By TONI MARIE MARCHIONI

Internationally renowned Baroque music specialist, virtuoso harpsichordist, and founder of the English Concert, Trevor Pinnock comes to Juilliard to conduct the annual Jerome L. Greene Concert this March in Alice Tully Hall. The concert, which is exclusively dedicated to the performance of 17th- and 18th-century music, features an all-Handel program to be performed by Juilliard musicians on modern instruments. Maestro Pinnock enthusiastically discussed the challenges and subtleties of period performance with oboe student Toni Marie Marchioni.

Trevor Pinnock (Photo by Peer Lindgreen)

Toni Marie Marchioni: How do you feel about this music being performed on modern instruments? Are you concerned about the quality of the results?

Trevor Pinnock: I don't normally associate Juilliard with people playing and singing Handel, so I think this is an interesting challenge. I have two parts to this answer. One that I'm famous for is that I passionately love old instruments. But an equally passionate belief is that the instruments aren't the music itself. The music always has to come first. Whatever instruments we use, we always have to make the music work. The instruments are the tools of our trade; they are not the actual music itself.

TMM: Will you approach the music differently?

TP: Fundamentally, the music and my approach are absolutely the same. But of course, we have different nuances from different instruments, and we have to play with the instruments we have. We can't pretend that a modern flute is an old one. What we can do is play musically on the modern flute and have knowledge of the sound of the old instrument. But we shouldn't try and absolutely copy that sound. We should use the resources of the instruments that we have.

TMM: Do you feel that music conservatories should offer early music programs as a rule?

TP: I think that students should have some understanding of what period instruments are and have a basic introduction to them. It may be that some students will later want to specialize. People are getting much more enlightened, and they don't feel what I think people of an older generation still feel, a sort of rivalry or conflict between the two. But I don't think there is necessarily a conflict. There are all sorts of people who work on modern instruments who have an interest in old. I did a whole year of concerts with Maxim Vengerov in which he played on Baroque violin in the first half of the concert with me playing on harpsichord, and then in the second half he played on his normal set-up and I played on Steinway piano. And of course, Yo-Yo Ma has also worked with Baroque musicians and Baroque instruments. Some of the best soloists are getting much more broad-minded.

TMM: Do you think that conservatories should promote the duality?

TP: I think some sort of program which shows something of the history of instruments would be very useful if it's presented right. Basically, the reason I've enjoyed working on period instruments is that you can actually play the instrument to its full capabilities without any holding back or compromise. When we're playing Baroque music on modern instruments, we often find ourselves in a position of making a compromise so that the music isn't overloaded with the wrong type of sound, or so that it doesn't get too thick or heavy. The problem then is keeping all the vitality and liveliness. Whereas on the old instrument, you would play a real fantastic fortissimo and it would still have transparency, on the modern instrument you've got to suggest the excitement of that fortissimo, but at the same time not give it a thick sound which will lose the transparency. In some ways, it's easier to work on the period instrument for certain types of music. I think that's the sort of thing that I'd like people to know. Then, when they're making their compromises on their modern instruments, they're much clearer about what they're doing.

Jerome L. Greene Concert: Trevor Pinnock Conducts Handel Alice Tully Hall Friday, March 31, 8 p.m. Free tickets available March 17 in the Juilliard Box Office.

TMM: Do you think that if conservatories were to establish early-music programs, it would be a viable career path for students?

TP: It's funny. Perhaps we think in different terms—I'm thinking very much of music first and career path second, so it's hard for me to answer that question. I can tell you that when I was at music college, I was told that it would be impossible for me to make a living as a harpsichord player and I should do something else. There are always possibilities if you choose to do something and do it well. I don't think there are many established career paths in early music, but I do know that the best players do make livings as other musicians do. But really, what's got to lead you if you go into music is passion, not career path.

TMM: Could you make a prediction about the status of the early-music movement?

TP: Let's look at the history of things. When I started on old instruments, there were very few people doing it in Europe, only one older generation who started playing in the middle of the 1960s. Then in the 1970s, another wave of my generation started doing things, and we were thought of as pioneers. By about 1980, the whole movement really took off and people got very excited by music played on these period instruments. At first, there was a lot of opposition from the conventional musicians around. But as time went on and playing got better, people's attitudes changed, and now I see that the styles of playing in ordinary modern-instrument orchestras are significantly different when they are playing classical music.
What I've always hoped and what I've always wanted so much was for performance on old instruments to be accepted as part of the mainstream. As just a part of music-making, with the performers free to choose the instrument of their own choice—the instrument that they think will work best for that particular situation while keeping the music as the most important thing. It's always the music that's the most important, not what you choose to play it on. I do think that all responsible players should listen to what the instruments were like that the composers wrote for and bear that in mind as they're making their performances. Not even necessarily choose to do it—you have the right not to do it that way—but they should at least know. Everybody should have open minds. The music tells us what we have to do.

Toni Marie Marchioni is a master's student in oboe.