Stephen Fine

I wonder... she didn't play the premiere. It was a birthday present for her, but I don't know more than that.

He quit work on it to finish the 3rd Piano Concerto. I've always held a bit of a grudge that he finished a 3rd piano concerto instead of doing his homework for the viola concerto. I think most people agree that the Viola Concerto has some problems. That's what makes this performance holding together so impressive.

They posted Tabea Zimmermann and Frankfurt playing Bartók (from October 2023) onto YouTube and it is so excellent. The Bartók Concerto is heard so often in the viola world, but seldom do I find it particularly intelligible (my own performance most of all). It's got some good tunes, but I've never come close to feeling like I was doing it justice. It's like Mozart in that way... always further to go, requiring extremely transparent technique. Meanwhile, unlike Mozart, the music is somewhat opaque at times. Zimmermann has sat atop the viola world with a few others for 40 years now... such an amazing career. This is a remarkable performance.

If you find a good dependable location you can definitely make decent money busking for an hour or two. I love the story Pearls Before Breakfast about Joshua Bell busking.

The other cheaper carbon fiber bows have caught up to the CodaBows, yes. You should at least try a couple in a head-to-head matchup.

I don't think I could've ever imagined that I'd still be posting on Maestronet. This place has done a good job of sticking around.

Thanks. I'll do some more score study on the Franck. Good advice. I've given it a couple listens with the score now taking notes and, unfortunately, I haven't cracked the code yet. Compared to the Dvořák there's less to grab onto. I love some of the things he does with harmony and that's about it. Rue, the Franck Piano Quintet in f is an absolutely gargantuan piano part and I am just about at the level of a beginner on piano despite my decades of plunking. (The famous story is that Saint-Saëns had such a bad time at the premiere that he stormed off stage after it was finished without acknowledging the applause or accepting the score as a gift even though the piece was dedicated to him.) I will be sticking with the viola as per my usual. There are a couple little moments of viola fun in the Franck, but it's not like the Dvořák which is one of the biggest and best viola parts in the whole Romantic repertoire. Here's a pretty bananas lineup playing the Franck:

I have to learn Franck Piano Quintet for a concert in a week or so. We're also playing Dvořák, but I know that one pretty well.

While we're having fun: Here's Wolfsthal playing in 1925: Some interesting moments of rubato here (less than 100 years from the death of Beethoven). And I think most of us are familiar with this gem from 99 years after Beethoven. Man... this is so nice. In the old days, Toscha would mention some obscure recording and I'd have to hunt it down by mail order or at a library. Nowadays I can just post a YouTube link to whatever the heck amazing Beethoven recording I want. It's an embarrassment of riches. OK, OK, only one more... from the man the myth* the legend*: *literally... not that he's not one of the greatest to ever play, but he's just one among the greatest. He was in the right place at the right time.

Are you familiar with the Huberman recording of Beethoven? One of my favorite early recordings. I think Beethoven is a much showier musical persona than Brahms, yes. But, also, a concerto is a much showier musical event than a sonata. I feel like in the concerto she demonstrates real sensitivity in the way she plays duos with the woodwind solos, but she also often feels wild and improvisatory in the way that I imagine Beethoven played himself. By all accounts, hearing Beethoven improvise at the piano was an extraordinary experience. Brahms was a perfectionist without Beethoven's overwhelming confidence. You are very close to understanding my point I think. While they were geniuses both, it is more important that they were in the right place at the right time.

My friend Lisa is a very creative thinker about anything related to movement, impairment, and violin playing. If your friend wants professional help along these lines, I suggest contacting Lisa Burrell: https://lisaburrellviolin.com I've seen professional players with injuries use large rubber bands in various arrangements. I've played in a brace before. But I just about guarantee that your friend would enjoy and benefit from a consultation with Lisa.

There's the composer (sometimes). The editor (the person you're thinking about). And the engraver who actually sets it on the page. A piece by Kreisler is likely to have some Kreisler fingerings, but unless the composer is a famous violinist, it's likely the editor made any fingering decisions.

It makes sense to me for people to have extreme opinions on Kopatchinskaja. Even negative opinions make some sense to me. But, she's so revered, has had such a long, respected career at this point... she doesn't need my defense of her. The tastemakers have spoken, long ago. Her style isn't for everyone, but there's no denying she's got it. I just love the clarity of her phrasing, the drama of her musical ideas, her technical control... I don't think calling her expression a caricature is right, but it's close to what I could imagine a person could think about how she plays. I think she's an artist closer to Glenn Gould or John Eliot Gardiner. Someone with a powerful vision. My other favorite Beethoven is that spectacular recording by Viktoria Mullova with Gardiner and the ORR from 2006. Here's some of my favorite Beethoven by Gould:

I can understand Kopatchinskaja coming across the way. To my ears she runs all the way up to the line of bad taste, toes the line, but never crosses it. And considering what a tightrope walk performing violin is, I can't get enough of it. It's so exciting--her level of technical control is breathtaking. Given what we know about use of rubato in the 19th century, I think she's closer to what Beethoven was thinking than those with modern conservative taste might imagine.

No. I still regard Oistrakh as a master, one of the great soloists of the 20th century. But I now think more highly of others. I was never an Oistrakh man anyway, I preferred Heifetz and Milstein out of that generation. I think you are willfully misinterpreting what I mean by "passable impression." I don't want to tear down one of your heroes, but I don't really believe in the idea of singular greatness. There are violinists who are better than the rest, but I've found that they show up with some regularity if you're in the business for a while. Considering your 50 year career, it sounds like you just maintain a pantheon in your brain of untouchable players who no one lives up to. That's fine. Maybe you're right. But keep in mind that the placebo effect is very powerful. That halo atop Oistrakh's head only exists in your imagination. What has your 50 year career involved? Did you ever hear Oistrakh live up close?