Piano visionary Sandrine Erdely-Sayo pays a dignified tribute to Maestro Franz Liszt in MAJESTIC LISZT, an intimate recording of some of his finest works. Having a deep respect and admiration since childhood, Erdely-Sayo pours every ounce of her being into capturing the contemplative and song-like quality that pervades Liszt’s middle-to-late repertoire.
Today, Sandrine is our featured artist in the “Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to learn about her various passions outside of music, from cooking, mathematics, and literature to spending time in nature, on the golf course, and more…
What emotions do you hope listeners will experience after hearing your work?
I believe music is a metaphor for life. I would like to share with the listener the beauty, the sensitivity, the pain, the joy and the ineffable mystery of these incredible, splendid and spiritual works of Franz Liszt. I chose a repertoire that has been close to my heart since my childhood that has the ability to seduce the listener through its sublime beauty. I want to make the listener think, laugh, cry. In other words, to connect with their emotions through the genius of Liszt’s art which becomes both a musical and spiritual adventure. I would like to share this musical undertaking in an attempt to lessen the suffering of the world through the magic of harmonies and sounds. Music is also a great journey for the artist with a path that requires the utmost self-discipline, dedication, and introspection, that aims to achieve the highest fidelity to the work of art itself and to the composer’s intention as interpreted by the artist. To find this path of integrity, one must turn not only inward but towards others and towards the infinite because even if music is written at a specific time, it remains outside of time and remains timeless.
What have been your biggest inspirations on your musical journey?
I can find inspiration in many things: in people who possess a beautiful soul and who are motivated by beautiful thoughts, in great artists, in mathematics, in literature, in painting. But it is nature that gives me the strength to create and cultivate inspiration. I think that when we know how to listen and how to meditate on the infinity of nature, we can find the answers we are looking for. Inspiration is like a clear, limpid river that flows deep within you. It is a gift granted by a superior force to one already in possession of a creative faculty that I believe is found within the subconscious. To develop it, inspiration needs to be triggered by a spark that comes from our surroundings. That is why I try to avoid noise and other things that can hinder that spark. In a very real sense, my mother, my grand-parents, and my teachers were the greatest contributors to the nourishment of my art. As a young girl, I had the good fortune to meet such great artists as Issac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Maurizio Polini, Vlado Perlmuter all of whom had a great influence on me at an early age.
What advice would you give to your younger self if given the chance?
“Listen Sandrine, let me tell you a few things on the path to success. Keep a cool head and a beautiful heart. Love is the most powerful force in our lives. Do not hesitate to accept advice from people who have the intelligence and the musical expertise and insight whom you respect. Do not expect that everyone will understand or appreciate your art. Surround yourself with people who share your affinities, who can listen to the silence, who avoid the noise, the distracting chatter of popular and disposable culture, who immerse themselves in literature and books that have become classics. Accept success as you would accept failure. The artist needs beauty to be inspired. Realize that beauty does not evolve; it is final and absolute. It is you, Sandrine, who evolves in your comprehension and appreciation of beauty and truth and through your art attempts to make these manifest to your audience. Do not forget that discipline, rigor, and attention to detail are the keys to great art because without them there is no freedom. Accomplish things now, do not wait. Do them with joy and love and keep your enthusiasm and warmth in your heart. The future is now.”
What are your passions beyond music?
I love literature, philosophy, and mathematics. In fact, music and mathematics are inseparable. I paint and I love to cook. Music and cooking have a lot of similarities. The musician and chef know how to improvise to find the best harmonies and different flavors. To observe nature gives me great joy and I am very lucky to spend much of my time in a paradise, Sedona AZ, where beauty and peace are present at almost every turn. Learning new things is important, essential even. The more we learn, the better we can see the world more clearly and develop a higher degree of humanism. Knowledge completes an artist, enriches his horizon, and refines his sensitivity. I have a passion for antique books and first editions. I love to play golf but do not have much time to practice, maybe soon! It’s a wonderful sport that “lave la tête!”
What were your first musical experiences?
I was 3 years old, listening to my mother play piano. She was a good pianist, playing a little bit of everything. She decided to send me to Michele Puig who was the goddaughter of Pablo Casals and a wonderful pianist; it was the beginning of my musical adventure. I began studying Bach with her at the age of 5. Bach puts you in a good mood! Attending concerts every week with my mother was a great joy. I was invited to all the receptions with many great artists. I was 5 years old at the time. These experiences can foster a “growth mindset” in children. I was 8 years old when I started playing the music of Franz Liszt and Francis Poulenc. These great composers were a revelation to me. My adventures continued when Michele Puig sent me to study with her teacher Denyse Riviere in Paris when I was 10. She developed in me a sense of musical sensitivity, technique, basically everything that anyone who aspires to be a great artist must cultivate and master. My studies with Denyse Rivière became my most significant influence that lasted for three decades until her passing in 2001.
What’s the greatest performance you’ve ever seen, and what made it special?
One concert that is imprinted in my mind forever is a performance by the pianist Shura Cherkassky, the last of the great Romantic pianists. I met him in Philadelphia in the restaurant of a hotel where he was staying. He was eating ice cream. I remember his eyes; they were full of light. He invited me to his concert where I cried from the first note to the last. Every note touched my heart. He was a pianist full of spontaneity. To be spontaneous on stage requires a lot of practice, preparation, the intense study of every note, and the precision where to put one’s finger on the keys. He entered the stage on his right foot as he always did, he was superstitious. I could feel his serenity and concentration from my seat in the hall. He started the concert with the Hindemith Sonata Number 3. I still remember this concert. He was, I think, 83 years old at the time. I must say that he still inspires me, even in the Liszt Liebestraum that I recorded on this CD. I cannot help but think of him before playing it.
Sandrine Erdely-Sayo, pianist, composer, and artistic director of Piano on the Rocks International Festival began piano studies at the age 4 and has won numerous prizes across a career that began in Perpignan, France. She continued her musical studies with Denyse Rivière in Paris and with Christian Manen at the Paris Superior Conservatory where she received first prize for specialization in music theory. There, she pursued special studies in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue. At 14 she wrote Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra that were played at the Chatelet Theater in Paris.
