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In Reply to: RE: ??? posted by Chris from Lafayette on July 09, 2014 at 22:19:52
Seems like you're being pretty vindictive yourself.
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. . . between being HEAVILY PROMOTED and being a consummate artist.
Henryk Szeryng was a thousand times the violinist Stern was, and yet Stern tried to get Hurok to drop him. Stern was a little weasel, no matter how many recordings he made.
BTW, I don't see how saying someone is "modestly accomplished" is being vindictive. GMAB indeed!
I've been a professional musician for over 40 years. I don't lessons from you about the music biz. It ain't like I've never worked with/for asshole leaders and/or soloists. But I don't let my feelings about their personalities or machinations color my judgment regarding their playing/composing/singing.
No doubt there were/are violinists equal to and better than Stern that have received little notice. So what? Hardly news in the music biz, and it doesn't mean Stern was merely "modestly accomplished".
Rick -- I think we can all agree that Isaac Stern was a great violinist. (Duh.) It is also true imho that he and many other great violinists continued to perform in public well after they were past their prime. I suspect those days are over given the modern fetish for technical perfection.
But what also seems to be true, and I've heard it from sources in addition to Aaron Rosand, is that Stern used his impressive network of wealthy and powerful contacts to interfere with the careers of younger up and coming American violinists whom he saw as competitors. I think that is the main point Chris is trying to make. Erick Friedman is another example. Interesting to read that Rosand wisely decided that going to Moscow to compete in the Tchiakovsky competition would be a bad idea because he would have no chance of winning. Friedman did compete, against the advice of his teacher Heifetz, and finished something like 6th. Anyway, Rosand and Friedman are well worth checking out on record.
Playing past your prime is common. Musicians don't wanna stop playing/performing, and in some ways that's a good thing and helps keep musicians "young". OTOH some of my "idols" in jazz continued playing/performing/recording so far past their prime that it made me sad to hear them.
Perhaps that happened with Stern. But the recordings of his I own were made when he was still playing his ass off, and IMO he had a great sound. Referring to Stern's playing when he was in his prime as "modestly accomplished" just seems silly to me. I said zilch about his machinations.
"I don't let my feelings about their personalities or machinations color my judgment regarding their playing/composing/singing."
I don't either, if their artistry is compelling enough. And, looking over Stern's career as a whole, I still say that "modestly accomplished" fits the bill pretty well.
nt
. . . with my "You need to learn. . . " post. My wife says I have a talent for pushing people's buttons! ;-)
Well, when you're a pianist you do press things with your fingers a lot....... must get to be a habit.
Stay off the accordeon!
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