Some artists perform in a city. Others pause long enough to truly notice it.

Internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Francesco Tristano belongs to the latter. During his stay at DOT Sofia, we spoke about finding a place that instantly feels like home, discovering Sofia through its centuries of history, quiet walks and unique atmosphere, and the experience of staying surrounded by contemporary art. Our conversation wandered far beyond music - into architecture, mathematics, the search for an authentic artistic voice, and the timeless relevance of Bach in today's world.

From the cities and cultures that continue to shape his imagination to the philosophy behind Bach & Beyond. Great music never belongs to the past - it simply finds new ways to speak to the present.

This is your third time in Sofia. What has the city revealed to you so far?

They're short stays, so I don't really get a sense of the different neighbourhoods yet, and I'm not familiar with the city as a whole. I hope one day I will be. But it definitely feels like a real city, and I think that's because of its history - hundreds of years, thousands of years, actually. I can really feel that, and that's what makes me happy. I really enjoy strolling down the big avenues and seeing the monuments. History and geography are some of my main interests, and in a city like Sofia, I can really feel them. That's really nice.

What do timeless music and contemporary architecture have in common?

Well, for one thing, all music is contemporary because it is created in the moment - you could even say that. Even music that was written a long time ago, if you play it now, it sounds now; it doesn't sound like it belongs to many years ago. Music has this very immediate and direct way of communicating. So it is contemporary, because contemporary means now.

To draw a parallel with contemporary architecture or art, it's all part of a continuum. A composition could also be treated like a building, right? You have little pieces that come together to create one big structure.

I'm interested in finding these connections. I actually had one project where we built a virtual city while I was performing Bach's Goldberg Variations. I was transmitting data to the computer, and together with some programmers, we were building a city in real time. It was an interesting - very, very ambitious - project in terms of production because we needed several computers with enough computing power to generate the city. There are still so many things to explore.

Has mathematics always been part of the way you understand music?

In fact, music is mathematics if you start to break it down. It's all about ratios, and the whole scale of a musical key is actually based on numerical relationships. Rhythm can also be expressed through fractions. So music is digital by nature - you can really code it. And once you have this code, you can translate it into architecture, literature, or different creative fields.

You travel a lot. What kind of places tend to stay with you long after you leave?

First, the places where you eat well - or at least the places where you eat badly. Those are the ones you remember.

I have some issues with certain northern cuisines where they use butter instead of olive oil. That's where I'm out. Without going into specifics, anywhere around the Mediterranean feels like home to me.

I also find Asia incredibly powerful. I've had a long relationship with Japan, but more recently Southeast Asia, China, and Hong Kong have really fascinated me. I think the future is in Asia—that's where many of the new dynamics are emerging.

And maybe South America as well, although I have a little less experience there. Those are the places that tend to stay with me. 

Francesco Tristano in front of the series "Mondrian in The Logging" by Krassimir Terziev, DOT Sofia. Photo: Daniel Dimitrov

At DOT Sofia, we're surrounded by contemporary visual art through the DOT Sofia Art Collection. What defines the role of a contemporary artist today, and what do you find most challenging?

Well, what defines it is also the same thing that makes it the most challenging: finding your own voice.

If you want to be taken seriously as a relevant artist, you cannot be a simulation, an emulation, or a copy of someone or something that already exists. You have to find your own voice - or, in my case, my own sound.

I've been trying to define it for many years, and I'm still working on it. But I think great contemporary art, at least for me, is something that immediately feels like a very personal, unique voice.

This is very different from art in the past, when there was what we call a common practice. Artists were often trying to fit into the style of a given society, time, or period. Today, it's different. You can still do that, of course, but for me, that's where art loses its relevance.

If two artists present work that is too similar, then one of them inevitably becomes less interesting than the other.

DOT Sofia is often described as a quiet oasis in the heart of Old Sofia. What does comfort and relaxation look like for you?

Comfort and relaxation...

I've come to the conclusion that there are two kinds of hotels. It's a rather radical way of looking at it.

The first kind is the one where you open the door to your room and immediately think, "I want to leave." Maybe you're staying for one night, two nights, or even a week, but your first impression is already telling you that you don't want to be there.

The second kind is the one where you open the door and think, "I want to stay here."

This hotel definitely belongs to the second category.

I've been on tour for several days now, and it's refreshing because, honestly, most hotels make me want to leave. I'm not staying in particularly luxurious places, and luxury isn't really what matters to me. It's not about having the most luxurious hotel - it's about the feeling.

When you brought me to my room last night, I opened the door and immediately thought, "Okay, this is a place where I want to stay." I'm actually happy to spend a second night here.

Last week I was changing hotels every day, and almost all of them made me think, "I don't want to stay here. I just want to get my work done and leave." This one is different.

Here I can relax. It's a place where you actually want to stay. You can enjoy the different spaces, and the environment itself invites you to slow down. I don't even know if there's a fitness room - I went for my run anyway- but the atmosphere is what makes the difference.

And then there's the art. Being surrounded by contemporary art is something very special. It feels as though your room is inside an art gallery, and that's definitely an added value.
Francesco Tristano at DOT Sofia. Photo: Daniel Dimitrov  

You bring Bach into conversation with the present. What's the secret behind Bach & Beyond?

Well, it's about creating a contemporary context for Bach's music.

Bach works on many different levels. You can have an almost spiritual experience by going to a church in Leipzig - St. Thomas Church, where Bach worked - and hearing a Baroque orchestra perform on period instruments, following a historically informed approach. That's one experience, and it's completely legitimate. It can be incredibly moving, and I very much enjoy listening to historically informed performances and recordings of Bach's music.

My approach is very different. I perform on instruments that didn't exist in Bach's time, whether it's the piano or the synthesizer - neither of them existed then.

I place Bach's music alongside my own compositions, or the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto and other contemporary composers. It's a conversation on a very personal level - a dialogue between Bach and the present.

In a way, it's about giving his music a contemporary context, allowing it to continue speaking to audiences today.