I envision a foundation, an academy, a festival, maybe a publishing platform, and inviting great minds, from journalists to thinkers, politicians, artists, etc., in the best tradition. I know it sounds vague and big, but I’m making a stance for what I am for. It is the stance for beauty, for curiosity, for resistance. With the label, I would simply like to meet the greatest, most exciting artists, and help them become artistic thermonuclear bombs in the world.
Why did you name it No Silence?
After Oct. 7 [the Hamas-led attack on Israel], I organized the event Against Silence, Against Antisemitism. It was a very beautiful, meaningful event to me. Some colleagues and friends came and performed, classical musicians, rock bands, actors, actresses, and rappers. During this time, I had emotional problems. I could hardly speak. For a couple of months, I would just stop in the middle of a sentence. I broke several holy rules of my life back then, one of them being that I never drink alone. Well, I sure broke that rule in the months between October and March. Anyway, on the bus ride home from the event, I thought: no silence.
So tell me more specifically about the first few releases, which will all be out this fall.
There are two of mine, and one of a young artist I’ve signed. One of mine is the first release in a new project of mine. I’ve recorded the third Beethoven symphony, the “Eroica,” in a transcription by Franz Liszt, and I combined it with Arnold Schoenberg’s “Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte.” They’re both pieces of resistance, where the soul of “no silence” is central. In the Schoenberg, there’s also Yiddishkeit, which means a lot to me. One by one, I will record all nine Beethoven symphonies in the Liszt transcriptions.
The second recording I did, that was a fun one. I walked into the recording studio, my engineer pushed the “record” button, and in one go, I played through Erik Satie’s “Vexations”: 840 repeats, and it took me around 16 hours. There are no edits. It’s kind of bonkers to do that, but it was really great fun. It’s also a gesture, to show that there is no artistic limit under the roof of No Silence.
The third release is the debut album of an extraordinary young pianist, Lukas Sternath, who came into my life with force six and a half years ago. When he first played for me, it was clear to me even then that he is someone who will become an essential artist of our time. He’s my friend. He’s also my student, but I can’t teach him piano playing anymore. He’s recorded Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy, and Liszt’s “Dante” Sonata and some Schubert songs in transcriptions by Liszt.
What do you see lacking in the current structures of the label world?
It’s not about what I see lacking. I think there can never be enough of these spaces. I have the network to do it, I want to broaden my network, and I want to help young musicians find their voices. There can never be enough artistic interventions, let’s put it that way. There cannot be enough in this world of artistic voices exploding, of making the world more beautiful. So little makes sense today, and this makes sense.
