think that. When I'm preparing some piece or when I'm at the concert, I have a rather romantic nature and I like to imagine things. So, I think of Liszt playing the Appassionata in one of his concerts and then people absolutely being blown away by it, because it is such a revolutionary piece for Beethoven's time, but also for our time and Liszt's time.

Going back to the Haydn, which opens the album, there’s this sprightly opening and then this very serene almost hymn-like second movement, before the jollity and humour of the third movement.

Exactly, and it strikes me that his sonatas are rather undervalued and not played as much as Mozart and Beethoven. I chose this sonata because I played other Haydn sonatas and I like them very much, but this one is really showing his character. It's very small, and the dynamics are not crazily rich, yet it sounds delicious.You cannot say it for many pieces, actually. There is this wittiness in it, and there is this spark and life inside, and this is something that really characterises Haydn, in my opinion.

[You can hear the Haydn at 8:53 in the following video]

You played the Haydn sonata in one of your lockdown performances from home. How has your view of this sonata developed over time? 

I have been playing this sonata since I was a kid, and at that time this was a challenge to study - to understand the form, and to try to express something. Later, I realized that after you have respected this piece and you have learned all the details, then you can have fun. If you really follow the indications, the sonata is simply terrific. It is such a little sonata, but for me it is perfect, and I would not add or remove one note in it.

Talking about indications in the score - is there a particular edition that you use for this? 

I always use Henle edition for the Viennese classics because I trust them, and they are quite a reliable source, and for the Liszt pieces I always use the Edition Musica Budapest. I have many others which I'm always comparing because I'm curious what the editors are thinking. 

What do you think Mozart took from Haydn and how do you think he developed writing for the piano? 

I truly believe in higher powers. I like to call it divine energy, and I really think that Mozart was just writing down the music that was already somewhere and he could access it. I don't believe that he was sitting there and just thinking, OK, maybe this theme should sound like this. He would not have enough time to do that, and if you see his manuscripts they don’t look worked, it's just written down. If you see Beethoven's manuscripts, there are lots of corrections, and Liszt also.

Mozart's manuscript, you would say that it has been just copied by hand by somebody it's so neatly presented, but it’s actually his. He was so busy, touring and playing and being a musician, and I suppose you might call it osmosis, but he was taking in a lot of influences from what he heard.

Mozart and Haydn were acquainted and they were very respectful and friendly towards each other, so of course there was some influence. Otherwise, Mozart would have sounded completely different, but he sounds similar for the era, whereas Beethoven does not.

You can hear a strong Haydn influence in Beethoven’s Op. 2 sonatas, but things have moved on a huge amount by Op. 57, in terms of harmonic language and structure. What made you take this this leap from Haydn to later Beethoven? 

There is a complete revolution of the piano. You have the sonata form, unlike the Dante Sonata [Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata], which Liszt wrote later on, and if you look at it, you will see that we have first theme, second theme, the development, and the recapitulation. Everything is according to the rules of Haydn, Mozart and the sonata form, but there is then this frustration and anger and a huge temperament, which is absolutely not hidden. 

Haydn and Mozart expressed their temperaments differently and more modestly, whereas Beethoven is just going all out with his Appassionata, as if there is no tomorrow. In Beethoven, I feel all the emotions. I feel this anger, frustration, and the feeling that it's life or death.

Choosing the Appassionata leads more naturally into the Liszt, because Beethoven expands the tonal and formal language, and Liszt really runs with that. The Liszt isn't in sonata form, it's a single movement, much like the B minor piano sonata; he builds so much on the Beethoven, but also opens the doors to the future, and romanticism is such a huge part of it.

I read Dante Alighieri when I was 13 and I had nightmares. My teacher told me not to play the music until I'd read it. That was a catastrophe because I was waking up with nightmares, and when I was practicing, looking back to see if the devil is watching over me. It helped me because now when I play this piece, I can exactly picture the scenes from this literature. And this is the easiest thing, when the composer is directing you what he wants.

Liszt, who is my favourite composer, is just transcribing what's happening, how the souls are suffering. Then we have the love story inside, which is happening in hell. I don't know how familiar you are with Divina Commedia, but there is this Paolo and Francesca story, which I like to imagine very much in the Dante sonata. 

You've recorded some smaller Liszt pieces at the end, which are a bonus on the digital version. One of the things that I like about your recording of Liebesträume No. 3, is that it isn't over-sentimental. That melodic line is there, like a singer phrasing it beautifully, and it's touching, but it isn’t gushing. Does that come down to you going back to the score and thinking about Liszt's intentions, erasing all those sounds from your head? 

I have been always taught by my teacher that there is danger in music when it's beautiful, it can easily become cliché. She said, don't lose yourself completely in what you are doing, and this is not easy because the music is beautiful and you go inside it and you lose yourself.

I've done it many times when I was learning it, but as soon as I'm on the stage I always try to listen to my playing from the side and then to not have the impression that the pianist is melting down by herself because it's so beautiful. Rather, I am so touched because the pianist managed to get the music to me.

You mention in your liner notes that in the past  you've listened to recordings as part of getting to know a piece. So, are there any particular pianists that have inspired or influenced you? 

My teacher passed away three years ago, but she was my teacher since I was five years old. I'm 31 now, so I was with her almost all my life, and she has been a big influence on me as a person and musician. She was telling me not to dare to listen to anything before I learn the piece, so I learn the piece and as soon as I have it ready to concert standard, then I start listening. She would then give me names of pianists she thought I should listen to. This was all to avoid me imitating; she wanted me to have my interpretation, and then it doesn't hurt to listen to legendary pianists to hear their point of view. When I was listening to some pianists, their sound took my attention, because this is so important to me - the way the pianist touches the piano. Also, the sense of line, these long phrases shaped like a singer. There have always been things I've liked about pianists, but it has never happened that I say one pianist does everything and that I want to play like that.

You're a Yamaha artist; what is it that you like about the CFX concert grand?

In 2014, I took part in the Liszt competition in the Netherlands, and we had 8 instruments to choose from - two Yamaha, two Steinway, two Fazioli and two Steingraber. It took me only two minutes to decide it was the CFX that I wanted to play.

My teacher and I made a list of what to look for in the piano, and the first thing for me was the extreme possibility to create a legato line. I also look for fast repetition, which we need a lot in Liszt's music. Then, different registers of the piano having their own life, and creating different atmospheres with their character. I like richness in the bass when I push it, and in the treble I don't want the sound to be harsh and uncomfortable like it is on many pianos, but crispy clear. In the middle register I want warmth and not the hard mechanical sound that some pianos have.

I came to the conclusion that the CFX offers me all of these things, and it's not like I will be disappointed in one concert and happy in another. I know what to expect and there are no surprises at all. Now I am happy to record on the latest prototype version of the CFX, which has been developed using feedback from us as Yamaha artists, and this is a sensational instrument.