LDV91

18 FAURÉ | 13 BARCAROLLES ∙ BALLADE OP.19 How did you prepare for this first recording? I remember having worked very hard, because I had very little time between the Cziffra Prize and the recording date. I had my ears wide open and my fingers ready to function at top speed, so I learnt the set fast enough. But now I wonder whether I had the necessary perspective for music of this kind. Yet Fauré was far from being an unknown to you – you had played his chamber music regularly in your family circle. My grandmother was quite a good pianist, and she had inoculated the family with the Fauré virus. We were more inclined towards French music than German. It was part of our daily diet, Fauré in particular. And it’s true that, at the age of sixteen, I won my Premier Prix at the Paris Conservatoire thanks to Fauré, because the set work was Thème et Variations .