Pianist Alexander Krichel on his quarantine for Hong Kong concert recording: ‘It’s my best excuse ever to be with my piano for two weeks’
- Alexander Krichel’s two weeks quarantined in a Hong Kong hotel gives him time to reflect on his choice of music as a career and his relationship with the piano
- The German pianist, who will record a concert with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, keeps a musical diary – streaming himself playing from his room every day
For the past fortnight, pianist Alexander Krichel has been streaming live at 2pm every day from his hotel room in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district, playing pieces by Beethoven, Liszt and Rachmaninov. The German is in the city for a concert with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta on September 26 but had first to sit out a 14-day mandatory quarantine as part of Hong Kong’s fight against the spread of Covid-19.
Thanks to his host, an upright piano with muting feature was installed in his room – along with a stepper and even a yoga mat – to ensure the 31-year-old gets his daily practice and exercise while in isolation.
Krichel also brought books with him – The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, and A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – but with his instrument in constant view he hasn’t turned a page of any of them.
“I don’t have to go anywhere or attend appointments. It’s my best excuse ever to be with my piano for two weeks. It’s amazing,” says the pianist, who has kept a quarantine diary on his Facebook page to document his unusual experience.
“By the third day, I wasn’t jet lagged any more and once I even practised till 4.30 in the morning. With this view of Hong Kong, it’s a very intimate, romantic moment with the piano. It’s only us and it’s so beautiful.”
Watching ships sail past and ferries criss-cross Victoria Harbour through his floor-to-ceiling windows inspired him to play Liszt’s Gondoliera from Venezia e Napoli on his fourth day of quarantine.
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“I always select the music spontaneously because it has to suit the mood. It‘s a diary, so it’s about what I think and feel, it has to be honest and authentic,” he says.
The quarantine has also been a time of reflection for Krichel and his relationship with the piano. “I know I love music, but I’ve never been in such an extreme situation that even from my bed, I can see the piano.”
For the upcoming concert, Krichel will perform under the baton of Christoph Poppen, the Sinfonietta’s principal guest conductor (who also underwent a 14-day quarantine). As government-run performing arts venues remain closed to the public this month, the concert at the City Hall Concert Hall will be recorded for broadcast later.
Krichel comes from a family of doctors and scientists, and being a musician wasn’t always easy for him. While there have been many moments of affirmation throughout his career, he describes this isolation as the most extreme scenario he has been in.
“This quarantine gives me so much time to reflect. No matter how I feel, music is a remedy for everything. The other day, I was feeling really angry and I didn’t know what to do. I sat down and started playing. And that was still the solution to my anger, it is so healing and I’m never tired of it,” he says.
“When I practise, I’m by myself with the piano. Still, I can have very intense moments – it’s not only technical, it gets emotional too.”
He adds: “The time I’ve spent here shows that this is the only profession that I’d have a relationship with. It’s really part of my nature to be a musician.”
The coronavirus pandemic has silenced concert halls and opera houses, but Krichel has sought alternatives to keep on performing. In May, he had the idea of a drive-in piano recital in Iserlohn, Germany, and played to an audience of 200 in 90 cars.
On performing without a live audience in the upcoming concert, he says: “It’d be much nicer with the audience because they enhance you – like this energy that you give, they give it back and you reproduce it again. Like a cycle.
I know I love music, but I’ve never been in such an extreme situation that even from my bed, I can see the piano.
“So there’s something missing. But when you rehearse or record, you try not to think what‘s missing, but about making what you have more complete.”
After his performance in Hong Kong, Krichel will return to Europe and perform in cities including Salzburg, Vienna, Warsaw and Berlin.
