Rafal Blechacz Quotes

It's important to play the pieces that you feel you can play well. It was always my dream to play Bach - my first love and fascination - Chopin, and Szymanowski.

I usually need a lot of time to be completely alone with the particular piece, the composer, and the instrument. I also prefer a very quiet atmosphere, and I usually choose pieces that are very close to my personality, my heart. I think the audience can feel it.

A great artist can really enter the logic of any particular mazurka and fully understand the language of Chopin's music.

As a pianist, our particular role is to enter a piece and its logic and create a particular interpretation from our understanding. The most important thing for the performer is, after all, to create a special atmosphere - we enter the composer's feelings and emotions and recreate them freshly for a given audience.

I dreamt of playing in the big halls all over the world and it has always been my dream to play for people in many different countries.

Once I started playing the piano, after my first small competition, I realized that the piano was the right instrument for me.

I love Arthur Rubinstein, especially his live recordings. I think his Chopin Mazurkas, his interpretation of the Polonaises, and the Concertos of Chopin are just incredible. When I was a child, I wanted to play more and more Chopin because of his recordings.

There are so many people who are interested in classical music. Fortunately, I think many of them are quite young, so it's wonderful to present new programs to them.

My earliest memories about music are connected with going to church and listening to organ music. I am not from a musical family, actually, and I remember my first musical fascination to be for organ music. I wanted to become an organist and not a pianist.