De Main De Maitre

   in Piano International (Mar, 2016)
Interviews with Maurizio Pollini have been rarer than hen’s teeth, in stark contrast to his concert activity. Tellingly, this portrait begins with a shot of Pollini’s feet: we see his pedal technique up close. This is to be no ordinary film, as we have come to expect from Monsaingeon. There are no accompanying booklet notes: the film has to speak for itself. We see Pollini at home, discussing his family (‘a real passion for music’) and the musical life in Milan.

Musical excerpts are generous, apt and occasionally arresting (eg the juxtaposition of the end of Beethoven’s Third Concerto and Stockhausen). The snippets of the pianist with his friend Boulez take …