A Pre-Concert Interview with Egberto Gismonti

Egberto Gismonti’s five-decades-long career in music reflects the heart, sophistication and diversity of Brazilian soul, from its indigenous, popular, dance and classical styles, to a musical voice steeped in jazz and infused in its own complex and distinctive sound. He has released over 60 albums in his career and has written for film and ballet.

For his upcoming concert at Symphony Space, Gismonti will be performing solo works on the piano as well as solo works on the guitar.

Anyone who has ever played the piano knows that if a playing finger hits a piano key at an unexpected angle, the note will likely play as intended. However, any slip on the guitar can lead to infinite possibilities of missing the note altogether. When asked how he negotiates the digitally dexterous differences of technique as graceful as a tightrope walker between the two instruments, Gismonti responded:

“My natural use of these two instruments was due to the fact that I started my piano studies very early, at age 6, prompted by my Lebanese father’s desire for me to study an aristocratic instrument,” Gismonti says. “A bit later, under the influence of my Italian mother, I started studying the guitar. She used to say, ‘Va bene il pianoforte, ma dove è la serenata? The piano is good, but where is the serenade? ’   Because of this, I learned two technically contradictory instruments yet, little by little, each one came to influence the other....

Read the full interview here.