On the evening of 11th October, we feature Anna Fedorova’s energetic 2015 interpretation of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto in our next online Concert Club event. To set the scene, we caught up with the young Ukrainian pianist to discuss her growth as a musician and her approach to Rachmaninov’s supremely difficult piece.
DR: You gave your national debut at the age of seven (at the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine). Can you remember what that was like, playing such a prestigious concert at such a young age?
AF: To be honest I don’t think I realised how prestigious the stage was at the time. I remember that I was excited: it was still new for me to be performing in front of an audience, especially one that big. But I remember that from the very first time I played at a concert (I was 5 at the time) I liked being on stage and was playing better than during practice. I guess I heard people saying that and it gave me more confidence, so I just enjoyed every minute.
Both your parents were professional pianists. Do you think that helped or hindered you in your development as a musician?
It definitely helped a lot. In fact I must say that 90% of who I am now I owe to my parents. They both are wonderful pianists and top teachers in Ukraine. I was very fortunate to have my father as my official piano teacher until I was 18. My mother was also actively involved in my musical development. They led me through that long and very important period – basically my whole childhood! They helped me to build up the main technical and musical foundation, to develop my own musical approach and imagination, plus my understanding of styles. They introduced to the wonderful recordings, and the most important – they encouraged sincere and natural music making.
Some people argue that young musicians who’ve grown up solely in conservatoires haven’t gained the life experience to add real depth to their performances. Do you think it’s important to gain life experience outside of music practice in order to become a great musician?
I think it’s definitely very important and it’s true that, at least during my childhood, I felt kind of isolated, as I was practising most of the time and all of school life was passing by without my involvement in it. At the time I compensated with reading. But of course the real depth comes with time and I think it’s great to live life to the fullest and get real life experiences.
You’ve won top prizes in competitions all over the world, like the Chopin Competition in Moscow. How important have competitions been for the development of your career, and would you advise other young pianists to enter them?
They were important for me at certain stages of my life but I can’t say that I owe everything to competitions. Yes, I’ve had a number of concerts from winning some of the competitions, but my career had a parallel life of its own and was gradually building up. Of course for young musicians, competitions (especially big competitions) are important as they are great exposure. Sometimes, even if one doesn’t win the competition but makes a strong impression, it might be more rewarding than winning the prize.