BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
How do you listen to music?
From your digital playlist? Borrow a CD from a friend? Hunt out those warm vinyl gems?
Ivan Krpan isn’t going to give you a choice. The 20-year-old winner of the 2017 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition has produced his first studio album – and the only place you can access it is on a brand new streaming platform.
IDAGIO is fast becoming a virtual home for classical music listeners across the globe. An alternative to Spotify and iTunes, this digital listening platform is paving the way for a future of music that we want to hear.
So does it really matter that you can’t pick up a physical copy of Ivan’s newly recorded works? In today’s listening environment, it probably doesn’t matter at all. We talk with this young Croatian performer about why he chose to release his album digitally.
It was recorded in Berlin’s Emil Berliner Studios, and features works by Chopin and Schumann.
Ivan, congratulations on your newest album.
Thank you very much. My album came about because of the cooperation and enthusiasm of many people who worked together. It is really a team work between producer, recording engineer and me in the studio but also of the Foundation International Piano Competition Ferruccio Busoni and IDAGIO.
Rather than releasing a CD, your new album is streamed on IDAGIO – exclusively. Why did you want to make your recording available on a streaming platform?
The opportunity to work with IDAGIO and to make my recording available with them made me very happy from the start, because I appreciate their work and I believe in what they do: combining the newest technology with classical music and, in that way, making classical music accessible to more people than ever before.
How do you think that streaming is going to affect the way people consume classical music in the future?
I hope that streaming will make classical music closer to people in their everyday life, because classical music and art in general is often misunderstood as something that is too complex for ordinary people; something reserved for special people and special occasions. And I think that has to change.
As a performer, what does streaming offer you that digital album releases do not?
I think that the best thing that IDAGIO offers is a huge library of recordings that are accessible to their listeners. They also take care that listeners can find any recording they are looking for in few clicks. They give information to the people, and that’s what I appreciate the most.
It’s your first ever studio recording – so tell us, what are some of the biggest things you learnt along the way?
I learnt a lot, making this album. When I think of it as a whole, the most important thing I learnt is that making a recording is much different than playing a recital. That is because working in a studio requires a lot of team work: you are constantly working with other people and discussing all ideas that come along. In the end, I have a feeling that this recording is not only my accomplishment, but also the accomplishment of the producer Matthias Spindler and co-producer and recording engineer Lukas Kowalski, who worked with me and who are equally important as I am.
What were your expectations for the recording?
I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this project, and that made my job much easier. But I have to say it wasn’t easy, because we didn’t have a lot of time, and I wasn’t familiar with the piano and the studio. So when I look at all those things that were new to me, it is really a miracle that we managed to record everything in two days.
What do you hope people will take away from listening to your album?
I want people to be free and to realise that they are free. That’s the most important thing, because freedom is the foundation of art. I don’t want them to take or to give anything. But if somebody develops an idea or feeling about art listening to my album, I would be very happy.
What advice do you have for other young artists looking to commence their musical careers in a digital world?
I don’t have any special advice. I can just say a few things that I would recommend to everybody: do what you love to do, explore yourself and the world around you, and don’t let other people create your reality. Have faith in yourself, instead.
Stream Ivan Krpan’s new album Chopin Schumann exclusively on new streaming platform IDAGIO.
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