Gosh! Stuart That's hard to argue with - unless one were to point out that the same would hold true for any other (splinter)group of musicians - say lute players Joseph Mayes
________________________________ From: Stuart LeBlanc [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sat 4/2/2005 5:39 AM To: lute net Subject: RE: mesmerization To the extent that guitarists only compare themselves to other guitarists, they will have no bona fides as musicians. -----Original Message----- From: Michael Thames [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 8:53 PM To: lute net; Stuart LeBlanc Subject: Re: mesmerization I had dinner this evening with a couple of guitarist's from Houston. They recently saw a concert in Houston of the Brazilian guitar quartet. I asked them how it was. They were quite pived that they showed up on stage with music. She said it was really no fun sitting there all night watching four guys with their nose's buried in their music, and never looked up once at the audience, the whole time. Ouch! Michael Thames www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart LeBlanc" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "lute net" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 1:28 PM Subject: RE: mesmerization > > In fact Beethoven called his pieces "sonatas for piano and violin" and they are > considered to be solo vehicles for both instruments. So according to the logic > of some people, both the pianist and violinist should play from memory if they > wish to achieve artistic credibility. > > A program by Kronos Quartet which I attended a while back began with a piece > performed from memory. It began with the room completely dark, and as a slow > melody emerged from the cello, a spotlight gradually revealed the player with > her shock of fair hair against an all-black set. The other players in turn made > their entrances both theatrically and musically, beginning their parts backstage > and continuing to play while walking to their respective seats on the stage. It > was all effectively done, and some of the audience thought they had witnessed > something very profound, probably the same ones who rave about organ recitals > with lightshow. I suppose they are also the same ones who equate memorized > music with "the soul of the artist" or some such. > > Another interesting program I heard was a duo recital by Eliot Fisk and Manuel > Barrueco. They some things from the score, some from memory. Opinions tended > to fall strongly into one of two mutually exclusive groups, which were either > 1)Eliot Fisk is a vibrant performer who knows how to engage an audience, or > 2)Manuel Barrueco is a consummate artist who knows how to make music on the > guitar. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Howard Posner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 10:16 AM > To: lute net > Subject: Re: mesmerization > > > Michael Thames wrote: > > > try repeating the words, solo,,,, solo,,, solo,,, this > > may help. > > It doesn't, though the absence of plurals with apostrophes is heartening. > Is a violinist playing a Beethoven sonata playing "solo"? If he is, does he > lack "professional stage presence" if he has the music in front of him? > What about the pianist playing with him? Does he lack "professional stage > presence" if he plays with music in front of him, as he almost certainly > will? What if it's a trio? I've never seen a string quartet play without > music in front of them. A "soloist" will often play a concerto with music > in front of him, particularly with period-instrument ensembles. > > So no, repetition of a mantra is no more helpful here than mindless > repetition usually is. I don't know if you've ever thought about where, in > the continuum from one musician alone on a stage to 100 musicians on a > stage, the musician playing from music no longer lacks "professional stage > presence" if he has the music in front of him. But your personal answer to > that question is probably of use only to you. It wouldn't interest me, > because I don't share your view that it's unprofessional for musician to > read music in concert. > > BTW, I would hope to avoid a concert where someone was sightreading. That > would be unprofessional. And I can't imagine a musician "site reading." I > suppose web browsers and surveyors do that. > > HP > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > --
