violinnewb

Brahms hating everybody is kind of hyperbolic. He and Joachim, the violinist, were friends, until they were not, until they were again. Brahms was also friends with the Schumanns. I don't know if this is accurate, but Brahms is said to have said the following about Schubert: “My love for Schubert is a serious one, precisely because it is not a passing fancy.”

Are we talking retail prices? I cannot imagine any older violin being sold in a shop for much less than $4,000 unless the violin was in truly poor condition, sounded poorly, or was from an obscure and unreknown provenance.

So is that alot?

Some of the posts from the OP under the previous thread are blanked out. Where did you see how much the OP paid for the JTL? I am curious.

Agreed. The OP needs to ask his/her teacher, or get one if he/she doesn't have one. As keyboard warriors, we simply do not have enough information or know the OP's skill level to properly assess the issue(s). Simply saying "just practice" was not a good response. Apologies to the OP.

Just looked at the picture of the OP's hand. We have roughly the same finger proportions. I can play on a 16 viola. Just practice.

Just listened to the clip of Mr. Adams playing. The viola matches his playing and sounds simply stunning!

Wonderful read. P.S. I cannot get over how much this violist, Mr. Adams, looks like Kevin Durant. In fact, the last picture of his face is similar to the look Kevin Durant has when making a free throw.

Carla, That was a wonderful share! Thank you!

"Wrong" was the incorrect choice of words there. I agree with you. Apologies.

The point that I would like to emphasize is that, right or wrong, "classical music" as we think of it is ever evolving and should be. Mozart was considered novel, new, and pushed boundaries. If we do not broaden our parameters as to what is acceptable to be played at certain venues, you would have Eric Clapton playing at Royal Albert Hall or Carnegie Hall. Look at what other genres of music are doing. Maroon 5 is a pop rock band that sampled Pachelbel, MEtallica sampled classical music, Lada Gaga sampled classical music, Billy Joel sampled classical music... Deference works both ways and ClassicalFM and Kennedy should have deferred to each other's artistic goals and tried a compromise.

Ok. That is a valid point. Let me ask this, if Kennedy was going to perform a piece based upon, let's say a Beatles song, would the result be any different?

Nope. Nothing wrong with a private party's rights to exclude even if based upon race or race related parameters. I do not agree with exclusion in this context, but it was within their rights. I cannot force anyone not to be racist or race motivated, but it doesn't mean I have to agree.

I premise my comments with the statement that I am not Nigel Kennedy's biggest fan when it comes to interpretation of the classic works. 1. Nigel Kennedy is a veteran in the classical music world. 2. Nigel Kennedy also broke barriers/set trends/broke traditions in the 90s that I personally welcomed as a refreshing direction. 3. Nigel Kennedy is nonetheless a great violinist that I listen to. 4. ClassicFM stated that Kennedy's choice of piece was "unsuitable for their audience." This is where it becomes problematic. What is their target audience? I do not mean to stereotype, but does it mean old, stuffy, upper class, caucasian people? Does it mean Asians who are forcing their kids to listen to classics? The target audience for rock music is rock music fans. The target audience for country music is country music fans. What is classical music? Surely it is not strictly and literally limited to Mozart-era music. Surely it encompasses Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Glass, all the way up to Hans Zimmer. Many "classical" composers wrote music based upon folk songs and popular themes. Why can't we include a renown violinist's interpretation of a Hendrix classic? 5. Little Wing is a tonally and rhythmically complex, lyrical, and elegant piece. I would have loved to hear this. 6. It does not appear that Nigel Kennedy needs money or needs to "market" himself. Plenty of gigs out there for him and he has amassed a good amount of money doing what he loves. 7. Unfortunately, right or wrong, ClassicFM has the right to choose their programming. I am proud that Mr. Kennedy stood up for what he believed, took the high road, and did what he thought was best for the direction of classical music. Kudos.

truth