Pianist Diedre Irons Photo: Debbie Rawson
Which composer does Diedre Irons love the most?
That's easy, she says: "Whoever I'm playing at the moment".
This weekend, Irons is feeling the love for Beethoven as she prepares to perform his 3rd Piano Concerto with the Wellington City Orchestra at St Andrews on The Terrace on Sunday 7 December.
It's a work she knows well, to the extent it's almost "in her bones", though Irons will still be spending plenty of time playing through it.
The Canadian-born pianist, who turned 80 earlier this year, spoke with RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump ahead of this weekend's gig.
They talked about Irons' early years in living in Winnipeg on the prairies, where the temperature can drop to -50 degrees in the winter, to her move to New Zealand with then husband and double bass player Dale Gold in the 1970s when he took up the role of Principal Bass with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The marriage to Gold ended, and Irons formed a relationship with trumpeter Albert “Fuzzy” MacKinnon. Their daughter Phoebe was born in 1980.
Irons then had to overcome the grief after his sudden death in 1993.
She says that music helped her to recover from the loss, just as it continues to keep her young.
And despite knowing some pieces so well that they're in her bones, she continues to discover new things about old masterpieces.
Pianist Diedre Irons. Photo: RNZ
