Passionate piano virtuoso Khatia Buniatishvili relishes Hong Kong return for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20

“I found Hong Kong really amazing … I remember there were lots of young people at the concert, which was a nice surprise, and I spoke to them after the show,” Buniatishvili, 31, says. “I felt there was a real interest in culture in the city.”

She has never worked with van Zweden or the orchestra before, but the excitement in her voice is clearly apparent as she ponders the collaboration.

“I love the surprises [of working with new people] and making new connections … it’s like discovering a new musical world,” she says. “Sometimes it goes fantastically, other times it’s more complex, but anyway, I’m looking forward to it.”

Buniatishvili’s sentiments are echoed by van Zweden, who says: “Khatia is a wonderful artist and I’ve heard a lot about her … she’s very well-known for her passionate performances and I think the Hong Kong audience can expect a lot of electricity from her.”

Born to music

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20 is one of the composer’s most popular works in this genre and most professional pianists would have studied it, or played it at some point.

It’s a significant piece of music for Buniatishvili as she first remembers hearing it when playing with the Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra.

“I was six, the girl who was playing it was probably 15, and after the concert I went back home and played parts of the second and third movement by ear,” she says.

“My mother was surprised and very joyful because she then realised I had a good ear for music.”

Having played the piano for as long as she can remember, she has notched up several awards, winning bronze medal at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in 2008, and the Echo Klassik award in 2012 for her “Franz Liszt” album, and again in 2016 for “Kaleidoscope”, where she takes on Mussorgsky, Ravel and Stravinsky.

“Awards are nice to receive because it gives you motivation and self-confidence – the latter of which is particularly important in the creative process,” she says.

True to self

While Buniatishvili did enter some competitions as a young pianist, putting herself up to be judged against others wasn’t an experience she enjoyed.

“I never liked competitions, as they have nothing to do with art,” she says. “You have to be unique, individual and competitions don’t help that much with that.”

Buniatishvili admits it was difficult to deal with the public, something she describes as unusual for a child. “I felt this huge sense of responsibility to my family – and the composers – to do justice to their work,” she says.

For someone who has achieved so much, it comes as some surprise when Buniatishvili admits that she’s never really had ambitions.

“I always knew that I wanted to realise some ideas, but it was never like, ‘I want to play with this composer, or that orchestra’,” she says.

“My dreams were much more upfront, more universal. I’ve always felt that I had the freedom to do what I want, play how I want, and it wasn’t something that anyone could really restrict for me. And I’m in a position where I can say no to certain things and focus on what I want to do.”

The classically trained pianist ventured into the more musically fluid world of rock in 2015 when she was invited by British group Coldplay to play on the track Kaleidoscope, from its album, “A Head full of Dreams”, which shows her ability for improv.

How did she find making the jump from the order and structure of working with an orchestra to jamming with a rock band, where anything goes?

“Well, it depends on with whom you work … fortunately for me, [Coldplay frontman] Chris Martin has an incredibly rich musical universe,” she says.

“To work with him was a great joy, and I learned a lot from Chris because I was improvising in front of him and learned about creating music. I really do like their music, so it’s great to work with people when you like their songs.”

While Buniatishvili was already familiar with improvisation, she says Martin – who presented the performer with her second Echo Klassik Award – gave her the strength and inspiration to let the music take her.

“To be in front of him like that, and unafraid of this direction, was really interesting and creative: I’ve never done that with other musicians not in the classical genre,” she says, describing Martin as both mentor and friend.

The show goes on

Having had such a positive experience working with rock musicians means the pianist is open to collaborating with other bands in future.

“Yes, absolutely … I can compose, improvise … [and playing with rock musicians again] would open other doors for me,” she says.

From headlining the Theatre de Champs-Elysees and Carnegie Hall to jamming in the studio with Coldplay, Buniatishvili has realised the dreams of many a musician even if she professes not to be bound by them.

With last month’s release of her seventh album on Sony Classical, Schubert, she will spend much of this year on the road.

After spending a quarter of a century in front of adoring audiences, Buniatishvili still seems charmingly indifferent to fame, with her feet firmly on the ground and an unwavering enthusiasm for music and touring.

“I’m so excited and feel so lucky that I get to play around the world and discover different countries, orchestras, composers and musicians,” she says.

And who knows, maybe Martin might just come knocking again.