Who or what inspired you to take up the piano and pursue a career in music?
My mother played the piano and I remember my favourite piece, the one she would play when I was going to bed, was Beethoven’s Variations on a Russian Theme. I wanted to be able to play them, and for many years I couldn’t wait for that day to come. This was the beginning, and after that I realized how much I loved music, piano and all the incredible people, alive and dead, that the music world contains. I couldn’t not want to be part of it.
Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?
I believe my musical life has many analogies to actual life. In life I believe that every bad experience or encounter is a lesson (and every lesson at the end of the day is something valuable), teaches you something you might have never learnt otherwise. The same in music: you might find not such a great teacher along the way, but you always learn something, even if the hard way. During my undergraduate studies I was always looking up at my teacher, then in my MA studies I realized I was fascinated by and admired fellow friends, with all the different personalities and ideas they represented.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Sometimes it is hard to believe. Music is an amazing instrument to help people, to make them feel better, to make you feel better, to make the world better. But sometimes, when you are surrounded by an environment that makes it so hard for you to create music, it is hard.
Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?
I always feel I have achieved what I wanted through a performance when someone in the audience comes up to me and tells me they were moved or they had tears in their eyes. It’s the most amazing compliment a musician can receive, at least for me.
Which particular works do you think you play best?
I always feel at home with works by Brahms, but I would say in general my strength is in post-Classical to contemporary repertoire
How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?
I choose my repertoire first according to pieces I want to learn and perform (it’s a very long list!), and then during the year I discover all the unexpected pieces I’m asked to accompany at the last minute or perform.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?
I can’t say I have precisely one. I’ve performed in some truly amazing venues, some pure beauty, some just amazing acoustically, but at the end of the day it’s the public that creates the best venue!
Who are your favourite musicians?
There are many, some for specific things: Dinu Lipatti, Radu Lupu, Perlman, Rattle, Baremboin, Kunz, Jansen, and other genres too.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
My first performance with an orchestra in Mexico was one of the most incredible and unforgettable experiences of my life. It was all of such intensity: the whole build up, from learning the piece in a month, the travelling, the rehearsals, and then finally the concert!
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
I think from an outside point of view, many people would think you are a successful musician according to how many albums you have recorded, how many you sell, how many tours around the world you do etc.
I believe that a musician can feel accomplished and successful as long as he/she is staying faithful to his/her own values and beliefs: make music the best you can, love the music you are making and make other people love it; communicate and move people with your music.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
That if you want to be a musician, you first of all need to love music, truly. And then always remember it and follow your own musical vision and path.
Italian pianist Lucia Brighenti has cultivated her passion for music from a very early age.
Initially focusing her studies on solo repertoire, this young emerging pianist has developed and explored her love for chamber music forming The Brio Duo with the Spanish cellist Irene Ortega Albaladejo and collaborating regularly with other musicians.
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