|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
100.40.104.66
In Reply to: RE: Circa 1978 a young female string player told me that Stern's attitude was "Lay for an 'A' ." posted by rbolaw on July 10, 2014 at 20:20:45
I do remember the Oistrakh recording and perhaps unfairly believed that sharing a platform with King David upped Stern's game in terms of technique and reined in Stern's willful interpretating.
I was particularly thinking of a Sibelius concerto LP from the late 1970s that Stereo Review said was the cat's pajamas but which I found to be comically ham-handed.
Oy, do I have to go into rehab now?
As far as Menuhin goes, I think that an entire monograph could be written about the various kinds of technical problems he had. But my controversial claim is that after a certain point (my guess is, either after his first marriage or after his divorce), Menuhin subconsciously simply did not want to play the violin any more. So in order to draw a downbow, he had to overcome in a physical sense a degree of involuntary muscle paralysis that was the outward manifestation of his inner disinclination.
Perhaps he could not admit his real feelings to himself, and perhaps he really needed the money to support his lifestyle. But the more he went on, the more obvious that "catch and overcome" at the start of many phrases became.
As far as I can tell, Menuhin was a near saint, and I cannot imagine him abusing his position as a teacher to gain sexual advantage over a young woman. Menuhin's Brahms from Switzerland is one for the ages, and there is a wonderful YT of a Brahms rehearsal with Celi.
Note the RFT "eyeball" microphone that was the ancestor of Neumann/Telefunken LDCs.
ATB,
John
jm
Follow Ups:
Yes, I think Stern knew he was privileged to be recording with King David and had to play respectfully. The Stern Istomin Rose Archduke Trio is another favorite of mine, but very few of Stern's numerous other records are among my favorites. And I own many.
Another side note: Stern struck up a close professional and personal relationship with Jean-Pierre Rampal. Now Rampal was also known to be very friendly with his young female students and any number of other beautiful young women who happened his way. But he also went to great lengths to promote the careers of other flutists all over the world, including his contemporaries, younger colleagues and students, male and female. Rather than seeing them as competition, he felt that the more audiences became interested in flute music and good music in general, the better for everyone.
Rampal also continued to perform well past his prime, and he did record absolutely everything written for the flute, including a fair amount commissioned by and/or written for him. But he didn't do it at the expense of any other flutist. And he built his solo career through hard work and at first his own money. His father was a well-respected flutist in France and with his help and contacts Rampal could easily have had a comfortable career in an orchestra chair. But he earned his international solo career, which is a very different thing.
Yehudi Menuhin was a great man by all accounts, I certainly did not mean to imply otherwise.
(imho, of course) an even greater performance by Cortot, Thibaud and Casals.
Jeremy
women younger than themselves? What a strange American tradition of Puritanism that attitude exposes. Or is it just envy?
And what an insult to young women: are they not able to determine for themselves with whom they'd like to carouse or must they submit their desires beforehand to aging male judges?
Next up: outrage that rock musicians bed groupies! Oh, my, how can they!
Myself, I'm outraged that young women throw themselves at the successful instead of young couch surfistas.
...with Woody Allen's private life?
I mentioned Rampal's reputation as a (married) ladies' man, (in his autobiography he also basically admitted to fooling around with married women in his younger, single days, in addition to professional ladies of the evening), but I don't have a strong opinion about it either way. His wife and children seem to have been devoted to him anyway, and he to them.
Heck, this seems to be a French thing, and who is to say they don't have a better approach. At former French President Mitterand's public funeral, on one side of the casket stood his first family (wife and children) on the other his second (mistress and children). They accept the situation and move on.
mired in Puritanical mores (okay, some Brits might be shocked) except this one.
Personal observation: when in my forties, I held a leadership position in a small concern. Over several years, more than a few younger female employees were very friendly, some too much so for professionalism. When I was in my 20s and 30s, and somewhat less common looking, I excited little or no such general interest.
Make of that what you will, but I always checked it off to corroboration of the commonality that power attracts women.
nt
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: