{"id":1387,"date":"2008-11-03T13:38:18","date_gmt":"2008-11-03T21:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2008-11-03T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2008-11-03T21:44:45","slug":"in-the-ear-of-the-beholder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/03\/in-the-ear-of-the-beholder\/","title":{"rendered":"in the ear of the beholder"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Stabler wrote a review [not posted on the Oregonian’s website at the time of posting] of this Saturday’s classical series concert featuring the Latvian violinist Baiba Skride as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto along with Sibelius’ Scene with Cranes<\/em> and the Walton First Symphony.<\/p>\n

He was not enamored of Skride’s approach to the Tchaikovsky:<\/p>\n

She didn’t\u00c2\u00a0 employ an unusual range of colors nor did she phrase freely enough to suggest spontaneity.\u00c2\u00a0 Her playing wasn’t unfeeling, but it didn’t burn with intensity, either.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I couldn’t disagree more!<\/p>\n

I fully admit that it is quite unusual for the Tchaikovsky to be played as music rather than being used as a star vehicle to be ridden hard and put away wet, its meaning wrung out of it by wild and self-indulgent gestures, becoming a parody of itself.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember a favorite soloist of our previous music director who trampled the poor Tchaikovsky so thoroughly and completely that it ceased to be a violin concerto and became something akin to an uncensored view into MTV’s The Real World<\/em> video confessional booth – phrases were vomited forth with no regard for continuity, only for emotional affect or audience pandering, and left me feeling cheap and used as a result.<\/p>\n

My wife Heather wonders if we’re so numb as a society to performances as over-the-top spectacles that we’re left flat when presented with a nuanced performance – and since when did simplicity become a dirty word?<\/p>\n

As for lack of spontanaeity, Skride did many things differently than in our rehearsals with her, and there was an atmosphere of chamber music making on stage for the entirety of the concerto – perhaps it didn’t make it into the deadened reaches of our concert hall’s flaccid acoustics – but there was spontanaeity aplenty.<\/p>\n

Also, the second movement calls for the soloist to play the A-section with a mute, but most soloists trained by Galamian or DeLay have ignored those instructions (as well as making many cuts in the first and last movements).\u00c2\u00a0 Skride chose to play the entire movement muted, which is somewhat unusual – I’ll have to ask her about how she came to that decision.\u00c2\u00a0 She did use two different mutes between Saturday and Sunday night – we’ll see what she does tonight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Stabler wrote a review [not posted on the Oregonian’s website at the time of posting] of this Saturday’s classical series concert featuring the Latvian violinist Baiba Skride as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto along with Sibelius’ Scene with Cranes and the Walton First Symphony. He was not enamored of Skride’s approach to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[148,135,2],"tags":[837,385,855,935],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-soloists-recitals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-concert-review","tag-david-stabler","tag-oregonian","tag-tchaikovsky-violin-concerto"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-mn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5336,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/09\/22\/hilary-hahns-new-album-drops\/","url_meta":{"origin":1387,"position":0},"title":"hilary hahn’s new album drops","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Violinist Hilary Hahn makes her Oregon Symphony debut on our opening Classical series concerts on October 2 - 4, and you can get a chance to listen to her playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on her newly-released album on Deutsche Grammophone.\u00a0 This beloved work is paired with the Jennifer Higdon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/ir?t=dailyobservat-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0042HSGLW","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5392,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/10\/03\/hilary-hahn-does-not-disappoint\/","url_meta":{"origin":1387,"position":1},"title":"hilary hahn does not disappoint","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night was the opening night of our first classical subscription concert, featuring the violinist Hilary Hahn.\u00a0 Hahn's been one of the top violinists the the world for over a decade, and after having come to Seattle several times over the past few years, she's finally made it to Portland\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/5044664123_2d96e36b18_b-400x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20998,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/02\/what-i-would-have-been-playing-this-week-2-1-21-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":1387,"position":2},"title":"what I would have been playing this week \u2013 2\/1\/21 edition","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Sit back and enjoy the exhilarating emotional journey and melodic brilliance of Tchaikovsky\u2019s Fifth. Thomas Ad\u00e8s\u2019 new concerto \u2013 described as a successor to Gershwin\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue by\u00a0The\u00a0Boston Globe\u00a0\u2013 will be delectable in the hands of his longtime friend Kirill Gerstein. Lithuanian composer Raminta \u0160erk\u0161nyt? opens the program with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1377,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/02\/classical-performance-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":1387,"position":3},"title":"classical performance round-up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend brought a huge program to the Schnitz.\u00c2\u00a0 Huge how?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, first, in terms of a major new talent that is just beginning to be known here in America, the Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.\u00c2\u00a0 Second, the Walton First Symphony, a gigantic workout for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7916,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/08\/dutilleux-rimsky-korsakoff-and-tchaikovsky\/","url_meta":{"origin":1387,"position":4},"title":"dutilleux, rimsky-korsakoff, and tchaikovsky","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning we began rehearsals for the upcoming week's program. We have a new, young guest conductor - Aziz Shokhakimov; a new, young soloist - Yossif Ivanov; and a spectacular new concertmaster - Sarah Kwak. All are featured in this week's program. I'm happy to report (at least in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Aziz_Shokhakimov_1_orig-300x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5951,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/09\/tchaikovsky-competition-announces-competitors\/","url_meta":{"origin":1387,"position":5},"title":"tchaikovsky competition announces competitors","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition has announced the competitors that have made it through to the first live rounds. The categories are piano, violin, cello and voice. 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