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He is 15 years old and measures 1.85 meters.
But the important thing in him is not the height but his hands.
Although the piano is played with the head, as Daniel Barenboim says, hands like Guillermo Hernández Berrocal's -long, poetic, precise- help a lot for what he wants to be in life: pianist.
And he is on the right track, especially after finishing second in this year's Jeune Chopin competition in Lugano, whose first prize was forfeited.
That is to say, that in his case, a second place has been like winning it.
More so if a myth like the Argentine Martha Argerich was on the jury.
He confesses to being a romantic and Rachmaninov's lover.
He has life and music ahead of him.
He is from Valladolid, but the interview takes place at the Katarina Gurska School in Madrid, where he receives classes from Andrey Yaroshinsky.
More information
Maurizio Pollini: "Young pianists have it more difficult because of the competition that exists"
Ask.
When did she start playing the piano?
Answer
.
At seven years and three quarters.
Q.
Late…
A.
Well yes, because the classmates that I meet in the competitions start at five, most of them.
I started with a lot of enthusiasm, I needed something to do.
Q.
Are you quite nervous?
R.
You may notice it because I'm sitting here on this bench, in front of the piano.
Temperance is not my most remarkable trait, but inwardly I am calm.
Q.
Do you have to be to go on stage?
R.
_
Going out on stage has become routine for me, in the most positive sense of the term.
I have no rituals nor am I superstitious.
I go out to play very quietly.
The stage is my house.
The music, in general.
Q.
When you are alone on stage, music is your home and when you play with an orchestra, does it become a neighborhood?
A.
A dialogue is established on a level of equality.
And there is a sense of community there, just like that.
Q.
_
Where are you most comfortable?
Alone or in the neighborhood of the orchestra?
R.
_
Playing with an orchestra is very rewarding for me.
By doing so you just enjoy more freedom.
I couldn't decide.
Guillermo Hernández, on January 24 in Madrid.
samuel sanchez
Q.
Who told you that you could dedicate yourself to music?
R.
I made a commitment a long time ago and over time I have verified that this commitment has many layers.
The great cellist Rostropovich used to say that having a talent and wasting it is a horrible sin.
When I heard that, I realized to what extent he was already involved.
Because he thought about music from the time he woke me up until I went to bed.
All day.
You can be very happy playing an instrument.
Q.
As happy as unhappy?
R.
_
Yes. Yes, yes, yes… I am happy when everything goes according to plan.
But on that path towards a goal, especially when you get away from the piano, you can feel very miserable.
The mind constantly conspires against oneself.
Q.
_
Is that why he feels tied to the piano?
R.
I'm afraid of being away from the piano.
Precisely, being tied up, I don't like to be away from the piano.
At the most that I have been disconnected from him and in peace it has been four days.
Another time when you can feel miserable is when you realize what you have given up.
Q.
_
In your case, to what?
A.
To many things.
Q.
_
To a normal life?
R.
_
It might be too dramatic to say that.
But music takes time, absorbs it.
In it you put all your hopes and sometimes they are not always fulfilled.
Q.
_
And you suffer...?
R.
I don't want this to be interpreted radically, but yes.
Something.
If you feel like going for a walk on a Saturday afternoon, you have to stay at home, studying.
Q.
_
Where does a 15-year-old boy get a sense of duty?
From a mix of mission and pleasure?
R.
There are the objectives, but also, over time you get the taste for it.
Do it simply for the pleasure of doing it, not to become someone.
Q.
_
And what do you want to become?
R.
Pianist, soloist and over time, the complete
pack
: performer, conductor and composer.
It's very difficult, but...
Q.
Like Chopin, Liszt or Rachmaninov…
R.
_
Yes, I have somewhat nineteenth-century ideals.
I am very hung up on Chopin and Rachmaninov.
I am in love with romanticism.
Q.
For you that is the center of the universe?
R.
Artistically, yes... For me it is an artistic model, total freedom.
That ideal.
From Beethoven to Rachmaninov.
Although it can be creepy, too.
Q.
_
And in today's world, where do you not find harmony?
R.
_
Oops, let me think about it a bit, I can get into some gardens...
Q.
_
Think, think.
R.
The truth is very blurred.
The world, trivialized.
The spiritual and knowledge path is drowned by banal things.
Q.
How much time do you spend hooked on the mobile?
R.
_
Not much.
Q.
_
What are you reading?
R.
The house of Bernarda Alba
.
I want to see it, I would like...
Q.
Should piano contests change?
A.
They are torture.
For anyone.
For me, I'm 15 and for anyone.
Q.
Why don't you bust them from the inside?
R.
_
Burst them, no, but I would reform them.
Within the system it is one of the best ways to make yourself known, despite how stressful they are.
Q.
Who is your go-to pianist?
R.
_
Ideal, ideal, if I have to choose one, I choose Horowitz.
And among the living, if I say a name, I feel bad.
I would have to talk about 30.
Q.
_
Can a person of his sensitivity and rigor adapt to the environment?
R.
_
You have to agree, there is no other choice.
Give in, protect yourself, but not isolate yourself.
Find a balance between individualism and collectivity.
It depends on the day... You must remain true to yourself, although not reject absolutely everything.
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