Paremski, CSO tackle Tchaikovsky

By Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News
November 18, 2005

Boettcher Hall was packed for a rare appearance last year by Van Cliburn, who played the piece that made him an international star and a Cold War hero - Tchaikovsky's monumental First Piano Concerto.

This weekend, 18-year-old Natasha Paremski performs the same work on the same stage where Cliburn triumphed not long ago. Pretty scary, eh?

"I don't feel intimidated," the young pianist said. "I can't compare myself to other pianists. If you do that, you get distracted."

There's no swagger here, no sign of the arrogance of the immature - just simple honesty.

Paremski already has become a seasoned pro, performing in major concert and recital halls around the world. Last spring, she stunned CSO audiences as a last-minute replacement for Louis Lortie, thundering through Rubinstein's diabolical Fourth Concerto. During the summer, she brought style and sweetness to Chopin's First at the Boulder-based Colorado Music Festival.

In conversation, Paremski speaks like any other all-American teenager, even though the Russian-born musician has been in the U.S. for only a decade. After one year living in the Bay Area with her family, she became fluent in English.

The charming giggle belies an intelligent, thoughtful artist. "Everyone thinks that all we teenage girls think about is shoes," she said with a laugh.

A query about a youth tackling music by older, world-weary composers drew a thoroughly grown-up response.

"I know that some pieces require a certain maturity. But a piece like Beethoven's Opus 111 Sonata really grows inside of you. I've played it, and I know when I'm older, I'll play it differently.

"I've read Carl Jung - you know who he is? Well, he said that our subconscious souls grow within us. As human beings, we change. And as you mature, you record everything you learn."

As for the Tchaikovsky concerto she'll play this weekend, Paremski learned the piece a while ago, though she has yet to record it.

"I was always attracted to it," she said. "It was a dream of mine to play it. I first tried the music when I was 6 (she began lessons at age 4), but didn't really learn it until I was 15. It's still growing.

"You have to live with these pieces. You have to play them - you can't just wait until you're old enough. If you're a caring artist, you're always searching, always yearning for answers."

Paremski's rare combination of youthful charm, good looks and formidable piano skills has pushed her near the front of the pack of promising keyboard kids.

Recently, she was named one of two winners of the prestigious Gilmore Young Artist award, receiving $15,000 and, as she put it, "artistic support."

A young performer of her potential does need such support. "My managers have a plan for me," she noted. "But I prefer to take all of this week by week."

Part of the stable at IMG Artists, Paremski is strong-willed enough to make many of her own decisions, ranging from repertory to, yes, shoes.

"I have an idea of how I want to look," she said. "And the people with me (at IMG) feel the same."

Occasionally, Paremski and her handlers lock horns on musical matters.

"I'll select about five concertos for each season. Sometimes they'll say, 'That's not very smart.' And I'll listen. Sometimes, I insist on a piece. I have an idea of what I want to do.

"But, if an orchestra has to have a standard piece, that's fine. I really do want to branch out, though."

Currently, she's working on the second concertos of Shostakovich and Beethoven.

That's quite a stylistic stretch. "Oh, I love all music," she commented. "I really do."

• Of Note: Jeffrey Kahane leads the CSO, CSO Chorus and pianist Natasha Paremski in music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Thomas Adés.

Marc Shulgold is the music and dance writer. Shulgoldm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5296

Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.