LDV91

19 JEAN-PHILIPPE COLLARD I imagine that, following this first album, you were often asked to play Fauré. More so abroad than in France. As I was afraid of being pigeonholed, my second recording was devoted to Rachmaninoff’s Études-Tableaux , the antithesis of the Barcarolles – and this time the programme was entirely my idea. That caused some surprise. And that was how I came to meet Vladimir Horowitz a few years later: he was intrigued at the idea that I could play both. What happened when you met? After two hours of conversation on the sofa, I can still hear him say to me: ‘My piano has just been regulated, it’s a disaster! Would you mind trying it out?’ And he added, in his inimitable accent: ‘Play something that will surprise me.’ Without giving the matter much thought, I chose Barcarolle no.6. We then talked a lot about Fauré, whom he found difficult – he couldn’t cope with all those modulations. I simply invited him to use his finger memory more than his intellectual memory.