November 2005

Juries ... from the other side of the table

November 15, 2005 08:08

Yesterday was my first time being a jurymember. This week there is a local competition in the town my parents live and I am adjudicating all rounds. For the first at the other end of the table. I like playing better. It is so difficult. The kids ranged yesterday in age from 6 through 18 and I mainly heard piano. Some of them had only half a year lessons, others were already well on their way preparing for a possible future job in music.
But they all one thing in common. I was so intensely moved by every person. I find it so special that these kids are persuing classical music. One 14 year old flutist was asked in the little interview that was held with every candidate what his classmates thought of him playing the flute. He told the audience they admired him for it. Who said anything about classical music dying among the children?

Next week I am playing as a member of Amsterdam Sinfonietta. I just got a mail from them about a project where they are going to bring classical music into the class room. All these initiatives are so great.

In the Netherlands you can not learn to play an instrument at your primary or high school, just as we don't offer sports at school in a way that is being done in the US. Therefor you could say that classical music is maybe not everywhere in Holland geographically represented. BEcause there are still the more upscale beighbourhoods (read Westchester) where it is very normal for children to go to musiclessons, play hockey (I am going to get in trouble with a lot of Dutch people). However, both these projects, the one of the orchestra (innercity) as well as the competition (suburbs, read New Jersey) (more trouble now I think) are at places where it is not so cool to be a classical musician. I used to get into trouble for it, quite a bit at my primary school. But these kids yesterday played with their heart and soul. I really applaud them for that. Every single one of them moved me.

Only one of every age category can move to the next round. There are threee different categories. Immediately we had a close one with the younger ones: only 0.1 point difference. Since I am the only judge adjudicating all selection rounds, I get to decide on 3 extra people for the finals on saturday. I wanted this girl to go on badly, I felt so bad about ).1 points. However then I immediately got into another problem that evening: the oldest agecategory had a ex aequo and officially only one could pass to the finals. It is an impossible task. Luckily I was able to decide right then and there that they both got to play in the finals. But my generally quite not compromising opinion on juries has completely changed. I now know first hand how difficult this is and how difficult it is to make good decisions. I just want these kids to have fun and want this to be an inspiration to work harder and enjoy themselves more. I hope that will come through. Impossible to do.... but also very rewarding to see these kids play.

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"Bewitched by Flemming"

November 6, 2005 15:57

Today was going to be another day in the life of a violinist. It is a beautiful fall in The Netherlands, cool air and beautiful skies and that special way the sun shines in the fall that gives everything that fairytale like color, like the trees in the Vondelpark (Amsterdam's Central Park)
So biking this afternoon through the park on my way was enough to be already thankful. But the whole afternoon I got to work on Brahms 2nd and Tzigane (and I can tell you there are not many pianists who play Tzigane by heart!!!) and it was an absolute treat. His Swiss girlfriend invited me to dinner and since a long time I ate a nice dinner with my favorite "nüsslisalat". So when you think you have a pretty good day and you think you are going home and on my bike passing the Concertgebouw thinking let's see if there are tickets for the concert tonight and you get to go for 7.50 Euros to a recital of Renee Fleming, it is one of those days, you know are a gift from God.

Because what I heard tonight was from another world. Here I was sitting, second row on the balcony, watching this Lady descend the famous stairs, in a beautiful creation, probably from Dior or something. And then she opens her mouth... goosebumps. Purcell at its best. I could hear every letter, every little detail, an articulation we string players can only dream of. And that with a charisma, this woman bewitched about 1500 people at once.
Then all of a sudden George Crumb. The pianist was excellent in the Purcell, so excellent, you did not really notice him, but in Crumb - Apparition - he was there. As usual the piano was not just a keyboard, put it was a whole universe of sounds, playing kind of pizz. in the instrument, knocking, making glissandi like a harp. And with that a voice that had her glissandos times like no other. After the break were Alban Berg's Altenberg Lieder and Previn's "The Giraffes go to Hamburg"with Alto-Flute. Here again the acoustics of the hall could be admired, I could not here sometimes where the piano stopped and the Flute began. At the end we were all treated with Schumann Lieder. If I could only find a way to play the violin like that. It was so human. You could here the laughter, the sadness, all ranges of emotions in her voice without ever compromising her tone! Which ofcourse reminded me about the thousand times Mr. Perlman has told me NEVER means loosing bowing contact. Now I understand, it's like a singer trying to sing but the air escapes through a whole in their throat.
I am in seventh heaven. I know what my scale practising tomorrow will be about. Articulation, phrasing and tone. Because that's what makes the difference.

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More entries: March 2006 • October 2005

November 2005

Juries ... from the other side of the table

"Bewitched by Flemming"

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