Mitsuko Uchida is one of the world's greatest pianists, known for her crystalline touch and interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. Not only is she in demand at major concert halls and festivals, but she is also a renowned mentor to young performers. She is tall enough to travel frequently with her own 1,064-pound Steinway Model D concert grand piano and her own dedicated technician.
Periodically for about two years I tried to interview Uchida, 75, who was born in Japan but moved to Austria at age 12, where her father became ambassador to Japan. She stayed there to study music when his diplomatic career took him elsewhere, and now lives in London. At this point (many of her recordings are considered canon) she has little need for publicity. But she agreed to speak one recent afternoon to discuss the Ojai Festival in California, which opens Thursday, with this year's Music Director in attendance.
When we meet in the lobby of a hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Uchida is in the middle of an unusually busy concert. Almost immediately, our conversation took an unexpected turn. She made it clear that she was annoyed by my questions about her life and music.
When I asked her how she viewed this phase of her career, her answer was blunt and direct: “I don’t analyze myself.”
But she sat down for 75 minutes to give her unvarnished view of the world and discuss creativity, new music, the pandemic, and why she doesn't conduct Beethoven from the keyboard. (Noting Beethoven's “conflict and confrontation,” he said, “It is difficult for others to induce and instigate conflict toward me while I am playing.”) Her performance in Ojai, where she will sing solo and conduct, announced the plan. Mozart’s Piano Concerto with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (“Mozart is conversational and operatic”).
Ms. Uchida, a studious artist, interrupted the interview several times with the intention of testing my musical knowledge and talked about the German Renaissance, the invention of musical copyright, Bach's “St. Matthew Passion” and the deaths of Schubert and Webern. She was unimpressed. Chae suggested I quit my job for a year and study music full-time.
At the end of the interview, the hotel's fire alarm went off, and Uchida asked me if I had any more questions. I thanked her for her time, and although she wasn't always sure what I wanted, she said she enjoyed the discussion. I told Uchida that interviews aren't always predictable. She said the performances aren't all that different.
“I call them fall leaves,” she said. “We come and we go. When we die, that's the end. “All that remains is what is written.”
Worried that there might not be enough material, I later called Uchida at her home in London, where she was practicing Ravel. She agreed to talk for another 45 minutes. Below are edited excerpts from both conversations.
How do you view your artistry at this stage of your career?
My artistry? excuse me? I live one day at a time.
What does it mean?
Do you think I am observing my navel every day? sorry. I am a musician. I am not that important or anything. I just want to understand music. That's it.
Tell us what excites you about the Ojai Festival.
Do you think I'm excited to go to Ojai? no. I go because there is music I want to do, there is an association, and I can do it for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and other people involved. I feel a sense of belonging to this group.
The first time I went to Ojai I went with Pierre Boulez and it was really cool. I think the origins of Ojai, the concept of someone in rural America starting a new music festival, is an interesting idea. But I don't know what else excites me.
He was originally scheduled to appear in Ojai in 2021, but was rescheduled due to the pandemic. How do you think the pandemic has changed the cultural world?
The selfish desire to “my life must be amazing” has become the norm during the pandemic. You might think so too. So people give up easily. I see it in so many areas.
If you ask me about many of the best hotels in Japan, it's a lost cause. Restaurants I used to love have put on chefs during the pandemic, so things taste different now. New employees will come in and say, “If I like it, I’ll stay. If I don’t like it, I’ll go somewhere else.” But life isn't that simple. You should try it.
Has anything changed at all during the pandemic?
I think so. But I don't do any self-analysis.
Has your daily routine changed?
I was so happy to come home. I like not traveling. For now, I could afford to waste time. It was fantastic.
What do you do in your free time now?
When I have time, I go home and study or play music. I want to have time to think. And you have to breathe and dream.
Do you have any revelations about life or music when you take time to dream?
I have never had a revelation in my life. Otherwise, I won't tell you.
You mentioned that the opportunity to work with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra was what drew you to Ojai.
Chance, no. There will be many opportunities for me. But for them this is an opportunity. They wanted to go to Ojai. I do it for them.
Ohio has a special vibe. There is an ancient tree in the corner of the park where the concert is held. I like playing in open spaces where the music flies, not in boxes or halls. Some people hate it. But I love hearing sounds spread through the air.
In Ojai, they will perform three of Mozart's concertos, his Fantasia in D minor and Schoenberg's “Six Little Piano Pieces.”
In an ideal world, I would have considered playing Schoenberg's Piano Concerto with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra without a conductor. But it requires a huge amount of rehearsal time. Can you tell me how life functions? No one can afford it because it requires so much rehearsal time. Who pays for these 40 people to just rehearse and stay in a hotel for a week or 10 days? no one.
People don't often associate you with new music.
Someone said this to me a long time ago: Mr. Uchida, you don’t commission that many new works.” And I just said, “How am I supposed to know what that idiot is going to do?” It's too dangerous not to know what will happen to the piece. So I'm really glad I'm not the first person to do it. But I have great respect for composers like Gyorgy Kurtag. There are few people as honest as him.
How would you describe your relationship with Mozart?
In Mozart, even when there are sad moments, we look up. He is already in love with a lovely girl who is passing by. His world is a world of people running around. And to take it to the extreme, in Mozart every note is childlike. Every note is trying to go in a different direction. This is the extraordinary freedom of Mozart's music. Every note acts like a child.
In contrast, in Schubert you describe a sense of isolation.
Schubert was a solitary figure and his music was completely lonely. His music is a dream. His life is full of sadness. It's a hopeless situation. But there is longing. He never lost his longing, and that is the absolute beauty of Schubert.
Are you worried about the impact of artificial intelligence on music?
Creativity happens in the human brain and the human soul. It must have been shocking to know the brain of someone like Mozart. And Johann Sebastian Bach – wow, what abilities he has! This is something that machines cannot do.