Greetings,
I now have e-mail and it has a spell checker But I still cannot get the pigeon`s beak out of that USB thingy. maybe it has avian flu.
Cheers,
Buri
11 replies | Archive link
Greetings,
is it just me, or is this panic about swine flue basically a load of old cobblers? People get flue. They almost always get better....unless they are in a poor country. Maybe we should just adress the issue of poor countries instead?
In the meantime an example of one of the greatets prodigies of the 20c- Ida Haendel. Began violin at age three. Won the gold medal at the Polsih Academy at age er, seven....
Check out the documentary on youtube Some of the most breathtaking violin playing you could wish for (esp La Folia, Poeme and Brahms concerto). Not a sacharinne player by any means but incredibnly gutsy and dignified at the same time. Interesting she uses two adjusters from way back. The down side I suppose is she came across to me as about as lonely as a person can get.
Keep in mind she is still travelling around banging out amazing concerts at goodness knows what age!
Cheers,
Buri
23 replies | Archive link
Greetings,
just a quick blog bfore the weekend vote blows it out of the water. (Laurie- how about `If you had to choose between Kreutzer or the complete works of sevcik with no other options which would it be?)
As Dottie noted in response ot my previous blog, this youtube stuff can get you into the deep doo-doo of addiction. Some quickies then. If you have`t heard of Philip Hirshorn then it`s time. A major competition winner when that meant something who was highly respected by Kogan. He basically went into teaching (Janine Jansen is one of his pupils) and died way too young. Wonderful sound, extraordinary bowing technique- faster than average stroke. Bit like Heifetz in that respect. I can hear a litlte bit of nervous tension in his playing as an internal rather than physical issue) which is becoming to me a littl e bit of a sign of a talent that tend s to burn up the owner . (Cf Hassid) Listen especially to his Geminiani and Lekeu sonata.
Of all the versions of Meditation by Thais I do not believe any version (not even the awesome Milstein) comes close to Kreisler. He owns this piec e and the recording I heard on you tube was him at his absolute best. If all this emotion and sentiment is putting you over the edge its time to calm down with some very honest and beautiful playing by Joachim. Playing Romanze in c, presumably his own composition? something of great integrity and value in his playing, I think.
Happy Listening,
Buri
4 replies | Archive link
Greetings,
just a quick blog to highlight some highlights of my youtubing.
Started out looking for Toscha Seidel. One of the most highly rated of Auer`s greats he actually left the solo field to pursue work in the film industry so recordings are in fairly short supply. This is actually rather a shame. To my ears he has one of the most beautiful, rich violin sounds -ever- It`s just so rich and resonant it could stop a charging buffalo in its tracks. Its coupled with a very accurate technique. Why did he not have the same legendary career as Heifetz? I am a little in agreement with some critics who have said his playing was just a little lacking the last one millionth percent of fluid nuance that characterises the truly immortal artists. If you like, ther e is just a slight absence of variety in his sound and approach. However, any violnist who has not heard this extraordinary playing and sound is missing out on something really special. I tried cross comparisns of performance of Traumerie to see how things stood. Elman was of course famous for his extraordinary sound but I think Seidel beats him hands down. Elman allows more indivduality and experimentation in his playing as per my orignal reservation. Went to a modern recording by one of my favorite artists- Joshua Bell. Unfortunately, the live performance available sound rather thin and uninspired in comparison with the previous recordings so just for a laugh I thought I`d go for a piano version. That was Horowitz in his last performance in Moscow which I heard about twenty five years ago. It is so beautiful you can feel the emotions of the audience suspended in the stratosphere. Some of the greatest music making one could wish for. If you are going to play Traumerie then listening to Horowitz is a must. He was Schumann personfied. It`s almost painful!
Then I starting thinking about how many Russian violinists said they were profoundly influenced by the singer Chaliapin so I went to his recording from Don Quixote. This is a sound I have never heard before and don`t expect to hear live again. It`s a force of nature that comes out of the very bowels of the earth and suspends all sense of reality . At that moment I understand precisely what Milstein et al felt when they saw him. In MIlstein`s autobiography he describes a strange sickness he suffered after hearing Chaliapin-an overdose of art. I can believe it.
I was in the singing arena so I though I`d jump to a Lotte Lehmann masterclass. If you want a demonstration of how not to do it here it is. A young artist sang a song by Brahms. Lehneman stood said `let me show you` and then sang it all the way through again. End of story. Mmmmm.......
Finally I felt like a look at an artist I do`t usually listen to that much- Issac Stern. His playing of a Mozart piano and violin sonata is absolutely wonderful. Exemplary musicianship, technique , taste, bow control. I have to say that I have yet to see any of today`s players get that close to just flawless Mozart and music although I have heard Hilary Hahn live come close. The sheer bow control was awesome. What I did miss a litlte in his playing was the way someone like Milstein (a maste rof Mozart for me) occasionally used a more luminous or tranparent tone color. Stern has a huge range of expression but his palette does tend to avoid the ocasisonal watercolor. The hues are very solid.
Hope there is something here of interest to someone. If not go back to Monty Python.
Cheers,
Buri.
7 replies | Archive link
Greetings,
now I have a new computer I have been abusing youtube to the extent I feel like writing a `three picks of the week.`
The interesting thing I have found is that it can be very illuminating to keep switching quite rapidly between player s in the same piece. Of course I have to be polite about Hilary because she used my Schoenburger neoligism but really she comes out time and time again as one of the most beautiful sounding and perfect player s of today. And not in any boring sense. Its a very subtle thing but I am more and more impressed with her all the time. So go for her Mozart four. She`s gone her own way with phrasing and articulation, often quite smooth compared to the born again baroquers but its just awesome.
The only other player who i find really comparable in Mozart is Mr. Vengerov playing Mozart two. That is so beautiful. It reminds me that in one of his master classes he compares the opening chord of Mozart three to the first big d major cruncher in the Tchaik and notes how they have to have different colors. That every composition has to have its own unique color. His sound is Mozart as perfect as one could wish for.
The third item is a real prize. It actually shook my view of the Beethoven concerto quite considerably. Joshua Bell, no conducter and the Orpheus orchestra. My first reaction was the tempo was too fast for my taste. But that quickly disappeared when I notice d the reduce size of the band created an amazing transparency and I could hear very beautifully worked out dynamic contrast and articulations in the opening that one doesn`t normally get. This is real subtle. Bell comes in and for a second it almost seems causal and uncommitted as he plays through rapidly and cleanly with no big rubatos or gestures. Then you just realize its simply egoless and unaffected. he sees the opening and indeed the whole work as a complete organic whole in which there just happens to be a lone fiddler adding some extra twiddly bits. Its so well integrated, so right and so different from how one traditionally sees the greats play it- perfect chamber music.(and its in tune. ) Learn a lot from this one.
Having done with these three you would be well advised to watch Monty Python Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no1. No comment needed.
Cheers,
Buri
4 replies | Archive link
5 replies | Archive link
Cheers,
Buri
14 replies | Archive link
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