(Cover photo: L-Cousin)
In this exclusive interview, the world-renowned pianist Kotaro Fukuma reveals his musical universe. A Francophone and Francophile, he loves Paris and also lives in Berlin, Leiden, and Tokyo. He talks about his beginnings at the piano in an erudite family and his studies at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. As brilliant as he is modest, he shares with us the influences that have shaped his art. A fascinating dive into the life of this passionate creative, always in search of new artistic adventures.
Interview
Pierre-Antoine Tsady: Your musical journey is impressive. Tell us about your beginnings at the piano and what made you want to pursue a career?
Kotaro Fukuma: There are no professional musicians in my family, but my mother had a collection of classical music records, especially piano music. She listened to these records in daily life. And I have two older sisters who took piano lessons; the teacher came to the house to give the lessons.
Additionally, my father bought a small grand piano for my eldest sister when I was 1 year old, so my great curiosity for the piano was quite natural. My mother told me that I always crawled towards the sound of the piano. Whether it was the Hi-Fi speakers or the piano played by my sisters, I was always attracted.
P.-A. T.: At the age of 19, you continued your studies at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. What did the French school bring to your art?
K. F.: I think I learned above all to seek colors in my playing. My professor at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bruno Rigutto, taught me that one must always seek colors and tell a story.
And then, my curiosity for contemporary music grew. I saw many students and professors playing this kind of music, which strongly influenced me. I was often amazed by it.
The various collaborations with other art forms also nourished my curiosity. I led these collaborations myself for the first time during my studies in Paris. It taught me many things.
P.-A. T.: Your repertoire is very eclectic: from Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary music. What are your selection criteria?
K. F.: I am very curious and open to the piano repertoire. During my studies, we were required to play all kinds of music: from baroque to contemporary music. However, it was rare that I did not enjoy immersing myself in a composer’s universe. There are more or less interesting or successful works by each composer.
When I create a recital program, I first look for a theme; and according to the theme, I choose one or two main works. Then, I think about what goes with it. As I have a passion for making little-known works known, I try to include some rare pieces as well.
P.-A. T.: You have conducted a series of concerts called Rare Piano Music and have succeeded in many transcriptions. What attracts you to these kinds of challenges? Tell us more about these projects?
K. F.: First of all, I have made some transcriptions of symphonic or lyrical works, including French songs! Most of the time, it’s for fun and to please the audience. I don’t consider it as work in itself.
But one day, René Martin – artistic director of La Folle Journée – commissioned a transcription of Beethoven’s Turkish March. It was a big challenge for me because he wanted a version for three pianos and 12 hands, that is, six pianists! I had never composed a piece for four hands, so it was a great adventure. As soon as I found good ideas, it went quite quickly. And I was very happy to receive good feedback from the colleagues who played it: Etsuko Hirosé, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Rémi Geniet, David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard.
As for my concert series Rare Piano Music, it’s something else entirely. I launched this series in July 2020 in the midst of the COVID pandemic. The idea came to me when I played at the Husum Festival in Germany in the summer of 2019, where artists have to play rare repertoires, no one plays Chopin or Mozart! The atmosphere in the audience was absolutely fantastic because everyone was a great piano lover and connoisseur.
I wanted to organize this kind of festival in Japan, but it was impossible with the pandemic. So I decided to do it online on my YouTube channel. The advantage of the online concert is that you can communicate live. I give a musical lecture and the artists can communicate with the audience during the concert: it’s something unique!
I also organize a preliminary live interview session on YouTube with the artist a few weeks before the concert. This allows us to introduce the artist as well as their program. Thus, the interested audience can appreciate the proposed music more deeply.
In the first season, we did one concert per month because I had time. Now, we do six concerts a year — five online concerts and one in public. It’s a big challenge to organize them alongside all my concerts and travels; to collect many donations with the streaming.
The first year went very well because people had to stay home. Moreover, they were generous towards the artists. Filling the hall with this program is a challenge, but I receive a lot of encouragement from the musical community.
Furthermore, I know that this series is important for the world of Art in general. So I am determined to continue the series until volume 100. The next online concert will be Volume 33, on September 28.
P.-A. T.: You have lived and worked in nearly 40 countries around the world and you live in three different countries. How have these multicultural experiences enriched your musical approach and your life?
K. F.: I love traveling, discovering the culture of each country, getting in touch with nature, especially the beautiful views of shimmering water… I love learning languages: I speak English, French, German, Japanese fluently, a bit of Spanish, and I am starting in Italian, Russian, and Dutch. I also love making friends who are music lovers. All this inspires me and gives me good energy to make music. I think it is important to travel. Most composers, even Johann Sebastian Bach, traveled a lot. They were influenced by different cultures.
I am very lucky to have three bases at the moment: Berlin, Leiden in the Netherlands, and Tokyo. But it is sometimes complicated logistically. Especially when I no longer know in which apartment I forgot an important thing!
P.-A. T.: You have collaborated with various artists who are not musicians. Can you share with us a memorable experience?
K. F.: Besides music, I particularly love dance and visual art, so it was a great joy and I was very lucky to collaborate with renowned artists like Yuzuru Hanyu, Stéphane Lambiel, world champion figure skaters, Mathieu Ganio, étoile dancer, or Kaiji Moriyama, contemporary ballet dancer.
Of course, there are some constraints when collaborating with dancers. You cannot have total freedom in terms of tempo choice or time management. You also have to play in an environment adapted to the show. I remember very well my first participation in a skating show. It was in December, in an ice rink in Geneva, where it was less than 3°C [37.4°F]. It was not easy to play the piano. The lights change and move according to the music and choreography. The audience applauds at the moments of spins and jumps. You hear the delayed sound in the amplifier, you have to shorten the piece according to the timing… All this would never happen during a normal concert!
However, it was an irreplaceable and magical experience for me. Creating a work in unison between the dancers and the musician is unique to live performance collaboration. I think that by collaborating with dancers, I was able to acquire a flexible and three-dimensional expression. I had to adapt my playing to the show, especially at the moments of jumps. I sometimes even suggested adapting the choreography to the musical score. In recordings, the volume is normalized and constant. During a live show, the sound engineer adjusts the volume live. This allows the audience to focus on the music during the most sensitive parts – pianissimo.
P.-A. T.: Is there a pianist you admire and who particularly inspires you?
K. F.: There are many pianists who inspire me, but I particularly admire Marc-André Hamelin, a Canadian pianist. I first heard him in a recording about 20 years ago. An American concert organizer had told me about him and advised me to listen to one of his Godowsky recordings. I was impressed by his solid and flexible technique. However, I did not become a fan at that time, probably because of the repertoire. Ten years later, I had the opportunity to listen to him in concert in New York, where he played works by Haydn, Scriabin, and Schubert. I was then truly transported by his deep musicality, his sound with many colors, and his virtuosity. I appreciate his propensity to always study new pieces and expand his repertoire. He makes rare repertoires known while playing concertos with renowned orchestras worldwide. Moreover, he also composes! So, I would like to become an artist like him. My dream is to invite him to my Rare Piano Music series and play two pianos with him.
P.-A. T.: How do you prepare for your concerts and recordings? Do you have a routine or particular rituals before going on stage? Is there a difference between preparing for a recording and a concert?
K. F.: Yes, for a record recording, which normally lasts three days, you need sustained concentration and physical strength. If I play the same piece over and over, I inevitably notice the small details. I then lose the endurance of concentration and the overall musical view. That’s why I record the entire program once on the first day. I listen to it as reference material and discuss possible improvements with the sound engineer. Then, I re-record the pieces.
For a public concert, we experience more intense moments, sometimes it goes by too quickly. But I try to be relaxed and enjoy every second. The atmosphere is very different from recording, but I prefer playing in public. I really like the exchange of energy with people. I receive a lot of energy from the applause. That’s why it was difficult to play with joy and inspiration during online concerts without an audience… I have since gotten used to it.
Before a concert, I do a bit of physical exercise and a lot of stretching. I eat an Asian dish, like Cantonese rice – if possible – and bananas.
P.-A. T.: Paris seems to be a city you appreciate a lot. What are your favorite places?
K. F.: Obviously, I have many memories and made beautiful encounters at the Conservatoire where I studied: it is therefore one of my favorite places in Paris. I also really like the Père Lachaise Cemetery, where great artists rest, especially Chopin. I receive a lot of inspiration there. From the Pont Alexandre III to the Invalides, it is majestic. I always hear the beginning of Beethoven’s Emperor concerto when I am there! Finally, one of my dreams is to play at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées.
P.-A. T.: What is your favorite cuisine?
K. F.: As a Japanese, I must say that Japanese cuisine is fundamental for me. I cannot go more than three days without eating rice! But I also really like French cuisine: ratatouille, lamb shank, duck confit, etc. When I lived in the 9th arrondissement, I often ate at an Ethiopian restaurant called Addis Abeba.
P.-A. T.: Is there a public figure who inspires you?
K. F.: I would mention Stéphane Lambiel first, because I know him very well; and I know how serious he is in his work and modest. At the same time, he is funny, friendly, and considerate towards those around him.
I also met Jean Dujardin during the skating show in Geneva. I had just seen the film The Artist, so it was an unforgettable meeting for me!
When I lived in Paris, I often watched the show Ça se discute and I really appreciated the way its host Jean-Luc Delarue spoke. I was very sad when I learned of his death in 2012…
P.-A. T.: What other iconic figures of French culture have influenced your artistic and musical vision?
K. F.: Charles Trenet died during my stay in Paris in February 2001, when I came to take the entrance exam at the Conservatory. I didn’t know this French singer at the time. However, all the channels were talking about him, which made me discover his music. I went to buy his album and listened to it with great pleasure for a long time. I appreciate his multifaceted character through his music and it inspires me a lot.
P.-A. T.: As someone who plays contemporary music, how do you see the evolution of piano composition in the age of AI?
K. F.: I fear that AI will surpass human power and dominate the world. Artists focus on everything: from serious problems to trivial questions. They dive into a world without answers, spending months, even years, worrying about it. Then, they express it in one way or another. I think AI despises these human activities. I respect human artists who can move people’s hearts, and I want to be one of them.
Upcoming concerts of Kotaro Fukuma
| Country | Concert |
|---|---|
| France | July 25 – Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat / Parvis de la Chapelle Saint-Hospice Les Classique de Juillet Fauré, Albéniz, Chopin, Puccini August 4 – Église d’École-en-bauges Festival Musique et Nature de Bauges “The Art of Transcription” Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Wagner, Smetana August 16 – Cambo les Bains / Église St.Laurent Concert Kotaro Fukuma at the Piano Albéniz: Iberia (complete) September 8 – Petignac / Domaine Musical de Pétignac Franco-Japanese festival in Pétignac (Link available soon) 4 Hands with Naruhiko Kawaguchi Mozart, Schubert, Rodrigo |
| Netherlands | August 2 – Leiden / Kasteel Oud Poelgeest Opening concert Chopin Festival Nederland 2024 Chopin, Albéniz, Bach, Gounod, Smetana |
| Spain | August 9 – Camprodon / Monestir de Sant Pere de Camprodon Festival Albéniz 24 Albéniz: Iberia (complete) August 22 – Gijón / Teatro Jovellanos Gijón International Piano Festival Albéniz: Iberia (complete) |
| Germany | August 25 – Malgarten / Konzertscheune 20 Jahre Malgartener Klosterkonzerte Sehnsucht nach Heimat Albéniz, Chopin, Smetana August 31 – Hainfeld / atelier29 Sehnsucht nach der Heimat Albéniz, Chopin, Smetana September 2 – Berlin / Piano Salon Christophori Der Olymp des Klavierspiels Albéniz, Chopin, Smetana September 6 – Bendestorf / Makens Huus Sehnsucht nach Heimat Albéniz, Chopin, Smetana |
| Japan | November 11, 2024 – Suntory Hall, Tokyo Grand tour on the occasion of Kotaro Fukuma’s 20-year career Final concert at Suntory Hall |
Upcoming album of Kotaro Fukuma
Kotaro Fukuma is currently preparing an album titled Souvenirs de Chopin for the fall of 2024 and here is the teaser.