LDV44

JOAQUÍNACHÚCARRO 23 Alongside that carefree piece, the Barcarolle and the Fantaisie-Impromptu set quite different challenges. What do you see as their main difficulties? I have already described the Preludes as a gigantic work, and the term also applies to the Barcarolle, with its incredibly innovative harmonies, its progression towards the final climax, and that coda which Ravel described so well. The challenge for the interpreter, beyond the changes of rhythm and tempo, is to maintain a line, a logical unfolding, until the final apotheosis. The Fantaisie-Impromptu is a work I tackled very early on in my career. People sometimes mistake the character of this score: it’s impossible just to play it ‘with good fingers’. It is a kind of drama that develops, full of turmoil and anguish, with a central section in which the pianist must manage to renew his or her approach.