David Khrikuli: The discovery of Chopin’s soul must be done directly through his music

Before his December 2 recital at the Łódź Philharmonic, pianist David Khiruli talks to Igor Torbicki about his lifelong fascination with Chopin - the light and darkness in his music, the pressure of competitions, and why true understanding comes only through playing.

In one of your past interviews, you described Frédéric Chopin as a composer with whom you’ve been obsessed with. Does the obsession continue to this day?

Of course. That’s one of the reasons I took part in the Chopin Competition. He has always been my main inspiration to pursue music. I’ll be forever grateful to his art for turning me into the pianist I am today. I think this obsession will continue for the rest of my life, and I look forward to adding more works of his to my repertoire – including the four Scherzi I’ll play in Łódź.

A critic during the Competition claimed that your interpretations are technically flawless, dramatic, but also “dark”. Do you share that perspective?

I do, in a way. But darkness is also in the music itself, especially in the era when Chopin was composing. It’s in his late works where we can see the darkest colors. No wonder – he was a difficult person living a difficult life, especially after he left Warsaw… Also, closed and mysterious. We can hear that in his music.

Of course, there’s also a lot of light in it – plenty of hope and genuine belief in the early works. But the closer he got to the end of his life, the more we can hear how he felt aware of that fact, and consumed by it. He knew that he was going to leave this world very soon.

Did you read his correspondence? Was there anything surprising?

I did, and I wouldn’t say I was surprised… But I understood that all emotions I was reading in his music were true. He used to say that it was easier to express himself through the piano rather than words. That leads to a conclusion: the discovery of Chopin’s soul must be done directly through his music.

His Scherzi are just filled to the brim with emotions. But if you had to choose just one, which one would it be?

Probably no. 3, it’s one of my favorite pieces of his. Its narrative is fascinating, being something more than just a combination of beautiful and exciting melodies. Chopin was a man of incredible intellect. We can hear that in the way how he develops small melodies into something crazy (just like in the coda of that Scherzo), or how he hides some things.

But I love all of his Scherzi in general. No. 4 is amazing, sounds like a fantasy. No. 2 resembles a fight between darkness and light, mixing B-flat minor and D-flat major themes. No. 1 is simply insane. Chopin managed to say so much with just one theme repeated over and over, but it still sounds exciting every time.

A famous quote says that a pianist’s life can be split into two periods: the first one before the Chopin Competition, and the second one after it.

It’s not like that only with the Chopin Competition – all of them create tremendous pressure. Concerts offer much more freedom and experience. I agree with the quote, but that crucial moment in your musical life can happen even without any competitions. The crucial thing for us, musicians, is how we grow every day. And how we start to see those little things we missed before. I took part in the Chopin Competition primarily to pay respects to my favorite composer. The outcome was really good, no matter the results. And I won’t forget people showing me so much love and support, it was incredible.

Which composer you’d put next to Chopin?

Brahms. I got to know his works in my late teens, and he became the second-biggest obsession in my life. His music has been a great help in my development.

Well, that fits the profile. His music is sometimes described as dark, too.

If you think about it, a large portion of music created by classical composers is, in a way, dark. They all had very difficult lives, lots of problems and hurt.

Isn’t that a part of romantic ethos? Deep, personal suffering?

I think it extends to more than that. Take a look at Mozart. Much of his music written in major keys is just a mask, and the real Mozart happens in the minor keys. I always get shocked by such works as C-major Sonata KV 330. Just as an example: in the second movement of that Sonata, when Mozart turns from F major to F minor, he’s like a completely different person. Only if we take such things into account, we can get to know what was happening in his mind. All of them, Beethoven or Rachmaninov, they were not truly happy human beings. And for some of them, recognition came only after they died, which is sad.

Fortunately, we didn’t and don’t have any doubts about Chopin. Mr. Khrikuli, I wish you all the best for your recital in Łódź!

Thank you!