Ok like many of you I watched the 'Imagine being a concert pianist' program that was on while back. It struck me that none of the pianists appeared to be normal.

Lang Lang - caresses the keys and has a look of ecstasy while playing a single C#

Stephen Hough - Never blinks once while talking to the camera, also very strange hair style

Evgeny Kissin - Appears very uncomfortable talking to the camera and had an afro which looked like it would fall off due to extremely vigorous head nodding

Lois Lorte (at last years Proms) - A basin haircut which ended up all over the place

So this is my question: To be a concert pianist. . .
- Do you have to be completely obsessed with music to the point of ignorance with regard to appearance, social skills, etc.
- Do you have to show such great emotion for the audience to warm to you
- Do you have to be slightly eccentric to stand out from the crowd

I'd be interested in any viewpoints on this.

My 3 ha'pence

And I think this relates to all Virtuosi not just pianists.

There are lots of talented musicians in the world, many of which could be termed Virtuosi, but in order to capture the public's imagination (especially in todays world of DVDs TV and mass marketing etc) and be super successful, there possibly needs to be that extra element, which may be eccentricity, but may be a certain charisma.

Just being able to play incredibly well does not capture this extra element. Some may have a natural charismatic element to their personality, and some (the cynic in me now) may have it developed by the marketing media.

Yes i agree. To the wider audience, technical virtuosity may not sound as special as it really is, and it takes a bit of "showboating" as Lang Lang does very well, to capture the imagination, even of those people who cannot appreciate the music as well as a musical audience can.

These days I concentrate on teaching but I have enjoyed also a considerable solo performing career. I have played recitals all over the country and performed concertos with amateur orchestras.

My signature includes, "Piano soloist since I can remember. Sad that I never became famous. Hey-ho."

So, why not famous?

Let's leave aside lack of talent

Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase let's leave aside lack of talent

Loads of really talented musos also fail to make it to 'the top', so why?

In my case, the reason was I lacked the single-minded, bloody-minded determination to persue a top-flight career. I was not prepared to give up on 'normal' life in order to persue a high-flying performing career.

There is nothing 'normal' about prodigious children prepared to practise ridiculous numbers of hours daily. By definition, these kids are 'abnormal'. Abnormal children will grow into abnormal adults. When these abnormalities fall within 'acceptable' bounds then the individuals concerned are described as 'eccentric'.

No wonder, really, that your average world-class virtuoso apears to be certifiably bonkers. You would have to be to be one.

Oh that does sound an interesting programme - I hope we get it shown in NZ sometime. What was the full title please?
Anyhow didn't Andy Warhol say "you can be a genius with the IQ of a moron!"

I've had dinner with Stepehn Hough a few times, and I have to say, there is NOTHING eccentric in his everyday mannerisms...

What I can say, however, is that when he's on stage, there is TOTAL focus and professionalism.

However, over a dinner table, he is erudite, funny, and, above all, very very intelligent...

An abnormal person? Not in the slightest...

Mitsuko Uchida is a little 'dizzy' at times, and Argerich is intense. Friends in NYC do say that Kissin is 'unique'...

You don't need to be eccentric to stand out from the music crowd. You need to communicate intelligently, and be able to validate what you say with the music. The stereotypically absent-minded rocket science professor, (aka Einstein), is close to the musical equivalent of what you're looking for

Yes it is possible to be stupid and great at the same time.

Some of the most famous chinese poets wrote thir most famous peices while they were drunk.

Isn't it all just acting? But then some people are very weird. If I had to give up my life and take on weird hairstyles while I get my pleasure from feeling piano keys and looking as if I just came out from a mental hospital then NO. I would not be a concert pianist. Even if I could be famous.

Phoenix TV (this Chinese sky channel) did an interview with Lang Lang about 2 months ago...and yes it was a bit weird...i dont think these people MEAN to be eccentric but may be they are just called to be different by their individual music obsessions!

I've been told that I'm on my way to eccentricity....

But that doesn't mean I'm going to be a virtuosic anything! (Can one be a virtuosic composer? I want to know! JS Bach would have been one...)

Although I'd say that being particularly "enthusiastic" about anything would predispose you to eccentricities. a la Albert Einstein, [i]anorexia mirabilis[i], and a whole host of other things.

I think that if people from (usually) a young age end up practising for hours on end, shut up in a small room, ONLY focussing on their instrument and their music then they are bound to end up slightly bananas. As Steve said, this kind of behaviour for those of a young age is abnormal. Children should socialise and learn and develop through play (outside, sports, with toys I mean!) not just have themselves for company for the majority of their chidlhood, leading into adulthood.
I dont think their eccentricities (sp) are really for their public image, (with the exception of Kennedy) - I think they just develop slight 'freaky abnormalities' in their behaviour due to their hermit-like existence.

Sorry - i have probably dissed a lot of people and am going to start a debate with this but hey, now GCBS has gone, someone needs to start something off!!

If you want to reach the very top in any field, you have to be prepared to sacrifice almost everything in pursuit of your goal. Musicians they have to practice a staggering amount to reach the top and become famous. This naturally means their life will not be balanced as a 'normal' persons would be, and so they will appear abnormal to society. I think it's probably a bad thing overall, to focus your life so completely on one particular thing, but there is ever increasing competition and in order to excel at something, that is what you are required to do.

I'm not entirely sure I agree with you there Mr Trebor. It is certain that you must practice long and hard to succeed at the top level in music but an overwhelmingly large amount of professionals are at the top because they have combined the two most important aspects needed; practice AND socialising. Look at all the orchestral members that aren't strange old hermit types and regularly sacrifice practice for a knees up down the local pub before, after and during a concert. Sure, they may be a little quirky but most people in life are to some degree. The ability to react and mould with other people is essential in music, particularly orchestrally.

In music, there is a certain level of sacrifice that should also work in the sacrificing of practice. Or that is what I tell myself when I am having a pint and playing the fruit machine.....

True dat Mr Ring, I couldnt agree more. Music especially orchestral music, is all about socialising. In fact solo performance is about being to communicate with the audience, and if your only audience is ever yourself and the wall in front of you then that aint gonna happen is it?!

And take a look at any brass section - the tales Ive heard about nipping to the local pub to place orders IN THE MIDDLE OF A WORK is sometimes amazing to hear! The people Ive met in professional orchestras are almost always up for a laugh together!

The ones most likely to end up nuttier than a bowl of Crunchy Nut cornflakes have GOT to be the pianists. Sorry!!

There's a very interesting book called "The Musical Temperament' by Anthony Kemp (I think) in which he discusses the various characteristics shown and to some extent necessary to be performers on various instruments (and it's different with individual instruments too to some extent!) and also teachers etc. He makes some similar comments about brass players generally too! And to be a pianist you need to be happy spending hours on your own - maybe antisocial, but pianists are far more solitary than other instrumentalists (again, generally speaking.) Hard going, this book, but interesting if you're interested in that topic! (I did a study on characteristics of the piano player for one of my CT assignments.)

Hmm thanks for the responses, interesting to see different viewpoints. The question I would now like to hear viewpoints to is this:

Would you personally, if you had the necessary talent to make it as a professional, be willing to sacrifice a 'normal' life to be one of the best in your instrumental field?

I think it's called Marching to a different Drum.

Boo - that's an interesting one. Such a difficult decision, because if you sacrifice everything, you still may not make it.

Now if you had some ways of KNOWING that by giving up almost everything else you were more or less assured to get to the top and it wasn't a question of if .....

it's still not an easy one, but it makes any decision less woolly.
(*sits on fence*)

If only! Social activity is the bane of an introverted orchestral musician. I can't stand the breaks in rehearsal, I'm not exactly a social person by nature...

But that's just me. Maybe I should get serious about the piano?

Well, not to say I don't like playing with other people. I just don't like the in-between bits where you talk about the weather.

Fair enough Zauber - when I was younger or just starting in a new youth band or orch I used to worry about the breaks but that was mainly because I was very shy and pretty introverted. However, in time the breaks became the best bit of the orchestral courses and lots of shenanigans occured for a lot of people.

I personally would NOT give up the social side of things for my instrument - I would rather have friends and be able to function socially than be famous. But thats just me - Im sure there are many that would love to be 'the best' at their instrument. But its not about that for me - I play coz I like playing.

I personally don't think that I would want to sacrifice many of the things that I enjoy just to be the best. (eg. Benjamin Grosvenor doesn't do school sports in case he damages his hands!! )

I don't think I would be any happier with my piano-playing if I was the best in the world.
Sure it's an aspiration for some people but I believe you can get just as much enjoyment at any level if you work to be good at that level and learn pieces that you enjoy, regardless of their simplicity.

What people have said about the Piano being a very isolating instrument is true, I agree. I am only an average pianist, relatively speaking, but to get to my level, I have spent so many hours alone at the keyboard that I have become super independent and very much a loner in life too. I find most people don't understand my "obsession" with the instrument and music and while they are busy getting on with their lives, changinging nappies and preparing the school term calendar etc I'm usually found as a solitary figure sitting at the Piano. It saddens me to think that even my top pupils will never be able to play the pieces I play at any given moment because they have not had the opportunity of investing as much time as I have towards their music and so will always be inferior, in most departments, which only fuels the feeling of isolation even more. I have only ever met a few peers on the piano over the years and most of them have turned out to be very aloof individuals indeed, usually with few social skills and not easy people to make friends with, even from another pianist. Usually, the rivalry and competitive aspect takes presidence, which is sad.
Other "Orchestral" instrumentalists are much more social creatures of course because they play with other musicians a lot more. Usually pianists only tend to play wiith an orchestra when performing a Piano Concerto or other piece when the music is the Solo instrument and they are the "Star" so to speak. A privelege I've never had and probably never will...now where is that orchestral midi backing?

Gae