For subscribers
I’m a concert pianist. This is why I seek imperfection.
It is not only classical musicians who are being stunted by the search for perfection. It is harming many aspects of our lives, too.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
In music, as in other aspects of the life, the search for perfection can be stunting.
PHOTO: RORY DOYLE/NYTIMES
Jonathan Biss
Follow topic:
“As a performer, one has a mission, like Coltrane, to take your solo out to talk to God.”
That’s from Patti Smith, a great and uncategorisable artist, describing the saxophonist John Coltrane’s influence on her. In my head, I hear it in Smith’s South Jersey twang, the delivery blase and slightly weary. To her, it is a self-evident statement.
