Marcos Madrigal: The Individuality of the Artist

May 26, 2020

What is the first experience you remember with music?
I began playing the piano when I was only three years old, so I have very few memories, but I do know that for as long as I can remember it was part of my daily life.

I was fortunate that my Tata (baby-sitter) was a music teacher and so while I played in the corner of a room, I would listen to her teaching classes. Those six, seven hours that she taught each day somehow entered into me. That was my approach to music, but it's difficult to frame the first experience.

What musical personality do you think influenced you most in your career?
That's a very difficult question because there are so many personalities that have influenced my career. I would mention many of my teachers, but especially two Masters who were perhaps the two people who most influenced or made contributions to my performance as an artist, pianist, and human being. And they are: Cuban piano professor and pianist Teresita Junco, and American professor and pianist Wiliam Grant Naboré.

They are two personalities who helped me to love music at every moment and who influenced me by changing my vision of what pianistic art and musical creation in general were.

What was the style or composer that you most enjoyed studying as a young person?
The composer I most enjoyed playing as a young person was Robert Schumann. I was very attracted to him and the psychological richness of this great composer captivated me. All the characteristics of schizophrenia and genius that we find in his music caused me a sense of empathy and particular interest. The richness of situations, characters, and contrasts in his works fascinated me greatly.

I think that for any interpreter, Schumann's range, material, genius, and greatness are a great challenge, and even today he is a composer that causes me great interest.

What repertoire do you feel most comfortable with currently?
Currently, the repertoire with which I feel most comfortable is the Russian repertoire from the early twentieth century, particularly three composers: Aleksandr Skriabin, Sergei Prokofiev, and Sergei Rachmaninov.

Please tell us an experience or anecdote that comes to mind related to the piano (in some course or concert...)
Many years ago, perhaps twelve or fifteen, playing Beethoven's Third Concerto with the Bogotá Philharmonic in Colombia, under the baton of maestro Enrique Diemecke, in the third movement of the concerto I turned to the left to look at the orchestra director and just at that moment my neck got stuck turned and I couldn't straighten it again until after the concert was over.

I had to greet the audience pretending everything was fine and only after several hours with ice was I able to get my neck back in place. It was evidently a sign of physical tension and thank God it never happened to me again, but every time I play with orchestra and look at the director I remember that sudden turn I made.

What is your opinion on the current situation of piano and music teaching?
It's difficult to assess music and piano teaching in general since it is very diverse in each region, country, or city. Although there aren't many, we are still fortunate that we can find great masters who have a direct relationship with one of the pianistic schools of the past and are a link in the history of the interpretation of our instrument.

Issuing an opinion about a region or a country is a more complex matter since there are places where the structures of music teaching are very well organized, but we don't find the piano teacher who can really guide, transmit, or teach all the technical and interpretive resources and all the cultural and historical baggage that are needed to develop precisely as an interpreter and artist. If general musical training and individual piano training don't go hand in hand, there will always be many gaps.

As we know historically there are diverse pianistic schools, but in my opinion none of them is 100% complete. The luck we have today is that the world has become so small that we are able to move around and enrich ourselves, feeding directly from each of them, discovering the richness and depth they can contribute in each style, each composer, as well as in the fundamental aspects for technical and interpretive development.

In my opinion, what is important is to find a master who, in addition to offering tools and knowledge, respects the individuality of the artist and helps develop their capacities without the interpreter losing their essence and their musical and artistic qualities.

Do you think it's useful to know resources about improvisation? Why?
It is very useful to know resources about improvisation and develop those capacities. It is true that in the history of pianistic performance there are many great artists who were not familiar with this technique, and that means one can be a great artist without being a great improviser or without having the ability to improvise.

But in my opinion, for the pianist it is very good to have on their side the development of creativity and continuous pursuit. Therefore, I think that although improvisation is not always present in the classical repertoire, the need to improvise is a good element for an artist to be more complete. It is always a positive and enriching resource.

To what extent do you believe creativity is necessary for the pianist?
Creativity for the pianist is fundamental and very necessary. If we are not creative it is impossible for our discourse to reach the audience. Through the interpreter music exists, and if we don't have the tools and the ability to create and make the music reach each person who can enjoy it, then it makes no sense to do it.

From the beginning of the formation of the artist, in this case the pianist, creativity is one of the most important elements that should be fostered. Without creativity, musical discourse becomes inert, sterile, and makes no sense nor does it fulfill the objective it should have.

What advice or recommendations would you give to those just beginning to study piano?
My advice or recommendation for those beginning to study piano would be to be very patient. The piano is a very difficult instrument and the development of the creative process is complex. There are many general and individual elements to develop.

Perseverance and discipline are the two fundamental weapons for achieving objectives and reaching the necessary resources to play the piano. My main advice is that you be patient, disciplined, and constant, and that will be the formula to gradually acquire the knowledge necessary to develop as a pianist.

Would you like to add anything else about your relationship with music?
Music has been essential to me since I was very young. Over time I discovered that perhaps I had set aside the rest of the arts a bit, and yet I think that for any artist, creator, or interpreter, it is very important to be in constant dialogue with all artistic manifestations.

In music education in general we are very focused on developing in a particular way the instrument or type of music to which we want to devote our creation. But I recommend that students go and nourish themselves from theater, dance, and visual arts, because each creative process is different and in each case we can learn from the process of others.

Where can our readers consult your activity on the web?
Instagram: @madrigalpiano

Facebook: @MadrigalPiano

Twitter: @MadrigalPiano