Wu Muye on the Cover Story of L’OFFICIEL HOMMES China | October 2019.
On June 21st, 2019, Wu Muye held the piano recital featuring Complete Works of Schubert’s Impromptus at the Champs Elysees Theatre in Paris. That day on the backstage, he met an old friend who recalled the precious memory of his schooldays in Paris. Wu Muye went to Paris to pursue music education aged 14. He was enrolled in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP). His teacher was Jacques Rouvier, the master of French piano orthodox school and lineal descendant of the greatest pianist Franz Liszt. After the undergraduate course, he continued to pursue studies in chamber music at CNSMDP. In 2009, Wu Muye obtained his PhD from CNSMDP with the honor of Perfect Pianist, making him the only Chinese young pianist who has ever received such an honor in the Parisian piano world.
Interview with Wu Muye
Born into a family of music, how is your experience with piano learning?
I was born in Beijing and moved to Hainan with my parents when I was little. I started learning piano at the age of four, and gave performances on the stage aged five. I received the first prize in the piano contest of level 5 held in Hong Kong when I was eight. It is relatively smooth for me in piano learning. At 11, I was admitted to the fifth grade of Central Conservatory of Music Primary School, afterwards, piano became an important part of my life.
Do you still miss schooldays sometime?
I still sometimes dream of the campus and the place I lived which has now been demolished. My favorite piano room at the Central Conservatory of Music is 612, which witnessed the most important turning point in my piano career from amateur to professional. For three years, I practiced 10 hours a day, which left an indelible impression in my heart.
As you have lived in Paris for several years, is there any special bond between you and Notre Dame de Paris？
Yes, I really like the Notre Dame de Paris. It is a place where people can calm down. It was an evening in Beijing when I learned about the fire from a friend. At all times and in all over the world, the brilliant historical architecture of mankind carries the past and the future. After seeing such a monumental building being destroyed, I found that my memory of the old days is absent of a reference object, because I used to play in the Notre Dame and a cathedral in the west of Paris. This is the connection between people, music, space and history.
Many art films feature the left bank of Paris, do you think it is the same left bank where you lived?
I think in the movie it is being polished. Some movies are not French, so they picture the left bank from foreigners’ perspectives. Just like the Gothic architecture in the eyes of the Orientals, which is often sharp, cold, and dark, but actually, it is sometimes soft, sometimes with a touch of fairy tale.
I heard that you have your own pet, do you play the piano to them?
I have two dogs. They accompany each other. I think it’s better to keep two, because if there is only one, it will be very lonely when I’m not at home. One is a stray dog, the other is Pharaoh Hound, named Huanhuan and Heibao respectively. My parents used to have a dog, but after I was born, they gave it away. So I named my dog after it, Huanhuan.