Very specific problems and solutions

Usually when you’re classical pianist it’s safe to assume that no experience you ever have is unique, which in many cases can be quite comforting. Everyone has a stage mishap story, a memory slip story, a “making the wrong impression in front of a venerated artist” story. Everyone’s played pretty much the exact same rep, so we all get it. If I mention “that expanded Alberti bass left hand figuration in Op. 90,” which I have many times, multiple pianists will immediately know what I’m talking about (without anyone having to name the composer!) and contribute their own stories about that passage. The other day I posted a photo of a large chord from the Bach-Busoni Chaconne on Instagram without naming the piece, and half a dozen pianists immediately chimed in with their personal experiences getting around that chord.

I am proud and perturbed to report that I am currently experiencing a very specific thing that I know I am the only person in the whole world to experience, and that is (no surprises) the process of relearning the solo Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel sonata for recording after having prepped and performed the wildly different concerto version for performance.

I know for a fact that I am the only person in the world to experience this, because 1) I am currently the only pianist in the world able to play the concerto version (and the cadenza, which I wrote myself!), and 2) there has only been one performance of said concerto, for which I was the soloist. There aren’t even that many people who are familiar with the original sonata and have performed it.

What this means is that every time I encounter a very specific problem as a result of crossed muscle memory wires between these two pieces, my immediate impulse is to hit up my fellow pianists—whether texting them directly, or posting to social media—to get that virtual fistbump of solidarity, before realizing that no one will know what I’m talking about because I’m the only person in the world this is happening to.