Nicola Benedetti/Alexei Grynyuk lunchtime recital

[gradus]

Just caught up with this very romantic performance of Brahms first violin sonata, quite the slowest first movt I've heard, almost stopping in places, so different to the performance given by the Ibragimova and Thebergien partnership a few months back.
But my word, what an inspired piece and how good to hear it played by these younger generation artists.
Not yet heard the Beethoven.

[Nick Armstrong]

Just caught up with this very romantic performance of Brahms first violin sonata, quite the slowest first movt I've heard, almost stopping in places, so different to the performance given by the Ibragimova and Thebergien partnership a few months back.
But my word, what an inspired piece and how good to hear it played by these younger generation artists.
Not yet heard the Beethoven.

I began a longish drive as this recital began on the radio, and was very pleasantly surprised. Apart from the odd strange note (what is it called when a string player seems to catch a fistful of harmonics instead of a pure note?) it sounded good stuff to my untutored ear. Not as good as the concert which began when I arrived on the M1 however, about which I shall post separately.

[Ventilhorn]

I began a longish drive as this recital began on the radio, and was very pleasantly surprised. Apart from the odd strange note (what is it called when a string player seems to catch a fistful of harmonics instead of a pure note?) it sounded good stuff to my untutored ear. Not as good as the concert which began when I arrived on the M1 however, about which I shall post separately.

Very discreetly put, Caliban.

Did you ever consider taking up law as a profession?

VH

[Ariosto]

As usual on here at least I'm going to be the odd one out. (Well, not quite, more in a minute)

I did think the pinaist was excellent, and had lots of colours and new ideas about the music.

Unfortunately though, it was spoilt by that rather bad fiddler. Very unmusical, samey sort of playing, with that awful nasal sound. I rate her about grade VIII ASBRM.*

I'm certainly not the odd one out though, because my wife thought she was pretty dreadful, and then last night I bumped into the second fiddle in my quartet at the Wigmore, and as soon as I mentioned her he said he hated her playing.

I never could understand why she got any further after the YM competition. She is plainly not up to much.

*Maybe an exageration but she shouldn't be doing solo work, rather she should be in the second fiddles in a provincial band.

[Ventilhorn]

As usual on here at least I'm going to be the odd one out. (Well, not quite, more in a minute)

I did think the pinaist was excellent, and had lots of colours and new ideas about the music.

Unfortunately though, it was spoilt by that rather bad fiddler. Very unmusical, samey sort of playing, with that awful nasal sound. I rate her about grade VIII ASBRM.*

I'm certainly not the odd one out though, because my wife thought she was pretty dreadful, and then last night I bumped into the second fiddle in my quartet at the Wigmore, and as soon as I mentioned her he said he hated her playing.

I never could understand why she got any further after the YM competition. She is plainly not up to much.

*Maybe an exageration but she shouldn't be doing solo work, rather she should be in the second fiddles in a provincial band.

Totally agree, old chap.

Remember my post on the BBC MBs 3 years ago?

"NB has a lot to learn"

Well, she hasn't, has she?

VH

[Nick Armstrong]

As usual on here at least I'm going to be the odd one out. (Well, not quite, more in a minute)

I did think the pinaist was excellent, and had lots of colours and new ideas about the music.

Unfortunately though, it was spoilt by that rather bad fiddler. Very unmusical, samey sort of playing, with that awful nasal sound. I rate her about grade VIII ASBRM.*

I'm certainly not the odd one out though, because my wife thought she was pretty dreadful, and then last night I bumped into the second fiddle in my quartet at the Wigmore, and as soon as I mentioned her he said he hated her playing.

I never could understand why she got any further after the YM competition. She is plainly not up to much.

*Maybe an exageration but she shouldn't be doing solo work, rather she should be in the second fiddles in a provincial band.

So what do you call those bum notes I mentioned (try and keep it clean, Ari ! ) - the ones that sound a bit like a clarinet squawk ?

[Alison]

Come on Ariosto -

you're supposed to fancy her !!

I've never forgotten the Ulster Tchaikovsky under Maestro Montgomery .....

[Ventilhorn]

Come on Ariosto -

you're supposed to fancy her !!

I've never forgotten the Ulster Tchaikovsky under Maestro Montgomery .....

My sympathy, Alison.

I didn't know that you suffered from nightmares.

VH

[Ariosto]

Well I did fancy her, and I probably still would if she left her fiddle at home.

But her Tchaik, or at least the one I heard, I think on TV in New Zealand, was about the worst I've heard, barring young students attempting it.*

If you want to hear the best Tchaik ever in my opinion, listen to David Oistrakh with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ormandy on Essential Classics SBK 46339 (Sony Classical).

*So I agree with VH!!

[Persephone]

I thought her Brahms was dreadful- it was so very slow and lugubrious that it totally lacked coherence and vitality. The dynamic choices were non-sensical and her tone was so thin it destroyed any potential for any rich depth of sonority that one expects from this work. A great shame.

[Ariosto]

I thought her Brahms was dreadful- it was so very slow and lugubrious that it totally lacked coherence and vitality. The dynamic choices were non-sensical and her tone was so thin it destroyed any potential for any rich depth of sonority that one expects from this work. A great shame.

Nice to have someone else with perception and critical faculties!! Welcome!!

[Ventilhorn]

I thought her Brahms was dreadful- it was so very slow and lugubrious that it totally lacked coherence and vitality. The dynamic choices were non-sensical and her tone was so thin it destroyed any potential for any rich depth of sonority that one expects from this work. A great shame.

A great shame that was simply inevitable.

When I posted a thread "Nicola Benedetti has a lot to learn" three years ago, I was howled down by other message boarders, but it gives me no pleasure to say that my fears were not unfounded.

I saw a post from Waldhorn a few days ago, praising the performance of the Delius violin concerto by the late Ralph Holmes; who sadly died of a brain tumour when he was really at his prime.
But my memory of Ralph goes back to 1949 when, at the age of 13, he played the Mendelssohn concerto with the RPO and was hailed as a child prodigy. However, his teacher, David Martin, kept a watchful eye on him through a full course at the Royal Academy of Music; where I remember him giving a sparkling account of the Saint Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

However, in 1959, we were chatting and he said to me "You know, I've been basking under the mantle of a boy wonder; but I'm 23 now and I can no longer claim that advantage. I'm in with the big boys now and I have to compete on level terms. I've gone back almost to the beginning on bow technique and there are still gaps in my musical understanding. David (Martin) has been most supportive but I realise that a lot of it is down to me."

If only Miss Benedetti had been so aware. She allowed herself to fall into the clutches of agents and concert promoters at too early an age and the result is all too obvious. There is no way that she has the maturity and musical understanding to play Brahms sonatas - and certainly not the Brahms concerto and I fear that she has now "missed the boat"

I can't see her becoming another Julia Fischer or Tasmin Little, let alone Ida Haendel or Gioconda da Vito, and it is a great pity.

Ventilhorn

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Many thanks for mentioning Ralph Holmes, Vh. He was a fine artist and greatly undervalued by "the Companies": the Delius (Concerto and Sonatas) recordings seem to be all that's generally available - there was also a terrific Tchaikovsky Concerto, originally made for a magazine series, that occasionally pops up, but which doesn't appear to be around at the moment.

I treasure the memory of a concert in which he played the Beethoven Concerto with the BBC Northern under Raymond Leppard: emerging from the Tutti in which he played along with the orchestra, following the conductor's beat and the Leader's bowings.

A sad loss to Music making.

[Panjandrum]

A great shame that was simply inevitable.

When I posted a thread "Nicola Benedetti has a lot to learn" three years ago, I was howled down by other message boarders, but it gives me no pleasure to say that my fears were not unfounded.

If only Miss Benedetti had been so aware. She allowed herself to fall into the clutches of agents and concert promoters at too early an age and the result is all too obvious. There is no way that she has the maturity and musical understanding to play Brahms sonatas - and certainly not the Brahms concerto and I fear that she has now "missed the boat"

I can't see her becoming another Julia Fischer or Tasmin Little, let alone Ida Haendel or Gioconda da Vito, and it is a great pity.

Ventilhorn

Have you seen the charts lately?

[Ariosto]

Who gives a toss about the charts. They just represent what a lot of cloth eared idiots think.

It comes down to the fact that professional players have hugely higher standards than others.

You can all scream as much as you like, but it won't change my mind.