An interview with Edna Stern, pianist
Edna Stern is a concert pianist. A pupil of Viktor Derevianko, Krystian Zimmerman and Leon Fleisher – among others –, her singular artistic approach has led her to a highly personal style that is as elegant and obvious as it is refined and lively. Her recordings, widely acclaimed by the critics, bear witness to constant research and a unique aesthetic. In this interview, Edna Stern talks about her career, her instrumental practice, her inspirations and her conception of music in general.
An interview with Célia Oneto Bensaid, pianist
Célia Oneto Bensaid is a concert pianist. A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where she studied under Rena Shereshevskaya, amongst others, she is now pursuing a career both as a soloist and in chamber music. She is also actively involved in bringing the works of women composers back to the fore, again for solo piano or ensemble, notably through her involvement in projects by the La Boîte à Pépites label. In this interview, Célia Oneto Bensaid discusses how the rediscovery of forgotten or underappreciated works by women composers takes place, the difficulty of interpreting works for which reference points are lacking, as well as her interpretative approach and her sources of inspiration in general.
An interview with Inbar Rothschild, pianist
Inbar Rothschild is a concert pianist. A pupil of Pnina Salzman, she is also the author of a thesis defended in 2024 at the Royal Academy of Music in London: In search of poetic understanding, based on Salzman’s teaching and the writings of Alfred Cortot. In this interview, Inbar Rothschild talks about her career as a pianist and a theoretician – systematically linking the two – her aesthetic ideas and her particular love of Golden Age recordings.
An interview with Nicolas André, conductor
Nicolas André is a conductor. With a strong commitment to early music and contemporary research into the interpretation of works, his repertoire encompasses opera, symphonic music and ballet. Musical assistant to Kent Nagano at the Hamburg Staatsoper from 2018 to 2022, he has also worked for several years with Hervé Niquet, who chose him to be associate conductor of the Concert Spirituel. In this interview, Nicolas André offers both a factual and personal overview of what it means to be a conductor today, as well as presenting his career path and his musical and aesthetic ideas.
The Wilhelm Furtwängler Society
Since 1969, the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society has been pursuing the same mission: to disseminate and preserve the legacy of the great conductor. In this interview, Félix Matus-Echaiz, the current President, and Stéphane Topakian, a long-standing member, discuss Furtwängler’s personnality and resolutely romantic and organic style, as well as the SWF’s current activities and contemporary issues.