Acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays again at Charleston Gaillard Center

https://www.postandcourier.com/columnists/acclaimed-pianist-jean-yves-thibaudet-plays-again-at-charleston-gaillard-center/article_84c74a5890b1-11eb-aecb-db86a8cc3f42.html

Acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays again at Charleston Gaillard Center Apr 3, 2021

Maura Hogan Maura Hogan is the arts critic at The Post and Courier. She has previously written about arts, culture and lifestyle for The New York Times, Gourmet, Garden & Gun, among other publications.

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet will present a program of Preludes by Claude Debussy at the Charleston Gaillard Center on April 11. Andrew Eccles/Provided

When renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet twice alights the Charleston Gaillard Center stage April 11, it will be nothing short of a homecoming.

There were years, after all, when he made himself at home in Charleston for a month at a stretch. Starting in the mid-1980s he would land in the city, converging with other standout and up-and-coming musicians from most everywhere to perform during Spoleto Festival USA. He was given an apartment for that time and often spent more time in Charleston in a given year than he did in places where he had family, forging lifelong friendships with other participating musicians.

“So many things happened there and so many fantastic memories,” he said, adding, “So many experiences, so many beautiful concerts. It was an incredible, incredible place, so it’s always a special spot for me.”

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In a recent phone call, the Los Angeles-based, Lyon, France-born artist shared recollections from those Charleston visits filled with beaches and bicycles and favorite boites. In gentle, engaging tones, he relived the post-chamber music receptions hosted by Peter and Patti McGee next to the Dock Street Theatre.

Gracefully racing from one happy memory to the next, he then touched on other topics with similar esprit and warmth, as if they were the keys of a Steinway on which he adroitly coaxed out sound and sentiment.

The teeming conviviality of those years is, of course, in stark contrast to our previous year, when magical meet-ups to play music together have been largely verboten. The pianist reflected on how hard it has been for musicians who often perform as many as 100 times a year to come to such a full stop.

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“We live through our music. It’s part of our blood. It’s part of our breathing. It’s part of everything. And suddenly that part was taken away,” he said.

Thibaudet said he has gone through many cycles during the past year, starting with hardly playing or practicing for a while.

“I was shocked. I just didn’t know what to do with it and then eventually came back to it,” he said.

Ever mining the bright side, he reasons that the imposed rest likely did him good, relieving him of jet lag, affording him the chance to sleep in his own bed and enjoy a life without traveling every week to some part of the world.

“If we are true with ourselves there is always something positive. Even in what looks like the worst situation … you can learn or enrich your life.”

The pause has also nourished him artistically, prompting him to rediscover old pieces and giving him the time to explore something new — an opportunity that has eluded him for many years.

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He was finally able to perform live again at the beginning of March at a gala in Florida. And now, Charleston awaits. Here, he will perform a matinee and evening concert April 11 for a socially distanced audience. It could be argued the absence of in-person listeners has made his heart grow even fonder for Charleston.

“I’m so happy … that in Charleston I’ll have some real live people in the audience,” he said. “Even if it’s 25 people, we have to feel there’s the presence out there.”

The feeling is mutual, with the folks at the Gaillard Center sharing in his enthusiasm.

“We are so excited to welcome Jean-Yves Thibaudet to the Gaillard Center,” said Stephanie Shipe, vice president of marketing and sales at the center.

When the Gaillard had to pause live performances over a year ago, venue officials had just announced the 2020-21 series programming, included Thibaudet’s appearance, shifting the focus to virtual offerings of both performances and education programs.

Now, the Gaillard is back in fine fashion with the virtuosic Thibaudet there to remind audiences that nothing is quite like live music, particularly when stirred up by someone of phenomenal artistry.

The famously stylish Thibaudet will be decked out in fine fashion, too, in all likelihood in apparel by his go-to designer, Vivienne Westwood.

And for the music, Thibaudet will be performing Claude Debussy’s Preludes, Books 1 and 2. While he’s long played and recorded parts of the 24 pieces of music for solo piano, which are divided equally into the two books, he’s never before performed them in their entirety in one concert.

“It was a dream of mine,” he said, ranking their importance as akin to that of Bach or Chopin, explaining they created a new harmonic language “It’s incredible. It’s a lesson in writing for the piano,” he said, his enthusiasm mounts as he cites the innovation, the modernity and the range of the pieces. “Each one is a completely different person but together they form a family,” he said.

He likened the concert to a reunion.

“You have the entire family together at once in one room, and we’re going to go through that, and it really is fascinating. I’m fascinated myself,” he said.

And it will all be solo, a notion with which Thibaudet knows all too well. While the constraints of the pandemic have forced many to be more solitary than before, it’s nothing new for the pianist.

“A recital tour is a very solitary exercise, and it is difficult because you are alone,” he said, explaining that a violinist travels with a pianist, as does a singer. “We are the only instrument that plays … all alone, just you and your piano in front of you on the stage.”

It’s worth noting that on the occasions when he does collaborate, he’s been in pretty phenomenal company. Think soprano Renée Fleming and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, or violinists like Joshua Bell and Midori.

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But Thibaudet’s inclination is to spot the pro that comes with the con.

“There’s something about the recital that is very intimate. I feel like the audience, in a way, gets much more of you, to understand you, than if you play with an orchestra,” he said, observing that audiences in solo performances have real contact with the musician. “I think that’s very special.”

And it’s also worth noting that such a high standard of artistry bodes well for the Gaillard as it emerges from the pandemic to resume previously planned programming, and as it prepares for a new chapter after the imminent June retirement of Stephen Bedard, president and CEO Gaillard Management Corp.

“We are so thrilled to be able to bring an artist of Mr. Thibaudet’s caliber to the stage of the Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall for two live, socially distanced concerts,” Shipe said. It will be Thibaudet’s first performance in the concert hall since the 2015 reopening after its renovation, and his first performance of the recital tour, as the previous performances were all canceled due to the pandemic.

For Thibaudet, the return to Charleston is a homecoming of another sort, too. His brother, who works in the technology sector, was recruited from France to a company based in Columbia, and is coming from there with his wife and two kids to see the concert.

“That will make it very special,” Thibaudet said, once again landing squarely, and sweetly, on a positive note.

Follow Maura Hogan on Twitter at @msmaurahogan.

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