I have been reading for years that classical music concerts are too rigid, they don't work, and it's difficult to attract the audience.
They do work for a specific audience. They are indeed rigid. And they seem a bit sad to me. The pianist comes in, plays two or three pieces for about half an hour, there are some ugly lights, people read a text about Beethoven in Vienna written by a professor in Oxford... I prefer to play seven shorter pieces, each with its own story, and together they tell another story, which this time is mine, the journey from hell in England to paradise in Spain. That's what this tour is about. We turn off the lights, there's a spotlight on the stage, and I speak to the audience. How many times have I been to a concert and prayed for the pianist to speak. They never did. This is a world full of rules about when to applaud and how to behave. It's a little charade, all you need is two ears. Saying that doesn't seem so radical to me.
Would you say that the audience for classical music is growing or shrinking?
It's obvious that fewer people are attending. I went to listen to Arkadi Volodos and there were unsold tickets. He's a genius, it's like watching Messi.
I haven't been to the Proms but that's what they are, right? People have a drink, it's okay if they get a little distracted...
The Proms are great. And silence is not a problem. I have played at the Sónar and the audience is more respectful than in auditoriums.
Let's talk about the repertoire of your tour. Chopin. I believe that my father's generation listened to Chopin but felt a bit embarrassed to admit it.
I understand that discomfort, but the idea of weakness is false. Of course: Chopin, so frail, with his cough, so weak that George Sand had to carry him to bed... It's an uncomfortable image. But then you listen to his studies and there's a rage and a strength... In this tour, I play his best work, Polonaise Fantasie. To me, it's his autobiography. The harmonies have a modernity that blows your mind. The chords are so dissonant, there's a tremendous force. He was an animal, really.
Brahms.
The sad thing about Brahms is that he spent his life in love with Schumann's wife. The piece I play represents what it has been for me to live in London: the ego, the drama, the moral superiority... We think of composers as geniuses belonging to another world but it's not true. You listen to Brahms and there's always something of your life, just like in a song by Sabina.
Rachmaninoff.
I play two of his studies. The first one has such a level of peace that it seems like God is playing. And the next one is full of rage, of fighting against oneself. There are five melodies at once, one hidden within the other, a thousand voices shouting...Are you aware of the audience during concerts?
No. I am completely lost in the music. That's why I play, it's my way of escaping. Some people do drugs or play sports.
Is it physically demanding work?
Very. I play 100,000 notes, each with its exact weight. But that tiredness is the most.
If you were to gain muscle, if you were to become a hunk, would that be beneficial?
It might be, although, believe it or not, I am a strong skinny guy. And it would be a problem for me to present myself as a hunk because my job is to disappear and let people listen. I am very shy, I want to disappear. I am like the preachers who have discovered Jesus and go out to the street to gather followers.
What goes against that mission?
The world's expectation of immediate pleasure. If we don't hook them in 30 seconds, forget it.
And wasn't Instrumental against that desire to be invisible? Does it bother you when people know too much?
It doesn't bother me. Thanks to Instrumental, two things happened that changed my life. The first: I found my wife, who is the best human being I have ever met. The second: I participated in the Child Protection Act. Instrumental gave me a voice and I could push a little. It has also cost me a lot, but that's the world we live in, there will always be someone who uses anything as ammunition and will ask for your deportation and throw dirt at you. That's it, I've accepted it and it's okay.
You are no longer going to all the battles.
I no longer need to share every opinion I have. It doesn't interest me. I launched my foundation and have a certain autonomy, I don't have to get involved with politicians.
Was it difficult for you to put things into perspective?
I am a human being. If 3,000 guys tell me to go "back to your damn country," it hurts. But I looked, I turned 50, and I don't have the patience for nonsense. My world is my wife, my piano, my dog, taking care of my garden. I can't change some people's opinions. I know I have haters, but sometimes I hate myself more. They are amateurs compared to me.
The last question
What is the most impertinent question you have been asked? And what
I am often asked why I don't go back to "my damn country." And then I tell them that I'm sorry but I am a Spanish citizen, "my damn country is this one."