10 questions for Nathalia Milstein
November 24 we have a very special online 24chambers edition. The Chianti Ensemble will play in the Oedipus brewery in Amsterdam and you can join the concert in our 24 chambers Zoom party! All of these musicians are highly talented and have won prestigious awards. With the Chianti Ensemble they join forces, sometimes performing as a trio or quartet, but in this event you can enjoy all five of them. Today we get to know pianist Nathalia Milstein a bit better trough our 10 questions!
1.What can we expect at this 24chambers edition?
Two true masterpieces of chamber music, of the romantic period, and particularly of the piano quintet repertoire!
2. What made you choose the piano as an instrument and what got you hooked on your instrument?
My father is a pianist as well and I used to hear piano since my birth – I don’t remember choosing it conciously, I started playing quite early and never wanted to stop.
3. How do you organise the day of a concert?
Usually I like to have a few hours in the concert hall for myself to get used to the piano, the venue and its acoustics, a good energetic meal, some rest and most importantly a banana and a piece of chocolate right before going on stage.
4. What is the best advice that you ever got as a musician?
There is no specific advice I could think of, as many precious tips helped me throughout my development as a musician, but maybe the one I always keep in mind is to never forget that I am lucky to have this profession out of love for music and playing – this truth always reminds about the right priorities.
5. If you would not be a musician, what would you be?
Probably another artistic profession – drawing, writing, acting, staging, movie-making…
6. With which composer would you drink your morning coffee?
Maybe Maurice Ravel, to start the day with a calm, comfortable and for sure most interesting conversation.
7. Which composer fits your personality best?
I don’t know if it fits my personality, but I feel very comfortable when I work on Prokofiev’s music, and it always inspired me to do more and better in music and in life.
8. What are you afraid of?
Right now of the coronavirus and its consequences on the world…
9. What is your favorite music piece and why?
As many would reply, it is impossible to name one favorite piece. But usually the pieces that I practice at the moment are maybe the ones I have the closest link with, and from my current repertoire I would probably choose Schubert’s Fantasy for violin and piano.
10. What more do you have in store? What will the future bring?
Unfortunately it is quite a difficult question to answer nowadays… I hope those uncertain times make all us artists think more carefully about our role in the development of a better world of culture, from which all kinds of unnecessary pressures related to business and career-making would be banned.
Want to join our Zoom party at November 24? Request your invite!