A few words about stage fright, applause and Facebook from Garrick Ohlsson

A few insights from pianist and Chopin virtuoso Garrick Ohlsson — the first American to win first prize in the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, in 1970 — who returns to Seattle Tuesday:

Three things people really should know about Chopin: "Chopin is not just a dreamy romantic poet but an epic poet of immense power. We tend to underestimate his range and greatness because of his physical smallness and illness. He's one of the most powerful and demonic controlled geniuses music has ever seen, a structuralist of immense power. This program shows his mastery of the sonata form,and of emotional mazurkas that turn on a dime. He's much larger than the dreamy salon composer that people adore."

If I could play only one piece ever again, it would be ... "Chopin's Barcarolle, Opus 60. But it's not on this program."

Applause between movements? Acceptable or unacceptable? "We have grown as a culture to believe that it's improper to applaud between movements, because these larger pieces are considered organic entities or wholes. I think this reverential attitude has become exaggerated. When Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin were alive, people applauded between movements. Very often, after the first movement, there was an applause line.

"That said, the appropriateness of applause depends upon context.

"If a pianist plays Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto, and he doesn't get applause, he hasn't done something right. Or if someone applauds after the first movement of Brahm's Second Piano Concerto, and someone shushes them, it's just unnatural, to hold yourself back like that.

"If there's applause after Mozart's Adagio in B minor, which is so intimate and magical, then it shows that you're not being sensitive to what's going on, or that you haven't been affected by it. By clapping immediately, you're just showing off that you know it's over."

The most important lesson I ever learned from a fellow musician: "How to overcome stage fright. Think about something larger than yourself, the music itself, instead of thinking about your ego and how to control the music. Also, when you begin a concert, breathe out. Breathing out relaxes the whole body, mind and spirit."

Number of performances given so far: "That's gotta be a lot. I do 80 to 90 a year. Multiply that by a 40-year career."

Number of recordings: "Gosh. At least 30 CDs and several LPs before that."

Any children/pets? "Neither. And I'm allergic to cats."

Average number of hours spent practicing per day: "On the average, three. Playing the piano is one of the most athletically difficult things in the world. To quote my pianist friend John Kimura Parker, "Classical piano is a high impact sport, an incredibly demanding activity that requires coordination as fine as any surgeon's. Nobody ever plays well enough."

When I'm not listening to or playing classical music I'm ... "Not listening to music at all. I watch films, go to the theater and ride my bike in the park."

Musician I most admire either living or dead: "Let me name two or three. Liszt and Beethoven were the greatest human beings among musicians. Mozart and Bach were the greatest composers."

People would be surprised if they knew I ... ? "Don't do Facebook or any of that stuff. I'm too old [laughs]."

Sumi Hahn: sumi@bewodo.org