Natasha Paremski will perform a Prokofiev piano concerto during Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s next concert
By Linda Holt
From the Princeton Packet
“I don’t take an ‘aggressive’ approach (to Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto in C Major),” says pianist Natasha Paremski. Then, with a telling smile, the pianist adds, “but there will definitely be some forceful playing, and, let’s say, I won’t be holding back!”
The career of the young international star from Russia, the Bay area, and now New York, has taken off in recent years. The dynamic musician will make her debut with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra for a Nov. 6 concert in Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus, playing the devilishly challenging Prokofiev Third under the baton of guest conductor, Jayce Ogren.
During the program, titled “Impassioned Russia,” Mr. Ogren (conductor of Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia) also will lead PSO in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique.”
Ms. Paremski, who is in her 20s, has been playing the Prokofiev since she was 13. She performed it most recently in May with the Symphony Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. While some listeners have dubbed Prokofiev, in effect, “the man of steel” for works that demand strength and stamina from soloists, Ms. Paremski finds that the middle section of the final movement is as lush and romantic as anything by Rachmaninoff.
“The middle movement is actually very French, there is a lot of impressionism to it, a little bit of jazz, so yeah, there are really about 12,000 colors in the second movement alone,” she says. “The first movement is very effervescent, almost neo-classical.” This exciting work is scored for full orchestra, including such sparkling colors as the tambourine, cymbals, and castanets.
When we spoke, Ms. Paremski had just returned from Oviedo, Spain, where she performed the Tchaikovsky First with the Orquesta Sinfóica del Principado de Asturias under the baton of Rossen Milanov, Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s music director. I asked her what it’s like to work with different conductors, since she’s performed with, according to my count, around 20 different conductors this year alone.
“It just depends on the conductor,” she says. “Rossen and I worked well together, we have not (yet) disagreed on anything. I haven’t worked with Jayce before, but I am looking forward to the experience. With some people, you can have a wonderful discussion about your ideas, and if I’m very convinced about something, I try to insist on it. But if my colleague has a really good argument for why it might not work, then I’m very open to listening to that. From time to time, you do encounter big egos. In that case, I just let it go because it’s not worth it.”
The young musician also has worked with some leading contemporary composers including Jeffrey Kahane, John Corigliano, and Michael Hersch, and has commissioned some new music. “One of the composers I’ve worked was with very set in what he wrote,” she says. “His first draft he was like, ‘This is it, don’t mess with it, make it work.’ I had to work at convincing him, and finally brought up the pianistic aspect, and he did come around eventually, for certain things. Still, his work was definitely well thought-out and exact, but with very little room for flexibility.”
Another composer she worked with was the complete opposite. “He gave me the first draft, and I said, ‘Look, you’re trained to go for this effect in this passage, but it’s not pianistically possible. Here is what I would suggest,’ and then I would show him,” she says.
Her suggestions didn’t change the harmony or melodic line, but changed the arpeggio, to make the piece a little tighter.
“And he was so over the moon with my suggestions that he made sure all of them made it into the published version,” Ms. Paremski says. “So it just depends on who you’re working with, and I think you can say that about all musicians. Like even conductors, some are very set on how they think a piece should sound, and you wind up sometimes butting heads; and others are like, ‘Whatever, if you can convince me, sure, let’s do it your way.’”
Like other innovative young musicians, Ms. Paremski has performed off the traditional classical stage, including participating in a film “Twin Spirits” (2010), celebrating the love of Clara and Robert Schumann and starring Sting and his wife, Trudie, as well as playing with dance troupes, and bringing art music to new audiences.
“Next year, for example, I’m going to some very remote places in Alaska as part of a tour,” she says, “places where I don’t think people have ever been to a classical concert… I think that there’s a way to open people’s horizons to classical music without thrusting them into Messiaen’s ‘Turangalila,’” she says referring to the long, complex work of modernism.
For Ms. Paremski, keeping an open mind is one of the keys to success in today’s classical music scene.
“Right now I’m constantly learning more concertos, things outside my comfort zone, new repertoire,” she says. “Recently I played a piece by Paul Schoenfield, ‘Four Parables for Piano and Orchestra,’ and that already was quite outside my comfort zone, it’s not a well-known piece. I thoughtI would play it just once, but I ended up memorizing it because I figured it would be easier to memorize it than to have a page-turner on stage. It was a big success and I’ve played it every season since I learned it. There are constantly new things that come up, and you just sort of go with the flow.”
Ms. Paremski says music in the classical repertory can be enjoyed by everyone, without special training. “Some people think, ‘Oh, classical music, it’s really cerebral and you had to go to the conservatory to understand it.’ But no, there are a lot of pieces that everybody connects to: a Rachmaninoff concerto, Beethoven’s Fifth, Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ the ‘Nutcracker.’ People are always listening to classical music, and they don’t even realize it. If they go to the ‘Nutcracker’ every year, they are going to a classical concert.
“Yes, I think there is some snobbery in some of the classical circles, though, to be honest, I haven’t encountered (any) of those circles,” she adds. “The musicians I know are pretty relaxed and laid-back people. No one is turning their nose up at people who have not gone to conservatory. Sure, there are some stuck-up musicians who can be like, ‘You will never be able to understand this Bach partita because you’re just not as good as I am.’ So yeah, I think that does a disservice to classical music even though those pieces, when they were written, that was the rock concert of the day.”
Consequently, classical musicians increasingly are going to the people, with pop-up concerts, community involvement, and outreach, often with discount pricing. “Many people have come up to me after a concert and said, ‘This is the first time we’ve gone to the symphony ever, and it was so exciting, we’re definitely coming back, we just bought season tickets.’”
And the future of classical music?
“Just stay relevant by exposing people to classical music,” Ms. Paremski says. “I think that’s the only way to stay relevant. People are saying audiences are getting older. No, they’ve always been that age, actually. And I think if there is anything keeping younger people from going to classical concerts, it’s probably the money. If you are trying to get pop audiences to come over, you have to go to them first. You’re not going to lure them in by saying, ‘Look, we’re great, too.’ If you’re going to expand, you have to just basically go to them. So I’ve done that on a number of occasions, and it’s been really fun, and people do wind up having a really good time. There are a million things you can do, and I’ve been to events where they make it into a cabaret setting and there are drinks being served, that’s just one example. People feel like they’re in a club, they’re not just sitting there with their phones in airplane mode, not being able to breathe.
“To be honest, I’m very optimistic about the future,” this bright young musician says. “I don’t think classical music is going away anytime soon.”
Princeton Symphony Orchestra will present “Impassioned Russia” at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University Campus, Nov. 6, 4 p.m. Tickets cost $33-$82, $25 students. Admission includes a pre-concert talk that begins at 3 p.m. For tickets and information, go to princetonsymphony.org or call 609-497-0020.
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