The Alchemy of the Piano

Pianist Francesco Piemontesi, winner of the BBC Music Magazine Award and praised as a "wonderful Mozartian," is very curious about his fellow artists—about their pianos, the sounds they cultivate, the hidden elements that bring their playing to life, and what drives them. In this documentary by Jan Schmidt-Garre, filmed over the course of more than a year, Piemontesi speaks with some of the world's leading performers, including his mentor Alfred Brendel, Maria João Pires, Stephen Kovacevich, and Antonio Pappano, in a series of insightful encounters that shed light on their individual approaches to the instrument, its character, and its form. The film is complemented by a 60-minute bonus concert by Yulianna Avdeeva, Zlata Chochieva, and Francesco Piemontesi, performed on Rachmaninoff's Steinway grand piano at Villa Senar, his home in Switzerland in the 1930s. The director, Jan Schmidt-Garre, studied conducting and music theory under Sergiu Celibidache in Mainz, Munich, and Paris. He is also an opera director.