When it comes to the components of music virtuoso Hershey Felder’s world, there is no greater metaphor for his life and art than his piano itself.
More than simply a conduit for music, the instrument represents freedom from the battles fought by his family, Hungarian Jewish immigrants who faced a mountain of antisemitism, his grandfather keeping a suitcase near the door that contained key pieces of Jewish faith, including a pristine prayer shawl.
In “Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me,” presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley through Feb. 8, Felder shares his deeply personal story about how he became a sought after pianist who folded his talents into a genre all his own. He does not just play the compositions of luminaries such as Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven and Bach with nimble fluidity, but acts out their lives, providing insight into the passions of each and how their music changed the world.
The potency of the story is in how Felder, now 58, looks back on the totality of his life as an older gent, espousing wisdom that comes with age and self-interrogation. It’s a life that has seen its share of heartache and loss, which is felt grandly on the stage, dominated by a grand piano that Felder performs on at the most opportune times.
The show is light on tech, but the accompanying images (video design by Stefano DeCarli) pour through as addendums to Felder’s puissant passion of Liszt’s Liebesträume or Beethoven’s Für Elise and land with great effect.
Felder’s life was informed by an abundance of curiosity. As a child, he was not satisfied simply by the sounds of Chopin’s nocturnes that came through the radio in his native Montreal. More important to Felder, who was Chopin? What was inside his soul that made him create some of the loveliest piano compositions in classical music history? That curiosity was applied to many others whose music was not of one era, but represented all of eternal humanity.
Like so many composers, Felder’s losses were devastating. The passing of his striking mother at age 35 from breast cancer, a woman who attracted many of his elementary school chums to vie for a spot in her carpool, devastated a young Felder at the dawn of his teen years. The quiet and stoic pain of his father processing such a loss further shook Felder’s early foundation.
It was in these moments that Felder’s pain and pedigree met. His instructors took him to new levels of both musicality and artistry, Felder ultimately landing a spot at McGill University’s Conservatory of Music as a 16-year-old, at that point 10 years into his music studies. Sadly, the challenges facing the young college kid were not simply coming from the 88 keys, but from fellow students, one of whom asked where the chunky Jewish kid’s horns were. Felder’s dip into a bit of dark humor did earn him some respect amongst some of the older students, as he developed some savvy survival skills.
As his studies became more advanced, and his desire grew to reveal the truths behind his favorite composers, his skill level on the piano began to reach his passion for research.
The musicianship Felder displays through the two hours of uninterrupted storytelling and performing is magnificent. It’s not simply his playing, but his expressive rhythms that encompass body and soul. There are recollections as to how Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances got him through some high-level doors, and a transformational moment with George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” that led him to his genre-creating career.
Felder was on the cusp of turning 14 when the Steven Spielberg film “E.T.” was released nationwide, and the film impacted Felder mightily. That inspiration was in no small part owed to yet another composer’s mystical touch, the iconic John Williams. But beyond the music was the story: The idea of an awkward kid with few friends except for a funny looking extra-terrestrial that flew through the sky on a magic bicycle was a lovely sentiment.
Hearing the strains of Williams’ transcendent composition is a reminder of Felder’s own desires for flight, allowing audiences around the world to be transported by his grand piano, some magnificent music and enthralling stories.
David John Chávez is a former chair of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2022-23); @davidjchavez.bsky.social.
‘HERSHEY FELDER: THE PIANO AND ME’
Conceived and performed by Hershey Felder, presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Through: Feb. 8
Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts
Running time: 2 hours, no intermission
Tickets: $34-$115; theatreworks.org
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