Chapter Nine

Thus far I have written mostly about my music classes in Paris. When I started writing these Chapters I never intended them to be in any particular order, certainly not chronologically. Hence this Chapter summarises and concludes about my music studies in Paris because I have a lot more impressions to write about, not just about my studies, in subsequent Chapters.

After Pollini’s seminar in Siena, Italy, I was introduced to Madame Yvonne Loriod, the wife of the French composer, Olivier Messiaen, and she in turn, introduced me to Madame Germaine Mounier, a piano professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Musique for postgraduate studies in piano performance. Madame Mounier was quite temperamental and lessons depended on her mood swings. There were good days where my lessons went well but when she was in one of her black moods, she could be a nasty shrew. More often than not, I did not get on well with her, but trying to change professors was even more complicating, so I contacted Professor Pierre Sancan, with whom I had first studied when I arrived in Paris. Professor Sancan was more than happy to coach me so I was glad to have private lessons with him without anyone knowing, not even my friends and least of all, Madame Mounier. I was grateful for his excellent tutelage and his comforting counsel which enabled me to cope with all the unsettling moments I faced with Madame Mounier. I practised as diligently as I could, allowing nothing to distract me and my hard work paid of when I passed the competitive practical examinations in 1973 to obtain the Licence d’Enseignement or Teaching Degree with the distinction of being “première nommée à l’unanimité avec les félicitations du jury” – ‘unanimously nominated first with congratulations from the panel of examiners’.

All practical examinations were held like piano recitals in a concert hall, open to the public, the only difference being that the audience was not allowed to applaud each candidate’s performance. A panel of seven examiners called the ‘jury’, sat at a table positioned directly opposite the stage and elevated from the audience. Depending on the number of candidates the examinations could last a few days, or a week or more, from 9am until the evening with an hour-and-a-half lunch break each day. The results were announced at the end of the entire examination period in the hall itself, packed to capacity with people awaiting eagerly to applaud the successful candidates as they came on stage. I remember being extremely surprised when my name was called first, since I had topped the list, and received a thunderous applause from both the audience as well as the jury. It was a pity that both my parents were not there in the audience to share that moment with me. But I sent a telegram and they called me long distance after that. Best of all, on account of my excellent results, I was granted my third, and last, French government scholarship which helped me to complete my postgraduate studies in music.

In the summer of 1975, I attended a summer school, at Dartington in England. It was a week of piano masterclasses with another international concert pianist, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevic who focused on Beethoven’s piano works so I prepared the 32 Variations and the Sonata in D minor, op 31 no. 2, also known as the Tempest, for the auditions.

The piano seminar at Dartington in Devon was quite a different experience from the one at Siena. The classes at the summer school and the music festival were held at the medieval estate of Dartington Hall, a beautiful historic building built on sprawling grounds. I found the atmosphere to be more relaxed than at Siena and the accomodation was quite comfortable in one of the more modern buildings within the compound. I was with a group of English friends, who were also studying in Paris so our lodging was at the dormitories and we had our meals at the refectory.

The masterclasses were held in the mornings in a bright and airy room. Many people attended as listeners so it was good to play before an audience. I soon forgot about my surroundings once I started to play because I was always more attentive on learning as much as I could and I’m glad that I was asked to play quite often during the seminar. In the afternoons we could do whatever we wished, either practise or attend other classes as listeners. I preferred to practise first before joining my friends. As it was quite a warm summer that year everyone availed themselves of any sunshine outdoors, sitting on the grass in small groups, chatting and laughing. In the evenings there were concerts. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed and everyone was appreciative and friendly, it almost felt like a holiday!

I was unaware that Stephen Bishop was married to Martha Argerich, an internationally acclaimed concert pianist,  it was quite a surprise when she slipped in quietly as a listener during the masterclass sessions. Shortly after one of the masterclasses she came to meet me and I was gratified that she liked my playing! In fact she attended the masterclasses whenever I played and afterwards gave me her views, privately, on interpretation. Martha invited me to visit them at their lodgings in a private house further away on the estate and on two evenings I was asked to babysit her three little girls while she and Stephen went out for dinner. Martha obviously liked me and one piece of advice that she gave me, about becoming a concert pianist, would serve as a timely reminder later on when I gave a piano recital in Manila.

The piano seminar lasted about a week. On the morning of the last day of the seminar, Stephen decided that everyone deserved a break from lessons to enjoy the sunshine outdoors and this was met with vociferous cheering and applause! I quickly went off to study the bus timetable because I wanted to see the surrounding countryside of Devon.

Amongst the new acquaintances we made during the seminar, there was a young man, James, who had attended the piano masterclasses as a listener, he told me that he was a singer, a tenor. He used to meet me whenever I finished practising in the afternoon and we would join my other friends on the lawns outside. I was surprised when James appeared at the bus stop when I was poring over the bus timetable, better still, when he told me that since he had a car he could to take me for a drive around the countryside. I was, of course, elated! A car sounded like luxury so I rushed back to tell my friends, little thinking about asking how James felt about this! Imagine James’ dismay the next morning when he drove up to meet us. Needless to say that he wasn’t pleased but I managed to persuade him, after I apologised, that I couldn’t disappoint my friends! It was a tight fit for the six of us in his two-door sports car, everyone was excited, and we all had different ideas as to where we wanted to go. Not everyone wanted to see the scenic countryside like me – I hadn’t thought about this - my friends wanted to go to town for various reasons, one for her train ticket back to London, another to the bank and so on. I really felt sorry that I had been so thoughtless!

Anyway, once all that was sorted out, James took a drive around the countryside, mostly farms, with sheep grazing in fields, and stopped to allow me a closer look, whenever possible, at the small lambs with their mothers. Everyone thought that I was quite mad but I had never seen lambs before except in pictures. James was most obliging and even stopped at a small strip of a pebbly beach by the sea before heading back to Dartington Hall. I met James later that evening for dinner, alone this time without my friends.

Ever since then we have kept in touch. Dr James Dooley wasn’t just a singer, but a brilliant medical doctor, and went on to become a leading liver specialist at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He also continued with his singing, and has done a few recordings on cds. I’ve listed four of them below this Chapter.

It was James who introduced me to live opera performances at the Covent Garden  each time I visited my cousin Carol in London. He was always a quintessential English gentleman! On another occasion when I stayed with Carol for a longer stretch of holidays, he took a day off from his busy schedule to drive me to visit Shakespeare’s house in Stratford-Upon-Avon where we attended a play. I appreciate his friendship until today.

After Dartington, I spent a few days with Carol before returning to Paris where my routine of piano lessons resumed with both Madame Mounier and Professor Sancan. Having obtained the Licence d’Enseignement, I now prepared for the coveted Licence de Concert, the Performing Degree, which certainly called for an extremely demanding concert repertory of piano pieces and a piano concerto. I have never practised as hard or as much, it was as though there were not enough hours in a day!

There was a Japanese student, Harumi Hanafusa, who befriended me at the hostel, she was one of Sancan’s prize pupils. How we became friends was purely by chance. One evening as I was going upstairs to my room on the second floor at the hostel, I heard someone coughing quite badly from the room next to the staircase on the first floor. So I stopped and knocked on the door, but not getting any reply, as the door was unlocked I went into the room where I was surprised to see Harumi in bed! She was feeling quite sick and had a very bad cough and cold. As it was the weekend we had to prepare our own meals so I quickly went upstairs to my room where I prepared her a bowl of hot soup on my little gas stove. The next few days I made sure that Harumi had food to eat and that she was comfortable. Like most of the Japanese students, Harumi couldn’t speak much French, her communication was limited to a mixed smattering of English and French words but that didn’t matter to me. Needless to say, Harumi was so grateful for my small gesture of kindness, that when she recovered we became friends albeit our limitations to converse.

Gradually Harumi told me about herself. Her family was extremely wealthy so she had her own Steinway grand piano in one of the single rooms at the far end of the hostel. Harumi had this room renovated like a soundproof studio with thick full-length curtains, where she did recordings of herself to improve her playing as she was preparing to participate in international piano competitions with Professor Sancan. Harumi never told anyone that she had a Steinway grand piano. In fact she was just a plain and simple person and wasn’t ostentatious at all. She could hear me practising in my room since it was beside the staircase on the floor above. I had the reputation of being one of the most hardworking students, practising from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. Harumi noticed this so she told me that if I wanted to practise more at night, I only had to ask her for the key to her private studio. I don’t recall that I ever used her studio to practise at night, by then I was far too tired, but it was nice to know that I could use her piano if I wanted to. She was very grateful that I had helped her when she was ill so when she returned to Japan for a holiday she gifted me with a beautiful Japanese doll made entirely of silk, even its exquisite face and hands. I named that doll after Harumi and it’s on display in my bedrooom in a glass box.

When I needed to use a grand piano, the owner of the shop where I had hired my upright piano, allowed me access to their piano factory in the Parisien suburbs where they kept the concert grands which were reserved for all the concert performances at the Theatre de Champs Elysées. I was allowed to choose any one of these wonderful pianos to practise for as many hours as I wanted, there was a Steinway and a Bösendorfer. Playing on a concert grand is very different from an upright piano, and because I was quite thin and slightly built, I needed to adapt myself to the heavy piano action of a concert grand and to the sensitivity of the pedals. I was undisturbed at the factory, only occasionally after I had played through an entire piano work as though I was giving a recital, I would hear encouraging applause from the workers who came in to listen. I still remember those wonderful hours I spent practising there, usually about two weeks prior to my exams.

My hard work certainly paid dividends because in June 1976 I was one of eight successful candidates to obtain the coveted Licence de Concert or Performing Degree. It was an incredible achievement for me and one that I will never forget, especially when I heard my name when the results were announced and I walked on stage to resounding applause! Again it was a pity that my beloved parents were not there but in my heart I had played for them and for all my dear friends who came to applaud my success. One of my friends, a Greek girl called Alexandra, gave me a card on the day of my exam in which she had written, in French.. play for everyone who loves you best.. I have kept that card until this day.

As there were a lot of candidates that year the examinations stretched over a whole week. My turn was on the last day at 8pm after the dinner break, which seemed as though I was giving a recital at a concert hall. I still remember clearly every detail of my performance. I had prepared an extremely demanding repertory which included all the 12 Preludes from Volume One by Debussy, which meant that the jury, could select whichever Prelude of their choice. They usually selected which pieces they wished to hear and could interrupt to stop as well. I started with the Second French Suite by Bach, then after the long four-movement Schubert Sonata, I played the Fourth Ballade by Chopin in its entirety and more than half of the Carnaval op 9 by Schumann when they stopped me to ask for one of the Debussy Preludes. By this time I felt at ease and had a feeling that the jury liked my performance especially when I played with any interruptions, the entire first movement of the Chopin Concerto in E minor with another pianist, for the orchestral accompaniment at the second grand piano. Later I was told that I had played for the longest time of all the candidates that evening!

After me there were two more candidates so by the time the results were announced it was close to midnight and by the time we returned to the hostel it was nearly 2am! I met members of the jury who congratulated me on my playing. As for Madame Mounier, she had a cryptic remark when she congratulated me. But I was far too happy, I couldn’t care less! As for dear Professor Sancan, he was extremely jubilant when I went to see him. He knew the results before I could tell him, he gave me an enormous bear hug and wickedly remarked that I had ‘deflated’ Madame Mounier’s snide nastiness towards me. 

I went on to study advanced Harmony. Harmony was quite a complex subject and initially, for me, the lectures were very confusing and it was a mad scramble at each class, to copy everything down quickly from the blackboard before the professor, or his assistant, erased it off to write something else! It was difficult to hear what they were saying as they didn’t use any microphones and they weren’t articulate when they spoke, especially when they faced the blackboard. Worse, four-part Harmony was written on four different music staves – ut premier, ut troisième, ut quatrième, fa troisième - according to the four different voices, Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. I was unfamiliar with these staves since I had learnt basic Harmony using the commonly known two staves of the Treble and Bass clefs and these could be played on the piano. The Harmony text book wasn’t much of a help either, so I contacted a French student I knew, who was doing a degree course in Harmony and she was kind enough to lend me her Harmony notes.

The next hurdle I had to sort out was the noise at the hostel! As all our rooms were not soundproofed, by day it was a dreadful cacophony that could be heard from everyone’s practicing! This was awful because I had to work my Harmony exercises at the table, not at the piano which meant that I needed silence to ‘listen’ to those chords in my head! I couldn’t sit outdoors in the courtyard at the hostel either. Apart from the noise of all the students’ practicing from their rooms, it was now late Autumn and the weather was starting to get chilly with the onset of Winter. Neither could I use the library at the Ecole Normale since there was always the sound of some music instrument at the classes next door to the library.

Fortunately I found a solution at the nearby church! Hardly anyone went there to pray during the daytime. Save for the cleaners who came to sweep the place, it was really quiet. There were only individual chairs placed in rows instead of wooden pews so I arranged a space for myself with those chairs that allowed me to write and place my books. There was sufficent light from all the tall stained glass windows but best of all, I had peaceful silence to concentrate on my Harmony exercises. As the evening Mass only began at six I had ample time to do my work.

I would go by 9am and stay until the afternoon, taking a lunch snack with me and a water bottle. Occasionally a priest would stop by to see what I was doing, but no-one disturbed me or asked me to leave. Only once that same priest asked me if I could hear the angels singing.. He must’ve been the parish priest there because he told me to continue doing my work in the church and wished me well. My Harmony exercises improved and I made my own notes as I began to understand the complex set of rules. I also discovered that by studying in the quiet atmosphere of that church I could now actually hear those chords in my inner ear as though I was playing them on the piano! I do believe I heard the angels’ singing on the day of my Harmony exam, because I passed!

Besides Harmony and Chamber Music classes I had to juggle my time for my piano classes which continued under the tutelage of Madame Mounier and Professor Sancan. I was now enrolled in the ‘Cycle de Perfectionnement ’ a specialised program to prepare for international piano competitions. In fact I was surprised when Madame Mounier arranged for me to play at two international Summer Festivals in France. Unfortunately all these plans came to an abrupt halt when I came to know that my father was seriously ill. I remember that there was a serious postal strike in Paris at that time which explained why there were no letters from home for nearly a month, but I didn’t suspect anything was amiss until I got a telephone call from a friend with the news about my father’s illness. It came as a shock so I called my mother long-distance, no easy task in those days, unlike now with mobile phones and satellite communication. She didn’t want to tell me about my father’s illness because she knew I was busy with my exams.

It took me a whole weekend of soul-searching to reach a decision about whether to continue with my plans for that summer or not. I took a train by myself, to the beautiful cathedral of Chatres situated about eighty kilometres out of Paris. I have always loved this Cathedral more than the Notre Dame, especially the intense deep blue colour in its beautiful stained glass windows and the tranquil atmosphere inside the Cathederal always restored my equilibrium. I decided that it was time for me to return home to be with my parents, after all they had cared for me when I was a tiny baby, loved and cherished me and because of them I became the person I was and still am. We did not have any relatives in Malaysia which meant that my mother had to cope by herself. Now in their hour of need it would have been callous and heartless of me not to be with them. So I packed my bags and returned home much to the delight of my parents, but I never told them that I had left my heart in Paris.

To be continued...

For more details about the Dartington Summer School and the Cathederal of Chatres, this can be found on Google.

Similarly on Google, for Stephen Kovacevich and Martha Argerich. Their concert performances are on YouTube.

Some of Dr James Dooley’s recorded cds:

James Dooley, Tenore accompanied by pianist, Antonio Piovano.

1. Francesco Paolo Tosti:

Life and love in song (2007)

2. La Romanza Misteriosa.

Romanze Di G. D’Annunzio & F.P. Tosti. (2008)

3. Il Signore della Melodia.

Centenary Celebration: Francesco Paolo Tosti. (2016)

4. Romanze di Filippo Berardini. (2014)