Comments

Half the time she comes out in curlers and a bathrobe! You were lucky. Are you serious, or just being sarcastic? (sarcasm often gets lost via email :) curlers, bathrobe, smoking a cigarette, and carrying a magazine! why should her appearance make such a difference? surely her performance should be about the music and not her personal sense of style or how she holds herself. she's not a model, getting paid to be a clotheshorse. Hi Natasha,

I agree with Cora.
I, too, heard her play a week or two ago, and was very impressed. I actually very much liked her care-free attitude. It made me focus entirely on the music, and that's what I sensed her performance was entirely about. I loved how intensely immersed she was in the Shostakovitch and what respect she had for the orchestra players (she played WITH them) and the music itself.

Thank you for your review,
Miwa

To be honest, I have to agree with C & M too. Maybe for different reasons. I enjoy a little contrast and cognitive dissonance sometimes. I'm pretty guilty of falling for fairly feminine women, but having just read her website, I gotta say she seems pretty cool.

Her playing is obviously beyond question, but I have not seen her perform. Maybe I will be put off, but she seems like a real firecracker.... not afraid of the "f word" so to speak.

I find her flippancy distracting from the music. That is why I suggest one listen to her with eyes closed. It is not that I want violinists to be models, I just think that they should look nice when they get on stage.
Of course, we all have different opinions. I just like to express my thoughts, and I love to hear what you all think. You're not the only one that finds such behavior distracting. My teacher often complains about modern performers and the way they throw themselves around on stage.

If you're performing in the dark, you don't have to worry about how you look.

If you're performing on stage, your stage presence is all part of the show, and is arguably just as important as the music when it comes to the audience's enjoyment of the performance.

Look at the popularity of someone like Andre Rieu and then tell me that showmanship doesn't matter! :)

Thank you Patty!