It's almost 50 years since Christchurch raised Jeffrey Grice left New Zealand for France. Luckily for us, he still comes back to catch up with friends and family, and to perform.
Ahead of his final concert of a three-gig tour of the South Island, Grice dropped into RNZ's Christchurch studio for a chat with Concert host Bryan Crump.
One of the first things Crump notes is Grice's French accent. Grice ponders this and then (perhaps channelling his inner Peter Sellers) suggests he could put on a much more 'French' accent if Crump wants.
"No, your accent is quite French enough," Crump laughs.
Yet beyond Grice's sense of of humour, the subject of "talking" becomes a big part of the interview.
Grice explains to Crump how in his approach to music making, the pianist has to make the keys of his instrument "talk" as well as sing. There's a difference, and it's the job of a good pianist to know which approach is best for each note they play.
Grice is big on avoiding repetition. Say it once, fine. Twice, okay, but play the same phrase the same way three times? That's boring.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Grice also tells Crump about his relationship with Jenny McLeod's "Tone Clock" pieces for piano (they changed his life) and his love of the music of Lucien Johnson.
He also mentions his decision to programme works by gay Polish composer Karol Szymanovski in his final New Zealand concert. As a gay man himself, Grice was shocked during a recent visit to Poland to see signs outside villages telling gay people to stay away.
Playing Szymanovski is something of an act of solidarity with Poland's rainbow community.
He's also playing Rachmaninov's arrangements of the music of violinist Fritz Kreisler, and he tells Crump the story of one musical misadventure the two great musicians shared.
Kreisler typically performed without the music, and during one concert in New York (when they were playing Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata), the violinist had a memory lapse. Sidling over to the piano, hoping to find his place again from Rachmaninov’s copy of the music, he asked under his breath, “Where are we?”
"Carnegie Hall," said the Russian.
