BD: From the vast array of piano literature, how do you decide which pieces you will learn and which pieces you will put aside?
JFO: That’s a good question, because, as you say, there’s so much and it’s so vast, so rich! Sometimes I spend just too much time trying to decide. I am reading through scores and I don’t get to learn something. It depends on what I’m playing and what I’m scheduled to do. Sometimes there’s a work that just comes, and I decide on the spot, “This is what I want to do.” For instance, when I was very young I wanted to learn the Brahms D Minor, so for me there was no other concerto that existed at that time. I just had to learn it. So things like that happen. And sometimes people ask for certain repertoire, things that you hadn’t contemplated. Then you really become fascinated by this, just by discovering things like that.
BD: Are you known as a specialist in any one area?
JFO: Not as a specialist. I don’t call myself a specialist or anything like that, but in certain parts of the repertoire they know me a lot because I play a lot of Brahms, Debussy, things like that.
BD: Do you also play new scores, new music?
JFO: I don’t play contemporary music, no, but I do play new scores, yes. There’s some Mexican composers that I play. There’s one in particular, Jiménez Mabarak, which is a wonderful composer. His music is not contemporary; it’s not that type of language. But I enjoy his music tremendously.
BD: Tell me about the musical life of Mexico.
JFO: In many ways it’s very rich. Traditionally, music has been very, very important for Mexico. There are wonderful voices in Mexico; there’s always this element of singing, of expressing yourself by singing. Mexico City has four major symphony orchestras. There is not a symphony orchestra in all the main cities, but in most cases, yes. Still, there are many parts of Mexico that would need a richer life. Sometimes there are periods when they have a lot of music that comes when they make a festival here and there. Then everybody gets excited and they put up a lot of money. Then the next government comes in and that disappears. What would be ideal would be some kind of continuity towards the musical education in Mexico, really starting from the kids to expose them at a very early age. Just to let them listen and naturally let them decide whether they like it or not — not to put a label on it that this is classical and it’s unapproachable or elitist or anything like that.
BD: This is just music.
JFO: Just music, exactly. Mexico is a country of really tremendous contrasts, and it lacks in many, many fields. I guess music wouldn’t be really a priority now, but little by little it could be done, just certain little programs put here and there. That much; it’s very important. It’s a very young country — that is there’s so many young people. Potentially that’s the new public, so it has to be educated and exposed to music.
BD: Does it give you a sense of pride to play in Mexico — in Mexico City and in other places?
JFO: Yes. Oh, yes, I love to go to Mexico! It’s a wonderful public, very warm. And in a way it’s very rewarding for me because I go very often. And it’s very challenging because every time I go on the stage it has to be better!
BD: Do you get enough opportunity to play in Mexico, or are you touring all over the world too much?
JFO: No, I do go back fairly often to Mexico. In that respect, I’m very glad.
BD: Let me turn the question around. Does it give you a sense of pride to take the Mexican culture to other countries of the world?
JFO: Yes, absolutely! As a Mexican, I am playing not just the traditional repertoire, but also playing Mexican music. Lately I’ve become very interested in the music of Manuel Ponce. I have some recordings of piano music that as far as I know is the first recording of piano solos that’s available abroad. It’s mostly the guitarists who have profited from Ponce’s music, but for piano there’s much, much more. His literature is tremendous. He has a wonderful piano concerto as well as chamber music — trios, sonatas. There’s a lot to be discovered there.
BD: Now you have this close connection with him and a couple of others, do you make sure you take these pieces around with you?
JFO: Yes, I do, yes. I premiered his concerto three years ago in London and people loved it! It’s a wonderful work, very Lisztian and very romantic, but beautiful music.
BD: Is there any conflict between Spanish composers and Mexican composers, or is there a special affinity between the two cultures?
JFO: Of course there’s affinity because of the culture where everything has been happening in the last five hundred years! Certain composers were very much influenced by Spanish composers and music. At one time we had so many Spanish intellectuals coming to Mexico; at that time in Mexico, it was a strong influence on so many people in so many areas. But in the end, I think Spanish and Mexican music are very, very contrasting, very different.
BD: How so?
JFO: The Mexican music has really gone back and tried to find the roots in pre-Colombian music. The rhythms and all that are much more wild. It’s much more raw, the Mexican type of music. Raw from the guts. On the other hand, I was thinking about Spanish music and they also have this gutsy feeling. There’s some places in the pieces I play that are so dramatic, and also the drive of the rhythm is tremendous! So I guess there are similarities. In this world, in this language of international music, you always find something. That’s why we all are here, and try to communicate that through music, because in a way, we can all understand through music.
BD: Is this, then, the purpose of music?
JFO: You want to express, and some people find that maybe it is easier to express their ideas through music. Some other people would find it through painting or through acting or writing. I think through art in general, the individual really seeks to express himself, to grow, and maybe to bring joy to other people. Life is to be enjoyed!
BD: What advice do you have for audiences that will come to hear your concerts — or other classical music concerts?
JFO: I really never like to give advice like that! I hope that they would come and just hear it with fresh ears, just to enjoy the moment, and to concentrate. They used to ask me what advice do I give to younger kids and to other people who haven’t really attended many concerts. I tell them music is an experience. It’s not something that you just go there to relax and enjoy. Music is really something much more intense, something much meaningful. So I told them to just put all your senses into it, and really try to listen with more attention. We are bombarded with so many things around that it’s difficult now to get the attention of the younger kids, especially. Everything is just visual on TV and videos. Sometimes they forget to focus just on listening.
BD: Where should be the balance between enjoyment and the focus of intelligent listening?
JFO: When music brings you a lot of enjoyment, everything becomes more acute. I think that would be rewarding for them.
BD: Do you do any teaching, and if so, what advice do you have for your students?
JFO: I do some teaching, yes. Not very much, but I do. I had a class in Mexico at the National University, and I do some private teaching in London. For pianists, I think the main thing would be really to try to listen as much as possible to all the masters — all the pianists — because they had so much and still have so much to say in terms of respect for the music and for individuality. All of them have their seal and are really great interpreters and great masters. Also to do a lot of chamber music, and try to get away from making this instrument so percussive; try just to make it sing. Listen to singers. Go to the opera and listen to a lot of lieder recitals; things like that just to enrich yourself. Be there with your piano, but for the love of music not for the love just for the piano. At such a young age, one would tend to just be submerged in your instrument, and forget about so many other things that are very important.
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BD: You’ve made a number of recordings. Do you play differently in the recording studio than you do in the concert hall?
JFO: I always treated the recordings as performances. Nowadays you can do just anything, split here and there and put together a performance that doesn’t mean anything! Actually, that’s something that I’ve thought of very seriously because it’s very tempting to just bring a perfect product which doesn’t say anything. A few months ago, someone that I know gave me his latest record. He told me, “Well, here it is, and half of it is dead because you know how it is in a recording.” And I said, “That’s not really what I want.” In recording, you aim to make it like a performance, and really go as if you were in a concert. You try to catch something like that.
BD: Do you succeed?
JFO: Sometimes you do! It’s very tricky, this business. I think recording in the older days was a better way because you came and performed, and that’s it!
BD: [Laughs] Oh, you mean the age of the 78’s?
JFO: Yes. Still the greatest performers are from that time, in my opinion.
BD: Greater than they are today?
JFO: Yes.