Piers Lane isn't burning the candle at both ends, but he is about to light a few from one end of the country to the other.
The Australian-born, London based pianist is on a thirteen-venue tour of Aotearoa performing all 21 of Chopin's Nocturnes - and as he did when he played all of them together the first time - he plans to add to the ambience with some candle-powered luminescence.
Talking with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Lane says performing all of the Polish composer's Nocturnes in chronological order in the one concert gives listeners a profound insight into the development of one of classical music's most distinctive voices.
Chopin wasn't the first person for write nocturnes for the piano. In fact, the musical form began as a song to be performed at night time.
The first composer to start writing contemplative and lyrical pieces for the keyboard - and calling them nocturnes - was Irishman John Field, whose life straddled the 18th and 19th centuries.
But Lane argues it was Chopin who perfected the form, and his Nocturnes span most of his working life. He wrote the first as a 17-year-old in 1827, the last in 1846, three years before his death.
Pianist Piers Lane Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Despite having toured Chopin's Nocturnes extensively, Lane is yet to record them in the studio.
He tells Crump he's not quite ready, but thinks he will be some time in the next five years.
However, there are live recordings (such as the one at the top of this article) and RNZ Concert will be making another when Lane performs at the Auckland Town Hall as part of this year's Auckland Arts Festival.
