Pianist Maria João Pires said this Saturday that she ended her career as a performer, after suffering a health problem in June that kept her away from the stage, and is now in a “process of radical change”. In her acceptance speech for the Helena Vaz da Silva award, delivered at a ceremony at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in Lisbon, the 81-year-old artist stated that she fell ill because she tried to “exceed herself and go to forbidden limits”.
“Now I find myself in a process of radical change, in a search for truth, truths, on a path of acceptance, perhaps of understanding of what I never accepted before. It’s good to think that the future is uncertain, unknown, perhaps surprising. This uncertainty puts us all in a state of insecurity, but often creative. Security after all doesn’t open that many doors, perhaps it even closes off a greater understanding of the universe and the infinite”, said the best-known Portuguese pianist.
In her speech, she expressed gratitude – a feeling that she considers innate and that should be “guarded and respected throughout her life” – not only to those who supported and accompanied her throughout her life and career, but beyond: “Gratitude for everything that is given to us, for everything we hear and see, for everything that enchants us, for everything that generates happiness in us, allows us to dream, move or sing or smile”.
Recalling that she started playing the piano at the age of 3, the age at which she fell in love with music, Maria João Pires also declared that she never felt “truly adapted or included despite all the great efforts to [se] feel oil, to [se] accept, to [se] recognize as part of a society, a group of friends and colleagues”.
“I learned about practical life, work, everyday life, home, children, joys, heartbreaks, sufferings and most particularly disappointments. I was between two worlds, the sound world, always very rich in flexibility, in movement, in connection with all the phenomena of art and imagination. And the other, the one we call the real world, although both seem to me to be actually very real”, said the artist.
Maria João Pires highlighted that she “assumed” herself as a “pianist for many years”, a choice that was part of her desire for “inclusion, the deep desire not to be rejected and, at the same time, to never reject others”.
“I worked a lot, I planned very little, I was deeply interested in science, literature, philosophy, also as a means of understanding and belonging”, said the pianist, for whom “true art is the activity of non-aggression”.
In June, Maria João Pires announced her retirement from the stage “for some time” due to a “cerebrovascular health problem”. “Dear friends, I regret to inform you that I will have to step away from the stage for some time. A cerebrovascular health problem has arisen, which I see as a sign, perhaps a warning”, wrote Maria João Pires, on social media.
“I will dedicate this period to rediscovering balance between body and spirit, and finding joy in retreating, reading, meditating and learning from the lessons that life wants to teach me”, continued the pianist, thanking everyone “for their patience, support and words of comfort”.
Pianist Maria João Pires received today, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in Lisbon, the Helena Vaz da Silva European Prize for the Dissemination of Cultural Heritage.
“This European recognition pays tribute to the exceptional contribution of one of the greatest pianists of our time to the promotion of cultural heritage and European values”, explained the National Culture Center (CNC), in September, at the time of the announcement.
The Helena Vaz da Silva European Prize was established in 2013 by the CNC, with the organization Europa Nostra and the Portuguese Press Club, with support from the ministries of Culture, Youth and Sports, and Foreign Affairs, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Tourism of Portugal.
In addition to Maria Calado, the jury was made up of Francisco Pinto Balsemão, founder of the Impresa group, Piet Jaspaert, vice-president of Europa Nostra, João David Nunes, from the Portuguese Press Club, Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, administrator of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Irina Subotic, president of Europa Nostra Serbia, and Marianne Ytterdal, from the Council of Europa Nostra.