Chicago pianist Lori Kaufmann remembers her teacher, who died today:
In 1985, John Perry did me the immense kindness of accepting me into his piano studio at the University of Southern California. Over the years, he also taught at Rice, The Colburn School, the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, and most recently, Rutgers. I was soon initiated into the lucky club of young pianists who benefited from his vast understanding of the piano repertoire and how to execute it. Perry’s mastery of the instrument was irresistible because he was muscular like Schwarzenegger yet lyrical like Jussi Bjoerling. You can hear, for example, in his Appassionata Sonata, the terrorizing fortissimos that require immense strength, the suspenseful dread , yet he also transforms Beethoven’s theme into the most poignant and lyrical version you will hear anywhere. And that is with octaves, no less.
I can’t say what his favorite pieces were. This is because when he was standing in front of a score and a questioning student, he acted as though that very piece was his favorite. That he was teaching it for the first time (even though we knew that that was preposterous). The delight he would derive from certain phrases and harmonic changes would make his face light up and his amazement was contagious. In thinking of the Beethoven concerti, I remember him treating each one like a singular masterpiece, giving each one the reverence required, and that includes the Triple concerto and the Choral Fantasy. He would teach Rachmaninoff 1 and 4 with the same dignity and veneration as Rach 2 and 3.
Did he have a favorite amongst Mozart 466, 491, 595, 271, 467, 488? If he did, no one could tell. He loved ALL of them just as he loved his seven children.
I will say he kept his softest spot for Schubert. We all heard the story of how he would go to visit a longtime friend and before saying anything, their ritual was to pour some Bombay Sapphire (JP’s preferred libation), clink the glasses, and say “Here’s to Schubert!”
At all times, each of his students was working on a different Schubert sonata. Schubert had a seemingly bottomless bucket of pieces that suited each student perfectly and JP NEVER made a wrong choice. He would size us up, take his magic wand and pronounce which Schubert we would need to immerse in for that semester. Same with Bach Suites. Same with Chopin Études.
JP’s playing was always impressive and full of his gigantic beating heart, but hearing him play Schubert was a precious treat.
Those of us who were lucky enough got to follow him in the summers to Aspen for the festival and to Amsterdam at the Holland Music Sessions. But JP especially loved Sarasota in June, where he got to play chamber music with his good friends, Levin, Silverstein, Buswell, Kashkashian, and many others. The summer was when he got to flex his huge personality, taking us white river rafting, hosting endless meals that he cooked himself, the pianistic version of Jim Harrison, pouring his passion into music instead of words on the page. And laughing…. we will never forget his infectious, beautiful laugh.
His exuberance was what made us all want to be better pianists. He was able to jump into the music like no other, he luxuriated in it, he took a bath in it. Once at Sarasota, I attended at coaching he did of Brahms C major piano trio. When the group got to the miraculous spot in the middle section of the scherzo, JP shouted over the musicians “Remember, it doesn’t get any better than this!” And he believed it. So did we. JP you will be missed but your words and your spirit and your laughter hovers over my piano every day, and I love sharing what I learned from you with my own students. “Here’s to JP.”
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