“We feel so good when we are at the piano!”: Jonathan Fournel plays Rachmaninov in Montpellier

Jonathan Fournel, 30 ans, compte parmi les pianistes les plus en vue d'aujourd'hui. Alexei Kostromin

Grand Prize winner of the ultra-prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2021, Jonathan Fournel is one of today's most prominent pianists. A passionate performer of Brahms, he is unfaithful to him for the Montpellier National Orchestra, with whom he is playing Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 1 at the Berlioz Opera this Friday.

We'll see you in Montpellier between Boris Giltburg and Alexandre Tharaud (which is no small feat!) on Rachmaninov. What does this composer represent for you? ?

Rachmaninoff is one of the composers I really like but who I haven't necessarily worked on a lot. Of course, as part of our studies, or to prepare for competitions, we often need to do a study here, or learn a sonata there; which is perhaps better than starting with the concertos! When I was 13, 12-13, Rachmaninoff's concertos were what we listened to all day long, especially the second and third. Each time, I told myself I want to play that, it's so cool… But afterwards, But afterwards, when I sat down in front of the score, I told myself, well, let's work on simpler stuff first! (laughs)

You have already been asked to work on the 2nd and the 3rd, but it is the 1st that you are going to play.

The proposal goes back two years, I think, to play the fourth. But since it was for a very, very short period of working time, I said to myself, the fourth, wow, that might be a bit difficult, so why not negotiate for the first, which is not the best known. I also wanted, I admit, to work on it much more than the fourth. I negotiated a little, it went through, and I'm not unhappy about it!

So what can you tell us about this “Piano Concerto in F sharp minor opus 1” ?

This is the first work that Rachmaninoff wrote, or at least published, it is marked “Opus 1” but there is an original version of this piece, much longer, which is closer, I think, in the textures of Tchaikovsky. We can also appreciate the originality of this first draft in a rather interesting version on YouTube. It is astonishing to see a young man of 17-18 launch himself into a concerto like that. But the version that we play, or at least that most pianists play, is the one that he revised a little later. He removed certain things, lightened others, kept the essential to reveal, in a way, the work. We do not recognize Rachmaninoff in the original version, we think more of an old Tchaikovsky and we wonder a little what is going on. (laughs) But after reviewing it, everything becomes clear: we can appreciate a more mature Rachmaninoff who has developed a work that deserves it. It is a fairly short piece for Rachmaninoff, 25 minutes, whereas the concerto is generally 35 to 40 minutes. But I admit that I like it a lot. And I hope to have the opportunity to play it more in the future.

Indeed, we looked at your tour schedule, you are not going to play this concerto again after that. It is a significant personal investment for a single performance ?

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I already played it once last year in Macau. When you work on a new piece like that, you tell yourself that there will be other opportunities to play it. Now, after Montpellier, I don't have any at the moment. But that's okay, it also feels good to put things together like that. Personally, I enjoy getting into repertoire that I'm not used to hearing all day long, even if Rachmaninov is not exactly unknown! (laughs) In short, it feels good to set the record straight, to get started on this work, a perfect example of a young composer who is starting to find himself. It's also an exam piece: you have to do it! We hear some beginnings of what will follow in his work, it is fascinating to perceive.

That is for the musicologist, but for the musician ?

There are things that I love inside this piece! In the second movement, I was talking about it the other day with my girlfriend, there are places that are really exciting with this first theme that rises and really makes you want to cry, a bit like a poem. Even the beginning with the horns that start to play before the piano is introduced, it's so strong, you feel so good when you're at the piano at that moment!

But it's a demanding piece!

A little bit easier than the second and third anyway! (laughs) Of course it's demanding but as always, trying to do something well requires a certain amount of effort… even more so with Rachmaninov, because there are twice as many notes! (laughs) But I like this very linear writing with a lot of polyphonies. Trying to analyze it, to see how each voice develops, how we manage to put them together and what makes this mille-feuille result in something super tasty, and in places, yes, a little bit sweet, but in the end super romantic, what a pleasure!

We have to talk to you about Brahms, of whom you are a passionate interpreter…

Ah Brahms… For me, it's a bit like the yoga we do every morning. He's the composer who soothes me. I've always listened to him, he fascinates me. I find in him brutal things, nostalgic things, extremely romantic things, a lot of love but also something very religious… So many styles, emotions that can be intertwined in him. I feel like I find my happiness in and through many of Brahms' works, with a satisfaction that always exceeds my understanding. It's a universe where I feel good, in which I want to continue to evolve. Maybe it's because I want to continue to enjoy it as long as possible, that I allow myself to go towards other composers ? What always feels best is when you come back and say to yourself, ah, here I am at home.

About you, we often like to highlight and applaud your “art of singing”. What does it mean to you ?

When we recite a poem, or an opera aria, there is actually a connection between what the text says and the caesuras necessary for breathing but also to support the meaning of a word or a sentence. However, this is what I find gets lost from time to time a little when we are too stuck in our instrument. We tend to focus too much on problems that have nothing to do with the essential which is to express something with what we play. With the piano, it is as if we had both an orchestra and a soloist, it is about knowing how all these people can exchange to tell a story, express an emotion, and keep us until the end. Personally, I always try to make the voices heard but also the character of the characters of each line of the score. We do not have words so we can use them all. That’s what’s great about music, because you can say anything, even the most horrible or intimate things, without hurting anyone. That’s what I try to work on in what I do: how am I going to use this sentence to express what and with what type of character. As long as you respect the framework of the score, you can say whatever you want with the notes you have under your fingers. Music is, yes, the best language to express yourself freely.

In concert this Friday, December 6, at 8 p.m., at the Berlioz Opera, Corum, in Montpellier. The ONMO will also perform Berlioz's “Symphonie fantastique” on the same evening, conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen.

Jonathan Fournel released a superb album on the Alpha label at the end of August, in which he brings together two great Polish composers: the mature Frédéric Chopin (Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Opus 58) and the young Karol Szymanowski (Piano Variations Op. 3 and 10). We recommend it!