Tetzlaff Switch Hitter?
Hi everyone,
I attended a recent concert at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Phil. Soloing that night was Christian Tetzlaff playing Shostakovich 1. As some of you may know, there was a change to the original program that night due to Esa Pekka Salonen's health (he pulled out at the last minute due to back problems). Originally Tetzlaff was to perform the Szymanowski which I would have loved to hear. Perhaps another time.
In any case Tetzlaff played with the music on a stand— but the truly noteable thing was that he had a second bow resting on the shelf below the music. Sure enough, he switched bows between the 2nd and 3rd movement, and then switched again between the 3rd and the 4th. I've actually been fortunate enough to see him perform several times over the past few years, but never saw him switch bows during a performance. In fact I've never known anyone to do so in the middle of a piece.
Do any of you out there know what bows he actually performs with? I know he endorses Arcus, but does he really play with them? Do any of you have any idea why he switched bows? Here is a picture that accompanied a NYT review. I'll also try to attach a link to the review.
www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/arts/music/16phil.html
Replies (25)
Oh, this isn't about what I thought it was going to be about. :-\
That's a great idea though -- if you've got 2 great bows, and the piece (or rather your performance of it) could benefit from a quick switch, why not do it?
Although it could be a slippery slope from there to "I'll be right back, I can't play the Adagio in this dress." :-P
In terms of carrying power his Greiner easily soared over the orchestra. I was in row J center so not in a good place to judge how well it carried to the back of that cavernous Avery Fisher Hall. Over the past couple of years I was in the market for a new fiddle and went to the trouble to try out Mr. Greiner's instruments because of their reputation, part of which was due to Tetzlaff's endorsement. It was a fantastic instrument, incredibly responsive and powerful. I ended up going a different direction due to the price (~$44k at the time if I remember correctly), and because physically it seemed a little broad in the upper bout making it difficult for my small hands to handle high positions on the G string.
As for the quality of his sound, I always find his playing lean with incredible clarity. Unfortunately for my taste, in the Shostakovich this lead to an overly edgy sound. His movements were if anything larger than I've seen in the past which did prove to be a minor distraction. His commitment to his music making and his ability to convey that to the audience remains superlative. He received 4 rounds of standing ovations after which he played an encore.
Perhaps he was shopping for a new bow and couldn't decide which he liked better :)
Chris - Thanks for the first hand informations!
Daryl - Hahaha good one! Who knows if he did?
Interesting!
What strikes me as odd is that he switched bows for the third movement but not the first. The writing in the second and fourth movements is so agressive and percussive that I can see a concert artist wanting something more like a E.A. Ouchard or Sartory to get enough power and articulation, in contrast with Peccatte, Tourte, Voirin, etc. for a warmer sound in the slow movements. But why for the third and not the first as well?
Schostakovich concerto is not my favorite but I do love the lovely slower (3rd?) Mvt. Perhaps he changed his bow for this one? Maybe he has an "heavier" bow for the aggressive parts?
Interesting,
Anne-Marie
I think it makes sense to have different bows for different things. In having one type of multi-purpose bow there are bound to be compromises. Isn't way we play with one bow for everything a bit like a golfer having one club for all types of shots?
To some extent, Chris, but you're never going to see a pianist switch pianos during a concerto performance!
interesting. Was in orchestra backing up Nadja S. S. about 10 years ago, and she brought on two bows for this very same concerto. I can't recall the exact moment when she switched, but she did indeed switch every night, and it wasn't because she broke the 1st one (or too many hairs to wrench out). She must have had a strategic reason.
I can't help but wonder if the Passacaglia is so sprawling and alone, a violinist might wish for a different bow here - dunno.
I wouldn't even discount the possibility that he was test-running bows, and wanted to do the testing in the realest of real situations. The mind, the nerves, the air, the body are sort of at a constant, and trying out two bows under these circumstances, although brave!, could be a very honest and revealing way of finding things out.
David
Greetings,
but then he shoudl have told the audienc en advance and asked their opinion at theend That would also have ensured increased attention and less coughing...
Cheers,
Buri
Good idea, Buri!
Maybe the rental time of one bow expired right then so he ha to use one whose rental or lease time had not expired yet. : )
Bow Idol:)
Is there any col legno in the Shostakovich? Everytime we get col legno in the orchestra everyone goes off to change their bow as well.
Greetings,
that`s why its called col legno. Comes from the Latin `Colin, leggit for yer cheap bow.`
Cheers,
Buri
So those movements with col legno will never sound good due to everybody using inferior quality bow, lol.
Yes, it's an elementary composition rule; only write col legno if you want player(s) to use their worst bow for that movement.
Greetings,
you guys never seem to do your homework. At some time during the classcial period a certain composer who shall be nameless wanted the effect of pounding feet and cases being hurriedly opned and closed for a scene in an opera in which a husband pursues a an unfaithful wife and consort who have to flee hurriedly from their motel room. It took too much space to write the direction in detail so she just wrote `col legno` knowing it would achieve te desired effect.
Cheers,
Buri
Great review, btw, (and great pic of him). Wish they would have mentioned more about the two bows, however. Very interesting topic.
I had the pleasure of hearing Tetzlaff twice with the Vienna Philharmonic recently playing Szymanowsky´s Violin Concerto. On this occasion I asked him about using the two bows in the Shostakovich.
He used his Pecatte and his Arcus bows and said that Pecatte did not make his bows for the more powerful passages in the two movements in which he used the Arcus. This one performs this wild stuff really well. For the calmer movements he prefers the Pecatte. Makes sense.
Best, Hans
The joy of finally getting an intelligent answer in a discussion:
"He used his Pecatte and his Arcus bows and said that Pecatte did not make his bows for the more powerful passages in the two movements in which he used the Arcus. This one performs this wild stuff really well. For the calmer movements he prefers the Pecatte."
I find wooden bow does give more sweeter and colorful sound than the Arcus especially when doing softer passages, though doesn't mean Arcus cannot produce as good result but good wood will naturally give you this ability. Recently after I fixed my bow hold and suddenly it released the potential of the Arcus, and it really is something entire different world that you can do very loud passages and yet remained very focused and clear.
Arcus is a truly wonderful bow!
Maybe not the same concert, but it's play the same piece of music. You can hear the clear differences between 2 bows...
Peccate:
Arcus:
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May 21, 2009 at 06:08 AM ·
I never seen soloist changing bow between movements either, but I'd really like to know that:
1. What do you think about the sound he produced and how the sound carry over the orchestra? Since he's famous for ditching his strad and play a contemporary Peter Greiner, and I know big part of the sound is the player himself but I'm just curious.
2. He's also one of the Arcus bow user, but from the photo (and other video clips) I guess he didn't use Arcus all the time. I'm too an Arcus bow owner, but I'm starting to go back to wooden bow nowadays due to some funny phenomenon, and swtich between them for different style of music.