childhood - Sodi Braide

CHILDHOOD
(This is a revised version of an interview by the site
Piano Bleu)
Sodi was born to academic parents; both scientists
but music lovers as well: “My father is an amateur
pianist (as was his father before him). Moreover,
one of my two brothers plays the guitar. Each
Christmas my parents organized a concert with a
children’s choir, in which I took part, on the piano
or in the choir. My mother had enough musical
knowledge to direct the choir, even though she has
never pursued formal music studies.”
The piano in the house was a natural part of Sodi’s world from his childhood. “I would sit on my
father’s knees, having fun with the keys”, say Sodi,
and he started piano lessons from the age of 3 in
Dublin, Ireland. The family had moved to follow his
father, who was completing his doctorate in agricultural engineering. “My parents saw that I was
interested in the instrument, but my father did not
want to give me lessons himself, because he was
afraid of transmitting his own technical faults. He
preferred that the lessons be given by a professional. So one day, they led me to the home of a
lady, a piano teacher. I was only three years old….
She didn’t want to give me lessons, in her opinion I
was too young. She said she could not teach notereading unless the child already knew how to read
words. But I was a bit advanced for my age… I had
actually started reading at the age of two and a
half. She then agreed to take me as a student.”
In December 1979, Sodi had to leave for Nigeria.
“My father had finished his doctorate. My parents
therefore returned to their work at the Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria, in northern Nigeria. It was
very difficult to find good teachers. At the time,
there was no conservatory of music in Nigeria. So
those years of piano studies were a little chaotic
for me. We sometimes drove up to 100 kilometers, once a week, so I could have my piano lesson.
When I think back on it, I realize it is a miracle that
I became a pianist.” However, thanks to two Polish piano teachers (expatriates) who insisted a lot
on listening to the sound of the instrument, Sodi
had his first strong musical experience: “Until that
point I think I played without really paying attention to my sound. I remember hearing one of my
teachers play Chopin, I was really fascinated by the
beauty of his music which I knew very little at that
time.”
FRANCE
In 1987, Sodi’s parents learned, by chance, of a
piano competition for pianists under 25 years of
age. It was organized by the Musical Society of
Nigeria, with the support of the French Cultural
Center, in Lagos. His parents decided to have him
participate. “The first prize of the competition was
a scholarship for two months of studies in France. The French pianist Eric Heidsieck was on the
jury, as was his wife, Tania. They were filled with
enthusiasm by my playing, and supported giving
me the first prize. The other members of the jury
didn’t agree, and the prize was finally awarded to
an older candidate. But Heidsieck was so furious
that, upon returning to France, he did everything
he could to bring me to France. Finally, thanks to
his recommendations, I obtained not a two-month
but a two-year renewable scholarship!”
Sodi was invited to take part in the televised
concert “Classic Aid II” at UNESCO, Paris, in which
artists such as Placido Domingo, Barbara Hendricks and Lorin Maazel also took part. He was
also able to perfect his musical studies in France:
“When I arrived in France, I was 13 years old. Eric
Heidsieck entrusted me to Françoise Thinat, in the
Conservatory of Orleans. It was the first time I was
following a full musical curriculum. Some years later, I worked very hard to prepare for the entrance
competition to the Paris Conservatory, where I was
admitted at the age of 16 years, in the class of Jacques Rouvier. But at that time, I was not yet sure
of wanting to become a professional musician. I
also liked science and was in the final year of high
school, preparing for the scientific baccalaureate.
I really decided to become a musician two months
before the end of the school year, when I requested temporary leave from the Conservatory in order to pass the baccalaureate. I practically stopped
playing the piano for two months, and I missed it
very much. At that time I knew that my way was
music.” It was a way he followed with success since
Sodi won the First Prize of piano and of chamber
music at the Paris Conservatory as well as a unanimous Higher Performance Diploma at the École
Normale, Paris, before entering the postgraduate
course at the Paris Conservatory in the class of Gerard Fremy.
TRAVELS
Sodi then entered the class of Dmitri Bashkirov, at
the Reina Sofia School, in Madrid… “Bashkirov’s
demands were sometimes almost tyrannical. Some
people were never able to work with him! He wanted to push us to our limits and beyond, because
for him, music required total involvement during
performance. With him, in music, there could be
no half measures. His assistant, Galina Eguiazarova, was just as demanding. We had one lesson per
week with Bashkirov and two with her. As you can
imagine, we didn’t have much time to relax!”
Sodi then became a resident of the Lake Como
piano Foundation, whose director was William
Grant Naboré…. “Roughly ten pianists were admitted each year, and we were very fortunate- we
took part in masterclasses with a lot of different
maestros. After the intensity of Madrid, I was able
to “breathe” and to start to learn to work on my
own. At the same time, it was fascinating to meet
all these different personalities; they really opened my mind to many different aspects of music.
I learnt things which served me years later, some
lessons at the Foundation were lessons for life. I
must also say that during my years of study, I remained very close to Françoise Thinat. She was like
a mentor for me, someone to whom I could always
turn in case of doubt or difficulty.”
Of course, there were also international competitions, a compulsory step for young musicians. Sodi
won first of all a prize in the Pretoria competition,
in South Africa (1996). “It was my first competition.
I was only twenty years old, and one of my motivations for taking part in it was simply the fact that
my parents lived very close at that time; they were
working in the University of Lesotho. But I think I
wasn’t really conscious of the involvement and the
level of preparation necessary for such a difficult
competition! I had already played once or twice
in South Africa, and I remember that the majority
of South Africans, at that time, had never seen a
Black pianist playing classical music, “white man’s
music”, and even less so in the finals of such a
competition. Apartheid had just finished and some
were really shocked to discover that actually there
was no cultural barrier caused by skin color!”
Sodi also received an award from the “Natixis Banques Populaires” foundation, as well as prizes in
the international competitions of Seregno, Leeds
and Van Cliburn… “I don’t like competitions! I find
the notion of “competition” impossible to reconcile with that of “art”. However, competitions must
take place, and there are very few young musicians
who never enter them. When I decided to enter a
competition, I tried to look at the good side and
imagine that I was competing against myself. The
competition then became an occasion to raise my
artistic standard above what I had done before.
All competitions in which I have participated have
enabled me to make progress as a pianist and as
a musician.”
Sodi recorded a CD for the «Déclic» program of
«Cultures France»… «The «Déclic» program has
been extraordinary for me. Thanks to this program
I was able to go on many tours, especially in Latin America, a continent which I love and where I
feel at home... I think the Latin Americans like me
because I have been re-invited six or seven times!
Thanks to these tours, I have been able to acquire
stage experience and maturity that I did not have
before. Working on the piano at home is not all;
one must also confront audiences….»
At present
Sodi especially likes interpreting works by Romantic composers but other names are very close to
those he quotes first of all: “I feel very close to
Chopin and particularly to Liszt. I also love playing
Rachmaninoff, a great composer, savagely lyrical,
deep and noble. And there is also Mozart, who is
very special to me. I admire most of all the man of
opera and theater in Mozart; he was unsurpassed
when expressing all the emotions of the human
soul. Of course, there are also Beethoven, Debussy,
two of the greatest musical geniuses ever….”
Regarding his recording of works by César Franck
for the record label Lyrinx… “I played a work by
Franck, “Prelude, Aria and Finale”, for the first
time at the age of 15. I immediately loved the Aria,
which combines candid and moving expression
with complex harmony and polyphony. Franck is
a surprising composer, reconciling simplicity and
complexity in a very natural manner. The idea of
working on the Chorales transcribed by Blanche
Selva came later. They are very moving works, but
difficult to play. They are already difficult on the
organ and even more so on the piano because we
must do with our two hands all that organists do
with their hands and the pedals!”
Sodi loves playing as a soloist, with orchestra or
as a chamber musician, and even likes to play in
different groups during the same concert: “I find
some halls very inspiring, by the quality of the instrument, the acoustics, or just the beauty of the
hall. It’s less fun playing in an ugly hall! On tour, I’m
sometimes pleasantly surprised to discover magnificent halls, which help me play better. Solo recitals
are the most difficult; there is something beautiful in solitary confrontation with great works. But
I also enjoy company on stage, sharing a moment
with other musicians. I don’t believe in restricting myself to one genre or another, I don’t mind
playing both solo and chamber music during the
same concert.”
In addition to his activity as a concert pianist,
Sodi teaches: “In my opinion, teaching is part of
art. I don’t believe in the stereotypical separation
between the concert artist and the piano teacher.
If we do not transmit to the next generation, there
shall be no more art. Of course, some people are
more gifted for teaching than others. But an artist
who has never tried, in my opinion, is an artist who
lacks something.”
Influences
interpretation
Sodi’s favorite pianist is Arthur Rubinstein, but he
admires others as well, including at least one jazz
pianist: “I don’t know of any other pianist with
such a generous sound, such a range of colors and
such authority in interpretation, always respectful
of the composer. Rubinstein never used music,
he served music with humility. And yet, he was
great when he played, as great as a king. Apart
from him, I would cite Cortot’s Chopin, Schnabel’s
Beethoven and Schubert, and Horowitz for the diabolical aspect of his interpretation. There are also
others, of course, who are not all classical pianists.
I’m always astounded by Errol Garner’s swing and
outstanding sense of rhythm.” Sodi also appreciates other musical styles: “Latin-American music,
especially Brazilian Bossa-nova. But I’m also a fan
of Portuguese Fado, and I love the group Madredeus.»
For his interpretations, Sodi seeks inspiration from
a lot of other arts: “I love great painters, because
I love color. I also like theater a lot, actors do the
same thing as us: they start with a text, written in
black on white paper, and they seek artistic truth
behind the words, between the words. I love reading. All art is useful for interpreting music. I think
there are parallels one can draw between arts,
each art acting as a mirror for the others. We often
talk about color, form and architecture in music. Or
think of Kandinsky, who compared the colors of his
paintings to musical sounds.” Sodi even borrows an
expression from that artist when speaking about
the most important thing in interpretation: “What
Kandinsky called “interior necessity.” I believe the
artist must reach the moment where he plays the
work in a certain manner because he cannot do
otherwise. All masterpieces were written for a very
deep reason. I’m not talking about anything as ordinary as a precise feeling, or an event in the life of
the artist. It goes a lot deeper than that, it can’t be
expressed with words.”