Clear, cool light of Norway

Pascal Roge

Pascal Roge is synonymous with the French piano repertoire. His recordings of Debussy and Ravel are topliners in their field; as are his various Poulenc outings, a composer the pianist describes as "monk and bad boy in one person and sometimes in the same piece".

His 2001 Auckland recital was a French turn; this weekend, touring with the NZSO, he turns to Grieg and Mozart.

Extraordinarily, it is the first time he has performed the Grieg concerto, the fault of his piano teacher, he confesses. "She hated that piece. She always told me it was a pale copy of the Schumann concerto. But it's a really gentle, emotive concerto, with beautiful tunes and sounds."

Sounds that he can relate to Norway itself, Roge explains.

"I was in Oslo last month and the light was so beautiful and pure. A little bit like New Zealand because in those countries pollution is still something one doesn't know about and there's a certain sharpness in the light you don't get in Europe any more. I was looking for that kind of clarity in the Grieg as it is much more defined than a Debussy or Ravel sound. It's sunshine but sunshine that doesn't heat."

On Saturday, we are in for Mozart's K 503. "Mozart is music that lies above any other. Nothing is more difficult than Mozart.

"Somebody said you have to be 7 or 77 to play his music. Probably because you either need the spontaneity of a child or you spend a whole lifetime thinking how you can shape those phrases."

Comparisons with his beloved Poulenc are inevitable.

"They were not intellectual composers, but wrote from the heart, throwing music on the paper without thinking of what was the fashion around, or the style of other composers, just using their own language."

We are on the Gallic trail again and I remind Roge how he once commented that some orchestras "don't have a feeling for champagne when it comes to French music, but have too much beer".

He laughs. This came from playing a Saint-Saens concerto with a German orchestra under Charles Dutoit. "In spite of his talent he was not able to get the right sound from the German orchestra because they were playing it like Brahms or Bruckner. French music needs a light but not superficial sound - it's an art of not showing your emotions but feeling them at the same time. The proper way of making music for Germans is putting the emotion first and having it all over the place."

Yet he is "very happy indeed" with his sparkling new SACD recording of Gershwin and Ravel with the RSO Vienna under Bertrand de Billy, even if some might find the Viennese musicians don't always seem at home with Gershwin's sinuous lines.

It's the jazz aspect of Gershwin that Roge has always loved. "I've never been able to play jazz, as I can't improvise, so playing Gershwin is getting a little glimpse of what it could be like to be a jazz pianist."

He may not play jazz, but he is a worshipper at the shrine of Ella Fitzgerald. "I was lucky enough to see her many times live and it was like receiving the warmth of God. Hers is the most spontaneous and natural voice, and yet there is such control.

"Very few classical singers could have done half what she did."

Spontaneity is also important to Roge, especially in the concert. "For me this is about communication with the people in the hall and I need that physical communication. I walk on stage, I know where I'm going and I always open the space. I have a certain structure and around that anything can happen."

* The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with Pascal Rog at Founders Theatre Hamilton, Thu 8pm; Auckland Town Hall, Fri 6.30pm, Sat 8pm

*On disc: Pascal Roge plays Gershwin and Ravel Concertos (Oehms OC 601, through Ode Records)