Concert pianist Khatia Buniatishvili's new album pays homage to Mozart

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with concert pianist Khatia Buniatishvili about her new allbum, "Mozart," which honors the 18th century composer.

Transcript

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Khatia Buniatishvili wants everyone to feel like classical music is for them.

KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI: The problem is that classical music somehow has become some kind of - as if it belongs to some people but not to others, you know? And it's a shame.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF SCHUBERT'S "4 IMPROMPTUS, OP. 90, D. 899: NO. 4")

RASCOE: Buniatishvili is a concert pianist from the country of Georgia. She's 37 years old and has made a name for herself with her expressive performances, her glamorous gowns, and her collaborations with nonclassical musicians like A$AP Rocky and Coldplay. For her own albums, Buniatishvili has recorded classical piano pieces by Bach, Chopin and other celebrated composers. Now she's taking on a big one, "Mozart: The Piano Concertos, Nos. 20 and 23."

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20")

BUNIATISHVILI: Somehow, I guess I was waiting for the right moment to express my love for Mozart that I have since I'm 7 years old and since I have listened to his "Requiem" piece, for example, or watched the movie by Milos Forman, "Amadeus." I guess that's my childhood's biggest love.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20")

BUNIATISHVILI: If anybody would listen to Mozart, they will - I think, personally, they will love this music.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20")

RASCOE: How does the first one on this recording, "Piano Concerto In D Minor," fit into his body of piano works? Like, what makes it different or challenging?

BUNIATISHVILI: I guess it's - as it's one of his last concertos written in last period of his life, it's closer to more "Don Giovanni" vibes or "Requiem" vibes. What I mean is that tonality - it's in D minor. There is some kind of sadness and painful part of Mozart that is not hidden in some kind of makeup of humor or joy of life.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20")

BUNIATISHVILI: There is something that is quite honest about this part of his. And I love, in Mozart, this, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20")

RASCOE: So how did you first get started with the piano?

BUNIATISHVILI: I was 3 years old. I mean, I didn't start to play, but I started to get lessons at the age of 3 from my mother. I guess also that I'm not the only one that started that early. For many of us who have achieved this path of being a pianist, we start to, you know, become one with the instrument at quite early age.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 20")

RASCOE: When did you become one with the piano, especially enough for you to want to have a career as a concert pianist?

BUNIATISHVILI: Well, as a child, I was already onstage at the age of 6, and as soon as you are onstage, you more or less become a professional because you have to play well, you have to be in good shape, you have to be convincing, and you have to be - you know, you have to deal with that because there is public and you are exposed. And as soon as I was onstage, the choice was made. Maybe there was a lack of choice. But fortunately, I loved doing it, so it was not a difficult life for me because of that. You understand? I still felt like I was a child that was nourished with different things, and music was one of them, and I was happy about it.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 23")

RASCOE: How do you deal with critics? You've had a few critics take shots at your performance, and some have even mentioned the gowns that you wear onstage when writing about you. Do you take that personally?

BUNIATISHVILI: In the beginning, I took it personally. But I learned quite fast not to be dependent on reactions of others - not for compliments and not for critics - because it's important to live your life, you know? And if you just constantly control what other people think about you, then you don't have time to live. Then you have to analyze your life, but I chose to live it.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. 23")

RASCOE: Do you view any of the pushback from some critics about your outfits, about your gowns or what have you, as being sexist in nature?

BUNIATISHVILI: I think that it definitely was, especially in the beginning. It felt like they wanted to diminish the part of the importance of the profoundness of my work or of me as an artist while they were talking about my clothes. So it was definitely related who I was also, like, a woman, if I may say it this way. And I just felt like I was shown in a more superficial frame when I had something more important to say as an artist.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO SONATA NO. 16")

RASCOE: This album - it ends not on a concerto but with a piano sonata. In fact, it's Mozart's best-known sonata. Why did you want to close the album out with this piece?

BUNIATISHVILI: I like to end with the beginning and the contrary. So I think that this sonata is really, like, beginning for me. It's, I guess, one of the first sonatas I've heard from Mozart and extremely simple but, at the same time, profound. And that's, I think, the magic of Mozart. He can be extremely childish, and at the same time, as a child, he was already extremely profound. So I think being wise and being profound and childish at the same time is wonderful. I think it shows how we are, all human beings, somehow children, too. Mozart is that, and this sonata is an example of that.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO SONATA NO. 16")

RASCOE: Concert pianist Khatia Buniatishvili talking about her new album "Mozart: The Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 23." Thank you so much.

BUNIATISHVILI: Thank you very much.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI PERFORMANCE OF MOZART'S "PIANO SONATA NO. 16")

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.