July 2006
Video of me playing....
July 25, 2006 08:40
Well im halfway through my holiday in Australia, the time has gone so quick! Ive managed to get out and do lots of stuff, and still do plenty of practicing. Not having to do any work is so relaxing! Im really enjoying the Vieuxtemps concerto no2 that I found. My playing has shot through the roof because im so chilled out at the minuite. Also I have got acess to broadband which is why I've been so active on here lately. My Auntie took a video of me playing guitar which I thought was pretty cool, I registered on youtube and put it up. Have a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1YY58dBWDw
next up will be some violin playing, I promise.
Enjoy!
2 replies
Concert review, journo at work :)
July 12, 2006 09:30
Wow. Octaves are hard. I thought that my technique had survived my recent holiday attitude, but it seems that my octaves havent. Darn. Maybe if I dont practice anything at all all day, I should just go up and down the fingerboard in chromatic octaves to keep my hand frame in. Anyway enough whinging, I want to write a review on the concert I just attended.
Australian Chamber Orchestra with guest director Anthony Marwood. English violinist, who recently won a best instrumentalist university prize. They played Barbers string quartet in Bm (the one with the famous adagio), Medelssohn Dm concerto, and Beethovens C# minor quartet. The barber was really beautiful, very dynamic playing, flawless ensemble and great purity of sound and intonation. It was a fairly small group of players, but the sound was very focussed and resonant. The Dm concerto was particularly impressive, Mr Marwood's tone was pure, flowing and varied. The tempo was very brisk and daring, but there was not a hint of rushed fingers, and once again the ensemble was flawless. The work is a really cheeky piece, the solo figuration is distinctly classical but with a hint of flashiness to it. Mendelssohn wrote it when he was 13, which beggars belief. Very nice little concerto indeed (barely 20 mins)!
Onto the Beethoven, which is a piece I love so much. I have the Alban Berg Quartet's live recording of this, which is unbelievably good. So the ACO had a lot to live up to! Not surprisingly I found the playing to be a bit flat, there was hardly any changes of character from movement to movement, and I though that the tempis could have been a bit more diverse. I would have liked a bit more vibrato in the first movement, at times it sounded very bare and almost as if you had put the score into a computer. The last movement picked up a bit, although the brisk tempo did waver in places. Also I though that they could have been more daring in the sul ponticello section. But the playing had much more fire towards the end. The overall technique and ensemble in the concert was brilliant, just for me I think a bit more phrasing and details in the Beethoven would have topped it off. But overall it was very good.
Ok more octaves/ torture
Happy happy holidays!
July 8, 2006 03:07Hi everyone, its a long time since I have been on this website due to the fact that my computer has been down. But I am now on holiday visiting relatives in the beautiful city of Perth, Australia, and they have broadband so here I am! It is winter here so it gets dark really early, its not even 6 oclock yet and its pitch black. Today I went to the beach with my uncle and saw lots of surfers, I think there was some kind of event on because it was really busy. The weather here is lovely, its about 22-24 with a nice breeze and hardly a cloud in the sky. If we get a day like that in england everyone rejoices but it seems to be like that every day here. Its great! Today I practiced my violin for the first time since monday, which is the most time that I have had off from playing probably since I started the instrument. It didnt feel much different really, but I suppose it will catch up with me if I dont do some more work soon. I only played Czardas, I need to do some work on Bach and Mozart soon though if im serious about putting a recital on. But id rather go down and swim in the sea! Haha. But with no teaching commitments for 9 weeks, hopefully I might be able to do both. Australia kicks ass!
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