Violinist Mirijam Contzen in performance with pianist Herbert Schuch
Photo: Günther Goldstein
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The place to address serious balance issues is, of course, in the practice room, where diplomacy is key – particularly when it comes to telling collaborators that they are playing too loudly. To avoid causing resentment, Contzen advises her students at the Berlin University of the Arts to focus on something positive. Rather than telling pianists to be quiet in the second movement of the Franck Violin Sonata, for example, she asks them to play the accompanying notes without the melody, so that both players can listen to what the other is doing. ‘You can say, “Can you please take that voice into a different timbre so that it’s heard by the violin?” It’s asking for more, but on a different level. That will open up the pianist’s hearing, which will change the balance.’ A sensitive pianist can then adjust using pedal