The word virtuoso gets thrown around a lot, and sometimes without care, but Hershey Felder truly embodies exactly that.
He is exceptionally skilled not just as a pianist, playwright, or composer, but as an actor who is capable of stepping into the shoes and fingers of the greatest maestros the world has ever heard.
Whether it’s been George Gershwin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin, Frédéric François Chopin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, or Claude Debussy, Felder has delighted by going the extra mile to ensure his subjects are duly captured. These men weren’t just the melodious pioneers of their day, they were human beings with uniquely lived experiences that informed their genius. For more than a quarter century, the Montreal-born musical storyteller has reanimated these fabled musicians — and done so by telling their stories as a high-wire solo act.
However, in Rachmaninoff and the Tsar, a new musical play, Felder continues his composer-series tradition with another performer at his side for the very first time — Jonathan Silvestri who depicts Tsar Nicholas II.
Felder, of course, is Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian juggernaut known for Piano Concerto No. 2, Prelude in C# Minor, etc., who was born in his native motherland but died far away from home in Beverly Hills — the production’s setting.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar examines how, in his last days while afflicted by infirmity and the tragic diagnosis of melanoma, the immigrant symphonist, who fled home because of the minacious 1917 Russian Revolution, dwelled on a hauntingly meaningful memory. That recollection was of the Tsar and his much-publicized daughter, the Grand Duchess Anastasia.
In a recent phone interview from his home in Florence, Italy, Felder discussed, among other topics, what one can expect from the world premiere of his new show at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica (August 7-25).
You began your composer series 26 years ago, with many of your performances having been in the L.A. area. When you look back on your work, what is the very first thing that comes to mind?
Felder: Old age [laughs]. If I really try to pinpoint it to something specific, I just know how lucky I am — the idea that an artist can develop and learn their craft over a period of 26 years. [Earlier this year] I performed as Gershwin at South Coast Repertory — 26 years from the very first performance. I know I’ve grown up with it, and there are things I didn’t know when I started. Understanding a character over this length of time is like living a life with them. I’ve played the [Gershwin] character almost as long as George was alive as he died at 38. That’s a miracle in our business, and I know how fortunate I am. I can look at my life as a soloist as a prism of the characters I’ve played.
You’ve previously mentioned in interviews that you practice around five hours a day at the piano. As much as it is an undeniable pleasure to play for audiences, do you ever feel that the practice can become burdensome?
Felder: As you get older, you learn how to economize your time as much as you can. Between producing and writing, I have to carve time out of the day; the optimum is five or six hours, sometimes it’s three or seven. It depends on what needs to happen. But you can’t go without the piano. Even travel days are hard, because you don’t always have a piano, although airports now have them.
To answer your question, I would say no because I like making music. A burden is constantly being on a diet because you have to fit into the costumes [laughs]. Burdens get in the way of what you’d like to be doing, but practicing and rehearsing isn’t burdensome because I like learning, which is why I do this. One thing I can recommend is to don’t beat yourself up. If I’m tired today, or I’m not feeling well, I’ll leave it to tomorrow. It’s okay to not do it today.
For the longest time you’ve been a one-man show, portraying the world’s most renowned composers. In Rachmaninoff and the Tsar, you play opposite another artist in Jonathan Silvestri (the Tsar) for the first time. What has that been like for you?
Felder: It’s so much fun. I could never really get started [when doing my shows] until I got into the theatre with the audience because there’s nobody else [to play off of]. What’s wonderful about this is I have someone to work with — to bounce off of right away. It’s a different way to tell stories and fun to not just talk to the audience but to another artist.
The process is so fun, and it’s less lonely. Doing a one-man show is a huge responsibility; it’s hard, tiring, and takes everything out of you every day. The [solo show] process is also hard; you’re selling tickets, and you need to give them everything they’ve paid for. Now I have someone I can hang out with while doing it. He (Silvestri) is also a great actor.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar seemingly focuses on the Russian composer’s homesickness, as an immigrant in the United States, and the wistful reflection of a significant bygone era in his life. Can you personally identify with an experience of having been away from something or somewhere that is meaningful to you?
Felder: It’s so interesting you ask this. We did a reading [of Rachmaninoff and the Tsar] in Chicago in May and then we had a question and answer period when audience members said it was very personal. I asked, ‘How’s that?,’ because while I understand what Rachmaninoff went through, I said it wasn’t any more personal than the others.
The story of missing home, losing one’s home, means something. In all honesty, I never felt like I fit anywhere, which is maybe why I did one-man shows, although that might be my own perception or isolation. People think I’m a social butterfly, but I’m not; I know how to do my job on the stage, but I’m reserved. Maybe that’s what people are seeing in this show and something in this character I identify with — this Russian looking to bring Russia back, but I’m also not so sure that’s the case because he’s surrounded by Russian friends and family. I think he felt less Russian because he was a loner.
I think I identify with the sense of finding home, and what is home. You’re always looking for it and find it with friends, family, being comfortable with what it is, and accepting this is my life. I find I fit in comfortably living in Europe. I fit here in Italy, in this environment, like an old person living in an old house [laughs].
What has been the most-difficult-to-master number of Rachmaninoff’s that you perform in the production?
Felder: I always find that working on the combination of acting and playing is the hardest; you can individually do these things but putting them together is nuts. Every time I do this, I wonder if it was a good idea [laughs]; that’s a large part of the challenge — it’s the acting and playing simultaneously.
It’s a big challenge and this character (Rachmaninoff) is hard because he’s Russian and depressed [laughs]. And going from the playing to the talking and from the talking to the playing — aye, aye, aye, aye [laughs]. But I’m getting closer.
You’re one of a miniscule caliber of pianists who categorically and intrinsically understands these historically transformative musicians. This may seem like a silly question, but can you ever recall a moment when you perhaps had a spiritual experience while performing as one of them?
Felder: No, but I’ve had dreams, and I do think those dreams are projections. But I do remember [Franz] Liszt giving me a piano lesson and being aggravated; he told me to stop flapping my arms, which I don’t do [laughs]. And I went to Gershwin in a dream, but he was sitting in a corner and wanted to be left alone.
In terms of being on stage, and having that communion with the character, no. But I’ll tell you what’s happened — there’s times I get shocked and feel I have a deep understanding of what the person has gone through.
Sometimes things struck me, and I felt an overwhelming sense of grief. Like with Beethoven, I felt grief over never having heard his ninth symphony. I remember in one performance being so overwhelmed and heartbroken for what Beethoven went through; it struck me that he really did go through what he did and was deaf for the last third of his life, yet he gave us this beautiful stuff. He almost committed suicide because he couldn’t take it anymore, becase he couldn’t even hear his art. I had a deep understanding of that and that’s how I would best answer.
What is your perspective on the relationship between music theory and practical playing? Many students feel they need to conceptualize something before doing it, yet other popular musicians are content knowing how to proficiently play without being aware of the musical math that is going on. For instance, Paul McCartney has been quoted as saying that he “doesn’t want to know how the magic works.” What are your thoughts on that?
Felder: I think a person needs to do whatever works for them. If you come out with music, no matter how you do it, I don’t care if you play it with your nose if it’s beautiful. I want the sound to be beautiful and the world to be beautiful.
My view [of music theory] is to personally know where stuff comes from and how it’s constructed; my career has been about that and deconstructing and understanding the complex — not just music theory but contextual and historic stuff. I find value in that and the audience understands that. But I’m of the mind of doing whatever works for you.
When you play songs on stage, are you going by feel or do you see the sheet music in your mind’s eye?
Felder: It’s never just feeling; it’s a lot of thinking. You can’t just feel because you won’t know where you’re going. To feel is to do what your body has practiced doing, but you’re also thinking where you are in the music and thinking ahead — all of that combined together. Sometimes I’ll have the sheet music, but in general, no. It’s all based on sounds.
Are you still composing your own work?
Felder: Yes. I had an opera premiere in Italy last year, and it gets repeated again this year.
Lastly, what kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
Felder: I listen to what I’m studying. I listen to various pianists playing Rachmaninoff, for instance. In general, I don’t clutter my hearing, as I think hearing is delicate. I also think decent quiet is good [laughs].
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar runs from Wednesday, August 7th through Sunday, August 25th at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit rachandthetsar.com.
