BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Mahan Esfahani was a child when he explored the piano with his father. But the instrument served as the simple “nuts and bolts and building blocks of music”, and as he grew older he applied his knowledge to reading orchestral scores and playing in different genres of music. One day, he heard a recording of a harpsichord and thought: “That seems pretty hot dog, that’d be nice”.
Now 31, the musician has shown his skills in performances across the world from Tokyo to Prague, Hamburg to Kuala Lumpur – all while taking out prestigious awards. This week, he’ll play a program featuring JS Bach, JC Bach, and CPE Bach at the Brisbane Baroque festival. He chats about the biggest misconceptions surrounding the harpsichord, and the questions all young musicians should ask themselves before starting a musical career.
You left Tehran at a young age, and went on to experience high school in Washington DC before enrolling in Medicine at university. After no time at all, you switched to Musicology – what happened?
To put it kindly, I think my parents expected a return on their investment. They thought I should enter one of the professions like being a lawyer, doctor, or engineer. Something respectable, have 2.5 kids and live in the suburbs. I didn’t really see it that way. I wanted something else. But that was the path that I went on. I only lasted about a month in medicine – I was really not interested and couldn’t do it.
But your dad set you up with an early interest in music – didn’t he find it predictable that you’d want to pursue it as a career?
Interest is one thing, but a profession is another thing all together. By the time my parents saw that it was a serious thing, it was a bit too late. By the way, I still question whether people should still go into music. I know this is a very harsh thing to say – probably not the sort of thing that should be said to a magazine for classical musicians – but you really have to ask yourself some hard questions before you go into music. Can I contribute to this already very crowded field? Can I do something different? Can I be happy? Will I be happy doing it in 30 years, will I be happy doing it in 60 years? Being a musician is not just: ‘It makes me happy and I like doing it and it’s lovely’. It’s really a calling. And can you meet that call? I ask myself those questions every day.
Many musicians starting out in their degrees really focus on crafting their technique and gaining experience in the industry. Why do you think it’s important to ask those long-term questions so early on in a musical career?
A, you better get used to answering those questions. B, why would you waste your time unless you ask yourself those questions? You should study music because it’s a beautiful, ancient, wonderful thing to study. It might not be to study it for the aims of a profession – and that’s perfectly fine. They’re scary questions and they force us to confront ourselves. Yesterday, I had such a good day of practice – and that good day of practice is rare. Most days, I want to smash my head into a wall. I’m like ‘why am I doing this? Nothing is working, my hands aren’t working, nothing is clicking and I can’t do this’.
So how do you get past that?
Beer, mostly. I’m kidding. You keep on trying. The only cure for laziness is hard work. I think the most important thing I learnt over the last year or two is that in a performance, the worst thing for a young musician to do is to feel like you need to prove something. I don’t feel like I need to prove anything. I don’t need to be something in a performance. I just need to be. I just need to be there and be myself. That was a big learning curve there in just learning how to exist with the music.
Tell us about the harpsichord. When I was at university, I remember my lecturer telling me the harpsichord had limited expressive capabilities regarding dynamic and texture. Is that the case, and how do you compensate?
First of all, ‘how do you compensate’ already implies I’m dealing with an obstacle, which would be mistaken. It’s an instrument. You have got to use it as an instrument for your expressive intention, like any other instrument. With the harpsichord, I don’t know why people thing about it as if you’re up against something – whereas every other instrument is perfectly normal. That’s not the case with the harpsichord. Every instrument has its challenges but every instrument brings something to the table.
Do you think misconceptions about the harpsichord – like the one I’ve presented you with – are quite common in the musical world? You’ve been shortlisted for numerous awards, from the BBC New Generation Artist to the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist of the Year, and so many have not recognised the harpsichord before. Is it an instrument people think twice about approaching?
I’m glad you’ve asked that question – it’s a very good question. Yes and no. If it were so misunderstood, then how could it get so far? These are very honest misconceptions and they’re based on decades of misinformation, on bad playing, and a lot of other things. The way to answer is just to play. As a listener, that’s the answer that you would appreciate the most as well.
So you’re in Australia for the first time for Brisbane Baroque. How do you feel?
I’ve always wanted to play in Australia. I’m a religious watcher of Kath and Kim. I’m very excited. I have a lot of expectations – but I also don’t. It’s going to be fascinating to go.
Do you have any parting words for your fellow young musos?
The most important thing that helped me become the musician I can be is when I realised you shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes. When I look back at when I was 18 or 19, I was so afraid of making mistakes. Not of hitting wrong notes, but of seeming foolish and silly. In hindsight, that fear of being wrong really got in my way. I think we obsess too much about that. If only I were 20 again and I were not as insecure as I was back then. We should use our time as young musicians to make mistakes and to experiment.
See Mahan Esfahani perform at 7.30pm, April 14 at QPAC. Tickets right here.
Image supplied. Copyright Bernhard Musil/ Deutsche Grammophon.
